Georgia

This October/November, 2022 the Breaking Wind group was at it again and got together for a photo trip to Georgia. The early part of the trip found us in Northern Georgia for waterfalls, mountain scenery, fall color, grist mills, covered bridges and generally a good time. However, the purpose of the trip was to see and photograph the bald cypress and their rust-colored needles in the swamps and marshes of Southeast Georgia.  The bald cypress trees are deciduous conifers that shed their needlelike leaves in the fall. In fact, they get the name “bald” cypress because they drop their leaves so early in the season. Their fall colors are tan, cinnamon, and fiery orange. The bark is brown or gray with a stringy texture. These trees are found in the SE US along the Mississippi Valley, Gulf Coast and mid-Atlantic states.

When we got to our location, we were blessed to have hit the colors at their peak as an earlier cold snap had caused the needle colors to change a couple of weeks earlier, as we were so informed by the local photographers. We primarily shot from the shoreline, but many rented kayaks or brought their own to wonder among the cypress trees. One hazard of these locations is the presence of alligators as Georgia has the 4thlargest population after Louisiana, Florida and Texas.

Our lake was truly amazing place. With almost no wind, the lake became a perfect mirror creating both vertical and horizontal possibilities, reflecting the cinnamon and bright orange colors of the leaves. Lately I have found it useful to shoot 3 stimulus shots, one stop apart and use Lightroom to create blended images. This really worked well with the waterfalls in the north and with several cypress shots with the sun creating stronger contrasts.

One can see more of the images by selecting the Flickr Icon at the top right of the web page and going to the Georgia Album