The December 2024 issue of Texas Highways is a celebration of our photographers’ and art staff ’s commitment to capturing the state’s beauty for the past half-century. “The Big Picture” showcases the work of longtime photographer and photo editor J. Griffis Smith, who took the majority of the magazine’s photos during his 30-year career and set a standard for quality visuals. We showcase photographer Molly Bock's images in "Sign of the Times." Since 2010, she's been exploring Texas' towns, capturing the neon vestiges of the state's past. And "The Year in Photos" highlights some of the most stunning outtakes of the year, from shots of a tense rival football game in Odessa to a conjunto musician in McAllen. The rest of the issue takes readers searching for alligators, hiking through Caprock Canyon, and inside the mind of filmmaker Jeff Nichols.