The Easter experience is usually getting together with family, eating too much candy, and going back to work the next day and trying to fend off all of the extra candy that everyone brought to work. 2020 is going to be an odd-ball year for this and so many other things. For Easter, I woke… Read More Easter Isolation
Whether we know it or not this year, spring is here. The weather for Saturday, was fantastic and I stayed outside most of the day enjoying the lack of ceiling and computer. In the evening, I went out to Balcones Canyonlands NWR in the evening to see if the wildflowers were out. It seemed like… Read More Spring is Here
I got up before dawn to go hiking as I had a nice idea for a sunrise behind the small waterfall at Balcones Canyonland National Wildlife Refuge. As I was driving out there, I could see some clouds on the horizon, so I thought there was a chance. But two things happened when I got… Read More A Few Minutes of Perfect Light
I went out hiking and shooting photos at the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge. I am a bit disappointed with the results as I don’t think these photos really work all that well. But I am posting this anyway as this is all a learning experience for me. It was a bit breezy and sunny… Read More A Hike in the Tall Grass
I have had my eye on a certain macro-lens for a while. I occasionally like to shoot close-ups and have been using extension tubes, but extension tubes are kind of a pain to use. They reduce image quality and available light and you often need to fiddle around with exactly which tube length you need.… Read More The Butterfly and the Dragonfly
After my recent hike at Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge, I stopped on a part of the ridge with an overlook to the west. There were some high clouds on the horizon and I thought that there might be a nice sunset. I had about 10 minutes to walk around and try to find a… Read More Balcones Canyonlands Sunset in HDR
Thursday evening it was hot and humid and I needed a hike. So, I went to one of my favorite places again. I got to the parking lot and as usual it was empty, so it would just be me and a few million bugs in the refuge. As soon as I got out of… Read More Golden Hour Hike
I decided to go out to Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge in the Doeskin Ranch area on a nice evening to hike and check out the wildflowers. I figured that the trails in the high meadows would be very nice just before sunset. As usual there were few people there – only two other cars… Read More Wildflower Hike at Balcones Canyonlands
On Sunday afternoon I hiked up to a particular dead tree that I think is somewhat photogenic in the Doeskin Ranch section of the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge. This tree is alone, right next to the trail, catches a lot of afternoon sun, and often has lots of wildflowers and long grass at its… Read More A Dead Tree
After spending spring break in Orlando, dealing with the crowds at Disney World and Universal Studio, I got back home and needed some peace and solitude. One of my favorite places for this is Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge which is very close to my home in the Austin area. As an added bonus, it… Read More A Wildflower Hike
Jason Frels 