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Mighty cypress

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A cypress tree stands tall just off the shoreline of the Neuse River near James City. Photo: Dylan Ray

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A cypress tree stands tall just off the shoreline of the Neuse River near James City. Photo: Dylan Ray

About Dylan Ray

Dylan Baker Ray was raised in Greenville. His love for photojournalism began in high school where Ray worked as a photographer and cartoonist for to the school paper. After receiving a degree in photojournalism at Randolf Technical Institute, he moved to the Crystal Coast to become the chief photographer and eventually photo editor during his 15 years at the Carteret County News-Times. He has accrued more than 20 North Carolina Press Association awards in photojournalism and continues his work documenting and preserving the residents and their lives along the Southern Outer Banks. He lives in Beaufort with his wife and daughters.

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The sun sets behind a cloudbank Saturday as shown from above the Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge off Lola Road on Cedar Island in Carteret County was established in 1964 occupies 14,494 acres on a peninsula jutting into southern Pamlico Sound, with N.C. Highway 12 slicing through and the 5,500-acre Cedar Island National Wildlife Reserve just to the east. The refuge and the reserve both offer opportunities to immerse one's self into nature, such as hiking, paddling, birding and nature viewing, as well as numerous other activities. Photo: Dylan Ray
Nature reveals golden moment over Cedar Island
Humidity fills the air west of the Jonathan Robinson Bridge, creating a series of summer squalls shower eastern Carteret County. Photo: Dylan Ray
Squalls on the horizon, from way up high
A lynx spider covertly watches as a pollinator bee forages on a sunflower blossom in a garden near Russell Creek in Beaufort. Photo: Dylan Ray
Sunny surveillance
The state's ongoing drought is affecting water levels in the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s North River Wetland Preserve near Otway where wading birds take advantage of conditions recently to feed on the fish, tadpoles, frogs and aquatic insects left with nowhere to go. Nearly the entire state is facing drought conditions at the time this was published, with most of the coast in moderate drought with increasing severity toward New Hanover and Brunswick counties and the western portions of most other coastal counties.
Drought creates feeding trough
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North Carolina Press AssociationWinner of six North Carolina Press Association awards in 2025.