Back To The Kokernot o6 Ranch

I have been guilty of neglecting my website, as life tends to get in the way. However, I recently had the opportunity to return to the Davis Mountains area of Texas and visit the breathtaking Kokernot o6 Ranch. My past visits were filled with a sense of melancholy due to the severe drought conditions that plagued the region. Many ranches were forced to sell off their cattle, a common occurrence throughout the state as everyone suffered from the lack of rain. Although I was aware that the region had received some rainfall in the past six months, I was astounded by the magnitude of the recovery. Witnessing the land bounce back so quickly was truly remarkable! In fact, it seemed like it rained every day or night during my stay. The photograph above captures the road leading to the Kokernot o6 headquarters after a night of persistent rainfall. As the skies cleared and revealed the beauty of the surroundings, I couldn’t resist stopping to capture this stunning scene.

Clouds would gather and accumulate each day, hinting at the possibility of rainfall, yet not a soul dared to complain. The sight was nothing short of breathtaking, especially for an avid photographer like myself. The ranch usually boasts clear blue skies, courtesy of mother nature, making this display of clouds a rare treat. Under the influence of the La Niña weather pattern for almost three years, the mere presence of these clouds ignited a flicker of hope within us, longing for the much-needed rain.

All of the photographs presented in this blog post were shot on the Leica Q2 Monochrom. It’s a camera that does not have a color aray filter so it only records the luminance or grayscale values of the scene. I have always loved black and white photographs as I am of the age that grew up shooting film. The tonality amongst the dark and light grayscale values this camera captures is pretty amazing. It’s a fun camera to use. You do have to photograph with this camera a little bit different than you would a color digital camera. It’s important to protect the highlights as there are no color channels available to help with recovering the details from blown out highlights. I shot a lot of slide film in the past so I shoot it pretty much like I would shoot slide film. I also utilized a dark red filter on the leans for all of these photographs. Hope you enjoy.