Hikers, birders and wildlife-watchers have over seven miles of trails to enjoy at LLELA. LLELA is positioned where Blackland Prairie mingles with the dry upland forests of the Eastern Cross Timbers. The Elm Fork of the Trinity River, with its surrounding bottomland forests, winds through the middle of these two ecosystems.
We are planning a trip to the Santa Clara Ranch. A visit to this ranch is always a treat. There are lots of birds! They have four in-ground blinds overlooking a small pond with feeding stations and two elevated blinds to photograph raptors.
Rocky Mountain elk, herds of free-roaming American bison and long horn cattle plus North American river otters, black-tailed prairie dogs, colorful “Mountain Bomer” lizards, and the black-capped vireo.
Set amid a working cattle ranch and an expansive wetland on the East Fork of the Trinity River, the John Bunker Sands Wetland Center is a nature center, an educational destination, a birder’s paradise, and a photographer’s dream, and a serene escape to nature like no other in North Texas.
This time we are trying something a bit different than in the past. Since cacti generally bloom when temperatures are a bit warmer in the day, we’re going to “hope for the best” and plan the day as follows
The Fort Worth Zoo currently houses over 540 species, including 72 species of mammals, 148 species of birds, and 172 species of ectotherms. This translates to 64 acres housing 7,000 animals.
The Big Cats are also back! Their newest habitat, Predators of Asia & Africa, is now open.
Yes, it’s January, and yes, it will be cold. REMEMBER THAT WE WILL BE IN OUR CARS! (Average January temps 57-58-59 degrees.
Explore over 3,600 acres of The Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge. This natural area comprises forests, prairies, and wetlands, allowing you to step back in time and experience what the Fort Worth/Dallas Metroplex was like in the early 20th century.
Petit Jean State Park is a 3,471-acre park in Conway County, Arkansas. It is located atop Petit Jean Mountain adjacent to the Arkansas River in the area between the Ouachita Mountains and Ozark Plateaus. It is about five and a half hours from McKinney. This trip should be timed with fall colors in the area.
With over 6 miles of hiking trails, LLELA is positioned where the Blackland Prairie mingles with the dry upland forests of the Eastern Cross Timbers. The Elm Fork of the Trinity River, with its surrounding bottomland forests, winds through the middle of these two ecosystems.
Join your friends from the Heard Nature Photographers Club at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge. Stretch your legs and enjoy the wide-open spaces at this home to migratory birds and abundant wildlife.
We’ll have setups for luminosity masking, frozen flowers, water drops, oil on water, backlit fruit and flowers, etc. The club will provide pizza for lunch. Please register so we know how many members to feed.
Pelican Point at White Rock Lake is a great place to have a field trip. Join us on July 15. I’ll be there by 7:00 PM, and the park doesn’t close until 10:00 PM. Basically, you follow East Lawther Drive until it is blocked off.
Here’s the perfect opportunity to improve your close-up and macro photography, and on the images you took last April at Irwin Lightstone’s place! Irwin has an extensive collection of succulents, cactus, and orchids, and he’s graciously offered to let us come photograph it all! As a bonus, Irwin will be on hand to offer his expertise and advice.
Flowers, birds, wildlife, spring-fed streams, a suspension bridge, and historical buildings. If the weather cooperates, we should see poppies, hydrangeas, and azaleas coming out. Planted areas are easily accessible for photography.
The Dallas Arboretum’s Spring festival Dallas Blooms runs from February 25, 2023, through April 16, 2023. This is the largest annual floral festival in the Southwest.
Trout Lilies usually start blooming at the Heard in the middle of February. After our February meeting, we will head down the Hoot Owl trail to check them out. Remember, admission to the Heard is free for photo club members on meeting day.
After photographing the trout lilies, we will head to the Great Outdoor Sub shop at 1751 Eldorado Parkway in McKinney, just a few minutes from the Heard.
The trout lilies or weather may not cooperate with our plans. The theme for our March video will be trout lilies. Get out to the Heard and photograph them when it is convenient for you. Images will be due to Ron Marabito at rmarabito@gmail.com on March 1.
You can register for the event at heardnaturephotographers.com.
Questions? Contact Steven Earles.
We’re taking our best shot for Fall Color and the agenda is still up in the air. So much will depend on Mother Nature. Roughly, we’ll plan on a Saturday morning sunrise photography outing and then follow the wonderful color in the foliage.
POSTPONED:
New Date October 22
The Museum opens at 8:00 a.m. Should you wish to arrive that early, please feel free to do so (just identify yourself as being from the Heard Nature Photographers).
COST: There is no charge for admission or parking.
LUNCH: Laura’s Cheesecake & Café in Mount Pleasant. Time t/b/d.
TIDBITS: There are over 60 aircraft at the Museum and the majority of them are flight-worthy About 40-45 aircraft are on display at this point in time.
They have two of the four known flyable planes that are Pearl Harbor survivors.
Warbirds and vintage aircraft….bombers, fighters, helicopters, observation and transports.
The collection is easily accessible. There are no ropes, chains or fences around the aircraft.
Check out the website’s many stories about the aircraft and their crews…fascinating! www.midamericaflightmuseum.com
There is plenty of seating in the Museum’s many buildings.
SUGGESTED EQUIPMENT:
Tripod/monopod; a selection of lens, comfortable walking shoes, bottled water. The aircraft are in multiple buildings.
Questions? Call Jackie Ranney 214/478-2107. Final details will be sent to registrants a few days before the event.
Chandor Gardens captures both the ornate design of ancient Chinese architecture and the elegance of a formal English garden. The 3.5-acre estate leads its visitors on a meandering path of beauty and wonderment. A recent visitor emphasizes how much care the Gardens staff has taken to keep the vegetation lush and thriving throughout the extreme weather conditions recently experienced.
Comfortable walking shoes
Your favorite walk-around lens and possibly others!
Bottled water
Important: .
Tripods are not allowed due to the narrow pathways.
The 30’ waterfall mentioned on their website is still being reworked.
Photography inside the on-site house is not permitted.
We will be leaving by 11:30 a.m. at the very latest since they have a wedding scheduled in the evening (the wedding party is scheduled to begin arriving at 11:00 a.m.)
Additional gardens in Weatherford that members may choose to visit on their own after our lunch:
Clark Gardens www.clarkgardens.org
**Photography by Wy Roberge. Used with permission.
Join the Heard Nature Photographers Club for a field trip to Historic Downtown McKinney.
THIS EVENT IS LIMITED TO 20 PEOPLE. Please familiarize yourself with the information on their website before signing up for this field trip.
For our private two-hour photographic opportunity, the cost is $10/pp. If you wish to also visit TrainTopia (the indoor model train exhibit) after our photographic time, the cost is an additional $5 ($15 total). TrainTopia opens at 10:00 a.m.
Payment will be made upon arrival. Cash is preferred to facilitate a quicker entry; credit card payments will also be accepted.
Our tour will be “guided” during our visit with appropriate stops for photographing. Wandering is not part of the policy of the Museum.
Tours are outdoors over uneven surfaces with no cover from the sun. There are no paved sidewalks at this point in time.
When close to the trains, the surface is ballast (a loose granite) which is used to keep the train rails in place.
Steps will be provided for the two train cars we will be allowed to go inside to photograph.
Please dress for the terrain, heat, and bring plenty of fluids. (There are no restrooms or water fountains available at the site at this time.)
Some of the trains have been restored, some have not.
Tripod/monopod; a selection of lens, comfortable walking shoes, bottled water, sun protection.
If publishing or selling your photographs of the trains showing their logos, it is not up to the Museum to grant copyright permission. All photographs in this announcement have been used with permission.
Sugges
Either your Texas Parks & Wildlife annual pass or $7/per person (not “per vehicle”).
Multiple trails – some are paved! Opportunities to shoot in the woods and at the shoreline.
Restrooms are available in different locations throughout the park.
When I went to the park on the scouting trip this past December, there were deer in the parking lot!
One of our members has been to the Greenbelt Trailway across the highway and reports seeing deer, heron, and egrets. She says there were some pretty wildflowers in the spring between the parking lot and the bridge.
There are two areas of the park available within a short distance – the Isle du Bois Unit and the Greenbelt Trailway across the highway. Your park entrance fee covers both.
Bring a picnic-type lunch for you/yours or pick up lunch on the way to the park! The exact location in the Isle du Bois Unit will be provided to registrants as the time gets closer. The weather should be nice and “lunching picnic-style” will be a different way for us to enjoy lunch together. The picnic area where we will be is adjacent to the restrooms, too. Note that this park does not have food/cold drinks available so “be prepared”!
NOTICE: This field trip is now Wait List only. You know the proverbial “early bird”.
Welcome to an exciting opportunity for macro photography!
Not only will we be able to photograph parts of Irwin’s cactus and succulent collection, but Irwin will be talking with us about focus stacking.
All images © Irwin Lightstone. Used with permission.
There is no cost to this event other than being a paid member of the Heard Nature Photographers.
Lunch plans will be announced at a later date for those who choose to participate (pending Covid conditions).
Irwin is a long-time member of the Heard Nature Photographers who is well known for his focus-stacking expertise. He describes himself as “a serious photographer of cacti and succulents and has a large collection of photographs, primarily macro.” He is President of the North Texas Cactus & Succulent Society.
A selection of articles by Irwin Lightstone:
A Baker's Dozen: 12 Hints for Better Digital Photography
Succulent Abstracts and Absurdities
Taming Reflections and Glare with a Polarizing Filter
4 Hand-Held Digital Closeups Looking Sharp
Succulent Closeups in Focus
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
SUGGESTED EQUIPMENT:
Tripod/monopod, Macro lens if you have one.
Bottled water or cold drink.
Please bring a folding lawn chair and if you have one, a “TV Tray” – and yes, some of us remember what these are!
If you have a card table that you are willing to bring, please let Jackie know. These will make it easier for photographers to work one-per-side rather than being side-by-side.
Please go to our website to sign up for this field trip! Final details will be sent to registrants a few days before the event.
Join the Heard Nature Photographers Club as we explore the quaint little town of Honey Grove.
Join the Heard Nature Photographers on a field trip to a daffodil farm.
Join the Heard Nature Photographers Club on a visit to Penn Farm Agricultural History Center in Cedar Hill, Texas. Enjoy exploring this historic collection of reconstructed and historic buildings from the 1800s thru the mid-1900s located within the Cedar Hill State Park.
Join the Heard Nature Photographers Club as they explore the oldest and largest zoological park in Texas - the 106-acre Dallas Zoo.
Join the Heard Nature Photographers Club for a fluttery visit to the Rosine Smith Sammons Butterfly House and Insectarium.
The club will be traveling to Caddo Lake to photograph brilliant fall colors of the largest bald cypress forest in the world. It is possible to photograph Caddo Lake from the shore, but it is not the best way. Most of the banks are located on private land and closed to the public. The best way to photograph the lake is by boat. We will have four boat tours scheduled, two sunset tours, two sunrise tours based out of the Shady Glade marina located in Uncertain Texas. Members will have the freedom to choose some or all the tours.
Must be a current member of the Heard Nature Photography Club with a liability waiver on file to participate.
Boat tours will depart from Shady Glade Marina, Uncertain TX
Boat tours have been arranged for two sunset tours and two sunrise tours.
Times
Sunrise is approximately 7:00 am
Sunset is approximately 5:10 pm
New moon Saturday
The exact boat departure times will be determined later but if you are planning to go on the Friday afternoon sunset tour you should plan to be at the dock no later than 3:00 pm.
Group meals will be planned and announced later.
Will need a firm commitment from everyone in September. I’ll push the date as late as I can.
Most convenient for the tours but limited dining options
903-789-3295
Walk to the boats
903-789-3901
Walk to the boats
903-789-3268
Short drive to the boats
There are several AIRBNB and VRBO options
30 minutes from the boats
Numerous lodging and dining options
15 minutes from the boats
RV, camping, or cabins
Each boat tour will be two hours
Each boat tour will cost $50 per person plus a guide tip. Fees for the trip will be collected in advance.
Exact departure times TBD
All boat tours will be on pontoon boats with up to six photographers.
Go-Devils are smaller boats that carry two photographers. They can get to areas the pontoon boats cannot. If you desire to try one of these trips you will need to book it yourself. Feel free to make your own plans.
Online – Click Here
Email – heardphototrip@gmail.com
Call Steve Earles – 713-898-5204
The Fort Worth Japanese Garden was completed in 1973. It is a traditional stroll garden with winding paths through the landscapes and around ponds. The Garden consists of 7.5 acres filled with cherry trees, Japanese maples, magnolias, bamboo, bridges, and ponds. The Garden is a great spot for capturing vivid fall colors.
FREE ADMISSION WITH YOUR DALLAS ARBORETUM MEMBERSHIP – BRING YOUR CARD
I visited the Garden Thursday; November 11 and I have attached a few images from that visit. What I learned from that trip:
• The road leading to parking in front of the Garden is blocked. I had to park in front of the Botanic Garden and enter there. It is a good walk to the Japanese Gardens.
• When I entered and paid, the cashier told me there would be an additional charge to get into the Garden, but when I got there, I did not have to pay an additional charge.
• The tram was not running.
• The Rock Springs café is open, and they have outdoor seating for anyone wanting to have lunch there.
If you plan to go, have questions, or have more information to share please email me at heardphototrip@gmail.com.
Adult - $12
Senior – $10
Child 6-15 years - $6
Join your friends from the Heard Nature Photographers Club at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge. Stretch your legs and enjoy the wide-open spaces at this home to migratory birds and abundant wildlife.
