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!
Tricolored Heron in Breeding Plumage

Tricolored Heron in Breeding Plumage

May 2, 2010

Last month I was in the Big Cypress National Preserve looking for new material forwww.FloridaNaturePhotography.com – particularly birds in breeding plumage when I spotted this amazing tricolored heron on the side of the road. It was in the most resplendent of breeding colors. Bright blue beak and face, deep blood-red eyes, violet and blue-gray plumage, completed with snowy white plumes at the back of its crown. Just gorgeous!

The Most Beautiful Carnivore in Florida

The Most Beautiful Carnivore in Florida

Apr 30, 2010

The Apalachicola National Forest is very large and mostly rural tract in North Florida's Panhandle region - an area known for its rich and abundant wildlife, beautiful longleaf pine woodlands, isolated Appalachian/Carolina-region species, and for the botanists...

A Sense of Place

A Sense of Place

Apr 23, 2010

As a working nature photographer, there are two parts of every day that decide my daily schedule when I'm in the field. It isn't when I actually start thinking about work and deciding to call it a day, and it isn't when I arrive to my destination and start/stop...

Sand Dunes of St. Joseph’s Peninsula

Sand Dunes of St. Joseph’s Peninsula

Apr 21, 2010

Two days ago, I returned from a fantastic photography trip where I finally met up with Terry Collins - another native Floridian landscape photographer who I'd been looking forward to meeting for quite some time. Our goal was to photograph the sand dunes of the St....

Chokoloskee Mangroves

Chokoloskee Mangroves

Apr 18, 2010

For much of this past month, I've been away from home - traveling almost constantly, and loading up on all kinds of new photographs of my home state of Florida. I've been trying out new and different techniques, a couple new lenses, and keeping company with a number...

Deep Forest Creek

Deep Forest Creek

Jan 24, 2010

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,...

Operation Migration – Whooping Cranes Arrive in North Florida!

Operation Migration – Whooping Cranes Arrive in North Florida!

Jan 14, 2010

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,...

The Forgotten Coast “Revisited”

The Forgotten Coast “Revisited”

Jan 11, 2010

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...

The Forgotten Coast – Unforgettable Florida

The Forgotten Coast – Unforgettable Florida

Jan 4, 2010

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 -...

The Winter Wonderland of Florida’s North Gulf Coast

The Winter Wonderland of Florida’s North Gulf Coast

Dec 23, 2009

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...

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