A massive clap of thunder wakes me from a deep sleep as a line of thunderstorms passes through the region overnight. Outside, the storm rages, and as the wind blows to near-severe levels, rain pelts the East Texas timber.
As the sun breaks, we all assemble inside our lakeside lodge and discuss the storm that just passed a few hours prior. It turns out that I wasn't the only one awakened by the early November tempest. From a meteorological standpoint, November in Texas is analogous to May each year: it's an unsettled season where winter is trying to push out the heat of summer. As a result, these clashing air masses often spawn thunderstorms and an occasional tornado. While we dodge a destructive vortex, a slow yet persistent rain that lingers long after the squall line passes.
The workshop participants are flexible in their attitude and know that the morning's boat ride is off - at least for now. Since there is always a plan B, we pivot and keep the trip going.
The day before, we photographed the immense Caddo Lake from the shoreline. It was a warmup act that served as a starting point for a week that found us exploring remote corners of one of the South's most mysterious bodies of water and learning about the culture of a broad swath of East Texas.
Caddo Lake doesn't look all that big from the banks since there is not a huge body of water before you. Instead, it is a giant swamp with backwater sloughs that wind in and out of the giant cypress trees draped in Spanish moss. In all, 25,400 acres of giant, mysterious swamplands straddle the Texas/Louisiana border. The lake takes its name from the indigenous Caddo Indian tribes who once inhabited the area.
Overall the lake is shallow and is only 20 feet at its deepest. Much of it, though, is shallow enough for trees to crowd the water. So numerous are the cypress trees that they make up the world's largest cypress forest. Some areas have significant open water, but manyf lily pads and other aquatic vegetation stretching of those places have a carpet o for hundreds of yards. In fact, aquatic vegetation covers 60% of the lake.
This place is so unique it is recognized as an internationally protected wetland. The lake is also the second-largest natural lake in the South and the largest (and one of the few) natural lakes in Texas.
The rain fell the night of our first full day of the Caddo Lake and East Texas Autumn Nature Photography Workshop. Now, in the grey light of day two, we head for breakfast - photography will need to wait. While it can be argued that breakfast is breakfast, someone who says that has never experienced breakfast at a roadside breakfast joint deep in the woods of East Texas. Non-descript from the outside, once we walk in, we're greeted with the sweet smell of maple syrup and the savory of the sausage and bacon cooking on the old flattop. The women who work inside are inviting and engaging. Talking with big Southern drawls, they punctuate sentences with words like "hun" and "y'all" as they take each of our orders. Meals are a big deal in the South, and we're greeted with the same warm hospitality for each meal we'll have this week.
After breakfast, the rain has let off, but the weather isn't settled enough for going on the boat yet. So we do what we do every day of this workshop. We explore the region to learn about the area's people and culture. We visit old cemeteries, old stores, historic bridges, and the like to get a feel of what life was like when steamboat traffic still churned in from New Orleans. While the internet and other modern accouterments give the rural region all the same niceties as anywhere else in the United States, you can feel that the area has an old soul.
Late in the morning, I get a call from our boat captain. The rain's stopped, and he's ready to launch whenever we are. We finish our purchases at the oldest general store in Texas and head back toward the swamp. After a few minutes spent getting ready, the boat slips back from the dock, and we are putting alongside immense cypress trees draped in Spanish moss. It's still overcast, and the light is muted and soft, but it's a perfect way to photograph the swamps at midday. A long summer drought has the lake levels low but passable. You can see the high water ring on the cypress. As we study the big, monarchical cypress trees, someone notes how they are like fingerprints in that no two tree trunks are identical. Unlike the roundness of most trees, the cypress stumps fold and ungulate around their radius in a configuration that can only be described as complex.
Since no two trees are the same, no two scenes are the same. As such, despite six trips by boat into the swamps during the week and more trips on foot, there are still images abounding. Each tree and each bend in the bayou is another chance to take a memorable photo. There is no shortage of memorable photos here.
We finish the day with the sun breaking through the clouds. The weather is beautiful, and the surroundings tranquil. Caddo Lake has shown us her best today.
But it's just the beginning of the week. The swamps have much more to reveal to us.
We've got another round of this fantastic workshop in November 2025. To learn more, check out our trip HERE
Additional Images
This workshop lookes wonderful... some great captures
A great week, thank you, Russell!