A Full Mississippi River and the Morganza Spillway

Yesterday I took a helicopter flight over the Morganza Floodway and saw the Mississippi full to the high banks in West Feliciana Parish and across it was near the levee top on the East side in Pointe Coupee Parish.  Big, scary water, yet not enough to open too many of the gates at Morganza. 

The Mississippi River being relieved of some pressure
by means of the Morganza Spillway 

 In the picture you can see agricultural lands in the background.  That reminds me of 1970s when we were battling to stop the Corps of Engineers channelization project on the Atchafalaya River.  That project would have drained much of the Atchafalaya Swamp during normal water levels and that would have dropped the guard of landowners to do more development within the floodway.  Then when a Mississippi River flood needed the relief of the spillway, it too would be developed.

Happily most of the Atchafalaya Basin below Highway 190 is still wet and wild. And hopefully the backwater flooding will not harm too many homes.

Giant waves rushing out of the Old River Control Structure
are over 30 feet tall.

Last Thursday I drove over the Old River Control Structure and photographed the giant standing wave.  The hydraulics of all that water coming through the structure made a colossal 30-foot tall wave that makes the rapids in the Grand Canyon look miniature.  Good for crawfish and bad for raccoons and deer, the Atchafalaya is getting a good flushing.  I am dreaming about all the exotic plants being flushed out to never return, that's pie in the sky, but what the heck, let's dream.

Beach Morning Glory

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The May Print of the Month is now available!

"Beach Morning Glory"

About this print:

This print features the beautiful light and airy summer bloom of a Beach Morning Glory, Ipomoea stolonifera, at Santa Rosa Island in Florida. Rich in texture and mood, this photograph evokes the warm subtle memories of Gulf Coast summers. 

Regular Price: $100

Special Print of the Month Price: $40

Paper size: 11" x 17.5"

Image size: 11" x 17.5" (see image above)

Paper Type:  Epson Lustre Archival

*Please keep in mind: Due to the differences of individual computer monitors the  final print's color, brightness, contrast etc. can vary from what is seen on computer monitors.

*Order this Print of the Month HERE*

*View and purchase previous Print of the Months HERE*

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Spring Workshop Photos

My spring photography workshops recently ended. It was a great time at each, with beautiful weather and lots to see. I'm hoping some of you can join me in a few months for my fall photo workshops. I'm looking forward to them already.

ATCHAFALAYA BASIN:

Workshop student photographs in the basin from a canoe.

Cypress

Wildflowers

BURDEN PLANTATION:

Workshop students shooting the flora at Burden

Water Lilies

Blue Flag Iris

The Oil Flow iPad App is out!

My new iPad Photobook App is now available! 

To learn more about and see more screen shots of the app click: HERE
To purchase it for only $2.99 click to go directly the iTunes store: HERE


PRESS
A recent interview concerning The Oil Flow app:

Three Different Days

Life is different and exciting for a natural history photographer. Take three days last week. On Thursday I was in my bateau (cajun flat boat) cruising the bayous in Terrebonne Parish looking for eagles, then on Friday I was in my backyard taking pictures of my chicks that had hatched 12 days earlier and finally on the weekend I was in New Orleans photographing parades for a project on the good things of Louisiana.

I left Bayou Black Marina for my eagle search dressed warmly as it's always colder in a boat moving over the 60-degree water. The multitude of herons, egrets, ibis, coots, moorhens and anhinga that were here during the Eagle Expo were gone to mate and build their nest in rookeries. The eagles were still here. I saw 22 adults and 7 immature on a 50-mile boat tour. During that boat ride I found 6 nests I had not seen before. The eagle recovery plan is working well here in Louisiana.

On February 18 I hatched nine Araucana chicks in my incubator, the eggs came from my friends, the Roland’s, who live down the road from my house. The eggs are blue so when these grow up I will be adding beautiful blue eggs to the beige, brown and white I now get. The chicks make great photo subjects also. Right now I have 21 eggs in the incubator, which should hatch this Thursday. This is a mixed batch. I collected eggs from friends that have a number of different varieties. I’ll post pictures of all the different looks when they hatch.

After putting my Araucana chicks back in the brooder, I headed out to New Orleans to photograph some parades, especially the second line walking parades. My good friend Al McDuff told me about the Red Beans and Rice Walking Parade and that was my main goal. The crew met at Port and Royal Street at 1 PM and soon gathered to about 100 members dressed in costumes decorated in red beans, rice and other colored beans.

Some were very elaborate and beautifully done. As they walked, danced and jived down Royal Street, many Marti Gras revelers joined the route. In all I shot 1,400 photographs in three days of Mardi Gras. The digital world makes my shutter finger more active. This girl’s bean decorated mask was one of my favorites.

Spring Photo Workshops!

We're only a couple of weeks away from my spring photography workshops! Read more below for details and be sure to sign up soon, as space is limited.:

Atchafalaya Basin Photo Workshop: April 2 

 

Join CC Lockwood for a canoe trip into the scenic Atchafalaya swamp, followed by a post-op critique session on April 19 of your photographs taken on the trip.  A pre field trip lecture on March 31 will focus on shooting techniques as they apply to swamp photography from boats.  For more details please click HERE.  

Tunica Hills Photo Workshop: April 16

Join CC Lockwood for  a hike through the forest, hills, and waterfalls of Tunica at Clark's Creek, followed by a post-op critique session on April 19 of your photographs taken on the trip.  A pre field trip lecture on March 31 will focus on shooting techniques as they apply to hiking in the forest. For more details please click HERE.

1977 Atchafalaya Movie Premiere Print!

March's Print of the Month is a very limited original (we have less than 30 left) print from my 1977 Atchafalaya: America's Largest River Basin movie premiere. 

 

About this print:

This print is VERY limited with less than 30 remaining!

This is an original 11” x 17.5” movie print advertising  CC Lockwood's premiere of his 1977 film  Atchafalaya: America's Largest River Basin Swamp.  Directed by C.C. Lockwood and Marty Stouffer.  Produced by C.C. Lockwood.  Each is printed on a lovely slightly textured thick matte paper and is hand-signed in silver by CC Lockwood. Get your little piece of Atchafalaya history today. This unique vintage black and white advertising movie print looks fantastic matted and framed.  These won't last long! 

More about this print from CC Lockwood:
"In the late 70s, as I was working on documenting the Atchafalaya Basin through my photography, the Corps of Engineers planned to deepen the channel of the Atchafalaya River in the interest of flood control.  But, in fact, the plan would only have complicated flooding problems.  Ultimately, it would be the ruin of a vital wetland.  I had to find a way to let more people know how valuable the Basin was.  So, I extended my sojourn another year, now with a 16-mm movie camera and the help of my friend Marty Stouffer, who was successfully making educational wildlife films at the time. 

The film was wildly successful.  The LSU Union Theater was packed to the gills for its premier showing; with the theater's 1,315 seats and its aisles filled, some 400 people were turned away.  Congressman Henson Moore spoke, along with Sandra Thompson, executive director of the Governor's Atchafalaya Basin Commission.  The Copas Brothers played songs from the soundtrack before we showed the film.  Louisianians were thirsty to learn more about the basin."

-CC Lockwood

Click HERE to purchase one of these fantastic limited prints!