Louisiana Wetlands

[RMW]

Found this old cypress tree last week in high water after a a cold front brought much rain.
These wetland cypress forests were heavily logged during the nineteenth century.
This one probably remains because it marks the edge of the river.
Thanks for looking.
Richard

[thierrylegros396]

Very Well Done.

Have A Nice Day.

Thierry

[Patricia Sheley]

That is a beauty (and as a sincere compliment, in a Clyde Butcher sense of place...)

[Tony Jay]

Love the textures!

Tony Jay

[sarrasani]

clap hands from me.
Robust and clear composition, wonderful tones and monochrome tuning, superb detail....
All the best,
sandro

[RMW]

Everyone,

Thank you for your kind responses. It means a lot to get encouraging words from such first rate photographers. I'm a bit humbled...

I also have a question. Does seeing this solitary old tree growing in the dark water of Louisiana give you some feeling, no matter how much, of empathy for the irreparable loss that has taken place from two hundred years of greed and exploitation ? I ask, because my purpose behind showing these fotos is to make known the sadness- and the beauty- of a place most people will never see. Everytime I'm out there in my little kayak I ask myself if the pictures I make are succeeding. Does this foto  resonate it some tangible way? Will some one care a little more from seeing it ?

Any thoughts you have will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again for your kind remarks.

Richard

[NancyP]

Yes the photo resonates with sadness for the loss of the forests, for me. The larger swamp-grown bald cypresses usually have the melancholy feature of at least partial hollowing out, natural to their aging. And dead parts of cypress are exceptionally resistant to rot, so more prominent in the forests. (The resistance to rot is one feature that made cypress a valuable tree for railroad ties and other outside uses.)

 I will admit that I have been primed by a recent trip to the remnant swamps of Southern Illinois (Cache River basin, former remnant of the Ohio River when it was 20 miles north of the current Ohio River) and of Southern Missouri (Mingo Nat'l Wildlife Refuge, former course of the Mississippi River). The Cache River area has an interpretive center that goes into the history of the deforestation and the current (since 1970) attempts to preserve what is left. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_N._Barkhausen_Cache_River_Wetlands_Center
It really is sad to see the few thousand-year-old cypresses that survived the loggers, and think that these ancient trees barely made it past the point where it no longer was financially attractive to cut them down.

[sdwilsonsct]

...

I also have a question. Does seeing this solitary old tree growing in the dark water of Louisiana give you some feeling, no matter how much, of empathy for the irreparable loss that has taken place from two hundred years of greed and exploitation ? I ask, because my purpose behind showing these fotos is to make known the sadness- and the beauty- of a place most people will never see. Everytime I'm out there in my little kayak I ask myself if the pictures I make are succeeding. Does this foto  resonate it some tangible way? Will some one care a little more from seeing it ?

Photographers, biologists, naturalists all watch the world change and probably see it more than most.
Good image.

[Herbc]

I think the feeling of the loss of such trees depends on how much you know about the history.  I fished in the Atchafalaya (?) swamp in the 50's with a non english speaking cajun guide, and this really brings back memories.  As Yogi said, " you can see a lot by looking", but many people who do not have any reference point, i.e. knowing something about the logging etc, are numb to it.

[sarrasani]

Everyone,

Thank you for your kind responses. It means a lot to get encouraging words from such first rate photographers. I'm a bit humbled...

I also have a question. Does seeing this solitary old tree growing in the dark water of Louisiana give you some feeling, no matter how much, of empathy for the irreparable loss that has taken place from two hundred years of greed and exploitation ? I ask, because my purpose behind showing these fotos is to make known the sadness- and the beauty- of a place most people will never see. Everytime I'm out there in my little kayak I ask myself if the pictures I make are succeeding. Does this foto  resonate it some tangible way? Will some one care a little more from seeing it ?

Any thoughts you have will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again for your kind remarks.

Richard

No, I appreciated the image for its strong aesthetic quality. Resonances, sympathy for the subject and for this kind of interpretation....
But your words go to renforce my already high esteem for this image.
All the best,
Sandro

[Walt Roycraft]

Everyone,

Thank you for your kind responses. It means a lot to get encouraging words from such first rate photographers. I'm a bit humbled...

I also have a question. Does seeing this solitary old tree growing in the dark water of Louisiana give you some feeling, no matter how much, of empathy for the irreparable loss that has taken place from two hundred years of greed and exploitation ? I ask, because my purpose behind showing these fotos is to make known the sadness- and the beauty- of a place most people will never see. Everytime I'm out there in my little kayak I ask myself if the pictures I make are succeeding. Does this foto  resonate it some tangible way? Will some one care a little more from seeing it ?

Any thoughts you have will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again for your kind remarks.

Richard

No, I just like the image.