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Florida Nature Photography in the British Media!

Posted by Rich Leighton Wednesday, February 3, 2010 0 comments

Very cool news! In the past couple of years, the list of followers for Florida Nature Photography has gotten huge, and we've gotten to know a lot of great people from all over the globe. Recently, I was contacted by Barry Chignell of Free Photo Resources - a British online publication about a wide range of subjects dealing with photography - and asked if I'd agree to an interview. How could I refuse?


The article just went out this morning, and you can see it here - as well as read a lot of other great articles about amazing and creative photographers, reviews, industry news, tutorials and lots more from Free Photo Resources. It is a great resource for any of us who just adore the art of digital photography, and it's the perfect place to start when looking for inspiration, creativity, and just great photography!

Rich Leighton
February 3, 2010

THANKS FOR LOOKING AND WE LOVE HEARING ALL YOUR COMMENTS!!!

All images are property of Leighton Photography & Imaging and cannot be used or copied
without express permission by either Richard or Galina Leighton.

All rights reserved. Leighton Photography & Imaging ©2006-2010

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Deep Forest Creek

Posted by Rich Leighton Sunday, January 24, 2010 2 comments

For the past week in the Tallahassee area where I live, it's been wet, gray, often rainy and generally not good for nature photography. In times like these I either stay indoors working on the editing stage of my photography, writing about Florida's natural history, or on occasion, go out anyway in hopes of finding something very interesting to photograph.

Yesterday I decided to go out, and went to the Lake Talquin State Forest to do a bit of hiking in the Fort Braden Trails to look for a couple types of orchids.... one which has been eluding me in this particular area. I did not have all my essential photography gear with me, as I wanted to travel light and fast, so I just had my tripod and camera with wide angle zoom lens... not my usual full rig. I brought the tripod because I've been wanting to get a particular sunrise shot over Lake Talquin that I've got pictured in my mind, but yesterday there was little to no sun, particularly at first light. Bummer - but it can wait for another day. Patience is the key to nature photography.

~ click on image to see it enlarged on Fine Art America ~

I did however find this beautiful little creek running through a small ravine on its way to the lake, and there was enough diffused and dappled light coming through the forest canopy to add perfect illumination on the forest floor. I decided it just had to be photographed, although I didn't have a sense that it was going to turn out so well at the time.

While the trip was generally not as productive as I would have liked, I did find about three hundred orchids of two species that were not in bloom, and have them marked on my GPS to return at their appropriate flowering times. The best part was that I enjoyed a quiet morning hike through a gorgeous forest landscape, and got one keeper shot in the process!

Rich Leighton
January 24, 2010

THANKS FOR LOOKING AND WE LOVE HEARING ALL YOUR COMMENTS!!!

All images are property of Leighton Photography & Imaging and cannot be used or copied
without express permission by either Richard or Galina Leighton.

All rights reserved. Leighton Photography & Imaging ©2006-2010

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Operation Migration - Whooping Cranes Arrive in North Florida!

Posted by Rich Leighton Thursday, January 14, 2010 5 comments

For the first three days of this week, an event was happening in St. Marks, Florida area that held the riveted attention of birders and other wildlife enthusiasts around the North America. It was Operation Migration's incredible effort in whooping crane conservation, and in particular, the last day of an 83-day migration "training" of their juvenile whooping cranes from Wisconsin.

Whooping cranes are the largest North American birds, and one of the most endangered. In 1941, there were an estimated 15 birds left. This number has climbed slowly over the decades, and there are now an estimated 500 birds today, with 350 of these in the wild. Operation Migration's goal is to create a self-sustainable migrating flock from Wisconsin to Florida.

This particular trip brought ten juvenile whooping cranes, affectionately named the "Class of 2009", a staggering 1285 miles from the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin to its new wintering grounds in the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in North Florida. These birds have been trained to follow an ultralight, a type of small, one-manned aircraft the entire distance south, with the hope that their natural migratory instincts will allow to return north on their own in the spring.

~ click on images to enlarge ~

That being said, after two chilly consecutive days of waiting followed by the disappointing news of the flight as a "no-go" in rare below-freezing mornings in St. Marks, many hundreds of people - including myself were delighted when on the third morning the word was out that the flight was on. The birds were leaving Jefferson County for the final leg of the trip, which was approximately 26 miles. At roughly 9 am on a chilly January 13, 2010 with temperatures at about 26°F (-3°C), the lead ultralight came into view and flew over the thrilled gathering of spectators.

Moments later, the second ultralight came into view, followed by all ten "whoopers" and it was a beautiful sight! The sky was nearly crystal clear, and I had perfect conditions to photograph the event.


Although they flew at a very high altitude, I brought along the right equipment just in case to get some detailed shots as they flew directly overhead.

After days of waiting, and lots of traveling and planning, it was over in 90 seconds, and it was totally worth it! As the ultralights and cranes flew past and headed for their wintering pens, I got the shot I was looking and hoping for - the ultralight and all ten cranes "stacked" as they flew off into the distance. A beautiful ending to a fantastic and chilly morning!


I decided to include this photo of a captive whooping crane I photographed in Homosassa Springs State Park last year to "put a face" on these beautiful and highly endangered birds. This photograph is not included in FloridaNaturePhotography.com as all photos in those galleries are of non-captive/non-cultivated subjects, or in other words, wild only.

To find out more about the non-profit organization "Operation Migration", please visit their website to learn more and help by pledging your support!

Rich Leighton
January 14, 2010

THANKS FOR LOOKING AND WE LOVE HEARING ALL YOUR COMMENTS!!!

All images are property of Leighton Photography & Imaging and cannot be used or copied
without express permission by either Richard or Galina Leighton.

All rights reserved. Leighton Photography & Imaging ©2006-2010

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The Forgotten Coast "Revisited"

Posted by Rich Leighton Monday, January 11, 2010 1 comments

I wanted to do a little follow-up from my last article on "The Forgotten Coast" that was posted last week. I got such a fantastic and hearty response, that I wanted to reply with this quick post for several reasons.

Firstly, a big thank you to all the comments, new followers, Twitter "retweets" and the mass of messages received on Facebook, Twitter, etc., especially from those who live in that particular area of the Florida Panhandle. Very much appreciated, and I'm happy that so many of you found the map useful. I will now be using a custom map for all of my larger location-based blogs and posts.

"Timeless Florida Coast"

~ click to enlarge photo ~

Secondly, the day after the aforementioned post went live, I was still editing photos from that day and this one came out of the day's efforts that I thought conveyed the feeling and sense of timelessness that I felt while shooting the sunset beach scenes on Cape San Blas. The use of a "warm" black & white image seemed to hit the bulls-eye in what I was trying to achieve. I called it "Timeless Florida Coast." Had I waited another day to post, it would have been included.

And lastly, a quick announcement that there are seven new galleries that have just been added to Florida Nature Photography, which will fix some problems I had with my categories - particularly in "Birds", and the addition of "Black & White" in the landscapes galleries.

In closing, Galina and I would like to wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year, and may this year be the best one yet!
Rich Leighton
January 10, 2010

THANKS FOR LOOKING AND WE LOVE HEARING ALL YOUR COMMENTS!!!

All images are property of Leighton Photography & Imaging and cannot be used or copied
without express permission by either Richard or Galina Leighton.

All rights reserved. Leighton Photography & Imaging ©2006-2010

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The Forgotten Coast - Unforgettable Florida

Posted by Rich Leighton Monday, January 4, 2010 9 comments

For much of the past week, I've been making my way around and throughout a part of the Florida Panhandle that is mostly unfamiliar territory for me and definitely "off the beaten path". Completely rural, shockingly beautiful, loaded with wildlife - and oddly coastal - it is an area that is not on your average "Florida destination" brochure. Have no idea where I'm talking about? How can this be?

It's most often called The Forgotten Coast. It is a hundred-mile stretch of coastline that reaches from the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in the east to Mexico Beach in the west. Why is it called "Forgotten?" There is a funny anecdote. A Florida tourism group in the 1990's forgot to include information for this area on their map - so the locals created a new name and the name stuck.

For this post, I decided I wanted to add a little more than photos and captions, so at the end you will see a map including the locations (nearly exact coordinates to my very footsteps) where these photographs were taken. I will be using more place names, as they can be seen on the map, and will create a better "sense of place." These images were all taken during one of my days prowling the Forgotten Coast, along with my own trials and tribulations as a nature photographer - all in a day's work!

~ click on images to enlarge ~

First detail of this particular day - January 3, 2010 - it was a very cold predawn in North Florida. The temperature at around 5 am was about 25°F (-4°C) and I was headed to the beach....great! My goal was to get to Apalachicola by the time the sky began to get light enough to set up my gear for a sunrise over the Gulf of Mexico. By the time I passed through the town on Panacea, the sky was beginning to get very pink, and crossing the bridge over the Ochlockonee Bay, my mouth just dropped open! I jumped out of the car on the other side of the bridge and started shooting. This was my very first photograph taken this day, and it was gorgeous! As I was shooting, a bald eagle flew overhead, and I knew it was a good omen for a great day of shooting!


When I go out on a nature photography trip, I have a very strict schedule and timetable - with multiple variants in case some areas are hot or cold (great shooting possibilities, or zero photo ops) and my target on this trip was landscapes and birds. Landscapes because I love doing them and have a passion for making portraits of Florida in its natural state, and birds because of the overwhelming response I got to my last blog (see - your comments really do guide my travels). I decided I'd better work on my birds and see how well I could deliver.

The pine trees above were photographed as the sun rose above the horizon on the shore of the Ochlockonee Bay - in the same spot as the sunrise photo above. Hurricanes in recent years have changed the layout of the landscape permanently - on a coastline that is already in constant flux. These doomed pines will soon be killed by the salty bay which is now creeping into the forest and eroding the very ground where these trees stand.

To make up for lost time - I had to go through Apalachicola without stopping, and make a note to add this location for a future photography trip. I was behind schedule and had a lot of places to stop before I had my final sunset shoot that evening. Passing through the nearly deserted streets (it was about 8:30 am on a Sunday morning) I drove through a huge flock of European starlings. There were hundreds upon hundreds of them! I pulled over to get a shot of this little critter from behind the wheel. What is a European bird doing in Florida? In 1890, someone decided to release a hundred of these beautiful and highly adaptive birds in New York City, from where they have spread across the whole continent - and are now increasingly more common in Florida. I saw my first one a couple of years ago, and now they are seen commonly all over the state.

My major stop of the day was the St. Joseph Peninsula - a nine mile bent finger of land that reaches out into the the Gulf of Mexico, and creates the St. Joseph Bay. I was excited! I'd never been here before, and I wanted to see the magnificent dunes that make this stretch of coast so unlike anywhere else in the United States. I planned to stay here for about five hours and shoot all the birds I could find, and get those dunes, of course! With my first few steps out of the car, I was rewarded with this cardinal perched on some smilax, or greenbriar, vines.


I was slightly disappointed to see almost no birds along the shore on the Gulf side of the peninsula, but as I came over the dunes (using the boardwalk of course - it is illegal to walk on the dunes themselves for several ecological and environmental reasons) I started to see little moving specks at the water's edge. These turned out to be the skittish little sanderlings in their lovely winter plumage. This sanderling was kind enough to pause its foraging to pose for me.

Scouting the best place to photograph the dunes, I decided to shoot from another boardwalk, and from the highest position. I do not like anything man-made or unnatural in my landscapes, so I was limited. I managed to get this clean image and was able to shoot wide with no obstructions. This dune was about 25 feet high, and it was a magical view! I also have to say that it was the first time I've ever worn gloves in Florida.... it was ridiculously cold and windy! Why was I carrying gloves with me in Florida when I never have worn or needed them before? I'm always prepared..... or so I think I am....


Crossing back over to the St. Joseph Bay side of the peninsula to Eagle Harbor - which was about a two-minute walk. It was a birder's wonderland! All kinds of birds I've never seen! This shockingly red-eyed horned grebe kept popping up a couple dozen feet from me, just to disappear underwater when I raised my camera to my face. I was very excited about this find, being the first time I've ever seen one, and the fact that it seemed to be checking me out as much as I was checking it out, I was determined to get this shot. Pow! Once again I hit myself simultaneously on the cheek, nose and forehead with my camera as it suddenly pops up really close, and I manage to get a quick focus and fire within a split second. All those years of photographing butterflies have really honed my aim and control!


Out on the flats, the bird situation is rocking! Cold or not - I'm prepared for anything. I go into the bay, sloshing out to get closer to the birds, which are far out on the oyster beds and sandbars. It's low tide at this point, and the ground is very sticky, unless I try to walk on the turtle grass. There are sea urchins everywhere, and I'm being careful not to step on them, while keeping an eye on my quarry. There are buffleheads, mergansers, cormorants, willets, egrets, herons, gulls and pelicans everywhere. This willet was close to me, and I snapped this shot off on my way out into the bay.

Then it happened..... my foot got stuck in the mud. No problem - I'm used to it, and it happens all the time. What never happens is the sole of the boot sticking to the mud so strongly that it separates from the boot! I'd had a bit of a flapper and my wife had been telling me to get new boots, but I had a backup pair - in my closet at home. So much for being prepared for anything! "Pseudo-Tourette's" kicks in and I'm unloading blasphemy like a seasoned pirate, and I don't even notice how cold the muddy water is on one previously cozy and dry foot. I can't do any more shooting until I replace my boots, and I've scared off all the birds anyway. Once this sinks in, I really get mad. A good pair of boots is just as important for a nature photographer as his camera - you can't have one without the other.

Almost two hours later, I'm in a Walmart in Panama City wearing one boot and looking for a new pair of temporary replacement boots.

Now that I'm in Panama City - where I planned to finish my day, I decide to rearrange my timeline and fast-forward my plans and check out St. Andrews State Park - and more importantly, make up for lost time. Not far into the park, I nearly stumbled into two six-point bucks. This guy was photographed from about 20 feet from where I stood.

Not far from where the deer were photographed, I began a chase through the trees after this female downey woodpecker. The smallest American woodpecker, it is just as quick and unpredictable as its larger cousins, and as I was about to give up the chase and go after something else, she landed close to me and I squeezed off this shot!

After checking out the beach on the Gulf side of the park and seeing much the same thing as I did on the St. Joseph Peninsula, I decide to skip it for another day and head to the north side of the park to look for birds and other sights on the Grand Lagoon. Bodies of water connected to the Gulf and sheltered by land are usually the best places to look for wildlife, and this was the case here. Lots of mergansers, shorebirds, and this beautiful, huge great blue heron were the first thing I saw as I came out of the trees and approached the water's edge. Approaching very slowly, this heron tolerated my presence up to about ten feet away. I got this photograph while sitting cross-legged in front of this magnificent heron.


Not far from the heron, a group of little ruddy turnstones were taking advantage of the low tide and devouring the easily accessible clams with relish. Incredibly, these little birds live and breed in the Arctic, and travel an incredible distance for the winter. Sitting on the ground, I waited until this little group got close enough to me to get this shot.


After checking out some of the local terrain, and making mental notes of places to revisit, I decided to drive back to the St. Joseph Peninsula. It was such a hot spot that I felt it would be foolish not to return and try to round out my trip there, and risk not getting the perfect location for my sunset shot. By about 4:30 pm I arrived at the shore of Eagle Harbor where I lost (and recovered) my boot sole. I immediately went back into the water. Unfortunately the tide was coming in, and the birds were mostly gone. I did get this pelican in flight, and the horned grebe was still there, but not so curious about me as it was that morning.

I decided to do a bit of exploring for future trip locations, and make notes and mark waypoints on my GPS for another day. The golden hour of late afternoon photography was past, and I still had no idea where to shoot my sunset. The sun was setting in the wrong direction, and I needed to get the sun on the same side as the beach.


I started heading back to the mainland, with a nagging worry that I was going to miss the setting sun. There was just nowhere that looked good enough, and it was getting late. I found a patch of pine trees on Cape San Blas next to some U.S. Air Force property and parked the car in the edge of the treeline. It was now or never. Five minutes to go until sundown, and the sky was starting to look spectacular! As previously seen that morning, the beach was eroding, and the stumps from the dead pine trees were sticking out of the water - the perfect foreground element for my final images of the day! In minutes I was set up and shooting with glee - I couldn't have planned that better!


Use the map I've created below to supplement this blog to see exactly where I've been. The blue tabs are locations I've pointed out and include notes to explain a bit better what I was doing at each spot. I'm a big fan of Google maps, and only recently learned I could add them to enhance my work as a photographer, writer, and naturalist. Your comments are not only very welcome, but very important to me as they keep me focused on what I could be doing, and what I should be doing.



View The Forgotten Coast in a larger map

Florida's Forgotten Coast is truly an amazing and unique part of Florida - and will hopefully remain wild and free. As most of this coastline is protected as national wildlife refuge land, various state parks, and state and national forests, much of the remaining parts are off-limits to the public as military property - most notably, Tyndall Air Force Base. Maybe this jewel of a coast will always remain protected from the vandalism and disfigurement so often unleashed with little or no restraint from our elected officials, the developers with their lobbyist hired guns, and those collectively known as "Big Money".

Rich Leighton
January 5, 2010

THANKS FOR LOOKING AND WE LOVE HEARING ALL YOUR COMMENTS!!!

All images are property of Leighton Photography & Imaging and cannot be used or copied
without express permission by either Richard or Galina Leighton.

All rights reserved. Leighton Photography & Imaging ©2006-2010

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The Winter Wonderland of Florida's North Gulf Coast

Posted by Rich Leighton Wednesday, December 23, 2009 10 comments

One of the most amazing places for winter nature photography in Florida that I know of is along the northern edge of the Gulf of Mexico where there are no condos, no restaurants, and more importantly there are no people. This wondrous place is the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. It is a seemingly endless vista of salt marshes pock-marked with isolated islands of pine and oak that are home to an incredible array of wildlife and natural wonders.


Yesterday morning, I set off early - well before dawn - in hopes of catching some sunrise landscape shots over the salt marshes. I've photographed these same locations many times, but never at first light. It was a rare morning where the temperature dipped a few degrees below freezing, and the frost on the ground looked a lot like snow in my car's headlights. It was so worth it, as I was rewarded with the most stunning sunrise I've seen in a long time! Winter often offers interesting colors and hues with the first hints of light, but this was something special..... just pure beauty in all its glory!


My original idea was to get some nice landscape shots, then get back to town and start working on some other photography projects, but I was all alone out in all this wilderness, and there were all kinds of birds everywhere. As a nature photographer - I'm supposed to know all about birds, right? Nope - birds are my weak point. I'm a botany guy at heart. Birds got my attention on this morning, and I went into the marshes after them - freezing water or not. At least I didn't have to worry about alligators or snakes - too cold!


This great blue heron stood in contrast against the landscape as the early sunlight spread across the salt marsh. One of the many pine stands can be seen in the background.


Heading down to the actual Gulf of Mexico, I wanted to get a photograph of the lighthouse for my Florida history collection, and what I saw there was a halo around the sun! It's only the second time I've ever seen this - and it was a great additional element to a common lighthouse composition. It was already turning into a fantastic morning!


One last shot of the shoreline with the sun halo at its peak, and I was off to find good locations to photograph birds in the myriad of scattered pools and grasses. I didn't have to go far...


This sleepy great egret was standing on the edge of a marsh near the lighthouse. The first press of my camera's shutter-release sent it silently flying off into the distance.


Walking along the shore - dozens of warblers and sparrows darted among the trees and foliage ahead of me. I was able to get some of them on camera, like this female yellow-rumped warbler.


Not unexpectedly - a male yellow-rumped warbler was close by!


Deciding eventually to get out of the cold wind and into the trees, I ended up walking into one of the mixed pine/oak islands and just to be scared out of my wits by a sudden shriek of a bald eagle in the tree not far above me. Nearby, as if outraged about all the noise - this chattering male red-bellied woodpecker got close enough for me to get a few hand-held shots without the tripod.


A female red-winged blackbird poses over a shallow freshwater pond. A great variety of birds were in this pond... ducks, egrets, herons, moorhens, coots, grebes, even a pair of soras that wouldn't let me get close enough for a clear shot.


This pied-billed grebe kept popping up near me from under the surface of the pond where I was trying to get a clear shot of the soras.... causing enough of a distraction that I never did get a clear shot of them. At least I got this rare close-up of an unusual but very common water bird!


A catbird! These are so frustratingly difficult to photograph, that I gave up years ago trying to get one. This one popped up right in front of me as I was walking back to my car. Luckily my camera settings were perfect for this shot - I had no time for adjustments!


Florida's State Bird - the northern mockingbird.... I've never photographed one of these, as they are so common, I wouldn't have thought of it until this chilly morning. I'm glad I paused long enough to get this shot.


As the morning was becoming noon, and I was thinking of heading home to edit these photos on our new iMac, I found this female bufflehead duck swimming in a pond on the way back into town. As I have no ducks in my web galleries, this is the first, and I have a feeling it will be followed by many others in the very near future!


Rich Leighton
December 22, 2009

THANKS FOR LOOKING AND WE LOVE HEARING ALL YOUR COMMENTS!!!

All images are property of Leighton Photography & Imaging and cannot be used or copied
without express permission by either Richard or Galina Leighton.

All rights reserved. Leighton Photography & Imaging ©2006-2009

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A Quick Note to Our Readers and Followers

Posted by Rich Leighton Tuesday, December 22, 2009 0 comments

Whew! We are finally back into the groove! After a series of highly frustrating computer crashes (four to be exact) we were faced with the need to change a number of things that were drastically affecting both our photography and our business. The most prominent change was switching to Macintosh. The difference is incredible, and now that I'm past the learning curve and know how to do all the things I did on the PC, and have replaced all the software and digital tools that are part of my everyday workflow, we are ready to charge into the new year with eagerness and gusto!

That said, I'm going to get the photos and new blog ready to put together for our first all-Mac/post-PC blog!

Rich Leighton
December 22, 2009

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Interview with Rich Leighton of Florida Nature Photography

Posted by Rich Leighton Friday, October 23, 2009 0 comments

It's not everyday you get interviewed as a nature photographer. When Marcus Adkins of Getaways by Design - The Online Magazine for Florida Travel contacted me a few weeks ago about a story, I jumped at the opportunity. I thought the interview went great, and we had a lot of laughs between being serious.


The article just went out last night, and you can see it here, as well as read a lot of other "off the beaten path" stories from Getaways by Design about the REAL Florida. I'll leave this post short & sweet, and let the article do the talking for me!

Rich Leighton
October 23, 2009

THANKS FOR LOOKING AND WE LOVE HEARING ALL YOUR COMMENTS!!!

All images are property of Leighton Photography & Imaging and cannot be used or copied
without express permission by either Richard or Galina Leighton.

All rights reserved. Leighton Photography & Imaging ©2006-2009

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Florida Nature Photography Major Update!

Posted by Rich Leighton Wednesday, September 30, 2009 1 comments


Hello everyone! I'm pleased to announce that the all new website update is now online!

Many MANY months of photo editing and web layout work went into this, as we accidentally managed to delete years of photo editing. Every photo in every gallery we have has been re-edited, removed, replaced or had many more recent additions. Also completely new to this upgrade is a brand new collection of carnivorous plant galleries.

My wife Galina pulled many all-night shifts redesigning the entire layout, making it more easy to navigate, and getting this new upgrade to look like it does - not easy as we have two little boys still in diapers! Together we added many more features - links to social media and a Wildlife Calendar for our fellow nature photographers and enthusiasts!

I feel that the overall quality of every aspect of this website has been greatly improved, and it as close as it can get at this time to my ideal vision for this page. Now I can finally concentrate on taking photos, instead of editing!!!!

If you like what you see, please use the bookmark links and social media buttons on the bottom of the homepage to help others find our website. We would VERY much appreciate it!

~ Click here to see the new FloridaNaturePhotography.com! ~

Rich Leighton
Sept. 30, 2009

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Gulf Coast Hidden Secret - Mashes Sands

Posted by Rich Leighton Tuesday, September 22, 2009 3 comments


Once again we find ourselves in hurricane season on the Gulf Coast - and luckily its been quiet - so far. One thing I've always been fond of during this time of year is the fantastic cloudscapes at the beach in the evenings. Generally we will have clear skies during the day, and as late afternoon approaches - in come the thunderstorms. Typical Florida in summer.

Last weekend I was doing an engagement photoshoot - see more here - at Mashes Sands near the mouth of the Ochlockonee River in North Florida on the Gulf Coast. The photoshoot went beautifully, and after we finished up - the thunderclouds were really coming in fast, and it was SPECTACULAR!!!! Before us was an utterly breathtaking scene, complete with those sudden cool gusts that come in off the water on a sweltering hot evening. I knew I just had to spend more time photographing these sights before I headed back home to Tallahassee.

~ click on images to enlarge ~

One of the main reasons I love Mashes Sands, and all of the Gulf Coast in this area is the fact that it is undeveloped. It is all part of the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge (Wakulla Unit), and we can hope that it will remain undeveloped. It really is natural Florida, and constantly changing. Hurricanes have taken a major role in the formation and reformation of the beaches and erosion caused by tides and storms has shifted the sand.

The strange thing about the skies when a storm blows in off the Gulf of Mexico, you can have a completely different skyscape in two opposite directions. These images with dramatic skies were to the east, while to the southwest - we had a very different visual treat....nearly clear skies with a distant thunderhead starting to show its sunset colors of vibrant indigo, fiery orange and and coral pink.


I first started coming here in the early 90's when I was scoping out new fishing spots and after a twelve year absence, I didn't even recognize the place. The beach used to extend out much further, and there used to be trees all along the shore. What changed in my absence was a couple of big hurricanes - most notably Hurricane Dennis.


I stayed long enough to take four bracketed sets with five exposures each - and these were the four images I came home with. Not a bad way to finish up an engagement portrait shoot!

Rich Leighton
September 22, 2009

THANKS FOR LOOKING AND WE LOVE HEARING ALL YOUR COMMENTS!!!

All images are property of Leighton Photography & Imaging and cannot be used or copied
without express permission by either Richard or Galina Leighton.

All rights reserved. Leighton Photography & Imaging ©2006-2009

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As Tasty as a Bee

Posted by Rich Leighton Tuesday, September 8, 2009 10 comments

Yesterday (Sept. 7) I was down in Central Florida doing some butterfly and wildflower photography in and around the Withlacoochee State Forest and was lucky enough to get one of those jaw-dropping shots that a wildlife photographer gets once in a blue moon.

I was sitting cross-legged in a field of wildflowers photographing swallowtail butterflies when this bee's head caught my eye - quickly followed by what what going on. It was a green lynx spider that had just ambushed this honey bee while it was gathering pollen, and the lighting and angle was just perfect for this shot. Who knew bees had such long tongues? Click on the image to see it enlarged.


Sorry about all the "buggy" photos lately, but this one just deserved to get shared right away!

Rich Leighton
August 8, 2009

THANKS FOR LOOKING AND WE LOVE HEARING ALL YOUR COMMENTS!!!

All images are property of Leighton Photography & Imaging and cannot be used or copied
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Wild Butterflies of Florida

Posted by Rich Leighton Friday, August 28, 2009 5 comments


A couple of months ago, I was looking for independent musicians who were willing to share their original music with me to create a few slideshows in return for letting them use some of my work or the finished slideshows for their uses. I eventually settled on two musicians, and I thought that Elizabeth Middleton’s music best fit and evoked the clean, uncluttered, and gentle atmosphere that I wanted to complement my work – and hopefully hers as well.


These are just a sample of some of the new butterfly images mixed in with some of the photos already online. And just to keep things fresh, and (hopefully) exciting, I’m presenting these high-quality butterfly photographs to you now in my very first serious attempt to make a slideshow. Critics, be gentle!

Rich Leighton
August 28, 2009


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A Florida Oddity......

Posted by Rich Leighton Thursday, August 27, 2009 3 comments

This is more of a quick note with a bizarre photo, rather than an actual post.


We've been working out hearts out trying to get the new FloridaNaturePhotography.com upgrade out, and it has more or less taken up all of my writing time. Every photo and page is in the process of being re-edited for a much more streamlined and beautified look, and some photos are being removed, while others are being added.

Lots of new features coming up - including much more information about Florida nature, a customizable frame builder, faster gallery uploads, cool links, and lots of other goodies I'm keeping secret for now - so far it's got more cool stuff for both nature photographers and nature lovers than I've ever seen on any other website. We are also starting a new gallery - CARNIVOROUS PLANTS! As many of you may have noticed - this new blog design is part of the upgrade.

We are looking at going online with this new upgrade in the first week of September.

That said, here is one of the strangest photos I've ever taken....rediscovered on one of my hard drives while re-editing for the website upgrade....


A couple years ago, I was driving through Hendry County in the Okaloacoochee Slough State Forest, which is in a very remote inland area of South Florida, just south of Lake Okeechobee and between the coasts. I was hurtling along at an unspecified velocity when I passed something in the road that caused me to think I was hallucinating!

An alligator head in the middle of the highway, with a vulture eating its brains!

I had to turn around for this one, and after shooing off the vulture, I confirmed my own mental stability and had a good, close look at an adult alligator's head. Searching around, I didn't find the body, so I'm guessing it was thrown out by a poacher. Unfortunately it still happens a lot in rural Florida.

Not much of story to go with this one, but I thought it intriguing enough to share it with all of you!

Rich Leighton
August 27, 2009

THANKS FOR LOOKING AND WE LOVE HEARING ALL YOUR COMMENTS!!!

All images are property of Leighton Photography & Imaging and cannot be used or copied
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Arachnophilia!

Posted by Rich Leighton Saturday, August 8, 2009 5 comments

Thirty minutes past dawn, and I'm deep in the the steamy sweltering heat at the edge of a swamp in North Florida in summer. Mosquitoes are tearing me up, but the deer flies aren't out yet. Again, I'm not using insect repellent because I can't stand the way it feels on my skin, and my clothes are soaked from the humidity.

I must look like I'm out of my mind. Decked out in camouflage, heavy boots that can repel the fangs of the largest cottonmouth, heavy backpack filled with all essential camera gear, including several types of flashes, lenses, and filters. Camera slung across my chest on one shoulder and a water bottle slung across the other like ammo belts, and a heavy tripod that can take (and has taken) a beating over one shoulder. I'm dressed for war, but why am I twirling a long thin stick in front of me at head and shoulder level as I move through the trees?

Spider webs.

Of all of the obstacles, discomforts and things to avoid while in pursuit of all things wild to photograph in the Florida wilderness, spiderwebs are at the top of my list of creepiness. I am one of the few who are very fond of spiders, and love to get close to photograph them, even if it means handling them to place them somewhere so they are easier to photograph. I have been bit by some of the most exotic tarantulas in the world, including those nasty Asian ones, but for some reason, walking into the web of a big silk spider unexpectedly really freaks me out.

So.... what is so great about spiders? It's a really simple answer - once you get past the primal and naturally ingrained fear (arachnophobia) all people have to some degree, they are really quite beautiful!

This golden silk orbweaver (Nephilia clavipes) is the most common spider I encounter when walking between trees. They are all over Florida, and in nearly every environment. I've seen them over salt water among mangroves, in freshwater swamps and among sinkholes in hardwood forests, and spread from palm to palm in the most unlikely of places.

This huge yellow and black spider (often wrongly called a banana spider - those highly venomous and non-related spiders are in South America and have killed healthy adults) can have a leg-span of four inches, and spins a web up to three feet across, with anchoring webs up to eight feet.

The web of the golden silk spider has beautiful golden threads in the middle of the "trap" part of the web when seen in bright sunlight, but most often the web is felt while walking into it before it is seen. Or the spider is seen when inches from the face resulting in a heart-hammering halt, followed by the "heebee-jeebee's" shake or dance. If you are laughing as you read this, then you know exactly what I'm talking about!

Last fall when looking for a rare variety of terrestrial orchid to photograph, I walked into the biggest silk spider web with spider I have ever seen, and wish I had it on video. I felt the spider race down the back of my head, neck and all over my back and arm. I freaked! I got undressed faster than on my wedding night, and went charging through the forest, camera gear and wits left far behind. Not only did I end up running like a girl scout, I think I may have screamed - spiders just have that effect on people, whether you like them or not! Good thing I was alone.....haha!

The spider to the right was photographed while photographing the crane-fly orchids a couple weeks ago, with a cicada, which is a huge insect itself. Notice the tiny male in the background. He's probably next on the menu, after mating. I've often seen them with full-grown lizards caught in their webs. These webs are so strong, that they can actually physically slow you down when walking through them by accident. Studies have shown them to be stronger than steel in diameter. Several years ago, a friend and I were asked to collect numbers of these for a study by a New York university. They were trying to see if they could make a material stronger and lighter than Kevlar - well known as the material used to make body armor for the military and police. I wish I knew what they came up with....

Florida's spiders come in all sizes and colors, and some - like this green lynx spider (Peucetia viridans) do not use webs to catch prey, but rather wait inside flowers or pitcher plants to ambush unsuspecting insects. These spiky beauties are very common in North Florida, and I've seen them all over the state, but just not so often south of the Panhandle.







The goldenrod crab spider (Misumena vatia) uses much the same tactics to catch prey, and does not seem to discriminate in regards to size. I've seen a quarter-inch crab spider catch and eat a full-sized butterfly!








This will be my last spider for this blog - more can be seen on the website for those wanting more. This is a spider I see occasionally in the darker and usually wetter forests in Florida - often among cabbage palms and palmettos. It's the red-femured spotted orbweaver (Neoscona domiciliorum) and is usually no bigger than three-quarters of an inch in body size. Very pretty red legs, but very skittish and hard to photograph. I don't know much about these guys yet, but the outdoors is my classroom, and I've lots more to learn.

There are many more spiders of all different shapes, colors, and habits, but I'll stop here. Just to dispel any myths since I have your attention, there are no deadly native spiders in Florida. We do have three species of widow spiders that are extremely venomous, but inject such tiny amounts of venom, a person would have to be very young, old, or sickly to be in any danger. Pain, nausea, sickness, and even tissue loss might result, but nothing like in the movies. This also includes the famous brown recluse. Of course we get all kinds of exotics entering the state all the time, and it's best to leave them alone, or call Fish and Wildlife if you are concerned. If you see a spider and don't know what it is, it is probably best to just avoid it.

Rich Leighton
August 8, 2009

THANKS FOR LOOKING AND WE LOVE HEARING ALL YOUR COMMENTS!!!

All images are property of Leighton Photography & Imaging and cannot be used or copied
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Destination.... Almost Cedar Key

Posted by Rich Leighton Saturday, August 1, 2009 7 comments

Do you know how you've traveled past a certain place a hundred times and always wanted to stop, but you never seem to have the time? I have one of those places, it's Cedar Key, Florida.

Recently, I met up with a friend of mine in Crystal River to do some nature photography around the state park and in a nearby forest. It was a great time, but rain put an end to our outing early. Heading back north to my home in Tallahassee, I suddenly came out of the storm and into the tail end of that "golden hour" sunshine that is famous in Florida - especially on the beach. It was about 7:30 PM and the beach was 40 minutes away.... could I squeeze in time for some sunset shots? There were plenty of clouds in the sky... you bet'cha!

Looking at my GPS - the closest beach from my location on US 19/US 98 was Cedar Key....Perfect! I'd been meaning to stop there many times, but it was always dark whenever I was in the area while passing through, or I was in a hurry and never seemed to have time.

By the time I was on State Road 24, heading towards Cedar Key, darkness started coming on much faster than I would have liked. Finally reaching the the bridge that was the first of several leading to the series of islands (they are called the Cedar Keys) I accepted the fact that it was too dark for regular landscape photography.

The sky was beautiful, dolphins were chasing mullet, and the last of the seabirds were flying home to roost. I couldn't just let this opportunity pass. With several tricks up my sleeve for the trickiest of photographic challenges, I parked the car and started pulling out the gear I'd need. I definitely would be needing the tripod. Minutes later, I had this shot....


The technique I used here is called exposure blending, and is nothing new to photography, and in the recent HDR craze (which I happen to love!), the art of exposure blending - sometimes called sandwiching or fusion - has been largely ignored. It's the subtle blending of two or more photographs with different exposures to remove over-exposed highlights and under-exposed shadows, resulting in a perfectly detailed and clear image. In this case I used three images (EXP -2, 0, +2) to get the most detail.

It was one of a few similar shots I got from the island, and afterward, I went into the small, history-rich town just to satisfy my curiosity. It is like stepping back into time... I will definitely be heading back soon!

Rich Leighton
August 1, 2009


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All images are property of Leighton Photography & Imaging and cannot be used or copied
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The Search for the Cranefly Orchid

Posted by Rich Leighton Monday, July 27, 2009 9 comments

My search for Tipularia discolor – the cranefly orchid - began last fall in North Florida along the Apalachicola River, and has proven to be (at least for me) one of the most difficult and frustrating of Florida’s wild and native orchids for me to find. It goes through unusual changes throughout the year, and finding it in the fall is often the key to finding it when it flowers in the summer. The following photos are from a series of trips to visit these orchids throughout the year after first finding them.

Around November in my area of the Florida Panhandle, the cranefly orchid grows a single leaf (these first two photos were taken last fall – see more from a previous blog here). The leaf is flat to the ground, quite firm and rigid, and usually is covered in purple spots on top and has a deep purple underside. The species name "discolor" refers to these two colors. I have found many without the purple pigment, and suspect that this is the forma viridifolia - a green form of this orchid.

In many places along the Apalachicola River last winter, I've encountered these unusual terrestrial orchids in areas with the same kind of environment. Local terrain and locations include heavily wooded hills, steep ravines, and near creeks cutting through limestone or packed clay. American beech and magnolia trees are always in abundance, as well as the ever-present poison ivy.

In July, long after the green spotted leaf has withered and disappeared, a small greenish-brown stem, or spike, will poke up through the forest floor encased in a leaf-like sheath, and will within a week resemble the familiar form of most North American terrestrial orchids as they are about to flower. Tiny buds will appear, and the spur will unfurl soon after. The thing about this particular orchid (and several other distantly related terrestrial orchids) is that it is nearly invisible - even in front of you. Looking for upcoming spikes is very much like looking for a dropped contact lens... a hands and knees job.

Today (July 26th, 2009) I went out once again to check on these orchids to photograph them in bloom .... finally! I'd never seen them in flower. I'd been out five days before and was sure that today was the day. Upon arrival after a 45 minute drive from Tallahassee, the cranefly orchids were spectacularly.... still in bud! I was let down, frustrated, and utterly deflated. I've watched and photographed thousands of Florida native orchids, and by now have a pretty good sense of when I can expect an orchid to flower, but it wasn't to be. I searched the surrounding hills for hours in some other locations where I'd found them, and resigned myself to having to wait another week to come back and check again and headed back to the car. My usual practice of never walking the same path back in the same place paid off - I found two knee-high flowering spikes of the cranefly orchid about 800 feet from my car!

As you can see in the following photos - this highly camoflaged orchid is nearly impossible to see in the wild. They blend in perfectly with their surroundings, and if the buds are hard to see because of their tiny size, the half-inch flowers reflect enough light to blend in with the dappled sunlight of the forest floor.

Here is a close-up to show the detail of this delicate little flower.

And just like that, I'd found what I was searching for - Tipularia discolor - the cranefly orchid in its natural environment, with photographs of every stage of its life cycle throughout the year recorded for all to see! In a state of accomplishment and elation, I was able to head back to the interstate and to home, excited to see how the photos looked on screen and words and sentences for this blog already forming in my head!

Rich Leighton
July 26, 2009

THANKS FOR LOOKING AND WE LOVE HEARING ALL YOUR COMMENTS!!!

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2009 CREW Wildflower Festival - Saturday, March 28th 2009

Posted by Rich Leighton Thursday, March 26, 2009 1 comments

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The REAL Snowbirds!!!!!

Posted by Rich Leighton Monday, March 23, 2009 3 comments

As Spring has already sprung - I'm going to hurry up and get my winter seabirds of Northeast Florida photos from the past couple of months out to you. We are making some additions to the website tonight, and as a break - I'm going to do a simple and quick blog.

Being from Southwest Florida, there were a few gulls that were new to me, so it was nice to see something completely new to myself, and a nice break from the usual places I visit for my photography. These images were from Fernandina Beach and Anastasia Island. OK - Bring on the pictures!

A pair of Royal Terns making some noise on a cold winter day on Fernandina Beach.


"I Just Gotta Be Me!!!" Laughing Gull in winter plumage.


A large Herring Gull with a group of Forster's Terns - all in winter plumage on Fernandina Beach.


A Forster's Tern in winter plumage on Fernandina Beach. This tern has very distinctive long tail feathers.


One of the smallest American gulls - this little Bonaparte's Gull (yes, that is its real name) was showing off its winter plumage on Anastasia Island, near St. Augustine.

The improbable-looking Black Skimmer - the unique bill is used for catching its food while skimming the water's surface with an open beak - in flight! The moment a fish, shrimp, squid, etc. touches the beak, it snaps shut.

THANKS FOR LOOKING AND WE LOVE HEARING ALL YOUR COMMENTS!!!

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2009 Wildflower Festival in Estero Florida

Posted by Rich Leighton Sunday, March 15, 2009 1 comments

Hello everyone! I'm just letting you know that Galina and I will be displaying and selling our work at the 2009 CREW Wildflower Festival in SW Florida on March 28th!

I hope you will find the time to come spend an amazing day outdoors with experts in the field of Florida nature and stop by to visit us and check out some of our photography. Many of you we have met in person, and it would be great to see you again, and to make some new friends!

~ Click HERE to visit CREW's website for mor information and driving directions ~

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Heading Out West ..... West Coast Florida, That Is!

Posted by Rich Leighton Saturday, February 14, 2009 2 comments

This next post will continue from the last blog and show some of my photos and thoughts as I traveled from the Everglades to Sanibel, then turned north, heading up the west coast.


Dawn the next morning brought one of the most beautiful sunrises of my life. My wife, son and I waited in total darkness until the sun peeked above the Intercoastal Waterway on Sanibel Island's Lighthouse Point. This is one of those times when waiting for hours is totally worth the wait. This HDR shot was the result of three photographs of different exposures merged to capture the intensity that the eyes see, but the camera can miss.

Then it was time to try and get a sunset before heading north to hunt for more orchids. This is another HDR shot at sunset with 5 merged frames. Mangroves along the edge of Big Hickory Island in Lee County. Not a bad fishing spot either!


This next series of photographs is of a very small orchid that is next to impossible to find. In fact, it's one I thought I might never find, but I stumbled into while looking for caves in the Withlacoocheee State Forest near the river of the same name. They are called Copper Ladies'-Tresses (Mesadenus lucayanus) and absolutely tiny! Flowers were measured in millimeters! Good thing I was not only lost in the woods with a GPS with dead batteries, but I was smart enough to have my macro lens with me! Unfortunately I cannot return to this place easily - I'll have to find them again in the future.

I was walking through the woods when I saw these 3-4 inch golden "sticks" in contrast with the wet and damp dark humus of the forest floor, with the sun going quickly down - with a vague idea my car was in "this direction, I think" - when I saw about eight of these very rare orchids in full bloom. After scouting around to determine the colony's size, I picked the best ones to photograph, and went to work with the macro lens and ring flash. This setup is perfect for tiny subjects - especially in a non-studio setting.


The flowers of the copper ladies'-tresses have the most unusual metallic sheen, something I've never seen in my life. I worked in plant nurseries, and had access to all kinds of exotic plants and orchids from all over the world, and never saw anything like it! The width of these flowers was about 3 millimeters, or 1/4 inch!


With my newfound love for HDR photography, it was time to hit the coast before heading to Goethe State Forest in Levy County - an orchid-hunting mecca for those of us who are drawn to them. Here are some mangroves on a beautiful sunny day - a common sight all along Florida's west coast. This shot used three exposures.


I can't tell you how happy I was to see these in full bloom finally. I have tons of photos of these just after the flowers dry up, and they always seemed to elude me. This is another tiny orchid - the Southern Twayblade Orchid (Listera australis) and I was lucky enough to find both it and a color variation of it - the "forma viridis" - or form lacking all pigment except for green.

 I must have found about thirty of these 5 to 6 inch orchids, scattered about a wide area in the forest, and all of them were perfectly in bloom - no dried up flowers that I got used to seeing on past searches. Truly one of the oddest of all flowers in American orchids.

Here is the green form of the southern twayblade....

...and a close-up for a little more detail. I got another good dose of poison ivy for these shots. I didn't even look to see what I was lying on!


While photographing the southern twayblades, I ran into a HUGE colony of these Wister's Coralroot orchids (Corallorhiza wisteriana) - another that I'd never seen before. I was having a GREAT trip! I gave up counting after a couple hundred, but I wouldn't have found them at all, had I not been on my hands and knees crawling through the underbrush photographing the previous species.

These beautiful little orchids are parasitic, and feed off of the roots of their host tree. I found these among some pine trees, but the forest was so thick where I found these, there was no way to pinpoint the host. Why do this? It's very useful when looking for these in other locations. Look for the right conditions, then the right host, then your chances increase of finding more orchids like these again.


That about wraps up the west coast on this trip - next I head over to Florida's Northeast Atlantic Coast to photograph our migrant seabirds! Don't forget to bookmark this blog if you like what you see!

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An Amazing Cross-Florida Nature Photography Blitzkrieg!!!

Posted by Rich Leighton Wednesday, February 11, 2009 2 comments

I've had an amazing last six weeks and have been to just about every part of the state, excluding the Florida Keys and west of the Apalachicola River on the Panhandle. As we are expecting our second baby in May, it was a solo trip for me - but it allowed me to travel much faster and go places I wouldn't go had my wife been with me, and is probably the reason I got into so much poison ivy this time!

Photos had been building up for a blog, but other photographic projects had me tied up, so I couldn't get these photographs posted until just now. I went through some minor tweaks and techniques in regards to my photography, and wanted to make these new photos more dramatic, vibrant, and will hopefully leave an impression of what I see when I'm looking through the lens. It was a hard choice deciding on which images to use, so I decided on picking a few subjects, and taking it from there. These will be divided up into a series of blogs. Without further ado, here they are!


Dawn in the Big Cypress National Preserve in South Florida, just north of Everglades National Park. It was a cold wet morning the day after Christmas and I was shivering in the swamp (yes I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and no I'm not always so smart before the coffee kicks in) while waiting for the sun to peak above the tree-line to get this HDR shot.


After I got my shot I headed over to Miami. What a way to stroll into one of the most beautiful cities in the world - covered in mud and soaked! I was there to do some cityscape shots for a separate project I'm working on, before heading south to some of the hardwood hammocks and cypress domes of Everglades National Park, as well as some other places I wanted to visit south of Homestead. These coconuts are almost ready to fall out of the palms - and it really had me thinking about coconut/lime curry sauce! With grilled snapper or wahoo and a side of fried plantains of course!!! Ahhhhh .... I miss this kind of food now that I'm living in Tallahassee! Oops! I'm getting sidetracked...


I spent the entire day looking for orchids and any other form of critter, plant or landscape that was worth photographing and I had fantastic luck! I found a super-rare orchid called the many-branched tropidia (Tropidia polystachya) but it was on its way out and in bad shape. I will be back for sure in about 49-50 weeks! I did find (days too early) the spurred neottia (Eltroplectris neottia) orchid in the photograph above. You can see the flower spike with buds. I have searched for and never seen this orchid before, and now I had to miss it in flower. I spent the rest of the evening combing a woods for another one and found only one other immature one. By then it was getting dark, and I had places to go!

Tricolored Heron on the hunt in the Everglades

Alligator tooth with no photocropping! I really get involved in my work and sometimes don't think as wisely as I should ... it's all about the shot, baby!

Glades Morning Glory blooming in a dark hammock.


On the way out of the Everglades, I took another HDR photograph of the sunset through the cypress trees. Five exposures for this shot all merged into one highly tone-defined image! It was end of an exhausting and exhilarating day, that didn't really end until well after midnight after I'd gone to Miami Beach to photograph more cityscapes at night. These will be posted in the near future at my other new Leighton Photography & Imaging blog

PART II COMING IN A FEW DAYS!!!!


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Fall Orchid-Hunting in North Florida Part II

Posted by Rich Leighton Monday, December 15, 2008 3 comments


After a considerable delay, and admitting that I may not find the Downey Rattlesnake Orchid (Goodyera pubescens) this year, I will continue with this second part of my North Florida native orchid-hunting blog without having photos of it to finish it off. It is actually a blessing – as this is the only fall/winter orchid in the north part of the state I haven’t found yet, and it will keep me focused on finding new unpopulated and wild areas on the Florida Panhandle to locate, explore, hike, and search.

For these past few weeks, I’ve made a larger round of travels from the Santa Fe River near Lake City to the area around Marianna near the Georgia and Alabama state borders. I covered much of this area from the border to the north to the Gulf of Mexico. I had a much better time as a photographer with non-orchid subjects – many of the photos will be saved for my next blog – you’ll see why.

Typical river floodplain found all over Florida. Young cypress trees like these are often found in depressions near lakes, swamps, or rivers – and are often great places to look for orchids – depending on the time of year and the species one is after. The reason North Florida fall orchids are so easily found as opposed to the spring and summer varieties is the fact that most of the forest leaves have fallen greatly increasing visibility, and this brownish/golden carpet of dead and fallen leaves makes a great contrasting backdrop for the spiraling white ladies’-tresses, shadow witch orchids, and others that can often be seen from a distance.

The green-fly orchid (Epidendrum magnoliae var. magnoliae) is the most common orchid to be found in North Florida, and can be found growing above any large wet sinkhole, spring run, swamp, lake or pond. I have seen them all over the top half of Florida from Homosassa Springs to Orlando to the Suwannee River on the Georgia border to Washington County. It is the only epiphytic (growing in trees as opposed to in soil) orchid found in the northern half, where there is a natural division between it and its southern counterpart – the butterfly orchid (Encyclia tampensis) which is the most common in the southern half of Florida. There is an overlap in the middle where I’ve seen both orchids growing near each other.

Deer are all over Florida, and I see them nearly every time I am out photographing nature. This one was photographed by my wife Galina while we were checking out a new area in Jefferson County. This doe let her get quite close to her, and really didn’t spook easily. Eventually she just walked off casually after posing for this shot!

Minutes later in a clearing we found this Long-tailed Skipper butterfly feeding on the last of the year’s beggar-ticks – one of the most annoying of all of Florida’s wildflowers. You will know them by all the double-pronged seeds that always seem to find a way to latch onto your socks!

Finally!!! I’ve been trying to photograph one of these for years, but always managed to foul up the shot. This is an American Bittern, member of the heron and egret family, and is either quite rare or has very good camouflage, or both. When approached, this bird will raise its head straight up and appear just like a stick, or if it is in tall grass or reeds, will blend in perfectly. I didn’t see this bird until I was about 40 meters from it and I got to about 30 meters for this shot before it took off and flew away making the worst racket ever heard from anything with feathers!

While combing the state’s spring-fed rivers and creeks, I found quite a lot of ladies’-tresses. Some were listed with photographs in part one of this blog, and others I have already photographed hundreds of times and can be seen in my web galleries at www.FloridaNaturePhotography.com. This particular orchid is a hybrid between two northern ladies’-tresses orchids found in the fall, Spiranthes odorata and Spiranthes ovalis var. ovalis, and is known as Ichetucknee Hybrid Ladies’-tresses (Spiranthes X ichetuckneensis). It occurs sporadically all over the area where there is sufficient moisture in the topsoil year-round. I usually don’t pay much attention to hybrids, but there was a gap where the photos of the downy rattlesnake orchid that still eludes me should be!

A trillium!!! Usually these aren’t seen until late-winter not in early November, but this one was found growing behind a tree (a common place I visit when bringing hot coffee with me on a cold morning). These are my absolute favorites, and I can’t wait to photograph these beauties when they are in flower!!!

This was a rare find! This is the critically endangered Florida Torreya (Torreya taxifolia), also known as the stinking cedar for the odor of its leaves when crushed (no I didn’t) and is one of the rarest trees in the United States. At the time of this blog, it is estimated that there are about 200 left uncultivated in the wild. In this photo – you can see a very young tree about two meters and another sapling in the far left corner and there was a third just popping up from seed under the tree. My wife and I had become lost in the forest when we happened to run into this extremely rare trio.

Eastern fence lizard in the Apalachicola National Forest near Dismal Sink.

Another tree I found along the way was the witch hazel, which had an interesting enough flower for me to include it.

The pond chicken, or common moorhen, photographed here in Wakulla Springs. These odd birds can be found all over Florida, and usually don’t allow people to get this close to them. Huge feet enable them to walk on aquatic vegetation in search of food. I see these most often when looking for orchids on the edges of swamps.

One great event not to be missed in late fall on the Gulf of Mexico are the great swarms of monarch butterflies. These were photographed in the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge next to the beach where they were getting their last meal before heading out across the Gulf to Mexico and Central America. There were literally thousands of them!

Among these monarchs were a few common buckeyes, as well as a few other butterflies.

Travelling back inland and heading toward Live Oak, these Shadow Witch Orchids (Ponthieva racemosa) were found among the leaf litter and the poison ivy and ferns along a spring creek. I have found these all over the top half of Florida, and always find them in damp locations. These tiny flowers can be almost invisible until you get close to them – then you can see the sheer beauty of them!

Shadow witch orchid photographed from above in full flower.


While not an orchid, this was one of my happiest finds of the season - the large-leaved grass-of-Parnassus. I’ve never seen anything like it, and having known about it for years, it was a real treat for me to find it while wading through an icy-cold swamp. This was the best I could do to focus with freezing hands while shivering!

Blue jasmine growing on the edge of Lime Sink near the Suwannee River. This flowering vine nearly caused me to fall into the water while setting up a tripod on a steep bank. The sky reflected in the out-of-focus water in the background really made for a nice shot!

Apalachicola River as seen from high up near Bristol, Florida.

Hunting orchids for me does not necessarily mean finding orchids. It is often looking for places where they might be, testing out my knowledge of the land – both with a good understanding of geology and biology, as well as natural history and a love for my home state. There is a wonder and beautiful feeling when a new orchid that I have never seen before is found through hard work, usually through very uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous conditions, and knowing that if I keep quiet about it, I can mark it on my GPS and visit it anytime I want and it will still be there.

Hunting orchids also means everything that orchid hunting is not. 90% of my photography sales come from all the things I photograph while hunting orchids. These are all the beautiful landscapes, birds, snakes, flowers, etc, I find while wading through swamps with snakes and alligators, climbing trees to get that good close-up a flower, or sliding down a ravine with no way of stopping with my gear spread out all over the hillside. Not only is it good fun most of the time, it is also a way for me to bring to you what Florida is really about.

My garden is Florida, to help protect, keep beautiful, and to do my part in keeping it as unspoiled as one photographer can do. There is a message in many of the state parks and wildlife areas that I see all over the state that says it best. – “Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints”.

Rich Leighton
Tallahassee
December 15, 2008


THANKS FOR LOOKING AND WE LOVE HEARING ALL YOUR COMMENTS!!!

All images are property of Leighton Photography & Imaging and cannot be used or copied
without express permission by either Richard or Galina Leighton.

All rights reserved. Leighton Photography & Imaging ©2006-2008





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Fall Orchid-Hunting in North Florida - Part I

Posted by Rich Leighton Wednesday, November 26, 2008 5 comments


When the days get shorter and colder in Florida and winter is approaching … to be in Florida means many things to most people – warm weather, no shoveling snow, Christmas at the beach, etc. All focus is on South Florida and that is where all the snowbirds go (northerners or Yankees for all you non-native Floridians). Miami, Naples, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, West Palm Beach and every coastal town and city in between get swarmed by these Midwesterners or New Englanders (depending on which Interstate they use for their particular annual migration) and their numbers increase every season.
Over the years growing up in Southwest Florida, I’ve had the opportunity to meet several wonderful Northern naturalists, and there is a LOT of them! Not to say that there aren’t any in the South, but it seems that there is a disproportionate number of birdwatchers, wildflower photographers, and such that do visit Florida every winter. The interesting thing is they all go to South Florida. There is so much information on the web about the winter flora and fauna in this state written by these warmth-seeking visitors that there are large gaps in the natural history in North Florida in the fall and winter. Not that I mind – I moved to North Florida to get away from these people and all the development and destruction of natural places that they bring with them. North to the South I jokingly call it. It just gives me a whole new region of botany and zoology to photograph, study and write about!
Throughout this winter season, I will be posting photo blogs often and regularly about all the things that are North Florida. Since I am living in Tallahassee for the second time (I went to college here years ago and didn’t carry a camera everywhere with me then) and am finding all kinds of new plants and animals that I’d never photographed before – it should be very interesting to see what I run into.

Native orchids will be a main factor in this series, since I am a very avid orchid hunter and am constantly looking for undiscovered colonies of them. I (as always) will keep the exact locations to myself because of the few bad seeds out there who take it upon themselves to “help” the orchids by stealing them, or to those who are greedy collectors and “help” themselves by stealing them. Many of them are so rare that taking just a few from the wild means that their seeds will never get dispersed naturally and could spell the beginning of the end of a whole colony or population that is barely maintaining its numbers as it is. Not to say that they are all in decline, but I can spend years looking for a particular species – so they are definitely not common or easy to find! There is also a great deal of satisfaction and sense of accomplishment when I do find something exceedingly rare or highly unusual.
Other non-orchid photos will be thrown in the mix for a little variety. These will be photographs taken while orchid hunting and have a range between Gainesville and Panama City on the Panhandle. Comments are very welcome and will be visible at the bottom of this post for all to read and respond. Enjoy!

Unnamed forest creek flowing through Gadsden County. Heavily wooded slopes are perfect for finding wild orchids. Be careful of fallen autumn leaves, as they can send you on what I call the "three-point shuttlebutt ride” downhill fast. Soles of your boots and your rear end down on the ground, you have no choice but to enjoy the ride, because nothing will stop your rapid descent except a sinkhole, a creek like this at the bottom of a ravine, or a big tree or rock! My suggestion – hope for a big tree to smack into!

On one involuntary downhill joyride recently, I did find an orchid that I have never seen before. It was the Crane-Fly Orchid (Tipularia discolor) and there were three of them. These photographs were taken days later at a similar habitat about 35 miles from my first discovery. The crane-fly orchid flowers in the summer and is nearly invisible because of the brown/green/purple tiny flowers on a same-colored stalk. I have yet to see this northern orchid in flower, but now I know where to find them. In the fall and winter, this cool terrestrial puts out single leaf that is covered in purple spots and has a purple underside, except in the case of the very rare green form of this orchid (Tipularia discolor forma viridifolia). This green form has no purple spots and has a green underside. Both versions can be seen in these photos.

There were about five colonies of the crane-fly orchids found within a half mile of each other totaling about 400-450 plants. The amazing thing about this location was that about 70% of them were the more rare green form!!! I have no idea if the flowers differ in color, but I will find out eventually this summer. Hopefully some of my readers will let me know in advance.

Here is a view of the underside of both forms of the crane-fly orchid. One is green, and the other is purple. This winter leaf only lasts through the cool months and is gone by late spring. That is why it is important to find them in the winter, so they can be revisited in the summer to see them in full flower.

While not an orchid, mushroom, fungus, or anything related, the delicately beautiful Indian Pipes (Monotropa uniflora) – also known as the ghost plant – is actually a parasitic plant called a saprophyte. This unusual plant feeds on decaying tree roots and is found in very rich and old forests, but I have found them growing in Central Florida in an oak/palmetto scrub. Since they do not require sunlight to grow, they are most often found in the darkest parts of the forests where there is also a lot of moisture present. Therefore they do not need to be green (contain chlorophyll) to convert sunlight into energy. I regularly encounter these on my search for rare orchids.

For a while, I was absolutely determined to find another northern orchid – the Southern Oval Ladies’-Tresses (Spiranthes ovalis) – another orchid I had yet to see in the wild. In my search – I ran into this young alligator in the forest near Wakulla Springs. Unusual to see away from water, but I’ve encountered them on occasion in hardwood hammocks in the Florida Everglades – a good distance inland and away from water. I can tell you that this alligator made me jump. I thought it was dead at first. It was almost black and the eyes looked completely lifeless and it was quite cold out. It suddenly slapped my tripod with such a powerful blow that had the camera not hit me in the chest where I caught it - there could have been some serious damage to it! Then the hissing started! I snapped this shot off and left it alone. This is a wonderful chance to promote Bogen professional tripods! No damage to it at all and it still works great!!!

Finally, I did find the orchid I was hunting for, but after about 300 miles of travel over the space of about three weeks. The wonderful Southern Oval Ladies’-Tresses (Spiranthes ovalis var. ovalis) – and there was a HUGE bonus. I found both forms of this rare Florida native orchid in the same location. I hadn’t even hoped for this! There are quite a lot of Spiranthes species to be found in Florida. Around fifteen types, but I’m sure all the professional botanists out there will disagree with each other as to the correct numbers that are actual separate species, but I’m not too concerned with arguable details. I just find them and photograph them.

This particular beauty stands out to me for its simple symmetry. Most Spiranthes orchids have flowers that spiral around the stalk (or spike) but this one carries its flowers in three almost vertical columns, with a slight spiral. It is very noticeable from the side.

In this particular very isolated location, I found about fifty-five of these rare orchids. I had already given up on finding them, and was walking back in the general direction where I believed my car was parked - frustrated once again - when I started finding them. One, then a small group, then they were everywhere in a shallow depression in the forest.

Here is where I found the other variant of this species - the Northern Oval Ladies‘-Tresses (Spiranthes ovalis var. erostellata)!!!! This subspecies is an example of evolution in progress! WOW! And I found about eight or nine of them. This orchid’s flowers never fully open, and by the time the flowers appear, it is already pollinated and “fruiting” or developing seeds in the ovaries of the flowers. Therefore – the flowers really never need to open.

In these photos, you can see the swelling green seedpods and the never-to-open flowers. This is because this orchid (var. erostellata) is self-pollinating. The previous sub-species (var. ovalis) requires an insect pollinator for fertilization, and by the time seedpods were this developed, there would be no trace of flowers.

To me, this represents a tiny peek into evolution in progress – one species splitting into two different species. Let’s just hope that untouched and isolated habitats like this stay untouched for the next centuries and millennia to let it happen naturally!

THANKS FOR LOOKING AND WE LOVE HEARING ALL YOUR COMMENTS!!!

All images are property of Leighton Photography & Imaging and cannot be used or copied
without express permission by either Richard or Galina Leighton.

All rights reserved. Leighton Photography & Imaging ©2006-2008



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Beautiful & Mysterious Florida

Posted by Rich Leighton Monday, November 10, 2008 4 comments

Hey everyone! Welcome to the first official FloridaNaturePhotography.com RSS feed. I'm just letting everyone know that the new website is up and online and that there is finally a new batch of photos from all over the sunshine state. Since our last posting of new photos - I have traveled to more than half of the counties and most of the state forests and been suffering from poison ivy nearly continuously as a result! Go to www.floridanaturephotography.com to see all the new features, photos, galleries, and layout :-)

Now, for the new photos ........

Dramatic photograph of an American lotus with approaching storm on Lake Jackson in Tallahassee, Florida.


A wildly orange sunset over St. George Island on the Florida Panhandle. Even though the mosquitos were awful and something big was buzzing around my head, the end result was very worth it.


Goldenrod crab spider eating a variegated fritillary butterfly in the Lake Talquin State Forest. This little camoflaged spider really blends in with these flowers where the butterfly feeds.


Little blue heron stalking minnows in a pond in Tallahassee, Florida.


Orange fringed orchid close-up (Platanthera ciliaris) in its natural environment in North-Central Florida. This was the largest of a colony of about fifty or so of these beauties found.


This rare natural waterfall is found on the edge of the Osceola National Forest in Columbia County, north of Lake City. This is just one of the many extraordinary sights to be seen in rural Florida!


Water lily with fire ant. These classic flowers are common all over Florida where the water is shallow, clean, and has a nice "mucky" bottom - all the organics needed to support them.

Osprey with a fresh mullet in the Apalachee Bay area in North Florida. This large bird of prey was photographed with my favorite technique to getting close to birds - using my car as a blind, and balancing the zoom lens against the door frame - I didn't even have to get out of the car!


The brightly yellow fringeless orchid (Gymnadeniopsis integra) growing in a seepage swamp in Liberty County. This is one of the more rare orchids of North Florida. At first one was found, then scanning the prairie - I found another, then another, then nearby I there were over one hundred more - all in the same stage of blooming. The color of these is exactly like that of a yellow Crayola crayon!


Huge fishing spider carefully photographed in the Fakahatchee Strand. These guys can get aggressive and do bite hard! For those familiar with bald cypress trees and its bark - you can see how big this monster was!

Late afternoon on Barefoot Beach in Bonita Springs, Florida. Hurricane season produces some of the coolest beach landscape shots!

Yellow cowhorn orchid (Cyrtopodium polyphyllum) photographed in the pre-dawn in South Florida with a ring-flash. Hopefully this one will be safe from poachers! A fellow orchid enthusiast pointed another one out to me this past summer that has since then been stolen from the Fakahatchee Strand.


Young alligator warming up in the fall sun by a pond in Jefferson County. This one was about four feet in length.


I hit the jackpot in the bog where I photographed this beautiful snowy orchid (Gymnadeniopsis nivea).... there were upwards of 3000 or more in bloom within an area the size of a football field! A week later I only found three of them that still had flowers. Timing is everything!


Close-up of a gulf fritillary feeding on wildflowers on the Florida Panhandle.


Big Shoals along the Suwannee River in North Florida. Panorama photo composed of five stitched images. This was an experiment is making a panorama with a long exposure, and with the camera turned vertically to make a huge image. A little distortion occurred - but I liked the effect!


A beautiful male blue dasher posing on a stick in Tallahassee, Florida. Males are bright blue with green eyes, and the females are a drab brown with dull yellow stripes.

A very rare sight!!! Although the ghost orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii) is known as a "leafless orchid" - when it is just sprouting its recognizable and distinct roots on its host tree, there is a tiny vestigal leaf - an evolutionary throwback to an earlier ancestor - or (and/or) a source of chlorophyll to help get this little seedling started before the chlorophyll in its epiphytic roots can take over the job or converting sunlight into energy.

The tall twayblade (Liparis elata) is a common orchid in the Fakahatchee Strand during the hottest part of summer, and so far I have not seen it anywhere else but here. It is easily spotted by its large lettuce-like leaves growing from any submerged log or cypress stump.


This large four-inch yellow imperial moth was hanging around our front porch for a couple days in Tallahassee. After several bad attempts at photographing it, I finally got it right with a ring flash at about 2AM on the sidewalk.


A massive specimen of the Chapman's fringed orchid (Platanthera chapmanii) in the Apalachicola National Forest growing next to a small water pool in the edge of a pine stand. These are quite difficult to find, and I've only found them in two locations so far. Luckily you can see the bright orange from a long distance!

While uncommon in Florida, this pair of common wood nymph butterflies was obviously preoccupied from their normal habit of flying away and landing on the other side of pine trees to escape being photographed. These were found after I'd completely given up on trying to photograph this species.


A ghost orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii) high in a pop ash tree in a secret location in Collier County. It's good to know that they do in fact grow quite well outside of the Fakahatchee Strand and the Corkscrew Swamp!


Viceroy butterfly posing on a leaf in Tallahassee, Fl.


A short pair of oranged crested orchids (Platanthera cristata) were found growing along the side of the road in Liberty County in a colony of about thirty. Although many of these orchids can look the same - there is a "spur" or nectar tube on the back of the flower that is quite different between these terrestrial species and is used as an identification tool. The spurs are very short on these, as opposed to long or curved/curled in other closely-related orchids.


This big spider was actually seen from the car while driving through the Apalachicola National Forest. I just had to pull over!


Hoary air plant growing in the Everglades National Park. These are very common in the wetlands of South Florida, and are most often found on cypress trees.

White birds-in-the-nest flowers viewed from above look exactly like what they are called. This is a very rare summer wildflower endemic to North Florida. Luckily for me I just happened to stumble into a field full of these in the Apalachicola National Forest.

THANKS FOR LOOKING AND WE LOVE HEARING ALL YOUR COMMENTS!!!

All images are property of Leighton Photography & Imaging and cannot be used or copied
without express permission by either Richard or Galina Leighton.

All rights reserved. Leighton Photography & Imaging ©2006-2008


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Attention Photographers!!!!!!

Posted by Rich Leighton Thursday, October 16, 2008 4 comments

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to share with all of you a little business experience I had this week. There was a woman who calls herself an event planner and contacted me about hiring me to photograph her client’s wedding in November. Through a series of emails back and forth, we agreed on a price, details, my wedding package details, etc., and where she could send a deposit to book that date for her client. The client was in the UK and planning on getting married in Pensacola, Florida. All of the guests would be arriving from different countries. Nothing that unusual in Florida these days.

A bit of a drive for me, but I wanted to make an extended trip of it and photograph some of the wildlife and nature while I was there. Perfect!

All seemed fine and well, I even got this email to my Blackberry while I was out on a wildlife photography trip:

Hi RICHARD,

Thanks for your response to my inquiry..Am happy to extend this

goodnews to you. My client has finally approved your service for the

wedding and very ok with your rates. My client is ready to do payment

with you so as to get your service booked for the wedding. Payment

will be made out to you in check, so get back to me with these

following information (Name, Address and Phone Number) so payment can

be made out to you, so as to get your service booked ahead of the

wedding.

Awaiting your quick response.

Thanks.

I thought this woman had poor grammar and nothing else. I thought she must be a foreigner or something and doing her best to get her business going in the good ‘ol USA. Nothing wrong with that, right?

Then I got this next email:

Hi Richard,

Just got a email from my client (Jeremy) regarding your payment. His
also engaging the service of a singer from Benin Republic to entertain
his african guests.

He made me to understand that he will make a single payment of $2650
out to you and the african singer, i have instructed him to make the
payment out to you in the information you provide to me, United States
check are not negociable in the Africa Singer country so payment will
be made out to you for your service and the service of the africa
singer.

All i need you do is get the check cash at your bank,(its an instant
check) deduct your fee and get the remaining difference sent to the
african singer in benin republic via western union so as to get his
service booked for my clients wedding.

Note you are to deduct any (all) charges or fee from the difference
after deducting your fee.

Get back to me with an approval so payment can be made out to you soon.

Thanks for your understanding.

Immediately my BS detector alarm went off. My wife and I had heard of this very scam not too long in the recent past on the news. These people want to get you to take a check they send you and deposit in your bank account, then forward a larger portion of it to some other country – almost always Africa – and why shouldn’t you? The check went into the account and cleared. No problem.

Here is the kicker. A few weeks after you cash this check, you get a letter from your bank telling you that the funds were not available at (insert bank name) and you owe them X amount of dollars.

I called the local police a few minutes after getting this email and the officer on duty told me the exact same thing. These scam artists trick people to sending money overseas where there is nothing that can be done about it. He even said that he couldn’t do anything about it (which I already knew) because it was an international crime. He said I could contact the FBI, but they really couldn’t do anything about it either. He said that most of these scams are an attempt for terrorist organizations and other “scumbags” to get money for their causes, and very easy because they are hard to stop because of the law structure. Keep contacting enough people and some will do it!

I’m posting this everywhere I can in order to let other photographers like myself, or any other business man or woman know about this kind of scam and to be careful with these jerks. I hope at least some of you will repost this and keep it going around to bring about awareness about these sort of illegal and unenforceable crimes. I was counting on this job because I charged a significant sum, and it was very much needed in this recession, but it could have been much worse if I hadn’t been pre-warned by seeing the similar story on the news some time ago!

Good luck and pay attention!!!

Rich Leighton

www.leightonphotography.com

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