Leighton Photography & Imaging

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  • Massive panoramic view of Southern Utah's Bryce Canyon with its hundreds upon hundreds of hoodoos and other wild sandstone rock formations. In fact - while every continent on Earth has these hoodoos, nowhere in the world has as many as there are right here, in Bryce Canyon National Park! This massive print is at full natural size a whopping 9.75 feet x 3.6 feet (3m x 1.1m) and was created from twelve images. So large in fact that you can see the individual branches on every tree!
    Bryce Canyon Panorama
  • Limestone cliff with waterfall north of Lake City, Florida. I heard this waterfall long before I found it in the woods!
    Falling Creek Falls
  • These fascinating bird's nest fungi found along a coastal trail in Oregon's Tillamook County on a winter hike are one of the many natural curiosities found in the Pacific Northwest. While it may not look like it, these are actually a mushrooms rather than lichens. These have already fruited and cast off their spores during a rainstorm, dropping their DNA on the forest floor for the next generation to spread and prosper.
    Bird's Nest Fungi
  • A panoramic view of the Apalachicola photographed near Bristol, Florida.
    Apalachicola Bluffs Panorama
  • Lime Spring is one of the many beautiful tributaries to the Suwanne River in North Florida. This isolated view just blew me away and inspired this image - two photographs joined together to create a very detailed panorama with dazzling reflections and mysterious shadows - deep in the real Florida!
    Lime Spring
  • A sinkhole just outside of Tallahassee, Fl. This big water-filled cave pano is made up of 7 photos stitched together!
    Gopher Hole Sink
  • Santa Fe River in North Florida panorama made up of four photographs stitched together. This is my favorite view in all of Florida!!!
    Santa Fe River
  • Big Shoals along the Suwannee River in North Florida. Panorama photo composed of five stitched images.
    Big Shoals
  • 180 degree view of early morning on the Suwannee River in North Florida on October 6, 2008. What a first sight as the sun came up that morning!!!
    Suwannee River
  • 180 degree/7 photo panorama on the inside of a Florida Panhandle sink hole. Look closely and you can see rare ferns and flowering orchids.
    Inside a Sinkhole Panorama
  • St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge
    St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge
  • A beam of late afternoon sunlight hits this natural waterfall in an old hammock in North Florida.
    Falling Creek Falls
  • This rare natural waterfall is found on the edge of the Osceola National Forest in Columbia County,  north of Lake City. This is just one of the many extraordinary sights to be seen in rural Florida!
    Falling Creek Falls
  • Although not in flower, a unique view nonetheless - a pair of the rare and endangered confederate trillium (left) and the spotted trillium (right) growing next to each other in a forest in Tallahassee, Florida. The confederate trillium on the left is showing its distinct silvery-light green markings in the center of the leaves, while the spotted trillium to the right shows a more uniform mottling on the leaves. There is a good chance that there might be some hybridization as there seems to be a similar pattern while lacking the unique and telltale coloring.
    Trilliums (Confederate and Spotted)
  • Close-up flowers of the unique flowers of the cochineal nopal cactus. This incredibly beautiful member of the prickly pear cactus family is endemic to Mexico and has moved across the world by plant enthusiasts and collectors due to its beauty and hardiness. With its stunningly beautiful, cone-shaped bright pink flowers to its relative lack of spines, this tree-like beauty can reach a height of 12-13 feel (4 meters) and the ripe red fruits and cactus pads are edible and delicious! This one was found growing in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in South Texas near Weslaco in Hidalgo County.
    Cochineal Nopal Cactus (Opuntia coch..era)
  • One of the first flowers to be seen in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, the Indian plum fills the forest with clusters of beautiful showy white flowers that soon develop small berries that turn from peach to red and finally dark blue or purple when ripe. Although not really a plum, it is a unique fruit that is pleasantly similar in taste to cherries or watermelon. Historically, local Native American tribes would mix these berries with generous amounts of oolichan (an oil from a local oily fish - similar to a smelt) and was popular at feasts. The bark was also used as a medicinal tea. This one was one fo the first of the season, showing itself along side Soos Creek in Kent, Washington, about 25 miles south of Seattle on a chilly, wet March afternoon.
    Indian Plum Blossoms
  • The endangered and highly variable Florida tree snail found on Long Pine Key in the Florida Everglades. Each one has a unique pattern or in this case, lack of a pattern.
    Florida Tree Snail
  • Double Arch is found in Arches National Park in Eastern Utah and is part of the amazing red alien sandstone landscape that is called the Moab Desert. This area has the largest number of natural stone arches than anywhere else in the world, but what makes this rock formation so unique is that they were both eroded from the very same piece of stone. Most arches are formed from water erosion flowing either within or from the sides of the rock over the millennia, but these two arches were formed from water eroding from the top of the stone, downwards. For this reason they are called pothole arches. Because this photograph was made at the beginning of a sudden storm, you can see the rainwater running down the rock from the top of the arch, and this is the very process that carved these arches to begin with, and that will also eventually one day cause this magnificent national treasure to collapse.
    Double Arch, Moab Desert, Utah
  • The plateau side-blotched lizard (Uta stansburiana uniformis) is one of five distinct subspecies of the side-blotched lizard found across the western United States, found only in Eastern Utah, Western Colorado, Northeastern Nevada and the extreme northwestern tip of New Mexico. Unlike its boldly-patterned cousins found to the south, west and southwest, the plateau side-blotched lizard tends to have a more spotted pattern, characterized by many tiny blue spots, unique to this subspecies. This one was photographed in Eastern Utah's Moab Desert after a sudden summer storm.
    Plateau Side-Blotched Lizard
  • Close-up flowers of the unique flowers of the cochineal nopal cactus. This incredibly beautiful member of the prickly pear cactus family is endemic to Mexico and has moved across the world by plant enthusiasts and collectors due to its beauty and hardiness. With its stunningly beautiful, cone-shaped bright pink flowers to its relative lack of spines, this tree-like beauty can reach a height of 12-13 feel (4 meters) and the ripe red fruits and cactus pads are edible and delicious! This one was found growing in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in South Texas near Weslaco in Hidalgo County.
    Cochineal Nopal Cactus (Opuntia coch..era)
  • Close-up flowers of the unique flowers of the cochineal nopal cactus. This incredibly beautiful member of the prickly pear cactus family is endemic to Mexico and has moved across the world by plant enthusiasts and collectors due to its beauty and hardiness. With its stunningly beautiful, cone-shaped bright pink flowers to its relative lack of spines, this tree-like beauty can reach a height of 12-13 feel (4 meters) and the ripe red fruits and cactus pads are edible and delicious! This one was found growing in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in South Texas near Weslaco in Hidalgo County.
    Cochineal Nopal Cactus (Opuntia coch..era)
  • Unique underwing view of a red admiral butterfly feeding on what looks like sap a damaged shrub stem. Although the upper-side (top of the wings) is brightly-colored you can see how expertly camouflaged it is with its wings folded while resting in the shade. This one was found next to a pond near Alamo, Texas on a bright warm sunny winter day.
    Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
  • Unique underwing view of a red admiral butterfly feeding on what looks like sap a damaged shrub stem. Although the upper-side (top of the wings) is brightly-colored you can see how expertly camouflaged it is with its wings folded while resting in the shade. This one was found next to a pond near Alamo, Texas on a bright warm sunny winter day.
    Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
  • Unique to the Pacific Northwest, this attractive pale peach-colored member of the Amanita genus (a relative of the infamous fly agaric) is mostly associated with Douglas firs and other pines. This one was found in a heavily forested area near Lake Cushman in the Olympic National Forest.
    Amanita aprica
  • One of the many unusual and unique marine invertebrates of the Pacific Northwest, the mossy chiton is a nocturnal hunter of the intertidal zones of the rocky coastline. Recently, biologists have discovered that because they are sometimes above water, and sometimes underwater, their very primitive mineralized eyes have evolved in such a way that they can actually see images, and when they detect a predator coming close, they can react quickly and tighten their muscles, securing themselves to a rock or other hard surface, leaving them protected under their eight-pieced plated shells. This one was found on the sand above the surf line at low tide near Neah Bay, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula.
    Mossy Chiton
  • One of the many unusual and unique marine invertebrates of the Pacific Northwest, the mossy chiton is a nocturnal hunter of the intertidal zones of the rocky coastline. Recently, biologists have discovered that because they are sometimes above water, and sometimes underwater, their very primitive mineralized eyes have evolved in such a way that they can actually see images, and when they detect a predator coming close, they can react quickly and tighten their muscles, securing themselves to a rock or other hard surface, leaving them protected under their eight-pieced plated shells. This one was found high and dry at low tide near Neah Bay, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula.
    Mossy Chiton
  • One of the many unusual and unique marine invertebrates of the Pacific Northwest, the mossy chiton is a nocturnal hunter of the intertidal zones of the rocky coastline. Recently, biologists have discovered that because they are sometimes above water, and sometimes underwater, their very primitive mineralized eyes have evolved in such a way that they can actually see images, and when they detect a predator coming close, they can react quickly and tighten their muscles, securing themselves to a rock or other hard surface, leaving them protected under their eight-pieced plated shells. This one was found high and dry at low tide near Neah Bay, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula.
    Mossy Chiton
  • One of the many unusual and unique marine invertebrates of the Pacific Northwest, the mossy chiton is a nocturnal hunter of the intertidal zones of the rocky coastline. Recently, biologists have discovered that because they are sometimes above water, and sometimes underwater, their very primitive mineralized eyes have evolved in such a way that they can actually see images, and when they detect a predator coming close, they can react quickly and tighten their muscles, securing themselves to a rock or other hard surface, leaving them protected under their eight-pieced plated shells. This one was found just under the water's surface in a tide pool near Neah Bay, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula.
    Mossy Chiton
  • I found these cool little jelly mushrooms yesterday while looking for bigger Pacific Northwest fungus species to photograph. This unique and very interesting toothed jelly mushroom is found throughout the world and grows mostly on decaying coniferous wood. Although it is considered edible, it is reported to have almost no taste, and is often "candied" with sugar and sometimes other ingredients. This one was found in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest near the Greenwater River, in the Cascade Mountains in Pierce County, Washington.
    Cat's Tongue
  • This unique and very interesting toothed jelly mushroom is found throughout the world and grows mostly on decaying coniferous wood. Although it is considered edible, it is reported to have almost no taste, and is often "candied" with sugar and sometimes other ingredients. This one was found in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest near the Greenwater River, in the Cascade Mountains in Pierce County, Washington.
    Cat's Tongue
  • This unique and very interesting toothed jelly mushroom is found throughout the world and grows mostly on decaying coniferous wood. Although it is considered edible, it is reported to have almost no taste, and is often "candied" with sugar and sometimes other ingredients. This one was found in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest near the Greenwater River, in the Cascade Mountains in Pierce County, Washington.
    Cat's Tongue
  • The spiny-fruited prickly pear (Opuntia x spinosibacca) is a naturally occurring hybrid between two overlapping Opuntia species (O. aureispina and O. phaeacantha) found in the Big-Bend Region of Texas and is believed to be reproducing with others of the same hybrid in the wild, which is a common way over time we end up with distinct new species. In some circles, it is already being referred to as a unique species: Opuntia spinosibacca. Although they are considered rare in the wild, I happened to find many hundreds of them in bloom like this one spread out in the lowland region north of the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park in West Texas near the Rio Grande.
    Spiny-Fruited Prickly Pear
  • The spiny-fruited prickly pear (Opuntia x spinosibacca) is a naturally occurring hybrid between two overlapping Opuntia species (O. aureispina and O. phaeacantha) found in the Big-Bend Region of Texas and is believed to be reproducing with others of the same hybrid in the wild, which is a common way over time we end up with distinct new species. In some circles, it is already being referred to as a unique species: Opuntia spinosibacca. Although they are considered rare in the wild, I happened to find many hundreds of them in bloom like this one spread out in the lowland region north of the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park in West Texas near the Rio Grande.
    Spiny-Fruited Prickly Pear
  • The spiny-fruited prickly pear (Opuntia x spinosibacca) is a naturally occurring hybrid between two overlapping Opuntia species (O. aureispina and O. phaeacantha) found in the Big-Bend Region of Texas and is believed to be reproducing with others of the same hybrid in the wild, which is a common way over time we end up with distinct new species. In some circles, it is already being referred to as a unique species: Opuntia spinosibacca. Although they are considered rare in the wild, I happened to find many hundreds of them in bloom like this one spread out in the lowland region north of the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park in West Texas near the Rio Grande.
    Spiny-Fruited Prickly Pear
  • The spiny-fruited prickly pear (Opuntia x spinosibacca) is a naturally occurring hybrid between two overlapping Opuntia species (O. aureispina and O. phaeacantha) found in the Big-Bend Region of Texas and is believed to be reproducing with others of the same hybrid in the wild, which is a common way over time we end up with distinct new species. In some circles, it is already being referred to as a unique species: Opuntia spinosibacca. Although they are considered rare in the wild, I happened to find many hundreds of them in bloom like this one spread out in the lowland region north of the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park in West Texas near the Rio Grande.
    Spiny-Fruited Prickly Pear
  • The spiny-fruited prickly pear (Opuntia x spinosibacca) is a naturally occurring hybrid between two overlapping Opuntia species (O. aureispina and O. phaeacantha) found in the Big-Bend Region of Texas and is believed to be reproducing with others of the same hybrid in the wild, which is a common way over time we end up with distinct new species. In some circles, it is already being referred to as a unique species: Opuntia spinosibacca. Although they are considered rare in the wild, I happened to find many hundreds of them in bloom like this one spread out in the lowland region north of the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park in West Texas near the Rio Grande.
    Spiny-Fruited Prickly Pear
  • The spiny-fruited prickly pear (Opuntia x spinosibacca) is a naturally occurring hybrid between two overlapping Opuntia species (O. aureispina and O. phaeacantha) found in the Big-Bend Region of Texas and is believed to be reproducing with others of the same hybrid in the wild, which is a common way over time we end up with distinct new species. In some circles, it is already being referred to as a unique species: Opuntia spinosibacca. Although they are considered rare in the wild, I happened to find many hundreds of them in bloom like this one spread out in the lowland region north of the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park in West Texas near the Rio Grande.
    Spiny-Fruited Prickly Pear
  • The plateau side-blotched lizard (Uta stansburiana uniformis) is one of five distinct subspecies of the side-blotched lizard found across the western United States, found only in Eastern Utah, Western Colorado, Northeastern Nevada and the extreme northwestern tip of New Mexico. Unlike its boldly-patterned cousins found to the south, west and southwest, the plateau side-blotched lizard tends to have a more spotted pattern, characterized by many tiny blue spots, unique to this subspecies. This one was photographed in Eastern Utah's Moab Desert after a sudden summer storm.
    Plateau Side-Blotched Lizard
  • The plateau side-blotched lizard (Uta stansburiana uniformis) is one of five distinct subspecies of the side-blotched lizard found across the western United States, found only in Eastern Utah, Western Colorado, Northeastern Nevada and the extreme northwestern tip of New Mexico. Unlike its boldly-patterned cousins found to the south, west and southwest, the plateau side-blotched lizard tends to have a more spotted pattern, characterized by many tiny blue spots, unique to this subspecies. This one was photographed in Eastern Utah's Moab Desert after a sudden summer storm.
    Plateau Side-Blotched Lizard
  • The plateau side-blotched lizard (Uta stansburiana uniformis) is one of five distinct subspecies of the side-blotched lizard found across the western United States, found only in Eastern Utah, Western Colorado, Northeastern Nevada and the extreme northwestern tip of New Mexico. Unlike its boldly-patterned cousins found to the south, west and southwest, the plateau side-blotched lizard tends to have a more spotted pattern, characterized by many tiny blue spots, unique to this subspecies. This one was photographed in Eastern Utah's Moab Desert after a sudden summer storm.
    Plateau Side-Blotched Lizard
  • The plateau side-blotched lizard (Uta stansburiana uniformis) is one of five distinct subspecies of the side-blotched lizard found across the western United States, found only in Eastern Utah, Western Colorado, Northeastern Nevada and the extreme northwestern tip of New Mexico. Unlike its boldly-patterned cousins found to the south, west and southwest, the plateau side-blotched lizard tends to have a more spotted pattern, characterized by many tiny blue spots, unique to this subspecies. This one was photographed in Eastern Utah's Moab Desert after a sudden summer storm.
    Plateau Side-Blotched Lizard
  • The plateau side-blotched lizard (Uta stansburiana uniformis) is one of five distinct subspecies of the side-blotched lizard found across the western United States, found only in Eastern Utah, Western Colorado, Northeastern Nevada and the extreme northwestern tip of New Mexico. Unlike its boldly-patterned cousins found to the south, west and southwest, the plateau side-blotched lizard tends to have a more spotted pattern, characterized by many tiny blue spots, unique to this subspecies. This one was photographed in Eastern Utah's Moab Desert after a sudden summer storm.
    Plateau Side-Blotched Lizard
  • The plateau side-blotched lizard (Uta stansburiana uniformis) is one of five distinct subspecies of the side-blotched lizard found across the western United States, found only in Eastern Utah, Western Colorado, Northeastern Nevada and the extreme northwestern tip of New Mexico. Unlike its boldly-patterned cousins found to the south, west and southwest, the plateau side-blotched lizard tends to have a more spotted pattern, characterized by many tiny blue spots, unique to this subspecies. This one was photographed on Utah's Antelope Island, an island near Salt Lake City which lies near the southeastern shore of Great Salt Lake.
    Plateau Side-Blotched Lizard
  • The plateau side-blotched lizard (Uta stansburiana uniformis) is one of five distinct subspecies of the side-blotched lizard found across the western United States, found only in Eastern Utah, Western Colorado, Northeastern Nevada and the extreme northwestern tip of New Mexico. Unlike its boldly-patterned cousins found to the south, west and southwest, the plateau side-blotched lizard tends to have a more spotted pattern, characterized by many tiny blue spots, unique to this subspecies. This one was photographed on Utah's Antelope Island, an island near Salt Lake City which lies near the southeastern shore of Great Salt Lake.
    Plateau Side-Blotched Lizard
  • One of the more interesting and unique lichens found in the forests of the Pacific Northwest is the frog pelt lichen. It is rather common here, and can range in color from bluish green to olive brown, and is found growing on both rocks and dead wood, in shady, open forests at varying altitudes.
    Frog Pelt Lichen
  • The unique buttonbush is a common small tree growing in the Everglades. This one was seen in the Fakahatchee Strand.
    Buttonbush
  • The improbable-looking black skimmer  - the unique bill is used for catching its food while skimming the water's surface with an open beak - in flight!
    Black Skimmer
  • Side view of the ghost orchid. The five to six inch spur is a long hollow tube that contains the nectar which draws the giant silk moth. This unique moth has a six inch tongue that while reaching the bottom of the spur to feed, some pollen from the flower's anther will stick to the head of the moth, and then get transfered to the next ghost orchid it feeds on. While visiting several flowers during the course of a night - it unknowingly pollinates these flowers to produce the next generation of ghosts. Without this special moth, we would have no ghost orchids.
    Ghost Orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii)
  • Close-up flowers of the unique flowers of the cochineal nopal cactus. This incredibly beautiful member of the prickly pear cactus family is endemic to Mexico and has moved across the world by plant enthusiasts and collectors due to its beauty and hardiness. With its stunningly beautiful, cone-shaped bright pink flowers to its relative lack of spines, this tree-like beauty can reach a height of 12-13 feel (4 meters) and the ripe red fruits and cactus pads are edible and delicious! This one was found growing in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in South Texas near Weslaco in Hidalgo County.
    Cochineal Nopal Cactus (Opuntia coch..era)
  • One of the many unusual and unique marine invertebrates of the Pacific Northwest, the mossy chiton is a nocturnal hunter of the intertidal zones of the rocky coastline. Recently, biologists have discovered that because they are sometimes above water, and sometimes underwater, their very primitive mineralized eyes have evolved in such a way that they can actually see images, and when they detect a predator coming close, they can react quickly and tighten their muscles, securing themselves to a rock or other hard surface, leaving them protected under their eight-pieced plated shells. This one was found just under the water's surface in a tide pool near Neah Bay, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula.
    Mossy Chiton
  • The plateau side-blotched lizard (Uta stansburiana uniformis) is one of five distinct subspecies of the side-blotched lizard found across the western United States, found only in Eastern Utah, Western Colorado, Northeastern Nevada and the extreme northwestern tip of New Mexico. Unlike its boldly-patterned cousins found to the south, west and southwest, the plateau side-blotched lizard tends to have a more spotted pattern, characterized by many tiny blue spots, unique to this subspecies. This one was photographed in Eastern Utah's Moab Desert after a sudden summer storm.
    Plateau Side-Blotched Lizard
  • This spectacularly wild and unique part of the Pacific Northwest is one of the largest temperate rainforests in the United States, receiving 140 to 170 inches (12 to 14 feet!) of precipitation per year! Located on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, it remains protected from the logging industry by being part of the Olympic National Park.
    Hoh Rain Forest
  • Although common all over North America, on rare occasions, you might encounter a very strange-looking raccoon with a very unusual coloration. Sometimes a red raccoon or even a blond raccoon is found when you least expect it, and even more rare is the albino raccoon! While all of them are still the same species, just some win the gene lottery for uniqueness! This red raccoon had a coloration more similar to a red fox, and was heard long before it was seen wading noisily through the Corkscrew Swamp in Southwest Florida as it was catching crayfish and devouring them on the spot. Paying little attention to me, it just kept moving and foraging until the splashing and lip-smacking faded in the distance.
    RedRaccoon2021-1.jpg
  • Although common all over North America, on rare occasions, you might encounter a very strange-looking raccoon with a very unusual coloration. Sometimes a red raccoon or even a blond raccoon is found when you least expect it, and even more rare is the albino raccoon! While all of them are still the same species, just some win the gene lottery for uniqueness! This red raccoon had a coloration more similar to a red fox, and was heard long before it was seen wading noisily through the Corkscrew Swamp in Southwest Florida as it was catching crayfish and devouring them on the spot. Paying little attention to me, it just kept moving and foraging until the splashing and lip-smacking faded in the distance.
    RedRaccoon2021-4.jpg
  • Although common all over North America, on rare occasions, you might encounter a very strange-looking raccoon with a very unusual coloration. Sometimes a red raccoon or even a blond raccoon is found when you least expect it, and even more rare is the albino raccoon! While all of them are still the same species, just some win the gene lottery for uniqueness! This red raccoon had a coloration more similar to a red fox, and was heard long before it was seen wading noisily through the Corkscrew Swamp in Southwest Florida as it was catching crayfish and devouring them on the spot. Paying little attention to me, it just kept moving and foraging until the splashing and lip-smacking faded in the distance.
    RedRaccoon2021-2.jpg
  • Although common all over North America, on rare occasions, you might encounter a very strange-looking raccoon with a very unusual coloration. Sometimes a red raccoon or even a blond raccoon is found when you least expect it, and even more rare is the albino raccoon! While all of them are still the same species, just some win the gene lottery for uniqueness! This red raccoon had a coloration more similar to a red fox, and was heard long before it was seen wading noisily through the Corkscrew Swamp in Southwest Florida as it was catching crayfish and devouring them on the spot. Paying little attention to me, it just kept moving and foraging until the splashing and lip-smacking faded in the distance.
    RedRaccoon2021-3.jpg