"f/8 and be there" - Arthur Fellig (Weegie)

[DemoTex]

Last edited Sun Nov 24, 2019, 01:12 PM - Edit history (1)

Three kayaks slipped into the channel in total darkness, with London-grade fog obscuring visibility to about 25 meters. Most sounds, few that there are in a backwater swamp at that irreverent pre-dawn hour, were attenuated by the thick mist.

Our guide, in the fourth kayak, entered the water last and then took up the lead position of a modified diamond formation. The guide turned his head-lamp around backwards so that we could see to follow him. A bright LED light, with a harsh white glare, was all we had to go on, and he was paddling fast. Our lights remained off, useless in the fog. Formation lights on the tail of the lead F-4 in a flight-of-four headed out on a pre-dawn strike mission .. in afterburner.

We were paddling upstream on the edge of a bayou (river) that coursed along the western periphery of the swamp. It was a mere 1.2 mile paddle, but we had done it the day before, and my arms felt like lead weights. Pitch black dark. Tighten up the formation, lest we lose someone.

Like a pre-dawn air combat mission, I eschewed food or coffee beforehand. Just a few sips of water. Nothing to stimulate biological functions. There would be plenty of time for a big breakfast, with lots of coffee, afterwards.

We arrived on target .. or, rather, at our photo destination .. just at the start of nautical twilight. The fog became more amorphous with the scant light, and then shapes began to loom from within the mist as the luminosity increased, gradually. Stumps. Snags. Cypress and Tupelo trees. The other three kayaks. Finally, enough light to start shooting.

Showtime!

Atchafalaya Basin Backwaters, Louisiana
November 2019

[CincyDem]

1. Great shot...clearly contradicts another great photography quote.

"Anything more than 500 yds from the car just isn't photogenic."


- Brett Weston

[DemoTex]

3. Truth, dat!

[2naSalit]

2. I love mornings like that!

Thanks for sharing your adventure! It appears to have been quite a successful mission.

[DemoTex]

4. The gift that keeps on giving.

I'll be processing swamp images all winter.

[2naSalit]

5. And I will glady enjoy their beauty

each and every time!