A West Texas Nature Photography Workshop Scouting Report

Fifteen minutes into Big Bend National Park and we're already in luck.

"There's a bear!" Kristy says.

Looking off the side of the road, sure enough, a mature black bear was picking its way through the scrub in search of food. We pull off the side of the road, roll down the window, and start taking pictures of him. 

He works his way through the desert scrub, picking the rough vegetation for morsels of food.  The tell-tale red stains around his mouth tell me he's been eating prickly pear fruit.  It's in season now and there's plenty of it.

It is estimated that there are 20 to 30 black bears in Big Bend National Park, and here we are with one of them.  I've seen hundreds of bears over the past several years.  Those have been in Wyoming, Montana, some in Colorado, but mainly in Alaska.  Here before me is the first bear I've ever seen in Texas.

After the bear leaves, we drift deeper into the backcountry in search of interesting scenes for the upcoming Desert Parks of the Southwest nature photography workshop.

The desert is a cathartic place. Its austere landscape begs for minimalistic compositions, so I stop at various spots to take an image or two for posterity's sake.

It's good to be in this area again, as it's been a while. Texas is a diverse state. Where I live, it's more like anywhere in the muggy South. As you head west across the state, the landscape becomes more sparse and arid. To that extent, this scouting trip is meant to reacquaint myself with a unique area of the state so I can serve my workshop attendants in the best way possible.

On the scouting excursion, we saw beautiful mountain vistas, stood along the Rio Grande River and stared over Mexico, experienced desert wildlife, and took in the desert culture of the area.  

It's going to be a great trip.