My latest photography article has been published to the National Parks Traveler site. It’s a summer visit version of my April visit to Padre Island National Seashore in Texas.
Click on the photo to be taken to the article.
Monthly Archives: June 2017
An Early Summer Visit to Padre Island National Seashore, Texas
It seems like only yesterday, instead of 2 months ago, that I visited this national seashore southwest of my home. I drive the 3 hours back down there last week (June 6-10) on assignment with the National Parks Traveler to photograph at least one public release of the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle. It was a wonderful experience and I’ve written a couple of articles about this trip that will be published on the Traveler’s site. I’ll let you know when that happens.
In the meantime, here’s a sampling of what I saw and experienced at Padre Island National Seashore in the early summer.
A full moon, starry sky and sandy beach at Padre Island National Seashore.
Taking in the vast view.
Looking northeast along the beach, just before sunrise.
Looking southeast. That barricade you see on the upper far right is the divider between the pedestrian-only portion of the seashore (where I was standing) and the pedestrian/vehicle portion of the seashore, which is basically the rest of the national seashore, all 60 miles of it.
Sunrise
A pelican-kind of morning
En route to the Gulf of Mexico
A Kemp’s ridley sea turtle hatchling “swimming” across the sandy beach to get to the water of the Gulf of Mexico. These little guys are smaller than a GoPro action cam.
Standing atop a dune on this morning, overlooking a hatchling release. There were about 400 people at the public hatchling release, that day. The next day after this, there were 860 attendees (weekends are usually more-attended).
Another sunny day at Padre Island National Seashore
Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle Hatchling Release Redux (ahem)
Well, I was told by a follower to my blog site that the email automatically sent out to you subscribers had an incorrect link in it to the video. I had fixed the link in the post, itself, but couldn’t do anything about the email. So, I am posting again, and hopefully this link will take you to the article and video on the National Parks Traveler website.
Filed under Uncategorized
Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle Hatchling Release
Part of a video I captured while photographing a release of the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle hatchlings is included in this National Parks Traveler article. I’ll be writing a much longer article for the Traveler in the coming weeks. Click on the photo to be taken to the article and video.
Travel, Luggage and Photography
My June column has been published on the National Parks Traveler website. This month’s publication deals with travel, luggage and photography. Click on the photo to be taken to the link.
Filed under Equipment, National Parks Traveler, Photography, Travel, Uncategorized
Gliding Over The Gulf
Pelicans are so very stately when flying (a little prehistoric, too). Thankfully, that gives me decent practice with my panning skills. It still helps to have a camera with a relatively fast fps (frames per second) count, and it also helps to remember to put your focus mode into AI Servo (or whatever mode your brand of camera calls the ability to track moving objects while keeping them in focus).
I’m all packed and ready for my trip back to this national seashore later this week. All I need to do is cook a few items to put in the cooler. I’m driving, which means I not only am able to keep my tripods fully extended in the back of the car, but I can, essentially, bring along the kitchen sink, coffee maker, and refrigerator 
On behalf of the National Parks Traveler, I’m traveling back to this national seashore to photograph a release of the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle hatchlings. Even though the hatchling schedule on the PAIS (Padre Island National Seashore) webpage gives a range of days during which there might be a release, that doesn’t always mean this will occur. I’m keeping my fingers crossed, though. And heck, I’ll be on vacation and the sunrises are amazing there, not to mention the seabird photography. I plan to stick around for a sunset or two, as well, and, on the 9th is the new moon, which means – unless there are storm clouds – I might see some stars.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
