Beaches and Coasts

Lakes and Rivers

Forests

Inland

Everglades

Panoramas

Black and White

Florida is world-renowned for its beautiful landscapes. With over 1350 miles of coastline from the Atlantic Ocean to the Florida Keys to the northern Gulf of Mexico, there are an incredible number of unique and beautiful habitats, especially in the Florida Everglades. We also have thousands of islands, lakes and rivers (many of those are spring-fed) and of course our unique forest habitats from Central and Northern Florida down to our oak and scrub pinelands. The following galleries have a little bit of everything that the best of Sunshine State landscapes have to offer.

Brushfoots

Gossamer Wings

Swallowtails

Skippers

Sulphurs and Whites

Moths

Did you know that Florida is home to over 1,320 species of butterflies and moths? That number is still growing with careful and painstaking research, more new species are being discovered all the time!

Anhingas, Cormorants

Birds of Prey

Carrion Birds

Coots, Rails

Cranes, Limpkins

Ducks, Geese

Egrets, Herons

Gulls, Terns

Shorebirds

Songbirds

Spoonbills, Storks

Woodpeckers

When it comes to birds, the Sunshine State is fantastically rich in species diversity. The geography of Florida’s Peninsula creates a natural migratory route for millions of birds each year as they head south over the Caribbean towards Central and South America (and back). While some species are found all around the world, we are lucky to have 196 species of birds that live and breed in Florida.

Deer

Pigs

Rabbits and Hares

Manatees

Squirrels

Raccoons

Armadillos

We mammals have come a long way since the time of the dinosaurs. Since those times, we’ve conquered the land, sea and air. Florida has at least 99 species of mammals living, breeding and thriving today.

Crustaceans

Dragonflies

Grasshoppers, Locusts

Spiders

Snails, Mollusks

Other Invertebrates

96% of all currently living animal lifeforms alive today are invertebrates. Included are all the insects, arachnids, worms, crabs, shellfish, starfish, corals, and more! One thing they all have in common? No backbone.

Alligators, Crocodiles

Lizards

Snakes

Turtles, Tortoises

Long before the first dinosaur walked the earth, reptiles ruled the world. 65 million years after the last dinosaur drew its final breath, North America’s modern crocodiles, alligators, snakes, lizards, and turtles and tortoises are still keeping our Florida natural history alive!

Tree Frogs

Toads

Did you know the word “amphibian” means “two lives”? All amphibians start their lives in the underwater, but after they go through a series of metamorphosis stages to adulthood, most trade gills for lungs and live the rest of their lives out of the water. Florida is home to 33 native and non-native species of frogs and toads, and many more species of salamanders, newts and sirens!

Arethuseae

Calypsoeae

Cranichideae

Cymbidieae

Epidendreae

Malaxideae

Maxillarieae

Neottieae

Orchideae

Pogoniinae

Polystachyeae

Triphoreae

Vandeae

Vanilleae

One of the largest families in the plant kingdom with nearly 28 thousand species around the globe, orchids are also one of the most popular and most sought-after flowering plants in history. In Victorian times, entire foreign expeditions were sent around the world at great personal risk led by fearless (and often ruthless) orchid hunters to acquire the next new unknown exotic species from the most distant corner of the Earth. Luckily for us, Florida is rich with unique native species found nowhere else in the world!

Wildflowers by Color

Wildflowers by Family

By far our largest collection of galleries, these wildflower image sets are arranged by both color and by taxonomic family for use as a casual identification tool or field guide, or for more thorough scientific research for deeper understanding.

Pitcher Plants

Venus Flytraps

Bladderworts

Butterworts

Sundews

Sometimes called insectivorous plants, these amazing plants have adapted to a life in places where the soil is so poor in nutrients, that they’ve gained the ability to grow by trapping their food with modified leaves. By taking root in a harsh habitat, they have eliminated most of their competition from other plants.

Bromeliads

Mushrooms

Plants

Saprophytes

This last and final collection of galleries include all the non-wildflower images such as our native trees, ferns, palms, fruits and berries, cacti, saprophytes, mosses, bromeliads and more!
The Wildlife in Florida, the Sunshine State

The Wildlife in Florida, the Sunshine State

Jan 25, 2015

Happy 2015! After an inexcusable absence, I'm back with some new photos! I've been working like a maniac lately (370+ hours in December of straight working conditions!) and trying to get all my ducks in a row to open a photography studio here in the Seattle, WA area....

The Native Florida Amaryllis – A Delicate Beauty!

The Native Florida Amaryllis – A Delicate Beauty!

Dec 29, 2014

There is a brand new section in the Wildflowers Galleries today, and it is all about the close relative of the lily; the amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae) of our Florida native wildflowers. Because of their close genetic relations with the lily family (Liliaceae),...

Portraits in the Florida Wilderness

Portraits in the Florida Wilderness

Dec 9, 2014

Today's post is just a set of wildlife portraits taken in the Florida wilderness. Click on any image to find out more information or to enlarge. Fakahatchee Barred Owl An adult barred owl watches from the hardwoods at the northern end of the Fakahatchee Strand early...

A Bird is Three Things: Feathers, Flight and Song

A Bird is Three Things: Feathers, Flight and Song

Oct 16, 2014

A quick post for today, and a trio of brand new photos of some of North America's most beautiful coastal birds. Click on any image to enlarge. A roseate spoonbill wades through a salty mangrove marsh on Sanibel Island, Florida on a late winter morning in search of the...

A Wonderful Bird is the Pelican…

A Wonderful Bird is the Pelican…

Aug 15, 2014

Quick post with some new photos this week. I'm on my way right now to Aspen, Colorado to shoot a beautiful outdoor ranch wedding with my partner and good friend Bill Metek and wanted to leave a quick post with some new work - and a limerick! Click on any of the images...

Wild Florida!

Wild Florida!

Aug 7, 2014

New images from Wild Florida! For some reason these 14 photographs were sitting, hidden from the light of day on my hard drive array and although they were tagged for processing and publishing for quite some time (along with many hundreds of others) I decided to just...

Swallowtail Butterflies of the American Southeast

Swallowtail Butterflies of the American Southeast

Jul 1, 2014

Today I'm going to do a short and sweet post with a lot of photos highlighting three of the most beautiful swallowtail butterflies of the genus Papilio found deep in the hot, humid American Southeast during summertime. The three species are the eastern tiger...

Squirrel Treefrog

Squirrel Treefrog

Mar 30, 2014

Endemic to the United States, the squirrel treefrog (Hyla squirella) is an attractive native tree frog is native to the Coastal Plain of the American Southeast, ranging as far north and east as North Carolina (and possibly Virginia) all the way to Texas in the West,...

Profiles in Nature #3 – White-topped Pitcher Plant

Profiles in Nature #3 – White-topped Pitcher Plant

Mar 24, 2014

Easily the most beautiful of North America's native pitcher plants, the white-topped pitcher plant (Sarracenia leucophylla), also known as the white trumpet or crimson pitcher plant, is found in the wild in the American Southeast in the states of Mississippi, Alabama,...

Air Plants to Some, Bromeliads to Others

Air Plants to Some, Bromeliads to Others

Mar 12, 2014

Growing up in Southwest Florida, air plants were just about as common to me as sea gulls. Over the years as I gradually fell into the role of a naturalist and wildlife photographer, I've heard, learned and picked up a lot of information about these unusual plants and...

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