2021 Fall Cypress Swamps Photo Excursions Available Online!
“Golden Swamp Pano”
2021 Fall Cypress Swamps Photo Excursion
The dates for our 2021 Fall Cypress Photo Excursions are now live and available to book online.
Here are the current dates available for the first week of our photo excursions:
~ November 4 – November 11, 2021
Our hosts for this cypress photo excursion:
For our detailed photo excursion information page, pricing, and to book the trip please visit:
Book 2021 Fall Cypress Swamps Photo Excursion!
Read the recap of our 2020 Fall Cypress Photo Excursion trip below:
“calm morning on the lake”
Cypress Swamp Excursion Part 1.
With the completion of our 2020 Fall Cypress Photo Excursion, we are already anxiously awaiting our fall 2021 trips. Again, we will be providing all lodging and food for the duration of the trip. Single occupancy and round trip transportation from New Orleans are also available. Our 2020 workshop was a blast! All of our participants were great photographers and we were awarded with some stellar conditions. Lots of fog and backlight! On the first portion of our trip we focused on big old growth cypress trees in the Atchafalaya basin. We had some nice intermediate color change. Not peak reds but a mix of green to red, which is preferable for a nice mix of the color pallet.
“Vibrant Fall Colors”
Participants from around the country got to explore in kayaks, some for the first time, the ancient cypress swamps of Louisiana. Yes, it takes a minute to get accustomed from shooting from the kayaks, but by the first morning everyone was comfortable and had their technique for shooting dialed in. Paddling out in the dark under the draping Spanish moss is an indescribable experience. As the morning sunlight illuminates the cypress trees and their picturesque moss, you paddle in a frenzy trying to capture the moment.
“setting up the tripod”
One of things we discussed on the workshop is setting up your tripod in the swamp. The first thing you have to get accustomed with is setting up in the muddy swamp setting. The ground in the swamp is all sedimentary river deposits, silt, sand, mud, deposited by rivers thousands of years ago. Unlike normal situations, you must put your tripod through a couple feet of water, then down into a few inches of mud to truly lock it in place. It takes a second to get used to, but once you do it a few times, you get the hang of it. The taller tripod you have the better. Another pro tip is to drain the legs of your tripod after the shot. This way when you put the tripod back in your kayak, all the water inside wont drain into your kayak, leaving a puddle in the bottom of the boat.
“the warm morning light”
“shooting as you drift”
“shooting warm sunset light”
“getting the right angle”
“the cypress landscape”
Cypress Swamp Excursion Part 2.
The second portion of the trip, there is only one word to describe it, FOG!! We hit the fog jackpot as a cold front rolled in. This is common for us on these trips, but this year was particularly foggy. It allowed for some very moody conditions. In the predawn moments of the morning you can get the dark, cool, and moody tones mixed with the silhouettes of the cypress trees in the shadows. Once the sun breaks the horizon it allows for the opportunity for some serious backlighting. It is great for black and white or dramatic warm toned images as the warm sunlight lights up the mist. Out of the 4 mornings we had during this portion of the trip, 3 out of the 4 were very foggy, a photographers best friend!
“oh, the dark and moody cypress forest”
“setting the shot up in the fog”
“so calm and still”
Some times when the light is so dramatic, it is best to go the black and white route. Ask yourself, “what is the picture about?”, if the answer is the light, and color isn’t playing a large factor, most often it is a good choice for black and white.
“kayaker on fire”
If you are interested in signing up for the 2021 trip, simply click the link below. Any questions or inquiries can be sent to [email protected] We look forward to hosting another great workshop in the fall of 2021!