Well, better late than never. It’s been a busy couple past weeks, and I’m settling in to February…finally. The February 2010 desktop wallpaper calendar is set, and all you have to do is click on the image above to see the large version. Right-click the image, and save it to your desktop!

Monsoon season hits the Big Bend area in far West Texas in the late summer/early fall of each year. This image was taken from atop a ridge at Cibolo Creek Ranch, one of the most beautiful places I have ever had the opportunity to visit. It’s settled right underneath the Chinati mountain range, about 25 minutes south of Marfa. If you’re ever in the area, it’s well worth the visit!

I was skimming through some images in my archive from a while back, and I happened across this one of a gray fox I photographed while helping Wyman Meinzer at a photo workshop at Cibolo Creek Ranch. The resort/ranch is located due south of Marfa, Texas, in the Big Bend (a jewel of the desert, and a photographers dream place). There’s a lesson to be learned here for sure, and that’s to keep in mind images that you have seen before and what you can do differently. In this case, the fox is perched quite a bit above the ground on a small outcropping. While this is not unusual for the fox, you don’t often just catch them in that spot through your lens. The fox eventually came down to a call imitating prey in distress, allowing for some closer shots, but this one turned out to be my favorite, purely from a natural historic perspective.

It’s all about the message!