Nature photographers

Brian Loflin, author and photographer

Last Saturday, I made a special effort to attend a session of the four-part "Authors' Day" at the Blanco Library. I listened to and enjoyed the tail-end of author Taffy Cannon's presentation (she wrote Blood Matters). Since I'm into nature, I was more interested in hearing Shirley and Brian Loflin, who authored Grasses of the Texas Hill Country: A Field Guide and also Texas Cacti: A Field Guide. Next spring, their newest book, Texas Wildflower Vistas and Hidden Treasures, will be published. Alas, Shirley had to duck out for another commitment. But Brian did just fine on his own.

As authors and photographers, they've logged more than 50,000 miles across Texas since 1999, collecting specimens and taking pictures for their book projects. "We've got 100,000 images in our library," Brian said. "Shirley likes to say that she finds the plants, and I photograph them."

Naturally, we have a copy of their grass field guide, and Brian gladly signed it for us. "Ah, I like to see that our book is being used," he commented when he saw several sprigs of dried grasses poking up between the book's pages.

Check out the Loflins at their website, Nature Connection.