“I’ve never met scenery I didn’t like when it had cypress, the sunrise, fog, mist and mood.” Joe Mac Hudspeth, Jr.
Hudspeth, who lives in Brandon with his wife of 36 years, retired two years ago after a career as a print media salesman. A lifelong Mississippian, he grew up in Oxford and has always considered himself an outdoorsman. And as a wildlife photographer, he has three published coffee table books: “In the Southern Wild,” “Return to the Southern Wild” and “My Southern Wild.” This fall, he is debuting his fourth book, “My Best of The Southern Wild,” which is an exquisite collection of his favorite photos taken over the last 40 years. Since 1997, his photographs have appeared as the official images for numerous Mississippi Duck Stamps and also Mississippi Sportsman Licenses. In fact, this was
the first time in 25 years that the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks used a photograph on the Mississippi Duck Stamp and the first time ever on a Sportsman License. “It was an honor to have my photographs selected to grace both the Mississippi Duck Stamp and Sportsman License for some 19 years,” said Hudspeth. His interest in photography traces back to the late 1980s, when as a deer hunter he would spend a lot of time hunting on private property off of the Natchez Trace. It was then that he realized there was a shift in his interest. “My favorite stand overlooked a cypress brake, and I spent more time watching the waterfowl, turtles, beaver, wading birds and other wildlife than
deer hunting,” he said. The wood duck was his first species of choice to capture on film. “That was because of its beauty and because I knew they were native to Mississippi and would be around after hunting season,” he explained. “At that time, however, there was no such thing as a pop-up blind. So, I created a custom blind of PVC pipe with Mossy Oak camouflage sewn to fit the frame that I set up in a cypress swamp to be close to the ducks. Then after figuring out where I needed my blind positioned to be close to them, I started capturing beautiful, frame-filling images of wood ducks.” Next, he began photographing species of birds that came close to his duck blind
SEPTEMBER 2019 | TODAY 21