Daily Archives: June 2, 2017

One More Photo Tour This Summer

In mid-August, I’ll be headed back to west Texas for one last instructional photography tour.  Then a new season begins and it will be time to develop a new schedule for 2017-2018.  That west Texas trip will begin in the Christmas Mountains and then we will move a few miles over to the Davis Mountains.  It is all a part of the Davis Mountains Hummingbird Celebration.  This might be a great opportunity to photograph several species of hummers right here in Texas.  Check my website Photo Tour Schedule for details. If you are interested, send me an email and I’ll get you registered and provide the details.  The photo tour will accommodate eight people and only three slots are left.

Here are some photos from the recent trip to the Christmas Mountains Oasis for Lucifer Hummingbirds and other species. Note that some of the images are provided by the participants.

Remember to click on an image to enlarge and sharpen it for better viewing.

Noel Ice’s male Lucifer Hummingbird headed to the camera.
Kimberly Smith’s Christmas Mountains panorama.

Kim captured a Bell’s Vireo eating an insect.
Kimberly’s Blue Grosbeak near the hummingbird feeders at Christmas Mountains Oasis.
Natural light on a male Lucifer Hummingbird by Kimberly Smith.
Gene Forsythe captured an Ash-throated Flycatcher in flight.
Male Lucifer under the lights by Gene Forsythe.
Forsythe captured some interesting lighting on the throat of this Lucifer Hummingbird male.

The following images are mine.  After the fact, I realized I’d missed a lot of good shooting while tending the hummingbird flash setup, but the group got some good diversity in their images.

All of my photos were done with the Canon 1D Mark II, 500 mm Canon Lens, Gitzo 1348 tripod and Wimberly head.

Here are 3 varied bunting images I really liked from my collection:

Male Varied Bunting foraging.
Varied Bunting male in creosote bush
Curious male Varied Bunting.
Rain at sunset, Christmas Mountains, Texas.
Moonrise over Christmas Mountains as vulture passes.
Throat colors on a male Lucifer Hummingbird.
Male Lucifer Hummingbird at Indian Paintbrush.
Lucifer Hummingbird in flight.
Scaled Quail on rocks, Christmas Mountains, Texas.
Why some people call them “blue” quail.
Bell’s Vireo in catclaw bush
Bell’s Vireo singing.
Elf Owl at night near the Terlingua Ranch Lodge.
Elf Owl on perch.

There were many more birds I couldn’t show here, but you should be getting the idea that the Christmas Mountains Oasis is pretty special.  Thanks to all the participating photographers for sharing your images.

Larry