I spent most of an afternoon scouting for a good location to shoot during the golden hour. I found this pasture out Bluff Road. It's almost too good to be true with its hay bales, windmill, and bluebonnets. The hay on each side of the bluebonnets provides a visual pathway to the windmill in the background.Date: 22 March 2018Location: Washington County, Texas, United StatesOriginal resolution: 36 MPProcessing: Processed from RAW using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6
I lined up the sun behind this stand of live oak trees to that were filtering the light over the indian paintbrush in the foreground. I did some dodging and burning on the image to lift up the tones in the tree branches from black and even out the contrast in the foreground.Date: 8 April 2019Location: Independence, Texas, United StatesOriginal resolution: 36 MPProcessing: Processed from RAW using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 9
I was photographing this field of bluebonnets along Texas FM 50 between Brenham and Independence during the golden hour and was rather frustrated by the clouds that had formed at the horizon. As sunset progressed, however, I could see that the sky after sunset would light up the cirrus and cirrostratus clouds. More than a few people pulled off the road to photograph the field when they saw me before sunset, but I was the only one left when the sky lit up after sunset.Date: 11 April 2021Location: Washington County, Texas, United StatesOriginal resolution: 45 MPProcessing: Processed from RAW using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 9
Texas bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis) and lanceleaf coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata) create a carpet of blue and gold along the side of the Blanton block.The Blanton Block was a stagecoach stop on the LaBahia Trail. Its buildings accommodated a hotel, stagecoach and mail depot, general store, and residence. When the railroad bypassed Independence, the Blanton Block eventually fell into disrepair.In the 1980s, the Zwiener family reconstructed two stone structures that were part of the Blanton Block. Today, the buildings are used as the offices of Countryside Realtors and a private residence.Date: 1 April 2007Location: Independence, Texas, United StatesOriginal resolution: 6 MPProcessing: Processed from RAW using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6
We were in the Independence area to photograph wildlfowers on what was supposed to be an off-and-on rainy afternoon As the day approached sunset, I realized that the skies might actually clear and that we would get a chance to photograph Comet NEOWISE.I used a 24-70 mm zoom to frame the lit columns at Old Baylor Park. In hindsight, I might have been better off using a longer focal length to magnify the comet, but that would've put me across the highway on private property, so I compromised on this shot. You can see the comet in the upper left. This image was made from ten light frames taken over about a minute using Starry Landscape Stacker.Date: 24 July 2020Location: Independence, Texas, United StatesOriginal resolution: 45 MPProcessing: Processed from RAW using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 9
A tire swing sits amid the majestic live oaks of Old Baylor Park, with a field of Texas Paintbrush (Castellija indivisa) and Texas Bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis) in the foreground.Date: 3 April 2005Location: Independence, Texas, United StatesOriginal resolution: 6 MPProcessing: Processed from RAW using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 9
The columns at Old Baylor Park are lit at night by an array of spotlights, as are some of the live oaks. I set up this shot so that the live oak on the right gives some balance to the columns on the left.Date: 24 July 2020Location: Independence, Texas, United StatesOriginal resolution: 45 MPProcessing: Processed from RAW using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 9
Texas bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis) and lanceleaf coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata) create a carpet of blue and gold along the side of the Blanton block.The Blanton Block was a stagecoach stop on the LaBahia Trail. Its buildings accommodated a hotel, stagecoach and mail depot, general store, and residence. When the railroad bypassed Independence, the Blanton Block eventually fell into disrepair.In the 1980s, the Zwiener family reconstructed two stone structures that were part of the Blanton Block. Today, the buildings are used as the offices of Countryside Realtors and a private residence.Date: 3 April 2005Location: Independence, Texas, United StatesOriginal resolution: 6 MPProcessing: Processed from RAW using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6
A live oak (Quercus fusiformis) casts shade in a pasture on Asa Hoxie Road (Washington County Road 60). Texas bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis) are scattered nearby.Date: 1 April 2007Location: Independence, Texas, United StatesOriginal resolution: 6 MPProcessing: Processed from RAW using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 9
A field of butterweed (Packera glabella) glows in the late afternoon sun in front of the barn and windmill of Hoppens Farm along U.S. Highway 290 between Chappell Hill and Brenham.Date: 20 March 2009Location: Washington County, Texas, United StatesOriginal resolution: 6 MPProcessing: Processed from RAW using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 9
A large live oak (Quercus fusiformis) stands between the ruins at Old Baylor Park and a field of Texas paintbrush (Castilleja indivisa).Date: 9 April 2014Location: Independence, Texas, United StatesOriginal resolution: 12 MPProcessing: Processed from RAW using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 9
Texas bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis) bloom in front of the long-shuttered Gilmartin Store. The store sits just north of Old Baylor Park in IndependenceDate: 9 April 2010Location: Independence, Texas, United StatesOriginal resolution: 6 MPProcessing: Processed from RAW using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6
Only a springhouse remains of Sam Houston's home in Independence. Here, the springhouse is surrounded by Texas bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis).Date: 20 March 2009Location: Independence, Texas, United StatesOriginal resolution: 6 MPProcessing: Processed from RAW using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 9
Spring 2020 was a good season for wildflowers in Washington Counry. Earlier in the day, we had spotted this field, and it had several people in it taking the usual family photos. After not being impressed by a few other locations, we came back to it at sunset and had it to ourselves.Date: 1 April 2020Location: Washington County, Texas, United StatesOriginal resolution: 45 MPProcessing: Processed from RAW using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 9
We were heading out to Independence for sunset when we pulled onto FM 390, also known as the La Bahia Trail, and came face-to-face with a double rainbow. Since the rain that day had been moving out of the east from a tropical storm in South Texas, I suspected we had a good chance of seeing a rainbow as sunset approached.Date: 24 July 2020Location: Washington County, Texas, United StatesOriginal resolution: 45 MPProcessing: Processed from RAW using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 9
I've photographed this area of Washington County on Bluff Road a couple of times in the past. I was looking for a different perspective on the field in the background when I noticed the backlighting of the fence by the low sun. The fence line gives a nice vanishing perspective and the sunlight makes the barbed wire stand out.Date: 25 March 2017Location: Washington County, Texas, United StatesOriginal resolution: 36 MPProcessing: Processed from RAW using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6
Butterweed (Packera glabella) lines a tributary of New Year Creek, as viewed looking southeast from the bridge on Old Independence Road (Washington County Road 60).Date: 9 April 2010Location: Brenham, Texas, United StatesOriginal resolution: 6 MPProcessing: Processed from RAW using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6
A large live oak (Quercus fusiformis) stands between the ruins at Old Baylor Park and a field of Texas paintbrush (Castilleja indivisa).Date: 7 April 2008Location: Independence, Texas, United StatesOriginal resolution: 6 MPProcessing: Processed from RAW using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic CC 7
I was driving around the Old Gay Hill area of Washington County when I came across this copse of live oak trees along the drive up to a ranch house. Because the trees form a long horizontal axis, I decided to use a less conventional 16:9 crop for the photo.Date: 25 March 2017Location: Gay Hill, Texas, United StatesOriginal resolution: 36 MPProcessing: Processed from RAW using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic CC 7
