Shot a random roll of expired Kodak Gold 200 in a point-and-shoot – Samsung Maxima Zoom 90i, which was also sold as the Rollei Prego 90. I like the performance, but the camera is a bit too chunky to be a handy carry-around.
Still, I like the rich color of the sunset light captured in these images.
We emerged from Big Bend Country and West Texas to land on a little ranch in the town of Oatmeal. The 2020 Census put the population of Oatmeal at 20. The town is unincorporated, technically a part of Betram in Burnet Country in the Texas Hill Country outside of Austin.
The town’s claim to fame appears to be the the Oatmeal Festival held each year over Labor Day weekend. There are town offices, a town windmill, at least one cemetery, a water tower painted to look like a can of oatmeal.
At one time, there was a Black section of town, but there’s no trace of it now. Recently, a police officer discovered an overgrown cemetery on the side of a road that was the town’s Black cemetery, but we couldn’t find clear direction to it. There was talk of preservation efforts and, perhaps, the town wants to keep away vandals and souvenir hunters until they can do something.
I had stopped in Terlingua back in March 2023 on my way to Big Bend Ranch State Park. The town sits between the state park and the national park and is an ideal spot to get your vehicle and yourself fueled up. I did the quick detour and followed the signs to the ghost town, a collection of dwellings that are little more than a few walls and a cemetery, but still told a story of what used to be there.
This time around, it was an emergency stop. We had vastly miscalculated how far our rental SUV could carry us on a tank of gas, then found that the only gas station in the national park at Panther Junction, wasn’t open as late as advertised. We did some quick checking on a map and found the only gas station within range – maybe – was in Terlingua.
We arrived well past dark and too late to get food and ended up staying the night in a motel. The next morning was a brilliantly clear day with deep blue skies. Out the door of our room was a view of a Ocatillo in full leaf and bloom set against Study Butte.
One of the joys of being on the road is getting breakfast at the local diner. Terlingua’s Chili Pepper Cafe didn’t disappoint – tamale, tortillas and beans with your eggs.
We arrived at Santa Elena Canyon late in the day and the parking lot was nearly full, but beginning to empty. We met several group heading out as we walked toward the river. By the time we were at the mouth of the canyon, it felt like we had the place nearly to ourselves.
The favored light – the one you see in the posters and postcards – hits the canyons in the morning. We were there late in the afternoon, which meant that the sun was beyond the canyon. The way was also overcast, but that worked in my favor by eliminating the harshness of backlighting.
Looking towards the canyon, especially from a distance, I kept wondering over the power of the mostly placid river to cut such a deep cut into the Sierra Ponce cliffs.
This final shot is a reverse shot, looking north out of the mouth of the canyon toward the U.S. side of the Rio Grande. The light was starting to fade by this time, especially in the shadow within the canyon.
This is by the ranger station in the Castolon Historic District inside Big Bend National Park.
From the National Park Service website:
The Alvino House is the oldest intact adobe structure in Big Bend National Park. The building represents the everyday life of the many families who lived and farmed along the Rio Grande. This building was constructed around 1901 by Cipriano Hernandez, one of the Hispanic settlers who farmed near Castolon.
National Park Service
What makes the photo for me is that off in the distance, you can see the Sierra Ponce Mountains stretching across the horizon like a fortress wall with a notch that marks the location of the famed Santa Elena Canyon.
We didn’t go down to the Alvino House. It was already late afternoon and was trying to get to Santa Elena with enough time to hike through the canyon before the sun went down.
Shot on Cinestill BWXX, one of my favorite film stocks, Leica MP-4 and Summicron 35, perhaps not the ideal focal length for this shot but it was the only lens I took with me other than the one on the Voigtlander Perkeo II.
If I had a choice, I would have chosen a longer focal length than 35mm to make this image, but 35mm was all I had. To my eye, the moon looked a whole lot bigger, as it always seems to do compared to the images I capture.
As it is, you have to kind of work to spot the faint moon. Still, the image has a certain John Ford vibe that I like.
I’ve covered quite a few miles traveling around Big Bend region, and the only agave plants I’ve seen in blood were both cultivated. I posted a while ago about the one I saw at the Chiso Basin Lodge. This one was in the garden of the Panther Junction Visitors Center, the main ranger station for Big Bend National Park.
The fact that his agave was planted besides a paved walkway didn’t take away from its grandeur. I like the look produced by the Catlabs 320 Pro developed in 510 Pyro.
I don’t know if it was the time of year or the particular patch of the Chihuahuan Desert, but our campsite was surrounded by sotol and I couldn’t stop taking their picture.
On this trip to Big Bend, I twisted my knee on a hike on the South Rim Trail, which limited my mobility for a couple of days. That left me to spend a day hobbling around our Pine Canyon campsite while my partner did a little exploring. Here’s what I came up with.
These were shot with my Leica M6 on the Catlabs 320 Pro, one of my favorite emulsion, especially when developed using 510 Pyro.
Ok, so not so alone. You can see plenty of others dotting the landscape in the background. This was in the Pine Canyon area of the national park. Sotol are plentiful in the Big Bend region, but they do give off a solitary feeling, especially with the wide-open sky as a backdrop. I love the flora of the Chihuahuan Desert.
Captured by Film 