Let me tell you the story behind the shot of this Great Egret at Caddo Lake State Park in east Texas. I love reviewing photos from a shoot because I usually find one or two shots that I want to look at closer. Often I am anxious to process photos from my outings, so I go through my normal routine of marking ones I want to come back to and not marking ones I feel don’t make the cut. More often than not, when I review photos from a shoot I am surprised to find more photos worthy of some post-processing. That is the case with this image.

I stalked this bird in my kayak for two days. Well, I assume it was the same bird because I only ever saw one at a time. Actually it wasn’t two whole days but two outings over two days. But I digress. The first day, the egret was near the western shore of Mill Pond. I spotted it right away. The brilliant white bird stood out from the darkness under the cypress trees. I began slowly working my way toward the bird, letting the kayak drift silently through the water so that I wouldn’t frighten it away.

Then, I spotted another photographer in a canoe. The canoe was huge and brightly colored and it was very rapidly heading straight for my egret! The photographer seemed unaware of my presence and inexperienced in photographing birds. He approached the bird much too quickly and as I suspected, spooked the egret. Oh well. Don’t cry over spooked birds. I spent the rest of the morning looking at and shooting the beautiful trees and trying to capture the essence of the swamp.

The next day I was able to find the egret again. I had thought I only got one really great image from the sequence but when I went back through the photos the other day, I saw another one that made me go hmmmm. So, I spent some time on post-processing and this is the result. I love the shape created by the bird and its reflection.

I thought it would never end. 2020. The year I learned how valuable toilet paper is. As dismal as it seemed to be, when I looked back through my photos I realized we were able to travel and enjoy the outdoors. We love to visit our state and federal parks, which thanks to COVID, were less crowded this year. Nature photography, for me, is not a social activity involving large crowds. In fact, it is just the opposite. I love that it is a mostly solitary activity, with maybe one or two others at times.

Still, I hope and pray that 2021 is better and allows us all to visit our family and friends. Wishing you all the best in the coming year! Here are 12 of my favorite photos from 2020.