Photographing Louisiana’s Lake Martin
Text and images copyright Charles Bush, all rights reserved

It’s the second week of May and I’m patiently waiting for the male spoonbill to return to the nest. I’m hoping to get a good shot of the four spoonbill chicks with both parents. The male only appears several times per morning and only stays a few minutes each time. It’s the third day in a row I’ve made the 2-hour trek to Lake Martin leaving the house at 4 a.m. to be there by sunrise. The nest is clearly visible from the road but is back into the cypress. After about 7 a.m., good shots are not possible on sunny days due to the extreme contrast between the light part of the spoonbills that are sunlit and the trees behind the nest that are in shadow. The past two days have been bright providing only about an hour of shooting, and the male never returned during the magic hour. Fortunately, today is cloudy but still bright enough to stop action, and contrast is well under control. Then the male returns. I only have one or two minutes of shooting, but in that time, I’m able to get around 20 good shots of the spoonbills, including one shot with all four chicks visible and both parents with their bills crossed!

Lake Martin is located near Lafayette, Louisiana, halfway between the small Cajun towns of Breaux Bridge and St. Martinville. The Nature Conservancy has a long-term lease on the southern half of the lake, the site of one of the largest, if not the largest, wading bird rookeries in North America. During the peak months, several thousand egrets and several hundred spoonbills nest within the rookery. A gravel road runs along the eastern side of the rookery and one can photograph the birds standing alongside the road, being careful not to block traffic on the road. Shooting is ideal in the morning with direct front lighting; unfortunately, afternoons are challenging. The tall cypress trees where the birds nest grow in water about 70 feet from the road affording good shots with a 500 or 600mm lens and a teleconverter. Roseate Spoonbills and egrets are constantly flying overhead within easy range of a 400mm flight lens, and spoonbills often land in front of you in the duckweed just a few feet away. There are also Barred Owls and hawks that make good subjects when you tire of the herons, egrets, and spoonbills.

But Lake Martin is much more than just a place to photograph birds. It’s also one of the premier places in the state to photograph swamp scenes. The cypress grows out of water that is covered with green duckweed. Foggy mornings are ideal for capturing the cypress in their best light, and evenings allow excellent opportunities to capture the cypress silhouetted against the setting sun. The best place for scenic work is near the boat dock north of the rookery. In addition, during April there is wild iris, and in June there is mallow growing along the side of the lake. And, of course, there are large alligators to be photographed as well.

But for me, the main attraction is the birds. During the peak month of March, April and May, I spend about two days a week there. Below is an estimated timeline based upon my three years of intensive shooting there.

Late January / February
After 6 months of relative inactivity at the lake, the Great Egrets return. At this time of year, the cypress have no leaves, so it’s relatively easy to isolate the birds in the trees. The egrets are in their breeding plumage with flowing feathers, green lores around their eyes and dark red eyes. Capturing an egret in this plumage doing its breeding display is spectacular. I’ve had the best luck capturing this behavior in mid-February.

March
During March, the egrets are on their nests and the spoonbills have arrived. Spoonbills exhibit aggressive behavior during this time, often sparring with one another using their beaks. It’s a good time to capture the spoonbills bringing material to build their nests. It’s also still possible to capture a Great Egret doing its breeding display now with foliage on the cypress trees.

April
The Great Egrets now have chicks and the spoonbills are on the nest. Cattle Egrets, Snowy Egrets, and Little Blue Herons arrive.

May
The first two weeks in May bring spoonbill chicks. This is the peak time at the rookery with the Cattle Egrets, Snowy Egrets, and Little Blue Herons now nesting. Great Egret chicks have become fairly large and are often left by themselves on the nest. They also close the nature trail along the west side of the lake due to nesting alligators that will exhibit aggressive behavior around their nests.

June
The Great Egrets will fledge in early June, followed later in the month by the spoonbills. Cattle Egret, Snowy Egret, and Little Blue Heron chicks appear. Later in the month, the spoonbills begin fledging. White Ibis in their brilliant breeding plumage arrive.

July
The remaining birds fledge, and by the end of July, all of the nesting birds have departed.

Like any other rookery, the largest set of photographic challenges revolves around contrast and avoiding distractions in the image. Like the spoonbill family image, I’ve made my best images from Lake Martin in bright overcast light. I try to plan my trips to the lake around that type weather to maximize shooting opportunities. I spend quite a bit of time chimping (looking at the LCD on the back of the camera) on my D1X to make sure I’m not burning out highlights. I usually set my exposure meter to spot and the camera to manual and meter on one of the ever-present egrets in the brightest light and expose it to 1 1/3 stops above mid-tone to make it white while retaining feather detail.

Then, unless I switch to a dark subject or the light changes, I leave the settings as they are. If I’m there on a bright day, I have several options after 7 or 8 a.m. when contrast is a problem. First, I can hang in there and hope for a passing cloud, shoot subjects against areas totally in shadow yielding a pure black background, or I can switch to darker subjects and go to a different part of the lake where there are fewer shadows with which to contend. It’s often a good time to photograph alligators, gallinule or Little Blue Herons. Often I will set up my 600 on a window mount and drive the road looking for interesting subjects to photograph from the car, such as Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, alligators, and turtles.

Trying to isolate a subject at Lake Martin can be quite a challenge. With so many nests, it’s often difficult to isolate one without another in the background. Moving around to find the best vantage point helps; again bright overcast conditions help here, as well, allowing one to shoot in other than direct front-lit situations. With a long lens it’s often possible to just move a little bit, while observing the background, to isolate the subject.

For those interested in visiting there is airline service to Lafayette; Lake Martin is 10 minutes from the airport. You could also fly into Baton Rouge, which is an hour away. New Orleans is about a 3-hour drive, as is Houston.

Charles Bush teaches workshops on the use of digital cameras, printing and web development for photographers as well as leading photo tours in Louisiana. He sells fine art prints and images for use in magazines and books. He has been using digital cameras exclusively for four years. For further information, please visit www.charlesbushphoto.com.

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