Atchafalaya Majesty by exploringlight

Having grown up in New Orleans, it’s about time I finally made it out to photograph the swamplands of the Atchafalaya Basin. For a few days after Thanksgiving, I met up with my buddy Steve Zigler and David Chauvin (the master of swamp photography). The trip was not without hiccups- persistent wind and choppy water made for less than ideal conditions. One day we got caught in a massive thunderstorm that seemed to come from nowhere. There is no shelter on the swamp, and it takes awhile to paddle 3 miles back to shore! Another day my kayak capsized and all my gear (2 camera bodies, 3 lenses and tripod) dumped out of my backpack into the swamp. Thankfully I had insurance and was since able to replace everything. And more important than that, I was able to fish my camera from the bottom of the swamp when my foot happened to snag the strap, and retrieve the memory card. A couple days on rice and I was able to retrieve all my photos, including this one which I really like. Just after the sun set, the afterglow gave a beautiful illumination to this patch of fall color on an old bald cypress which is probably well over a thousand years old. Thanks for looking 🙂

“There are infinite shadings of light and shadows and colors… it’s an extraordinarily subtle language. Figuring out how to speak that language is a lifetime job.” – Conrad Hall

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Travel Photographer Of The Year 2015 – IV by MarselvanOosten

Four days ago I won the overall title Travel Photographer Of The Year 2015 with two black and white portfolios – a landscape portfolio and a wildlife portfolio. Here’s the last image from the landscape portfolio.

All four images were shot from a kayak or while standing in the water, on a scouting trip last year in the swamps of Louisiana – off the beaten tracks, and far away from all the usual photographic hot spots. This is surely one of the most magical places on this planet.

You can read more about this series on my blog: http://ow.ly/3yzTBj

In short: two years ago we decided to check out the swamps in Louisiana and Texas to see if we could set up the world’s first Cypress Swamp photo tour there. Last month we returned from our second scouting trip to this amazing place, where we searched for additional locations, finalized the accommodation, and fine tuned the logistics.

We will officially announce the new trip somewhere next week. As usual, we will first contact our most frequent flyers to give them first choice, but after that we’ll open the tours for the rest of you as well.

Special thanks to Daniella for her help setting up these shots.

Marsel

– – –

If you would like to join us on one of our photo tours, please have a look on our website. Only a few trips still have some openings left: www.squiver.com

©2015 Marsel van Oosten, All Rights Reserved. This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.

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Travel Photographer Of The Year – III by MarselvanOosten

Three days ago I won the overall title Travel Photographer Of The Year 2015 with two black and white portfolios – a landscape portfolio and a wildlife portfolio. Yesterday I posted the second of four images from the landscape portfolio, today the third one.

All four images were shot on a scouting trip last year in the swamps of Louisiana – off the beaten tracks, and far away from all the usual photographic hot spots. This is surely one of the most magical places on this planet.

If you don’t want to wait for the rest of the series, you can also check out the entire story behind the images on my blog: http://ow.ly/3yzTBj

Two years ago we decided to check out the swamps in Louisiana and Texas to see if we could set up the world’s first Cypress Swamp photo tour there. Last month we returned from our second scouting trip to this amazing place, where we searched for additional locations, finalized the accommodation, and fine tuned the logistics.

Somewhere next week we will officially announce the new trip. As usual, we will first contact our most frequent flyers to give them first choice, but after that we’ll open the tours for the rest of you as well.

Special thanks to Daniella for her help setting up these shots.

Marsel

– – –

If you would like to join us on one of our photo tours, please have a look on our website. Only a few trips still have some openings left: www.squiver.com

©2015 Marsel van Oosten, All Rights Reserved. This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.

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Travel Photographer Of The Year – II by MarselvanOosten

Two days ago I won the overall title Travel Photographer Of The Year 2015, a great honour. Two of my portfolios were selected by the jury – a landscape portfolio and a wildlife portfolio. Yesterday I posted the first of four images from the landscape portfolio, today the second one.

If you don’t want to wait for the rest of the series, you can also check out the entire story behind the images on my blog: http://ow.ly/3yzTBj

All four images were shot on a scouting trip last year in the swamps of Louisiana – off the beaten tracks, and far away from all the usual photographic hot spots. This is surely one of the most magical places on this planet.

Two years ago we decided to check out the swamps in Louisiana and Texas to see if we could set up the world’s first Cypress Swamp photo tour there. Last month we returned from our second scouting trip to this amazing place, where we searched for additional locations, finalised the accommodation, and fine tuned the logistics. Somewhere next week we will officially announce the new trip. As usual, we will first contact our most frequent flyers to give them first choice, but after that we’ll open the tours for the rest of you as well.

Special thanks to Daniella for her help setting up these shots.

Marsel

– – –

If you would like to join us on one of our photo tours, please have a look on our website. Only a few trips still have some openings left: www.squiver.com

©2015 Marsel van Oosten, All Rights Reserved. This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.

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Travel Photographer Of The Year 2015 by MarselvanOosten

I am very excited to share with you that I won the overall title Travel Photographer Of The Year 2015.

The jury selected two of my portfolio’s – one landscape/travel portfolio, and one wildlife portfolio. This makes it even more special for me, because I’m always trying to do both genres equally well, which is why I call myself a nature photographer and not a landscape or a wildlife photographer.

Over the next few days I will post all the winning images here, but if you don’t have the patience for that, you can also check out the entire story behind the images on my blog: http://ow.ly/3yzTBj

I will start with the images from the winning landscape series. They were all shot last year in the swamps of Louisiana and Texas on a scouting trip for the world’s first Cypress Swamp photo tour – more info on that somewhere next week.

All shots were taken on a misty morning just after sunrise, either from a kayak or standing in the cold water. It’s one of the most magical places on this planet.

Special thanks to Daniella for her help setting up these shots.

– – –

If you would like to join us on one of our photo tours, please have a look on our website. Only a few trips still have some openings left: www.squiver.com

Marsel

©2015 Marsel van Oosten, All Rights Reserved. This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.

Marsel

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