Clear Creek Nature Center: October 2017

It had been an unbelievable -- and quite possibly unprecedented -- two months since I had last been out shooting pictures.  TWO MONTHS!!  Between the start of school, summer heat, and so on I just hadn't managed to get out.  It took a three-day weekend to finally get me to shake the dust off a bit.  I enjoyed my initial visit to the Clear Creek Natural Heritage Center so much this past spring, I decided to see how it looked in the fall.

Fall in North Texas isn't doled out in sweeping and majestic helpings.  Rather, it asks one to seek it in the subtle and intimate.

I hadn't planned on shooting backlit leaves.  But they were abundant in the early stretches of my hike, and they were beautiful.

Spiders had done yeoman's work suspending some of the leaves in place, too.

I still haven't learned my Texas plants well enough to identify this one.  But I've always been a sucker for seed pods.

I saw the most butterflies along the edges of the wetland, including this Tawny Emperor...

... and several Monarchs, none of which would pose in the light for me.  I had to jack my ISO up to 3200 to get something decent of this one in the shade.

Dragonflies are too freaky not to shoot, especially when they pose like this Eastern Pondhawk.

The best spot of the day for me was definitely this Green Treefrog, who couldn't have been more than an inch long.  With a steady breeze blowing, I had a hard time getting a still shot of him soaking up the late morning sun.

In the end, I got both a portrait and landscape orientation that I liked!

I had a really unique angle on this Red-Spotted Purple.  I don't think I've ever seen a butterfly with such a badass expression before.

Two great hours out with my camera.  I hope it's not another two months before my next outing!