White Sands National Monument

We drove to White Sands National Monument - Managed by White Sands Park Rangers to see its beautiful landscape. Unfortunately it was a very cloudy day and I wasn't able to take many pictures with dramatic light. But this is one of my favorite pics from the day.

 

White Sands National Monument, Alamogordo, NM

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Guadalupe Mountains National Park

We drove to Guadalupe Mountains National Park to see the stunning view of El Capitan, the eighth highest peak in the state of Texas. Guadalupe Mountains were so magnificent, and we are determined to come back and take pictures from the Guadalupe peak, the highest peak of Texas.

 

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Monahans Sandhills State Park

I hiked on a rocky trail, on slippery autumn leaves, and on a swampy trail. But I have never hiked on sand dunes. Wow it requires lots of energy to climb sandy hills! I had a great time at Texas Parks and Wildlife - Monahans Sandhills State Park.

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A Lone Tree on a Sand Dune

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area

We were on the way back on a trail to our tent at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area in Fredericksburg, TX, this Saturday. The moon was very bright and the air was so crisp and cold -- the twilight was beautifully illuminating the rocks and trees. We heard coyotes howling in the middle of night.

 

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A Short Visit to Lake Martin, Louisiana.

I had a chance to visit Lake Martin in Breaux Bridge, LA recently. It was a short trip and I only had two hours to stop by the lake. But the evening sun was so beautiful - I was able to enjoy the infamous Louisiana swampy landscape.

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The soft evening sun created a beautiful reflection of the autumn sky on the surface of Lake Martin, Louisiana.

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A Great Blue Heron in Black and White

Last year I took pictures of birds in Corpus Christi, TX, on a very cloudy colorless day. So I decided to process the photos in black and white, it worked out great. In colors, the birds looked like they have seriously washed out colors. This is one of the pictures that I like from that day. For the first time I've just printed this image for a 11"x14" mat for the upcoming Houston Fine Art Festival. It looks great!!

Great Blue Heron in flight

A great blue heron flew by my camera on a misty cloudy day in Corpus Christi, TX.

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Caddo Lake - One of the world's largest cypress forests

Recently I visited Caddo Lake in northeast Texas. The lake is home to one of the largest cypress forests in the world, and we rented a canoe to paddle through the cypress swamp to find a good spot to photograph.

It was the end of August and the Texas sun was so intense ....  I thought I was going to be grilled on the canoe (which was made of metal)!

The forest was so beautiful. Bald cypress trees and water plants were in rich green color, with a gray Spanish moss blanket on the branches, creating a magical wonderland :) Here is one of the pictures I took while on the canoe.

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The green leaves of bald cypress trees popped out of gray Spanish moss.

Speaking of Spanish moss -- I love taking pictures of them during sunrise and sunset as well. They shine like stars in the sunlight, and decorate the bald cypress trees like Christmas trees. Here is one of the pictures I took during the trip to Caddo Lake.

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A beautiful reflection of a forest of bald cypress trees was seen in the morning sun at Caddo Lake State Park, TX.

I am so looking forward to going back to the lake in October/November to take pictures of autumn colors of Caddo Lake!

  More pics of Caddo Lake are on my main website.

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Padre Island National Seashore

This past weekend I went to Corpus Christi to see if I can take pictures of the hatchlings of endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles.

It was too late to get a special permission to take their pictures in a closer range, so I brought my 100-400 lens and tripod just in case to see if it is possible to take decent pictures. Well, as I expected, it was meaningless. The hatchlings were way too small and we were way too far from them. But it was my very first time to see real baby turtles going back to the ocean. And they were really adorable :)  Next year, I will be ready and get permission in advance, and take pictures of them from an okay distance!

By the way, Padre Island National Seashore in Corpus Christi was very beautiful in the morning light. They have well maintained hilly sand dunes covered by beautiful plant life.

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The morning sun started shining on the vegetation along Padre Island National Seashore.

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Great Migration

I migrated my blog posts from my main website back to blogger! I am hoping it makes my life easier to keep posting on my blog and Google+ at the same time.... I will update my beach camping/turtle trip soon. Stay tuned. giraffe neck printsgiraffe printsgiraffes printscute giraffe printsfine art giraffe printsbeautiful giraffe printslove giraffe printsmasai giraffe printsgiraffe neck postersgiraffe postersgiraffes posterscute giraffe postersfine art giraffe postersbeautiful giraffe posterslove giraffe postersmasai giraffe posters

An Old Oak Tree on Canes

For a while I wanted to visit one of the oldest Live Oaks in Texas near Goose Island State Park in Rockport, TX. I was in the area this past weekend, so I decided to drive there to see the magnificent tree. The tree is older than 1000 years, some say it is close to 2000 years old. Knowing the estimated age of the tree, the supporting bars of the branches almost looked like an old man's cane.

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The Big Tree, one of the oldest live oaks in Texas, was spreading its long branches supported by several old man's "canes." The tree is estimated to be older than 1000 years.

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Don't Mess with Texas

Yesterday I went to Sam Houston National Forest for the first time since I moved to Houston, TX. The forest is very big and difficult to cover in one day, so I decided to check out the Lake Conroe area, and started to scout the good locations along the bank for landscape photographs.

The lake was beautiful, but occasionally I saw garbage and trash that were left behind by insensitive people. I saw that often in Galveston, too.

A pile of trash was found on the beach of Lake Conroe

I really wish people would stop messing up beautiful nature in Texas. It's a habitat for birds and wildlife too! Those cans, water bottles, plastic bags, etc., contaminate their habitat and harm them.Aside from those depressing views, I found some photogenic landscapes. Here are some of my pictures from yesterday. My favorite one is a baby willow tree. The tree was so little and cute :)

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Waterplants were looking over the calm stream at Stubblefield Lake in Sam Houston National Forest on a beuatiful Texas summer day.

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A fallen tree was quietly lying in Lake Conroe in Sam Houston National Forest in the dusk.

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A baby willow tree was standing on a beach at Lake Conroe in Sam Houston National Forest.

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Wildlife Photography: Patience, Patience, and Patience.

One of the things I love to do since I was a child is to observe wildlife in their habitat. I do not care to spend 4 to 5 hours (or more!) to quietly watch them. I remember my mother was so worried that I often disappear from her sight and later she found me watching a huge bullfrog or watching a poisonous snake quietly (somehow there were many snakes in the area where I grew up.), or watching any animals in the wild.
Since I started taking pictures of wildlife, I found that my weird habit of watching wildlife for hours is very useful. I wait for hours until the right moment comes for the purpose of fine art nature photography -- the moment that the composition, the lighting, the colors and the subject in the image contribute to make beautiful art on the wall.
For example, I've been looking for the right moment and place to take pictures of a great egret for days. And it took me 5 hours to get a shot of A Great Egret in Tranquility  on the day I found this egret.

I found a great egret eating food at Brazos Bend State Park. I didn't like the background -- so i decided to wait for his next action.

Luckily, the egret decided to move to the area where more clear water is in the swamp.

The egret stayed in front of a dark forest, looking into the swamp for a while. I'm sure he found prey in the water but for me he looked like he fell in love with the reflection of himself!

And the picture below is the one I was finally satisfied with. I could have gone with an image that involves more actions out of the egret, but I wanted to capture the quiet, silent water and forest with a very white egret quietly standing.

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The white plumage of a great egret seemed to glow in the middle of a quiet dark forest and the still water.

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Beautiful Colors that Alligators Enjoy

One of the places I frequently visit to take pictures is Brazos Bend State Park  near Houston, TX. Whenever I visit there, I see many wildlife  -- and many of my favorite images were taken at the park.
Lots of American alligators live in the park, and I often find myself not able to go back on the trail because a big alligator decided to take a nap in the middle of it (luckily, I always found an alternative way to go back to my car).

An alligator was enjoying the evening sun. She looked really happy.

Aside from the alligators, there are many many herons, egrets, and other beautiful birds throughout the year. I always find myself being surrounded by wildlife after I spend a couple of hours in the park.


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A Great Blue Heron stretched its neck to observe dozens of ducks making noise by jumping around the swamp water at Brazos Bend State Park near Houston, TX.

Not only the abundance of wildlife at the park is something I go after for a photoshoot. I'm always fascinated by the beautiful swamp that these alligators and birds are enjoying everyday! It's seriously humid and hot to visit there in the summer, so I highly recommend to be prepared well. 

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The reflection of autumn leaves on a green swamp made a very colorful landscape. The swamp is a habitat for many American alligators and birds.

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Art of Ocean Almost in Abstract

Yesterday for my routine work, once in a week photo shoot day, I went to High Island, TX. The town is very well known for many migratory birds stopping by, nesting and hanging out until the Texas summer gets seriously hot and humid.
It's been upper 90s and sometimes it hits 100 even though it's still in June. I thought maybe I cannot see many birds due to the hot weather. Well, I was wrong -- I saw lots of shorebirds and herons. The most attracting scene from yesterday's photoshoot was the way brown pelicans fly around High Island -- they fly in a big flock and make a loooong line formation.

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Brown pelicans fly in line formation in the evening sun in High Island, TX.

They fly so low, I felt like I can poke their bellies!

A couple of hours before the sunset, I looked around many spots for a good seascape. East Texas has literally no mountains or cliffs, and every direction you look, you see the horizon, a flat view. In a way it's awesome, but for many times  it is difficult to get a sense of depth in the pictures. Yesterday was such a day. It was so difficult to find a right place to photograph the seascape.



When the evening sun started to paint the world in orange and pink, I gave up. And I just decided to come up with a sort of abstract art-ish composition.

The picture below is one of the abstract-theme pictures. After I came back home and looked at this pic on the computer, I actually liked it. A lesson I learned -- I shouldn't forget that nature is a full of hidden art :)

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The evening sun softly lit the ocean, painted the waves in orange-pink colors.

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Colors for Black and White Room

Today I wanted to experiment with how a picture can change the mood of a room. On a white wall behind a black IKEA couch, originally a picture from the Colorado Rockies was displayed.

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The mountains were so beautiful in the morning -- when I took the picture, I saw a family of elk walking at the bottom of the valley. It was a great experience to see the sunrise from the top of the Rockies -- I can still smell the cool air and feel the warm sunlight!
Okay, back to our black and white room -- I thought the picture of the Colorado Rockies have many earthy colors that give me a calm feeling. But how about if I want a happy and lively mood in our room? How about if your office has a black couch, and you are stressed out and need colors that cheer you up?
So I picked one of my most colorful and happy looking pictures and tested how it looks like.




I think lively colorful pictures can help light up a black and white room very well! What do you think?

Unexpected Encounter

Yesterday I went to Trinity River National Wild Refuge to check out their bald cypress trees. I had never been to the refuge before, so I was not sure how thick the forest of cypress trees is. It was a hot and humid evening, and I saw many big fishes jumping out of Champion Lake in the park. I saw great egrets, great blue herons, northern cardinals, and even a raccoon. 
One problem I found out at the Champion Lake area was that I needed a boat to get close to many bald cypress trees. They have a beautiful waterway I would have been able to go through by a small boat or a kayak. The next visit, I should try that option! It must be so nice to be on a kayak and enjoy the tunnel of cypress trees.

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A jungle of bald cypress trees

Bald cypress trees enjoy  the evening sun at Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge.

 While I was paying attention to bald cypress trees in the evening sun, I started noticing beautiful big branches at the corner of my eyes.
I turned to the right, and I saw a big willow tree glowing in the evening sun. I thought my favorite shot from yesterday would come from one of the pictures of bald cypress trees, but here it is, I had an awesome unexpected meeting with a willow tree. As always, taking pictures in nature is full of surprises. That is why I love it.


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A big willow tree was spreading its majestic branches, glowing in the evening sun.

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Choosing a frame color

When you have a favorite picture to frame, what is the first thing you look at? The colors in the picture? The color of a wall where you are planning to display the picture? How about the style of the frame -- wood frame? metal frame?

One of the customers wanted to buy a framed picture panel in Kerrville, TX that was displayed in my booth. The frame I made was not colored and applied with multiple layers of top coat..

More information about my frames, please click here.

But she told me the color of the frame might not match with the color of the wall she is planning to display the picture on. I make my floater frame in a way that the picture panel is detachable from the frame and easily displayed in a different colored frame, so I showed the picture in a medium-brown colored frame that she chose.

At the end, she bought the picture with the original frame, not the medium brown one, despite the fact that her wall color might not match with the frame color.

Balancing among the colors of the image, the color of the frame, and the color of the wall to display is a very tricky task. Whenever I showcase my pictures at art shows, I try my best to balance the color of the image and the color of the frame.

For example, for the image below -- 

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Autumn leaves decorated the Gapstow Bridge in Central Park, New York. The soft light from the thick clouds was falling on the leaves, making the bridge look almost glowing.

I chose the frame color that is close to the color of the subject in the picture.

What do you think? What other colors would match with this picture?

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