Wildlife

This past weekend I took the chance to explore and boy did I. I felt it was about time I would check out the wildlife around the area. Wildlife energizes me in a way that is unexplainable and provides me with an insane amount of inspiration. Whether out in the middle of nowhere on a dirt road or in a rainforest atmosphere, the animals in their own environment and how they go about living there everyday lives is what I value mostly. I find the necessities within their habitats not only essential but also intriguing. They are similar to us in the way that they live in environments that fit as well as work according to their needs.

I feel we have much to learn from the wildlife that surrounds us. They are inspiring in many ways and I hope others will continue to explore this. Learn more about what I did this weekend by reading the context below.

About Fossil Rim Wildlife Center:

Take An Interactive Tour

Discover the animals of Fossil Rim by taking your own virtual tour. Follow along on our Scenic Wildlife Drive and discover fun facts about each animal you encounter. Click on one of the blue (for animals) or red for points of interest to get quick facts. Then check out our animal info pages (see below), which describe them in much more detail. If you can’t come here physically you can still “tour” our wondrous animals.

Click here to learn more. 

Get To Know Our Animals

Haven't had a chance to visit us, but want to know more about out animals? Fossil Rim has over a thousand animals, from about fifty different species, native and exotic. Our animal's information page will give you plenty of data on each species. Details on where they're from, if they are endangered (and how severely), size, habitat, predators and much more. Follow the link below to learn more.

Animal Info Page.

Fossil Rim Events

Most events at Fossil Rim fall into one of two categories; Specialty Tours or Dinner Tours. These event tours are scheduled roughly once a month. 

Calendar

Specialty Tours

Whether you're a photographer, stargazer or mountain biker or just wonder what it would be like to tour Fossil Rim at night, we have an event tour for you!

Click here to learn more.

Dinner Tours

Want to take a tour, but you're hungry? We have an ap... a tour for that. Scattered throughout the year, Fossil Rim offers you the chance to take a tour and get a mighty fine meal, too!

Click here to learn more.

About Aquarium:

The Dallas World Aquarium

An old warehouse at 1801 North Griffin Street, near the Historic West End District in downtown Dallas, became the original site of The Dallas World Aquarium, opening to the public in October 1992. Built in 1924, the empty warehouse had been occupied until 1982. During those years it was used for various industries, including the Mohawk Rubber Company and Pioneer Steel Rule and Die.

The adjacent building at 1815 North Griffin was purchased in 1996. Built in 1929 as a warehouse for the storage of rubber goods, it was later used by a Venetian blind company in the early 50s and lastly prior to the aquarium’s expansion, as a restaurant/bar known as "Tejano Rodeo." As with the first building, the interior was completely demolished, leaving only the brick walls and support structure. The alley between the two buildings became the "channel" between the freshwater and saltwater ecosystems. The ORINOCO - Secrets of the River opened to the public in October 1997.

The vacant lot at 1814 Laws Street (behind 1801 North Griffin) was purchased in May 2000 for the first newly constructed portion of the facility. Construction on the Mundo Maya exhibit started in April 2002 and opened to the public in August 2004.

The Dallas World Aquarium has been accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) since 1997 and a member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) since 2000.

Photography

When speaking of inspiration, one thing comes to mind, photography.  Ever since I can remember I have toted around a camera. As a toddler I started out with one of those red, fake and plastic cameras that would scroll through different animations.  Later in life, growing into adolescence my love for shooting never dwindled, rather sparked.  When I became a freshman in high school my mother and father fueled my obsession by buying me a high definition Canon camera. From that point - I grabbed photography by the horns and ran with it. I enrolled into a few photography classes at my local community college, AC (Amarillo College), where I gained valuable knowledge of my camera and photography as a whole. 

Two years have passed since my first professional photography class, in which I still have the ambition and drive of shooting inspirational photos. Shooting gives me a since of freedom and serenity. There is an old saying, “take a picture, it’ll last longer”, this has great meaning to me. Memories can fade over time, but with photography, memories last forever. 

Several valuable guidelines, which I follow faithfully, in keeping on point in photography, follow. These points come from a very esteemed photographer himself, Darren Rowse. 

35 Things I've Learned About Photography by Darren Rowse:

1. Never do photography to become a rock-star.
2. Enjoy what you are shooting.
3. Prepare well for your shooting, realizing that your battery isn’t charge when you’re setting up for that sunrise shoot is too late!
4. Always take one warm garment more than you actually need with you
5. Pay attention to your thoughts and emotions while you are shooting
6. Set goals you can achieve
7. Write tips about photography, because writing is also learning
8. Never go shooting without a tripod
9. Be pleased with the little prosperities
10. Build relationships with potential photo buddies
11. Watch the place you want to shoot first with your heart then with the camera
12. Always stay calm
13. Know that you tend to overestimate yourself
14. Perspective is the killer
15. Dedicate yourself to photography, but never browbeat yourself too much
16. Take part in a photography community
17. Keep your camera clean
18. Never compare yourself to others in a better or worse context
19. Find your own style of photography
20. Try to compose more and to hit the shutter less
21. Seek out and learn to accept critique on your images
22. Do something different to recover creativity
23. Get inspiration from the work of other photographers
24. Criticize honestly but respectfully
25. Get feedback from your lady
26. Don’t copy other photographer’s style
27. Be bold
28. Take care of the golden ratio
29. 10mm rocks!
30. Take self-portraits
31. Read books about photography
32. To give a landscape photograph the extra boost, integrate a person (maybe yourself)
33. Every shooting situation is different than you expect
34. Pay attention to s-curves and lines
35. Always shoot in RAW

Read more: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/100-things-ive-learned-about-photography#ixzz1HCu9ChPi

Nest Interiors

Ever since discovering Nest Interiors in my hometown Amarillo, I’ve been truly inspired in more ways than one.

The Nest, a knick-knack shop off 6^th street, is filled with imported furniture items, fair trade metal works, green-minded gadgets and much more. Owner and Amarillo native, Kasey Robinson opened shop a few years ago after graduating with an interior design degree from the Art Institute of Dallas. Like myself, she finds a passion for “retail with a cause.”

This is one of those places where one can find endless inspiration. The store’s unique set up with the new and the old gave me a sense of comfort and tranquility. With its interesting items that make a home feel special and decorations used throughout the store, one is bound to pick up creative ideas. Not to mention, many of the fascinating items sold in the store are from local artists George Q., Krystal O’Mara and permanent artist Drew Merritt.

By the means of creativity, Kasey personally fills her shop with an assortment of handmade crafts. Her crafts are Anthropologie-like in the sense that she uses basic, everyday materials. What I admire the most is the obvious effort she puts towards her creative window and floor displays. Her most recent February window theme consisted of approximately 60 large and small, patterned paper planes that suspended across the front, giving viewers a bit of whimsical origami to look at. She sometimes takes her creative skills even further by decorating the tiny tree out front with colorful yarns and strings of all shapes and sizes.

Kasey’s concept with décor and design is a lot like my own and after falling in love with The Nest, I’ve remained a dedicated customer while following her blog religiously. Her blog, …from 6^th, is a nice source of inspiration with everything from art to film to photography. It doesn’t take much scrolling before an idea or picture of hers ignites a small spark that gets my creative waves flowing. Being a graphic designs minor, it helps to have people out there that think like you do because there is nothing more helpful than to look to them for insight when your stumped on what to do next. Its almost as if we creative minds feed off of one another, tweaking each others concepts into ideas of our own.

As a dedicated customer, I’ve bought everything from a dinning table made by a local designer to woven yarn boxes to little decorative birdies the size of my hand. I absolutely love visiting the shop and find myself spending countless hours browsing, whether I buy that day or not. It’s somewhat of a problem, but you would understand if you are like myself and find endless inspiration in stores such as Nest Interiors.