A Morning with the Cypress Trees

I have shared quite a few images of this place throughout my last few blog posts. For those of you who are just itching to see something other than Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge: I promise this is the last one, and there will be a new location featured next week! But if you are enjoying seeing this stunning swamp through my lens, in all sorts of different lights, then you may enjoy this final post. Following a spectacular golden sunrise over the lake, we watched the sun climb a little higher in the horizon and peep through the cypress trees. I hope that these images of clear blue skies and early morning light will brighten up your day!

The Swamp Awakens

It was an early start to get to Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge in time for sunrise. I loved this place so much the night before that we just had to come back for more. I certainly did not expect it to get even better than it was in the previous visit - and for several reptilian visitors to adorn the landscape. This was one of those incredible golden mornings that you don’t see very often. Sometimes nature puts on a real show.

Night Falls over Banks Lake

In my previous blog post, I hinted that I would be sharing quite a few more images from Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia. This week’s blog post continues on to a peaceful evening at the lake, featuring a little bit of astrophotography. The last two photos are star trail images: compilations of tens or hundreds of images of the night sky, merged together to show the movement of the stars over time. With a clear and unpolluted sky, you can really see how the milky way shifts around across the frames. In this particular place, the brightest stars are also reflected in the still waters, creating mirrored star trails on the surface of the lake.

A Hidden Treasure in South Georgia

We arrived in Valdosta, a small city in south Georgia, with absolutely no expectations of what we would find there. On a spare evening, we opened up Google Maps and searched for “things to see” in the area. Apparently there was a somewhat interesting swamp visible from a boardwalk, so we packed up our camera gear and went to see the sunset. Little did we know what we were about to encounter!

The Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge is truly a hidden gem and was an absolute surprise. We loved it so much that we just kept coming back for more! So be prepared for a few more blog posts featuring this amazing place.

Pine Trees at Dusk

I’m very fortunate in that my work allows me to travel all over the world (more recently, throughout the US) and see some amazing places. Over my next few blog posts, I want to share some of the images I took a few weeks ago when I spent some time in southern Georgia and had a free couple of days to explore the surrounding areas.

These first few images are of the pine trees at Stephen C. Foster State Park and the surrounding Okefenokee Swamp area at dusk. I was so surprised by the natural beauty of these swamps; they were completely different from any other place I’ve visited before. Keep your eyes peeled for much more over the coming weeks!