PhotoWalk: Medina River Natural Area

Flower fields spring
Old Trees in water
Path in woods wind

I had been curious about this river and natural area for awhile. Even though I had just done a photo bike/walk the day before the weather was nice so I took off after work to check it out.

It’s a bit more off the beaten track of places to visit around San Antonio, but a nice green sanctuary. Only a 10-15 minutes drive from downtown San Antonio but feels like it a totally remote wilderness nature area.

I only took the 24-105mm L f/4 lens, Lee filters, and tripod, so no fancy “bokeh” shots. I did have low-light issues as it got later in the day and under tree-cover. I had to jack up the ISO to 1600 for some hand-held shots, but not carrying a camera bag with more glass was nice.

Aside from the flower field, I found the woods were pretty thick with a leave canopy of trees and I knew I was not ever going to get many ground-to-sky vista shots. There are other places to shoot that, so this was about the trees, paths, and “river” that at least in the parts I had time to find looked more like a stream. In some parts, the water almost stagnated, other parts had small rapids.

While I went for the sound of a river adventure, the trees and paths were more the stars of this natural area. I got there about 6 pm so only had a few hours till sunset when the park closed to visitors. a day trip or full afternoon would be needed to explore all the paths.

Time-lapse images did not seem to come out as I had hoped so here are a few more traditional images of the park.

Mosquitoes and flies that bite took advantage of my legs near the banks when I stood around too long. Nature looks better in pictures sometimes-ha.

All in all it was a good few hours walk in the forest and a nice change from the other outdoor parks we have in the city. It is a true natural area and it is great we are preserving this and are able to use it as a recreational area so close to town.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

error: Content is protected !!
Scroll to Top