Photographers Rick and CJ Boales are no strangers to Caprock Canyons State Park in Quitaque, especially since their retirement and move to Dickens County from the Metroplex puts them just a short drive away. So when weather reports warn folks to stay in and stay warm, that’s when they hitch up their cabover camper and hit the road.
Last week’s projected snow day looked to provide perfect conditions—and hit the road is just what they did. The couple spent MondayandTuesdaynights camping at the park, which is home to the state’s official bison herd, fingers crossed for Tuesday’s predicted snowfall.
“We were not disappointed,” said Rick, a former photographer for the Temple (TX) Telegram. “We woke up Tuesday morning to a real-life winter wonderland. I have lived my life (so far) in Texas, and I have never seen snow as plentiful and as beautiful as I did Tuesday.”
After talking with the camp host, handily in the adjacent spot, the couple explained, they headed towards the visitor center, where the host had said a goodly part of the bison herd was waiting to be fed.
“In very short order we found them,” Rick said. “When they saw our truck they came at a run, hoping that we were the truck with their feed. We were quickly surrounded but we really didn’t care. We just rolled down our windows… stuck our cameras out in the still-coming-down-hard, driving snow and started shooting.”
The Boaleses are also practiced in the art of dealing with technical challenges in their photography, whether with their state-ofthe- art 35mm rigs or their smartphones. “The snowfall was indeed very heavy and made photographing these incredible animals very difficult as the autofocus kept locking on the snowflakes instead of the bison,” said Rick, pointing out how some of their shots indicate just how heavily the snow was falling. “Nevertheless, we did get some beautiful photographs of the magnificent bison in the snow.”
Rick and CJ were quick to add a safety note for any photographers and visitors. “ALL of our bison-in-thesnow photos were taken from the safety of our truck with telephoto lenses as we were surrounded in a ‘Bison Traffic Jam’ on the road.” Park staff are diligent in warning visitors to keep a 50-yard distance between themselves and the bison.
The Boalses, who offer prints of their work for sale, can be found on Facebook at Texas Big Sky Photography, on the web at https:// texasbigskyphotography. smugmug.com And incidentally, for those looking to glean techniques andknowledgefrom these experts, Rick and CJ are helping to organize a photography club in Spur, which held its first gathering last month at the Dickens County Spur Public Library. Call the library at (806) 271-3714 for details.
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