Some interesting shots from our drive home from Texas last week.

The biggest side trip was to the Natural Bridge Caverns just north of San Antonio. This is the third caverns that my wife and I have explored. The other two were the Meramec Caverns in Stanton, Missouri, in July 2016, and Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico in October 2023.

This latest cavern was interesting as it was a long and humid climb, 180 feet down and of course, 180 feet back up, on wet and slippery switch-back walkways.

I'm trying my hand with Manga Studio, part of the Clip Paint Studio. I started by experimenting with a freehand sketch of the Old Courthouse of St. Louis which was statically framed by the construction of the Gateway Arch. It is one of the most photographed landmarks in the city.

I started with a freehand sketch and several layers of soft colors over it to emulate watercolor media. I want folks to know that the fellow in front of the Courthouse is a statue and it is not a selfie of me standing in front of the building.

Otter, Peaceful Waters, Wellington Fl
Sony a1, Sony 200-600mm @ 200mm 6.3, 1/3200 sec. iso 500.
I had been photographing this Otter out in the sun in manual exposure based on green foliage readings.
As it swam closer it dove under the surface and came up almost under me while I was on the board walk, he was in deep shadows and there was no time to change settings as he stared at me for a brief second before going under once again. I shoot in RAW so I brought it back in Photoshop RAW.
I have photographed these guys for months but this is the closest I ever got, this little guy always, if he sees me, will stop what he is doing and gives me a once over.