The wetlands of Louisiana are a gigantic tangle of canals, swamps and forests of palm and cypress trees that extend around and beyond the large Mississippi estuary, often dangerous, populated by numerous snakes, alligators and poisonous spiders. In autumn the great cypresses are colored, covered by Spanish moss and all this seemingly hostile environment shows all its beauty.
I was there for eight days in the Atchafalaya basin, near Plaquiemine, Lake Fausse and Lake Martin. Every day at dawn and dusk I sailed with a small boat - the only way around the bayou, looking for the light and the best conditions. It is incredibly exciting to see how a potentially hostile and inhospitable place can become incredibly beautiful and fascinating, then become immersed in it as one who enters a dark forest and finds fabulous places inside.
On one final day, the fog and the delicate light of dawn transformed the Bayou into a fairytale setting, the sun filters and lights up the large cypresses the landscape becomes magical, and then I was lucky to photograph a great white heron just as it took off
Nikon D5 – Nikon 400mm fl f 8 – 1/200 sec ISO 1250
