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Borderlands Road Trip 2015

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    Borderlands Road Trip 2015

    Casey Morris planted the Fandango theme in my head several years back. He figured it would appeal to me and he was right. I guess it kind of snowballed so here we go...

    Since our first trip to Big Bend with a Fandango theme, I have been itching to get do it again. I still want to do it again because hopefully each time we do it, we do it a little better.

    This year was special because I had the privilege of traveling with my long time buddy Conrad who recently moved back to Texas from England. Some of you met him at Bownanza. He's as good as they come and was more than up to the task.

    Here's a small sample of the images from the road.

    First stop, Manahans Sand.

    Sandwandering II by legdog, on Flickr

    It was a fun morning in the magic hour.

    Sandwandering coyote II by legdog, on Flickr

    The light and shadows changed quickly. If you ever attempt this, just keep firing. The best light took a while to develop.

    here comes Monahans sun by legdog, on Flickr

    Motionless waves

    sun over sand by legdog, on Flickr

    Lots of animal tracks.

    sun over sand II by legdog, on Flickr

    Could not resist getting in a few.

    Sand running by legdog, on Flickr

    This is Conrad

    Borderlands by legdog, on Flickr

    I got like, 8 inches of air.

    Sand jump by legdog, on Flickr

    After the sand we decided that if we pushed the itinerary log we could add a quick jaunt to the Guadalupe Range and El Capitan.

    We pushed the pace for a handful of images.

    El Capitan II by legdog, on Flickr

    Played with a few angles.

    El Capitan three centuries by legdog, on Flickr

    And foreground choices.

    El Capitan yucca by legdog, on Flickr

    We were satisfied with the call.

    El Capitan_ by legdog, on Flickr

    We were happy with the light.

    El Capitan IV by legdog, on Flickr

    The plan was to be at the old Chata Ortega movie set as the sun went down which is on the other side of Pecos. We got there in plenty of time to hop past Chata Ortega's to shoot the Toyah School which was also featured in the movie.

    Toyah Texas is a small town that seems to be decaying back into the desert.

    Fandango Toyah by legdog, on Flickr

    The Toyah School is a prime example.

    Fandango Toyah III by legdog, on Flickr

    The inside is especially rough.

    Fandango Toyah inside by legdog, on Flickr

    But you are not supposed to go inside.

    Fandango Toyah 1912 by legdog, on Flickr

    Staying on schedule, we headed just back up the road to set up for last light and light painting at Chata Ortega's. If you blow this wall up you can see Cameron Gott's name scratched here along with an obligatory "Legdog" just below where it says "Jeff".

    Chata Groovers by legdog, on Flickr

    Chata Ortega's is a fun shoot because it's a little back off the highway and you have work a bit to get the shots.

    Chata Ortega End of Day II by legdog, on Flickr

    Full moon lit it up well but we added some of our own light in the spirit of Noel Kerns.

    Chata Ortega Moon by legdog, on Flickr

    I'm still not sure which images I like best... better go do it again...

    Chata Ortega Moon II by legdog, on Flickr

    #2
    Amazing pics and lighting! Nicely done!

    Comment


      #3
      After one celebratory Shiner Premium longneck on the side of the highway, we gathered our gear and headed to the University of Texas McDonald Observatory for some night shots.

      I honestly didn't notice the Big Dipper in this shot till I got home. A pleasant surprise.

      McDonald Observatory & Big Dipper by legdog, on Flickr

      Long exposure fun.

      McDona;d UT by legdog, on Flickr

      After the shoot we drove on in to Fort Davis. We had met all our photography goals so we found a rest stop, pulled out two cots and crashed. I wished I had captured the crash point but exhaustion is a funny thing.

      At first light we finally found our way over to the elusive Prada Marfa art installation that isn't really in Marfa at all (as we learned on our first trip west).

      Prada Marfa by legdog, on Flickr

      Could not resist adding balance to minimalist art.

      Prada Marfa Past by legdog, on Flickr

      Comment


        #4
        nice pics legdog! always enjoy following along on your adventures.

        Comment


          #5
          From Prada Marfa it was on to Presidio and down toward Terlingua.

          Another "must stop" is the DOM rock which is also a relic from Fandango.

          DOM (Blaine edit) by legdog, on Flickr

          The rock formation in the front right is where Kevin Costner made his famous speech "to what we were and what we will be". The Rio Grande is down below.

          DOM Speech (Blaine edit) Fandango by legdog, on Flickr

          If you have never driven from Presidio to Terlingua, you need to do so.

          Terlingua Ghost Town (Blaine edit) by legdog, on Flickr

          This is the bluff above Terlingua looking out to Mexico.

          End of the day Terlingua by legdog, on Flickr

          We ended the day at the Starlight as per custom.

          Starlight Theater Terlingua by legdog, on Flickr

          We slept in Terlingua but first light fond us wading across to Mexico to shoot the Santa Elena Canyon.

          Santa Elena Canyon First Light by legdog, on Flickr

          We spent several hours...

          Santa Elena Canyon II by legdog, on Flickr

          Comment


            #6
            I had to rush through the preliminaries, but tagging for later review. Impressive stuff, so far!
            My Flickr Photos

            Comment


              #7
              EXCELENTE! Love them all!!! And what a great moon to work with...perfection.

              I sure want to go back for a redo myself...so much beauty in that area of the state!

              Comment


                #8
                After Santa Elena we had breakfast in the Basin and then set off to find a campground close to where we set up with Middleton and crew the first visit out. After camp set up the evening goal was the window.

                Conrad used to be a downhill ski racer and pro soccer player. Consequently he has two brand new knees to hike with.

                Conrad to the window by legdog, on Flickr

                His knees did just fine.

                Conrad enters window by legdog, on Flickr

                And we set up at the window to watch the light change.

                Window Wide II by legdog, on Flickr

                played with some angles...

                The Window Wide by legdog, on Flickr

                And patiently waited on others as we shared one of the coolest views in Texas.

                Conrad Captures by legdog, on Flickr

                Eventually we got what we came for.

                The Window III by legdog, on Flickr

                No doubt too much post process here but hey, it's fun.

                Another Window by legdog, on Flickr

                Comment


                  #9
                  I still have more to work on but these are the highlights.

                  After spending some time in Marathon, we saw the train come through so we raced ahead to catch it. It didn't dawn on me till later (thanks John) that these are the tracks from the Fandango train scene.

                  Marathon Fandango Train by legdog, on Flickr

                  There's more unfinished parts of the story but I have been so slow to decide on which images I liked I have sat on these for a while. I'll add a few more when they surface.

                  Thanks for looking. You bet I'll do it again.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Tip of the cap, buddy

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Looks like a roadtrip I need to take soon. Thanks for sharing with us.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Great shots! I have never been out to that part of the state, but those pictures make me feel as though I was there.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Chisos Bluebonnets

                          Chisos Bluebonnets by legdog, on Flickr

                          Border surveillance system

                          Tethered Aerostat by legdog, on Flickr

                          Starlight entrance

                          Starlight by legdog, on Flickr

                          Terlingua Moon

                          thirty seconds of moon by legdog, on Flickr

                          Moon eye

                          moon eye by legdog, on Flickr

                          Earlier

                          terlingua by legdog, on Flickr

                          Terlingua decay

                          church decay by legdog, on Flickr

                          Added pews since last isit

                          church by legdog, on Flickr

                          Rio Grande running through an old movie set. Streets of Laredo and others...

                          River view by legdog, on Flickr

                          Movie set decay

                          Embrace the decay Chisos by legdog, on Flickr

                          Makes for a fun quick shoot

                          Embrace the decay by legdog, on Flickr

                          Streets of Laredo? by legdog, on Flickr

                          Movie set by legdog, on Flickr

                          Dorks at the DOM

                          Dom Dorks by legdog, on Flickr

                          You can see the original DOM in this one as well as the one they recreated for Fandango.

                          Double DOM by legdog, on Flickr

                          I'll try and wrap it up with one more set.

                          canoe by legdog, on Flickr

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Amazing pictures Leg. Thank you.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Borderlands Road Trip 2015

                              Great set of photos Steven!

                              I wouldn’t expect anything less.

                              Comment

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