Paul Marcellini Photography

I haven’t gotten out into the cypress swamps too much but I have a great time when I do. The migrant birds are coming through so I was surrounded with chirps. And the tracks in the mud are always great to study. Otters leave their mark just about everywhere, they sure do get around.

It is a visually intense experience. I don’t think anything else could be crammed in these forests. The epiphytes cover the trees, the moccasins are hiding under the logs, spiders build webs across every opening. Slow moving, but that’s how it should be.

I don’t usually come away with stunners when I go into the swamp, but I always enjoy it.

This shot was midday, backlit and begged for bw. Also one of the few times I brought along a compass. The foreground is gator tracks and tails drags, with a few bird and otter prints mixed in.

These aren’t cypress. These are rather large pond apples(Annona glabra). There are some largish cypress in the area but the old growth is not standing. =( This is the center of a cypress strand, most have a pond in the center, the only remaining water in the dry season

5dII, 16-35II@23mm f13 1/20s iso800

~ by Paul on April 8, 2009.