In September 2025, the Heard Nature Photographers will visit the Dallas World Aquarium (DWA) in Dallas’ West End to photograph a wide variety of exotic wildlife (amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish, mammals, and flowers) from around the world. I’ve included, below, a few of the numerous photos I took with my cell phone when I visited DWA recently. Some of the creatures are behind glass that, at one time, could have posed a challenge. But with the new reflection removal and haze removal tools in Lightroom, that’s not as big a problem as in the past.

The aquarium opens at 8:30 each day, and the earlier we get there, the less crowded it will be. I spoke to a person at the DWA who indicated that September is one of their slowest months, because summer is over and schools have started but have not begun scheduling field trips. Saturdays can still be a bit crazy, but Sunday mornings, and especially weekday morning in September tend to be slow.

 Admission to DWA costs $31.95 for adults (anyone over 12) and $26.95 for seniors (65+). The least expensive and closest parking costs $10.00 and can be found immediately north of or just across the street to the east of the DWA.

To respect the beliefs of HNP members who normally attend church on Sunday, I took an informal poll at the August meeting. Substantially more members indicated a willingness to participate on Sunday morning than indicated they would prefer not to. For those who are disinclined to participate on Sunday morning, you could go down on Friday (or any weekday) morning to take your photos. You just would have to battle weekday morning traffic. I will be participating with the Sunday group, so Friday participants would be on their own to meet up and go to the restaurant for lunch. I can ask members to indicate in their registration comments if they plan to go on Friday and put that group in touch with each other if that is of interest.

Directions

The easiest way to get to the DWA is to follow your GPS. If you drive from north Dallas or Collin County, take Central Expressway (U.S. 75) south, get on the Woodall Rogers connector to I-35E, and take the Field Street exit. Turn left (south) onto Field Street, and, after passing under Woodall Rogers, veer right onto southbound North Griffin Street. Fairly quickly, you will veer right, again, onto Hord Street for one block. Then, turn right onto north-bound North Griffin Street, and you’re there. Park in one of the $10.00 parking lots on the right or go down to the $10.00 parking lot on the north end of the DWA. Pay your parking with a credit card at one of the kiosks and remember to place your receipt on the dashboard of your car. The main entrance to the DWA is on the west side in the middle of the building. There’s a pedestrian breezeway in the middle of the building marked “Entrance” that takes you to the main entrance if you park on the east side of the building.

If you prefer, you could also take the DART Light Rail. All four DART rail lines stop at West End Station. From West End Station, it’s about a four-minute, four-block walk to the entrance of the DWA. Just arrive at West End Station early enough to walk to the DWA by about opening time.

Lunch: 

We will meet for lunch starting at about 11:30 a.m. at Liam’s Steakhouse. It’s a short two-block walk west from the DWA main entrance. As I said to HNP members at the August monthly meeting, the restaurant was so good that I would go on the field trip just to go back there.

 11:30 a.m.

• Liam’s Steakhouse
  1713 N Market St
  Dallas, TX 75202
  (214) 468-4729
  https://www.theliamssteakhouse.com/

 Liam’s serves a Sunday Brunch on (wait for it) Sundays. 

PHOTOGRAPHY CONDITIONS:

• Tripods are prohibited.

• Flash photography is prohibited.

• Monopods are okay so long as you don’t block people for long.

 SUGGESTED EQUIPMENT: 

• Monopod (If you prefer, skip the monopod and shoot handheld. Just remember to bump up your shutter speed and/or ISO, because the light is not bright. Sometimes the light is quite dim, in fact, and occasionally there is strong backlight.)

• Wide-Angle Lens (A zoom may be preferrable to a prime lens since space is limited.)

• Telephoto Lens (Again, a zoom may be preferrable to a prime lens.)

• Extra Batteries and Memory Cards