January 2011 Newletter

December 2010 Louisiana Nature Photo Tour

Photography is all about light. The more unusual the light, the better the image making opportunity. December in Louisiana is interesting because you really can’t plan on what the weather will be. You may have 80 degrees in the afternoon and the next morning have 30 degrees. When you have warm water temperatures and cold mornings, you often get a layer of fog over the water for 3 or 4 feet. If you position yourself with the sun shining through the fog with a cypress tree backlit on the water, can be pretty special. This is what we had one day on our Fall Nature Photo Tour.
The Photography can be good, but 30 degrees on the water can be a challenge.
While we don’t have the beautiful brilliant fall foliage of the North, photographs rust colored Cypress in our swamps is very beautiful. Working with side lighting early in the morning can produce a very mysterious look.
Large Cypress with Spanish Moss at Lake Dautreve

Louisiana Fog Scene - Winter 2010 / 2011 Issue of Nature Photographer Magazine

Nature Photographer Magazine used one of my scenes taken at Lake Martin in February 2006. I love photographing cypress in the fog, it makes it much more mysterious. As pointed out in the magazine, the image was created with a very wide aperture of f 3.5. This worked because I carefully positioned myself to keep the trees all in the same plane. That and the fact that the fog obscured all else from the frame.

Nature Photographer Magazine App of the Month

Cypress tree at sunset
Starting this month I'm writing a series of Articles for Nature Photographer Magazine titled App of the Month. I'm reviewing iphone, ipod touch, and ipad Apps that are of particular interest to wildlife and nature photographers. I got my first iphone 2 years ago to allow me to keep in touch when on a photo shoot. With some of the apps that have become available, the iphone and now the ipad have become essential to the way I work. Check it out at here
Article
Also consider subscribing to Nature Photographer Magazine, the only magazine dedicated to strictly nature photography. Speaking of Apps, stayed tuned for their ipad App.
Nature Photographer Magazine

Spring Louisiana Birding Photography Tours Scheduled

White Ibis in flight with nesting material
The schedule of the 2011 Spring Louisiana Birding Photo Tours has been set. Please join us for three days of great photography. The Spring Bird Photo Tours feature photographing at some of the best wading bird photography spots in the country as well as excellent opportunities to photograph Ospreys in flight and get photographs of Bald Eagles.

Southern Louisiana is a largely undiscovered photo location offering the Atchafalaya Basin, the largest River Swamp Ecosystem in North America and Large nesting colonies of Roseate Spoonbills, Great Egrets, and other wading birds.

Tour dates are as follows:
  • April 3-6, 201
  • April 10-13, 2011
  • May 15-18, 2011
More information about the tours can be found here.

Louisiana Bird Photo Tour