I captured this image on a cold morning in November, 2022 on Caddo Lake. Caddo Lake is a 25,400-acre lake and bayou on the border between Texas and Louisiana, in northern Harrison County and southern Marion County in Texas and western Caddo Parish in Louisiana. I had never been to the bayou before, but had always heard about its beauty, especially when the cypress trees are changing color. To capture this image, I rowed for an hour in a kayak in the dark with a headlamp through the bayou and set-up my tripod in the swamp. At first light I captured the image with a 10 second exposure as the mist/fog began to burn off.

This was my favorite image from the week-long trip and I have entered it in several international competitions. I especially love the reflection of the trees in the water and the color from the leaves on the tree trunks. It was a challenging trip, especially photographing from a kayak and putting a tripod and camera in and out of the swamp without tipping the kayak over or dropping the camera into the water.