About

This website contains my collection of images taken of the Big Bend area of Texas. The area is named for the vast curve of the Rio Grande in far southwest Texas along the border with Mexico. Most of the images have come from the two parks, Big Bend National Park and, to the west, the more remote Big Bend Ranch State Park, with some from nearby places in Brewster County.

Both parks are huge, together covering over 1.1 million acres (BBNP 801,000 and BBRSP 311,000), providing many areas for exploring and photography. The distances are large, and to get good shots, drives of an hour or more from lodgings in Terlingua or the Chisos Basin are often necessary. 

Many photo spots are accessible with little or no hiking, but some places require more effort including trips in the dark for sunrise or sunset shots. The South Rim, for example, is about 6-7 miles one-way from the Chisos Lodge, and is best photographed on an overnight backpack trip. Sunrise photographs at the top of Lost Mine trail are possible without an overnight trip, but a hike starting at least two hours before dawn is required. In Big Bend Ranch State Park, mountain biking and 4WD are useful to access sites for photos.

I am an amateur photographer living in Austin, Texas, and have been photographing Big Bend since 2009, often with multiple trips per year.  For the most part the photos have been taken with Nikon DSLRs, currently the D810. I process the images in Adobe Lightroom and often use Color Efex Pro for enhancement.