Entries being accepted for Hagerman NWR Nature photography contest

Lake Texoma | Aug 13, 2014

Entries are being accepted now through September 6, 2014 for the 5th

Annual Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge Nature photography contest.  Entries must have been photographed at the Refuge in 2012, 2013 or 2014.

The Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge offers plenty of opportunities for bird watching, observing the great outdoors and nature photography.  Bring your binoculars and ride the Tam or meander along the walking trails, cross native prairie lands and meander under the forest.  Native wildlife is abundant and the photography opportunities are endless.

Photographers who enter as many categories as they can will improve their chances of winning, as some categories attract many more entries than others.

This year $100 and a ribbon will be awarded for the Best in Show photo, and $50 and ribbons will be awarded for First Place in each contest category available. Ribbons will be given for Second and Third places in each category -- Artistic, Flora and Macro, Landscape, Wildlife, and Youth.

Skip Hills, owner of Hill’s Photography of Texas, Trey Neal, Texas professional photographer, and Rick Cantu, Assistant Manager at Hagerman have been selected as Judges for this year's competition .  The panel of judges will not know the identity of anyone submitting photos until after the judging is complete.

Entries may be mailed to the refuge or handed in at the Visitor Center.  Contest rules, entry details and entry form are posted at http://www.friendsofhagerman.com/PhotoClub.

Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge Summer Events

Open Air Tram at Hagerman NWR

During the months of June, July and August, free guided wildlife tours along Wildlife Drive on open air, all-electric tram, will be offered several times weekly, weather permitting.  There is no charge, but  donations will be gratefully accepted.   Bring your camera, binoculars or borrow our loaner binos.  Check friendsofhagerman.com/Activities for monthly tour schedules. You can reserve your spot by phone, 903 786 2826. 

Youth FIRST at Hagerman NWR will be held on June 7th from 10 - 11:30 am.  Youth FIRST is the monthly program for children at Hagerman NWR, with activities for ages 4 - 7 and ages 8 - 12.  The topic for June will be Good Bugs/Bad Bugs.  You can register youth online, friendsofhagerman.com/Youth or by phoning the Refuge, 903 786 2826. Lots of hands-on nature learning and fun! Parent or other responsible adult must accompany children age 6 and younger.

Second Saturday will be held June 14th at the Visitor Center.  A guided Bird Walk with Dr. Wayne Meyer will be held from 8 - 9:30.  Meet at the Visitor Center.  Dr. George Diggs, co-author of Shinners & Mahlers Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas, will speak on Ferns of Texas at 10 -11:30

On June 21, the Refuge will hold a Volunteer Orientation and Training Day, for those 18 and older who are interested in learning more about volunteering in the Visitor Center at the Refuge. Overview, lunch and Refuge tour.  Please RSVP to 903 786 2826 or email friendsofhagerman@gmail.com.  The Orientation will be from 10 am - 2pm at the Refuge.

Second Saturday at Hagerman on July 12th will feature Endangered Species specialist with the US Fish & Wildlife Service, Omar Bocanegra, who will speak on Dragonflies of Texas.  The program will be held from 10 – 11:30 am, in the Visitor Center at the Refuge,  The free Nature Programs are open to the public.

The Nature Photography Club will meet for a program and photo sharing on July 12 at 12:30 pm.  The Photography Club meets bi-monthly, in the Audio Visual Classroom of the Friends Of Hagerman Center, at the Refuge, the Club is open to any photographer interested in nature photography.  Visitors are welcome free of charge; nominal dues for membership.

The program for the Youth FIRST on August will be announced soon.  Check the Kids Korner or Event page on TexomaConnect for updated information on speaker and topic.

Second Saturday on August 9 will feature Dr. Bryon Clark, amateur bat enthusiast who will present the ABC’s of Bats from 10 – 11:30 am, in the Visitor Center at the Refuge.

Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge is located at 6465 Refuge Road, Sherman, TX 75092.

Nature Writing Workshop

Press Release  Friends of Hagerman

On Sunday, January 19, Dr. William B. Hughes will lead a Nature Writing

Workshop at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, from 2:30 – 4 pm.  Dr. Hughes, who has had articles published in several nature magazines, says the workshop will cover in detail the steps involved in writing a nature article for publication.

Hughes has had a lifelong interest in birds, inspired by his father.  Following retirement from a career as a research chemist, his desire to share his birding experiences has prompted him to pursue writing about birds on such diverse subjects as the history of bird study in America and bird fables.  Examples of his articles have appeared in Bird Watcher’s Digest and Missouri Prairie Journal.

The workshop is free of charge but advance registration is required; participants may register online at http://www.friendsofhagerman.com/Activities, or may call the Refuge, 903 786 2826.  The workshop is limited to 15 participants.

Hagerman NWR is located at 6465 Refuge Road, Sherman, Texas, 75092, on the Big Mineral Arm of Lake Texoma.  Participants will meet in  the Visitor Center at the Refuge.

Lake Texoma is a mecca for anyone who loves to study the great outdoors.  Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge attracts thousands of birding enthusiast, nature photographers and writers each year.  For more information about Lake Texoma visit www.texomaconnect.com.

Hagerman Announces Photographer of the Month for January 2014

The Friends of Hagerman begin the seventh year of the popular Photographer

Majestic Fisherman

of the Month program with Jillian M. Duquaine-Watson  as January, 2014, Photographer of the Month.

Dr. Duquaine-Watson, a professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas, will have a virtual album of twelve photographs taken at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge featured on the Friends website this month, at friendsofhagerman.com/Gallery.

Dr. Jillian, as she is known by her students, first became interested in photography during her high school years in Wisconsin, taking and printing her own images using traditional 35mm film and darkroom techniques.  In recent years, her attention has migrated to the realm of digital photography. She is especially interested in the ways in which photography can be used as a tool of social change, an interest that extends to both her professional and personal lives. She is a full-time faculty member at The University of Texas at Dallas where her academic offerings include, “Documentary Photography: History, Politics, and Impacts,” a course which examines how photography is used to create awareness and promote various actions in order to address such issues as environmental degradation, child mortality, and genocide.

On a personal level, she engages in photography as a type of meditation, a contemplative practice that enables her to better understand and appreciate the nuances of the world, especially the natural world and human relationships.

Duquaine-Watson  discovered  Hagerman NWR several years ago while doing an online search for places to hike with her daughters.  She visits the refuge regularly, approximately 7-8 times every year, and especially enjoys visiting the refuge during springtime and also in fall. She is a loyal Nikon user and especially enjoys exploring the realm of macro images.
In addition to Photographer of the Month, the Nature Photography Club offers bimonthly meeting for those interested in nature photography.  The next meeting is set for Saturday, January 11, at 12:30 pm, at the Refuge.  Dr. Wayne Meyer will present the program, on the uses of photography in wildlife research.  Visitors are welcome to attend, free of charge; there are nominal dues for membership.

Lake Texoma Parks and refuge areas are wonderful sites to enjoy the great outdoors and provide excellent oppurtunities for birders and photographers to capture the beauty of nature.  For more information on places to visit and things to do in the Lake Texoma area, visit www.texomaconnect.com.

Hagerman Photographer of the Month - November 2013

November, 2013, Photographer of the Month

Diane Varley has been named November Photographer of the Month   Varley says that her interest in photography started in the early (pre-children) years of marriage, taking photos of travel and friends. She says, “My husband and father-in-law always remarked that I had a natural eye for composition. This natural ability seems to run in my family as my Dad painted landscapes as a hobby and my younger sister is an accomplished artist and works as a Graphic Designer.  Additionally, our oldest son ran his own multimedia company for several years.”


Flight Reflection

by the Friends of Hagerman.

Although she started with film photography, she found the move to the digital medium more rewarding due to the instant feedback.  Varley used several compact point and shoot digital cameras, until her husband bought her a Sony mirror-less camera with interchangeable lenses. She says she is still learning the mechanics of a complex camera. 

Over the years her photography has been family pictures and vacation related.  She enjoys capturing interesting photos of people and also landscapes.  In the film days she organized her family photos into albums.  With the switch to digital, the album routine gave way to slide shows put to music and burned on a DVD.  Since acquiring a DSLR camera, she have started printing out her own photos and sharing them with family and friends in printed medium.  She has also expanded her photography to include panoramas

Recently Varley, a Denison resident, has started trying her  hand at nature photography.  She says, “I find it very challenging as here things move and you cannot always get the composition you want”, and adds “Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge a very good place to work on nature photography”.

 Varley’s virtual album of twelve photographs taken at the Refuge is featured on the Friends website, friendsofhagerman.com/Gallery, for the month. 

 

Lake Texoma is a mecca for anyone who loves and appreciates nature.  Hundreds of birders and natural wildlife photographer come to the area each year.  For more information about Lake Texoma visit www.texomaconnect.com.

 

 

 

 

High on the Hawg

Don't miss out on this once a year chance to eat BBQ wild hog at Hagerman

NWR AND help out a good cause.  High on the Hawg is back for the 4^th year!

The Friends of Hagerman NWR will be serving BBQ and all the trimmings from 4:30 - 8 pm on Saturday, November 16, at the Refuge.  Suggested donations are $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for children 12 and under.  Proceeds of the event are going into the Friends Butterfly Garden Fund, for a proposed garden adjacent to the Visitor Center parking area at the Refuge.

Tickets will be available only at the Visitor Center at the Refuge during the event hours, no advance sales or reservations.  This year all major credit cards can be accepted. Guests may ride a shuttle from the Visitor Center, where there is ample parking, to the “FOH Café” or may walk there.

Hagerman NWR is located at 6465 Refuge Road, Sherman, Texas, on the Big Mineral Arm of Lake Texoma.  The Refuge phone number is 903 786 2826.

For more Lake Texoma events visit www.texomaconnect.com. 

Friends of Hagerman select October Photographer of the Month

Friends of Hagerman selects Photographer of the Month
Posted by Friends of Hagerman

Hagerman is an excellent place for photography; the scenery is beautiful


Pintail Takeoff By Brian Kaylor

and there are always interesting subjects close at hand. During my first visit I saw the endless Snow Geese and was impressed with the variety of wildlife and the coexistence of oil pumpjacks and nature.

Brian C Kaylor of Trophy Club has been selected the October Photographer of the Month by the Friends of Hagerman.

I enjoy exploring different photographic techniques. Astrophotography, landscape, nature, and portraiture each present different challenges and the skills I learn in one type often compliment another. I first picked up my father’s SLR camera for high school yearbook, and I learned to shoot and develop black and white film in a traditional darkroom. That foundation continues to help me as I shoot with digital.

My photographs at Hagerman were taken with either a Canon T2i or 6D body and the 100-400mm L lns. Post-processing was done in Photoshop CS5.

I attended the University of North Texas and received a BA in Music in 2006, and returned to UNT to complete a BS in Mechanical and Energy Engineering in 2010. The running joke is that my engineering degree financially supports my music degree.

I work at Circuit Breaker Sales in Gainesville as an engineer where I design and trouble-shoot industrial electrical equipment. CBS is a company where the engineers aren’t just guys at a computer; we get our hands dirty and help build our designs.

I am a member of the Fort Worth Astronomical Society and recently presented a lecture, Astrophotography 101, at one of the meetings. Astrophotography is extremely demanding, but capturing an image of a distant nebula or the rings of Saturn is a profound experience.

The Lake Texoma area has an abundance of native wildlife and birding is a very popular activity.  Hagerman NWR is one of the best places to photograph and observe nature.  For more information about the Lake Texoma area visit www.texomaconnect.com.

Hagerman NWR Fall 2013 orientation for volunteers

Press Release - Friends of Hagerman

Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge will host the Fall 2013 orientation and


Friends of Hagerman Volunteer Workshop

training session for Visitor Center volunteers on Sunday September 29.  The session, which will start in the Visitor Center at 1 pm, will be open to any adult and to teens 16 and over accompanied by a parent interested in volunteering.  Those attending will receive an overview of the Refuge and the part played by volunteers, as well as a tour of the Refuge.

Visitor Center volunteers greet visitors, distribute maps and literature, and make sales in the book and gift shop.  Weekend and weekday shifts are available, with flexible scheduling.  Couples may choose to work together.  Successful Hagerman NWR volunteers enjoy meeting people, are interested in nature, willing to learn new tasks and have simple computer skills.

The orientation session will end at 5 pm and be followed by a hot dog supper at the Refuge. 

Please RSVP by calling the Refuge, 903 786 2826, or emailing friendsofhagerman@gmail.com, so that adequate materials are on hand for the meeting.

The Lake Texoma area is fortunate to have several State Parks and two National Wildlife Refuge facilities.  These areas offer plenty of opportunities for those who love nature photography and birding, hiking, or just being among the beauty of nature.  For more information about Lake Texoma visit http://www.texomaconnect.com.  There is always something fun to do or interesting places to visit in the Texoma area.