The one thing I’m most amazed by from my few days in the southern Florida wetlands is the abundance of life these preserves contain and how important it is to protect and preserve these areas.
There’s an amazing variety of plant, animal and insect life from the tip of the tallest trees down to and below the surface of the slow moving waters and even into the muck below. It only took a few moments for me to fully realize how limited my ability was in identifying/naming most of what I was seeing — but my appreciation of it was immediate.
In this photo, at the foot of these Cypress Trees, you can see both the plant life existing below the surface of the water and the reflected green growth from above.
We drove home yesterday/last night, arriving early this morning — I have many photos to work through, which is a good thing! ;-)
Welcome home. And, yes we can be surprised at the plant and animal life of areas we are not familiar with. I noticed that when I moved east of the Mississippi River.
Monte, it took my awareness to whole other level once I got into these wetlands and really took notice of all the plant and animal life. Amazing!
Love it again Paul. I haven’t done it yet, but I really want to get into the swamp and start shooting underwater! It’s a whole different world down there! Can’t wait to see what else you came back with!
Drew
Drew, I think underwater shooting would be amazing in some of these swamp areas with the right lighting. I’d love to see you do it.
What a fascinating and mysterious setting. I hope you will post more photos from this area. The cypress trees always appear quite old, wise, and loaded with dark secrets that intrigue me. I have never spent time in those swamp areas along the gulf coast, and I hope you will show us more.
Anita, this was my first up-close experience in this area as well and I was amazed at the abundance and variety of plant and animal life. Don’t worry, I’ll probably post photos from this trip until everyone screams….enough already! ;-)