Texas Sky

Whether it shows a summer thunderstorm rolling across the plains of the Llano Estacado or a full moon rising on a clear winter night, the sky is the most commanding presence in the Texas landscape.

As Georgia O'Keeffe once wrote from Canyon to a friend, "I am loving the plains more than ever it seems—and the SKY—Anita you have never seen SKY—it is wonderful." Wyman Meinzer observes that "recording the vibrant and sometimes forbidding nature of the sky has been one of the most enjoyable photographic endeavors of my career."

The one hundred breathtaking color images in this book reveal the beauty, drama, unpredictability, and sheer expanse of Texas' sky. Meinzer observes the sky from first light to the star trails in a night exposure.

He presents the full palette of sunrise and sunset hues, the endless variety of cloud formations, and the cobalt blue of the sky after a winter norther. Most of all, he captures the feelings of freedom and power that so many people experience under the Texas sky.

In a beautifully written essay, John Graves connects Meinzer's photos to the land and the people of Texas. Meinzer's preface describes the careful planning and lucky chances that yielded many of these photographs, while interspersed among them are quotes from Texas skywatchers past and present. Taken together, the stunning images and eloquent words say all there is to say about the Texas sky.

An enormous and compelling sky--and the expansive vistas which it yields--are an integral part of Texas scenery. In hill country and plains, desert, mountain and river valley, the sky itself often shapes the geographic and psychic landscape. The University of Texas Press releases Texas Sky, an elegant publication which celebrates both state and sky, by the award-winning photographer Wyman Meinzer.