Best of 2014: June

           

Red-Winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)

In late June 2014, I made my first trip to Lake Charles, La., in the southwest corner of the state. The official excuse was an ordination I participated in as deacon, but I spent an extra day and a half to explore the awesome ecology of the area.

I have many wonderful photos from the trip. A number of photos from a day with a guide exploring a marsh rookery by boat have been very well received on Google+. A shot of a little blue heron has been viewed almost 5,000 times and held the record of 88 +1's for a couple months.

But the one above is my favorite. What could be more ordinary than a red-winged blackbird among cattails? What could be more satisfying than seeing and showing the beauty in the ordinary? 

This encounter happened at a spot I found on my own. If you're ever in the Lake Charles area, I highly recommend a drive south from the city toward the Gulf on a highway called the Creole Nature Trail (Hwy 27). The field edges, irrigation canals and road ditches of the upper stretch of the highway offer plenty of dragonflies, wildflowers, grasses and birds. 

But you'll soon come to the Cameron Prairie National Wildlife Refuge, and within the refuge on the east side of the highway, the Pintail Wildlife Drive. This is a marsh with an elevated loop road meant to be driven at a slow rate of speed. You will be rewarded.

The instructions at the entrance are to stay in your car--for good reason. If you sense eyeballs lookin' at you, it will most likely be one of the many curious 'gators that raise their heads and come to check you out!

But at one point along the drive, a parking lot and a large loop of boardwalk enable you to walk right out into the marsh. I had it to myself that Saturday afternoon. Moving slowly and quietly, pausing to enjoy the breeze, look and take photos, this red-winged blackbird allowed me to get within range of my 70-210 zoom. 

Oh, and I did see a pintail, but did not get within range of it!

      

Best of 2014: May

           

Lady's Tresses (Spiranthes)

The magnificent Kisatchie National Forest occupies 944 square miles of western Louisiana. It sprawls across seven parishes from just a few miles south of I-20 to just below the center of the state.

This past summer, I began to appreciate the splendors of the Kisatchie as never before. My May birthday gift to myself was a 3-day plant identification workshop with my friend Dr. Charles Allen, botanist for the U.S. Army at Fort Polk. He and his wife run Allen Acres, a B&B surrounded by gardens just a few miles south of Cravens, La., along Highway 399.

The plant workshop included several field trips around Allen Acres and into neighboring Kisatchie National Forest land. But my driving route to Allen Acres includes Highway 436 through the eastern edge of the Kisatchie and past an area called Cooter's Bog.

I left for the workshop in plenty of time to stop and shoot along the way if I saw something interesting. So when I got to Cooter's Bog in the late afternoon, I stopped.

Wow! What a beautiful spot! Not huge, but in 30 minutes and within just a few yards of the access road, I photographed more than a dozen wildflower species, plus long leaf pine saplings and ferns.

But my pride and joy is the shot of above. When I spied this plant, I was not sure but I thought it was a wild orchid. Imagine my excitement when I got to Allen Acres, showed my shots to Dr. Allen and he indeed identified it as a wild orchid, common name "Lady's Tresses" of the genus Spiranthes.

Unfortunately, I did not photograph the leaves, so he could not name a species, but I'm still excited about my first ever wild orchid find. Since then, I've seen many more, but nothing compares with the first!
       

Best of 2014: April

Nana Buruku

This ancient, immense cypress tree presides over Lake Martin in south Louisiana on the edge of the Atchafalaya Basin. To be more precise, Lake Martin is south of Breau Bridge and east of Lafayette. It is more swamp than lake.

I am in awe of the place. My second trip in April 2014 I went on a swamp tour--a mere $20 very well spent--and hiked part way around the lake. And although I came home with more than 200 photos, of which several are outstanding, this one is my favorite.

All while processing the photo I kept thinking "spirit of the swamp." And so, with some searching, I found Nana Buruku, a large, strong, dark-skinned wise old woman from Yoruba religion who presides over waters, especially swamps. Surely this is she!

A couple of photographic notes:
     1) This looks like a pretty straight documentary shot, and it certainly is "documentary" in intent and result. But swamps are over the top in terms of visual distractions, and I spent several hours in photoshop using a variety of tools to make the tree stand out and bring out the texture and light, but keeping the fullest sense of context possible.
     2) The January and February photos I shared can't be anything but color. This one for April and the one for March are black & white, and really can't be anything  but black & white. They just don't work in color. In perusing my swamp tour photos, I passed over this one again and again, until one day I was looking with an eye toward black & white, and it popped out. I couldn't even see it until I was seeing it in black & white!

Best of 2014: March

Underworld

I have no idea why shooting photos through the windows of moving trains fascinates me. Maybe because where I live, moving trains for people to ride in are pretty rare!

So when I'm in a moving train, it usually means I'm getting a city fix of some kind. This one was in Baltimore last March where I attended the annual Archdeacon's Conference.

Of course, when shooting from a moving train, I waste a lot of clicks--altogether way more affordable than wasting film! I guess that's why my fascination with shooting from moving trains did not emerge until after the digital revolution.

In any case, I don't just hold down the trigger and let the camera auto-fire multiple frames. Rather, I keep one eye on the passing terrain and one eye in the viewfinder and shoot one frame at a time.

Now that's still a gamble on what Henri Cartier-Bresson--one of my photographer heroes--called "the decisive moment." It is a lot of luck when things come together in the frame and my timing is right on. Nevertheless, it is more satisfying to me than the alternative.

So... I love this one. It is the underside of a huge cloverleaf intersection somewhere on the edge of Baltimore. But to me it's kind of cathedral-like. Mundane and majestic. The magic of "and."
  

Best of 2014: February

The Shining Word "And"

"And" teaches us to say "yes"
"And" allows us to be both-and
"And" teaches us to be patient and long-suffering
"And" is willing to wait for insight and integration

--Richard Rohr

February was slim pickin' in terms of photographs. I shot very little and most of the take was pretty ho hum. 

Indeed, I would not usually include a sunset in the "best of" album. That's not because I don't love a beautiful sunset. I do. But beautiful sunsets require relatively little from either the photographer or the camera. Point and shoot, or so it seems to me.

I do love this one a lot because of the cloud patterns and the relative subtlety of the colors, which I brought out by adjusting contrast. You will find this image on the home page of the Episcopal Mission of Northeast Louisiana.

This beautiful moment happened while I was driving on Highway 15 between I-20 and Winnsboro, La. And it resonated with the Richard Rohr I was reading at that time.

The sky speaks to me. It saves my life.

Best of 2014: January

Turn on Your Heart Light

It's time once again to have a look at the winding-down year by picking one photograph from every month's take. In January, it took me 'til the last day of the month to get something I really, really like.

I call this "Turn on Your Heart Light" because the sun reflected in the water appears to me to be coming from within the earth. Processing it, I was reminded of E.T. and the "heartlight" that glowed from within his chest. Here's Neil Diamond singing the song: Heartlight

This location is a quarry on the east side of Highway 165 just north of the turn-off to Camp Hardtner. The quarry was dug to get fill dirt to make 165 four lanes. But they struck a spring and the hole filled with water--beautiful turquoise water.

It is one of my favorite places to shoot. I call it "Home of the Wounded Healer." And to understand that, well, I guess you need to read some Henri Nouwen!

Kisatchie Splendors: Happy Thanksgiving!

               
                 

Circle of Life

This... on a summer day walking the Wild Azalea Trail in the Kisatch National Forest, Calcasieu Ranger District. This amazing trail can be accessed various places a few minute's drive from Alexandria in Central Louisiana.