Lousiana Cypress Swamp Photo Tours

Overview

Late fall in Louisiana brings excellent photo opportunities for photo tour participants in the swamps. Featured here are two Louisiana Photo Tours timed to provide the best chance for rust-colored cypress trees and misty or foggy mornings. We visit three locations providing access to large old-growth Bald Cypress Trees growing from within the water. The tours are scheduled for the week before and the week after Thanksgiving. Louisiana boasts forty percent of North America's wetlands, and we'll visit the Atchafalaya Basin, North America's largest River swamp ecosystem. We finalize the itinerary for the tour as late as possible to ensure we are at the right place, depending upon the weather.

Lake Martin

Lake Martin is a short distance from the headquarters hotel. It is the only location we visit without a boat. It has many large cypress trees, and we also encounter wading birds and alligators(if the weather is warm enough). Sunsets near the boat launch can be spectacular, and the shore, along the lake's north side, provides opportunities to photograph the cypress swamps in the evening. We also visit this lake by boat on one of the days, giving another perspective to the beautiful lake.

Henderson Swamp

Part of the Atchafalaya Basin, Henderson Swamp is a large swamp land from above along Interstate 10 between Lafayette and Baton Rogue. We visit a large Cypress forest by boat within this swamp. Some of the best photographs from this location are taken on cloudy days as we are within a large canopy of trees.

Lake Dauterive / Lake Fasse Pointe

Two interconnected Lakes contain some of Louisiana's largest Bald Cypress trees. The cypress trees remain in these lakes because it was too difficult to remove them due to the shallow water. Not only are there large trees, but we often get fog or mist this time of year. Positioning ourselves so the sun is backlit through the fog, we make beautiful golden-colored images. We launch in Lake Dauterive but often venture a short way into Lake Fasse Pointe.

Photographing the Trees

We photograph in the mornings for a boat. We make the backlit golden-toned images from the boat; the light we need most frequently occurs during the early morning hours. The boats used are double-hulled aluminum skiffs designed for use by crawfish fishermen, ideal for the Lakes we frequent on the tours. I use the folks at "the Atchafalaya Experience," who have been conducting tours for over 30 years. We use these boats rather than Kayaks to maximize our ability to access the best place to photograph each morning rapidly and to allow the participants to focus on photographing rather than paddling a Kayak. We photograph cypress scenes and sunsets at Lake Martin during the afternoons and evenings.

1. A photo guide and boat guide with decades of experience at these locations.
2. Locations visited with large Old-Growth Bald Cypress trees with frequent backlit fog conditions.
3. The tour is limited to five photographers
4. High-quality aluminum hulled boats with outboard motors designed for the swamp. No paddling required
5. As much or as little photo instruction on the trip as you want/need.
6. This workshop is an adventure into Louisiana's remote swamps, allowing the participant to create stunning cypress swamp landscape photographs.

Consider making your next photo trip an excursion with me to photograph the cypress trees in the Atchafalaya Basin.

Links

Best Fall Images

Black and White Images

Landscapes

Recommended Equipment

Photographing for a boa

The Atchafalaya Experience(Boat Operators)