Photographer Frank Relle begins his nighttime ritual as the sun disappears behind the cypress trees of the Atchafalaya Basin. Each journey into this vast Louisiana swamp starts with a sense of uncertainty and anticipation, because as Relle puts it, “I’m never really sure what photographs are going to make themselves available.” What he finds and captures with his camera is stunning.
relle revisits a swamp photograph
On the ride out, we pass a stand of cypress familiar to Relle – a single cypress tree framed by darker tree clusters on either side. This is the landscape that inspired Relle’s photograph “Mouret,” his tribute to those recovering from Hurricane Ida.
“I wanted to give some light to this dark time,” he explains. “I lit it where the trees are dark on either side, but there’s a light in the center… because sometimes we just need a little bit of hope.”
frank relle and the studio in the swamp
Tonight, however, Relle is heading for a different shoreline—one where towering old-growth cypress trees rise from the shallows like ancient guardians.
Relle slips into his dry suit and slides into the dark lake. His assistant works from a flatboat, arranging studio lights in the boat and on tripods standing in the shallow lake. Within minutes, clouds of mayflies and mosquitoes swarm every beam of light. But Relle insists the insects are part of the setting—and part of the reason these places remain untouched. “The lake isn’t full of people at night,” he says, “because of the bugs.”
Standing in chest-deep water, Relle balances his camera on a tripod just inches above the surface while using a paddleboard as a floating desk. A laser pointer guides his assistant to place the light precisely where he needs it. “I want light crossing the front of these trees,” he explains as the scene slowly takes shape.
These photography trips coincide with the full moon. “I’m using the moon to illuminate the sky, to give shape to the trees,” Relle says. With exposures lasting up to eight minutes, the water smooths and the clouds blur. He adds “The long exposure has a way of painting the clouds across the sky.”
portraits of ancient trees
The finished images are magical—golden-lit cypress mirrored in dark water under sweeping blue moonlit skies. The images have a sense of timelessness that pulls viewers in. Relle sees these trees the way a portrait photographer sees a human subject. “I feel the story of the tree,” he says, “and how it connects for people.”
Relle often spends a week at a time in the swamp, sometimes sleeping in a hammock tent strung above the water. He captures images that connect with him. And he hopes that others will be inspired by his photography to come to Louisiana and experience the swamp at day or night.
photography of frank relle featured on tv
A gallery in the french quarter & online
You can visit the gallery of Frank Relle Photography at 910 Royal Street in New Orleans French Quarter. His images are also available online. Click here for Relle’s website.
Carroll
Down right awesome!! Gods creation captured. He has such a gift of talent to have such vision. Beautiful, beautiful !!! And that is not a good enough description .