Fakahatchee Strand Preserve

Copeland, Florida

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When I heard the name Fakahatchee there was this interest and mystic for me. I had to go visit it when I was in Florida. The more I learned the more I was intrigued. The Fakahatchee strand preserve is one of the wildest areas remaining in Florida. It is commonly referred as the Amazon of Florida as well as the Orchid Capital of Florida. It is the home to Florida Panthers, Black Bears, the rare Florida Mink and more. Where much of Florida is open in its forest type the Fakahatchee is a wet, dark, jungle of cypress trees, air plants, strangler figs, orchids and palms. Photographing here was very challenging because of the darkness and tangle of jungle to shoot through. I was pushing ISO values on my camera up to 25,000 at times. It all added to the mystic and I had many intimate moments there with especially White Ibis both mature and immature. Here is part 1 of some of my photos taken there. The forest was so dark and the White Ibis were like ghosts of the jungle.

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