The first couple of weeks of this year I have barely picked up my camera. I have been busy reorganizing my house as I now have my own office, which I am happy about but it has been a lot of work. We also had a rare (once in a decade) snow storm with a couple of inches of snow, but I don’t feel like any of my picture were very remarkable.
I have been hiking out at the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge, but half the place has been recently burned so the grasses are replaced with ash and stones. The image below shows the now clearly exposed hiking trails through the burned landscape. This was shot nearly into the morning sun so please forgive the big green glob of lens flare near the horizon.
The snow means that there is some water in the creek and I thought that the stepping stones with the trail leading off to the left made a nice picture. This part of the refuge has not been burned.
The photo below has the other creek crossing. I worked trying to get the fluffy reeds in the lower right to standout in the morning sunlight with the stepping stone creek crossing on the far left. I was again fighting with lens flare for this photo as the morning sun was all alone in the clear blue sky. That tall structure on the other side of the creek is a bat house.
And lastly, in a part of the refuge which has not been burned, the tall grasses still sway in the wind and catch the sunlight in the early morning and late afternoon. This was a very still morning so I was not able to catch motion blur in the grass, but I do like the pattern and color of the grass. All I need is a subject in the far-ground. If you look closely in the distance on the right side of the photo you can see the same bat house from above.
Not the most fantastic landscape pictures, but it is always good to get out with the camera. I can’t wait for the wildflowers to emerge in a couple of months. Thanks for reading.
Jason Frels 
Enjoyed seeing your photos again. I think the last one is my favorite.
Nice on having your own office.
I am wanting to redecorate one of my children’s bedroom as a writing haven for me, but they have to move out first! LOL!
Glad you got at least a little snow. You were reminded what the white stuff is that falls from the sky.
A bat house would be one house I don’t care to visit!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks. These photos were mostly mediocre but I needed to take some photos and get out.
LikeLike
Glad you were able to get out and the pictures were fine. We are easy to please! Its not like you were taking them for some fancy magazine. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree with Carolyn, the last photo is the best. The bat house looks interesting. Are the bats encouraged to live there in order to keep the insect populations down?
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks. I think bats are desirable for that reason. There are a lot of bats in this part of Texas. Austin is kind of famous for bats
LikeLiked by 2 people
They may serve a good purpose but I still would rather not see one! I would rather see the other wildlife of Texas. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
We seem to be in greater danger from bats on the other side of the world than we are from the ones around here.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well you do have a point there!
LikeLike
These are amazing!! The second and third ones seemed super super awesome (:
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like the way the branch drapes over the trail in your first image and the texture in the grass in the last! Looks like a nice place for an outing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
thanks
LikeLike
glad to see you are back outside with your camera. and hopefully the snow was a pleasant surprise…
LikeLiked by 1 person