In the Northwest corner of Tennessee in Tiptonville, Reelfoot Lake is my favorite place to photograph. Reelfoot was formed by an earthquake in 1812 where the Mississippi River ran backwards and formed the 13,000 acre lake which had been a swampy forest of Cypress, Cottonwood and Walnut trees. The old forest still lies beneath the surface and helps make the lake one of the world’s greatest natural fish hatcheries. Because of the plentiful fish Reelfoot has one of the largest winter populations of bald eagles outside of Alaska. Also hundreds of thousands of snow geese winter there and it is breathtaking to see them all fly from the fields at the same time at sunrise.

Every season has so much to offer a photographer. In the winter you have the eagles and snow geese and the lake is very shallow and freezes during a cold winter and the ice patterns that form on the cypress trees and knees are beautiful.

In the spring there are many migratory birds, nesting herons, egrets, osprey and eagles. The sunrises and sunsets can be beautiful anytime of year.

In the summer the lake is covered with blooming waterlilies. It is also fun to photograph the osprey catching fish and taking them back to their nests to feed the babies. Some years there are thousands of hummingbirds that nest there.

In the fall the cypress trees turn a lovely golden color and white pelicans start coming in during their migration. Sometimes there are hundreds of them on the lake.

I never come home disappointed from a photography trip to Reelfoot Lake.

Contributed by Renee Lowery