Guide to “Little Big Bend” Introduces Visitors to Region’s Hidden Botanical Beauty

The sights and delights of Big Bend National Park come alive in Roy Morey's guide book.

University Press

In a landscape as immense as Big Bend National Park, visitors may easily overlook many of the region’s diverse plant species. Roy Morey’s guide "Little Big Bend: Common, Uncommon, and Rare Plants of Big Bend National Park," recently published by Texas Tech University Press, introduces one to the sights and delights that might otherwise be missed.

Morey, a self-taught photographer and naturalist, has spent more than 20 years identifying and photographing the plant life of the Big Bend. More than 300 of his photographs are vividly reproduced in the book in a format larger than that customarily found in field guides, with an emphasis on extreme close-ups that aid in identification as well as enjoyment.

"These photographs capture the beauty, and not just the botany, of the Big Bend," said Morey.

Over the years Morey employed a variety of camera equipment and techniques, making the shift from film to digital in the process, and using medium-format as well as 35mm photography.

Morey has been photographing Big Bend National Park and state parks since 1986. His photographs have been published in "Texas Parks and Wildlife" and "Rangefinder" magazines, and he has exhibited in Alpine, Texas, and at the Barton Warnock Center in Lajitas, the headquarters of Big Bend Ranch State Park.

For more information on "Little Big Bend," contact Barbara Brannon, marketing manager, Texas Tech University Press, (806) 742-2982.