Dubbed as the Couchbunker, it looks like a regular sofa but with quite unusual features. This custom built sofa consist of a fire rated gun safe hidden inside along with bulletproof cushions with carry straps that can act as a shield to keep you safe from bullet-shower.
Image Gallery
|
Standing 20 yards from the Mexican border. Not exactly what you expected to see, huh?
Fences – Big Bend Ranch State Park, Texas
Copyright 2011 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 28mm, f/14 for 1/40th of a second at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray warming polarizer filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3.
Click on the image above for a larger version.
The hike to the Burro Mesa Pouroff in Big Bend National Park is an easy 1/2 mile stroll through 26 million years of geology. Getting there is an easy drive along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive and right down the road from the beautiful Sotol Vista and the Homer Wilson Ranch.
The pour off is a long narrow shoot that drains from the top of the mesa during the rainy season. Most of the year it is a dry wash exposing the unique rhyolite layers found on the western slope of the Chisos Mountains. Watch out when it rains however. During a summer shower this narrow pour off and dry wash can flood quickly, catching hikers off guard. Looking up at this incredible wonder it’s easy to imagine all that water cascading down from above.
Burro Mesa Pouroff – Big Bend National Park, Texas
Copyright 2011 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 17-40mm f/4L USM lens tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 20mm, f/14 for 1/30th of a second at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray warming polarizer filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3 and Adobe Photoshop CS5.
Click on the image above for a larger version.
Enjoy!
Secret Garden – Big Bend National Park, Texas
Copyright 2011 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 24mm, f/16 for 8/10th of a second at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray warming polarizer filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3.
Click on the image above for a larger version.
Spring Pool – Big Bend National Park, Texas
Copyright 2011 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 40mm, f/14 for 3/10th of a second at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray warming polarizer filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3.
Click on the image above for a larger version.
Pour Off – Big Bend National Park, Texas
Copyright 2011 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 24mm, f/14 for 1/4th of a second at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray warming polarizer filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3.
Click on the image above for a larger version.
The Spring 2013 Texas Landscape Safari will be held April 21 - 24, 2013 in Canyon, Texas deep in the heart of the panhandle! That's right folks, the TLS will be moving from the Hill Country to the Texas High Plains & Canyons this year.
This not your usual photography workshop or tour. It's more like a bunch of friends getting together to share their love of landscape photography and help each other grow as serious photographers. It's a chance to visit and photograph some of the most beautiful spots in the Texas panhandle and to learn some techniques to enhance your landscape photography behind the camera and in the digital darkroom.
South Prong Canyon in Caprock Canyons State Park
Our Base Camp will be in Canyon, Texas and we will be shooting at both Palo Duro Canyon State Park and Caprock Canyons State Park as well as other key locations during the three day workshop. Many of the panhandle locations are “drive up and shoot” opportunities and there are literally thousands of great spots within 90 miles of our base camp!
Click on the image above to see our Google map for the TLS
What You’ll Learn
Registration Opens Now!
Just drop me an email via this blog with your name, mailing address and email address and I’ll add you to the mailing list. Our class size is limited to the first fifteen people, so don’t wait too long!
Upper Madera Canyon – Big Bend Ranch State Park, Texas
Copyright 2011 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 47mm, f/14 for 1/60th of a second at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray warming polarizer filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3.
Click on the image above for a larger version.
Sometimes just wandering around a few thousand acres of desert in the heat of the mid-day sun is all you need to appreciate the cooler (but more humid) climate of East Texas. However, with the current drought conditions lingering this winter, the “green-belts” around my neighborhood are beginning to resemble Big Bend more and more each week!
Trail Bound for Nowhere – Big Bend National Park, Texas
Copyright 2011 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 47mm, f/14 for 1/60th of a second at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray warming polarizer filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3.
Click on the image above for a larger version.
I hope when I’m eighty I have half the grace and poise that this wonderful model does. Her song enchanted me and I had to capture the life, love and beauty of this incredible face. It’s one of my favorite portraits.
Grace – Fayetteville, Texas
Copyright 2010 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture priority (Av) using an EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens hand-held. The exposure was taken at 200mm, f/6.3 for 1/250th of a second at ISO 800 using a Singh-Ray warming circular polarizer. All post capture processing was done in Adobe's Lightroom 3.
Click on the image above for a larger version.
On a personal note
My sincere thanks to everyone for your prayers and concerns for my daughter Margaret. She is beginning to feel better and her doctors are very positive. Next week when we get the test results we will know better if this is just a bump in the road or not. — Jeff
Photographing the "black powder" shooters in action is a treat. These replicas of 1873 Winchester rifles shoot black powder cartridges reminiscent of the days before "smokeless" (modern) gun powder was invented. The percussion “open-top” pistols are even more interesting since there is no modern “cartridge” as we know it. Just a cap, ball and black powder! KaBoom…
Hammer Down – North Zulch, Texas
Copyright 2012 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens hand held. The exposure was taken at 105mm, f/7.1 for 1/160th of a second at ISO 400. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5 using Nik’s Color Efex Pro filters.
Click on the image above for a larger version.
Smoke – North Zulch, Texas
Copyright 2012 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens hand held. The exposure was taken at 70mm, f/7.1 for 1/320th of a second at ISO 400. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5 using Nik’s Color Efex Pro filters.
Click on the image above for a larger version.
Duelist – North Zulch, Texas
Copyright 2012 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens hand held. The exposure was taken at 73mm, f/7.1 for 1/160th of a second at ISO 400. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5 using Nik’s Color Efex Pro filters.
Click on the image above for a larger version.
What do you do when your creativity fails you? When the trials and tribulations of life and love leave you feeling empty, alone and devoid of creative energy. How do you eat, sleep and work when the very foundations of your life are torn asunder by some major event? How do you capture the beauty of this world when your soul aches with despair? How do you continue to “create” when filled with grief, fear and sadness?
I’ve know many photographers that gave up their craft when faced with the loss of their creative spark. Some quit very quickly, rather than face the dwindling prospects they saw their life filled with. Others lost touch with their clients, colleges and creative friends more slowly as they sank deeper into their creative depression. In many cases the energy required to “create” something meaningful was simply more than their heart and soul could produce and they let apathy and entropy take their course.
Sooner or later, this happens to all photographers, whether amateur or professional. In the course of your life, you too will face a period of time when the fire of your creative spirit will grow dim, perhaps even to the point of extinction. How you handle this tribulation speaks volumes about your character, your integrity and your spirit.
The Basin Ridge – Big Bend National Park, Texas
Copyright 2011 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 35mm, f/14 for 1/25th of a second at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray warming polarizer filter and 2-stop, soft, graduated neutral density filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 4.
Click on the image above for a larger version.
As many of you know, my wife of twenty-three years left me several months ago in a rather abrupt and hurtful manner. I was both surprised and shocked to find out that she no longer loved me nor wanted to be married to me. The weeks that followed this shocking event were perhaps the most painful in my life and nothing could have prepared me for the sense of loss, grief and despair that followed. I had thought my chronic physical impairments see blog postings from July, August and September 2008 for more information) were the worst thing fate could hand me but I was wrong. Even the most acute physical pain is nothing compared to the emotional pain I felt during those long, lonely weeks. I felt overwhelmed, afraid and adrift. I couldn’t eat, sleep or work and my creative spark had simply vanished.
Then one day a few weeks ago I had lunch with a very dear friend of mine that has suffered through eight different bouts of cancer, the last only a few short weeks ago. During our lunch, my friend would explain in great detail how his treatment was going but he never once complained about his illness nor about his lot in life. In fact, we spent much of our lunch talking about my current situation which pales in comparison to his plight. Rather than look for sympathy after his most recent bout of cancer, my friend was more interested in lending me support through my ordeal.
You see, my friend’s steadfast courage and enormous personal integrity won’t permit him to succumb to his cancer nor will it allow him to live his life to anything but the fullest. He continues to drive himself to the doctor, takes his rather large dog with him wherever he goes and enjoys a good plate of spicy Tex-Mex whenever we get together. If you didn’t know better, you never think that my friend had cancer at all. He is an incredible individual with more energy, enthusiasm and interests than men half his age. His courage, spirit and singularly positive attitude help him not only survive cancer but to thrive despite his situation.
I admire his courage, integrity and character more than I can ever express and he would be mighty embarrassed if I were to mention him by name in this post. His example to all of us and to myself especially is to “live life to the fullest” and to look at every obstacle as a challenge to be faced with courage, rather than with fear and self pity. Through his courage and integrity my friend taught me a very valuable lesson at a crucial moment in my life.
Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life… When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.
– Tecumseh
You see my friends, creativity is not a gift that can be lost or stolen. You can’t buy it at a camera store and it’s not something that you can borrow from someone else. No amount of money can buy creativity despite the millions spent each year in this pointless pursuit.
Creativity is a muscle!
It is a muscle that all of us are born with and it lays very close to our hearts. Oh, it may atrophy when neglected and cramp when stressed beyond its limits. It is a muscle that requires exercise to stay in shape and warmth & rest when it’s hurt. Nothing can stop this muscle from flexing to its fullest extent if we have the courage to exercise it diligently and the wisdom to protect it from injury. Like other muscles, creativity requires nourishment to grow and rest to recuperate.
Creativity needs the strength of your convictions, the integrity of your actions and the warmth of your spirit to operate at peak efficiency. Sometimes it just needs a good swift kick in the butt. Let my friend’s life be your example and Tecumseh’s poem your roadmap. When your creativity fails you, pick yourself up and start running again. Your creativity’s “muscle memory” will kick in and soon you’ll be back in the race. I promise!
The Basin Ridge – Big Bend National Park, Texas
Copyright 2011 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 35mm, f/14 for 1/25th of a second at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray warming polarizer filter and 2-stop, soft, graduated neutral density filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 4.
Click on the image above for a larger version.
