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Big Cypress National Preserve

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tokengirl

Guest
Today was a big day in Big Cypress - the new visitor center, eleven years in the making, opened today. I wish I had the words to describe what a unique, pristine and sometimes downright spooky place it is. There is nothing quite like leaving home at dark-thirty in the morning and arriving in Big Cypress just as the sun is starting to come up and all the critters are waking up and beginning their morning chatter. It's a different universe out there.



As the sun rises, the fog burns off and the dew evaporates, and you get a good look at how dry everything is this time of year. Where there was almost two feet of water four months ago, there is only crunchy grass now. On these kind of mornings, you can't even buy a cloud.



The upside is that there are no mosquitos this time of year. But they will be back in about two months, when the rains return. :cussing:
 

stephengilbert

Active member
Great pix. If only you could shoot while moving: as I recall, mosquitoes only fly about four miles an hour. People who haven't been there ask about the alligators; people who have, ask about the mosquitoes.

Last time I was there was in September, and in the time it takes to set up a tripod, you become a mosquito picnic.

Steve
 

stephengilbert

Active member
It's challenging, but beautiful. Surprisingly, the mosquitoes are less of a problem outside the towns. When you're actually wading in the water, they are aren't as bothersome as there are other critters, fish and plants, that prey on mosquitoes.

I guess alligators are theoretically a threat, but they're so shy. :angel:
 
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tokengirl

Guest
It's challenging, but beautiful. Surprisingly, the mosquitoes are less of a problem outside the towns. When you're actually wading in the water, they are aren't as bothersome as there are other critters, fish and plants, that prey on mosquitoes.

I guess alligators are theoretically a threat, but they're so shy. :angel:
Exactly right. The biggest cause of mosquito infestation is standing water. And most of the water in the Everglades ecosystem is always moving.
 
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tokengirl

Guest
I replaced the first photo on Flickr which made it dissapear in my original post, here is the replacement:

 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Admin SideBar --- Using Flicker is disastrous for hosting/posting images in forums as the url's are dynamic. Always best to host from another storage area and why we give you all free image storage space. Another advantage to using what we have here, is even if you re-arrage images into different albums, the image URL is not changed...
 

Lisa

New member
BTW, gorgeous B&W cypress swamp photo. I need to visit the southeast swamps sometime; your photos and Clyde Butcher's make it look very interesting.

Lisa
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
I got a chance to meet Clyde Butcher in person this winter at the South Florida Fair . He had a major exhibit with about 40 of his large prints. I asked him about the shoot he did with Michael Reichman (Luminous Landscape) that was put onto one of their DVDs.

Quote from Clyde "You should have seen MR wading thru the water with his what $40K digital back ..no thats scary".
 
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tokengirl

Guest
I got a chance to meet Clyde Butcher in person this winter at the South Florida Fair . He had a major exhibit with about 40 of his large prints. I asked him about the shoot he did with Michael Reichman (Luminous Landscape) that was put onto one of their DVDs.

Quote from Clyde "You should have seen MR wading thru the water with his what $40K digital back ..no thats scary".

:ROTFL: LMAO!!! I can just hear him saying it...

Clyde and his wife are two of the most lovely, down to earth people you'll ever meet. His gallery in Big Cypress is terrific, a "must visit" if you're in the area.
 
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tokengirl

Guest
What's amazing is that the area depicted is probably an hour's drive from Miami. Yet few people, even locals like Doug :), seem to get there. Just driving through is amazing.
It never ceases to amaze me how many people in Miami have never visited Big Cypress, or Everglades National Park for that matter.

Maybe Jack & Guy should do a workshop here. Maybe mix in a little fishing too. :grin:
 
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