Old pier adds perfect element to marsh scene

I've been cooling my heels in South Louisiana after a long spring of almost constant travel, catching up on honey-dos and resting. But by the middle of last week I was bored to tears. And I was dying to use my new Benro filters.

So after eating lunch one day I started scouting for a sunset location using Google Maps. I pulled up Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans and began searching for old piers that might provide perfect foreground elements.

I thought I found the perfect place in New Orleans East, and my wife and I headed there about 2 hours before sunset. Unfortunately, when we arrived a train was warming up on the tracks I would have to cross to set up, and I couldn't see the end of the line of rail cars. I worried I would be trapped if the train began moving while I was shooting.

With the sun racing toward the horizon, I quickly pulled up the map again and found a promising stretch of Highway 90 along Chef Menteur Pass. The question was whether I could make it in time.I might or might not have floored my pickup, hurrying to the area to see if I could find the right spot for a memorable sunset photo.My wife had her doubts, but I pulled off the road about 20 minutes later - with the sun starting to disappear behind clouds on the horizon.

No worries: I knew the colors would pop back out a few minutes after official sunrise. So I hurried across the lot left vacant, and loved what I found.

I set up my equipment, added a filter stack and waiting as hordes of horseflies buzzed me in search of an opening (which they occasionally found).

The skies went dull gray as the sun slipped around the earth, but 10 minutes later soft colors crept into the haze caused by dust from the Sahara Desert.

The resulting image — which I titled "Sunset Over Chef Menteur Pass" — is simply marvelous, showing the beauty of the day's end in Louisiana's marshes.

I'm so happy I made the trip!