Leighton Photography & Imaging

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  • A bald cypress tree stands in the normally wet Big Cypress National Preserve in Southwest Florida during the dry season. This image was photographed in infrared.
    Bald Cypress in Infrared
  • Pitted stripeseed wildflower photographed in the Big Cypress National Preserve.
    Pitted Stripeseed
  • Everglades daisy photographed in the dry season of the Big Cypress National Preserve. Look for them in large numbers in the spring!
    Everglades Daisy
  • A young great blue heron just beginning to get its adult coloration in the Sweetwater Strand in the Big Cypress National Preserve.
    Juvenile Great Blue Heron
  • Adult caiman found in the Big Cypress National Preserve. Caimans are found in Central and South America, and this photo generated some interest with Florida Fish & Wildlife. Not a great photo, but the only one we got that day.
    Spectacled Caiman
  • The terrestrial or semi-aquatic horned bladderwort growing in Monroe County in the Big Cypress National Preserve. This  small carnivorous plant can catch small animals with tiny contracting bladders that suddenly open upon contact and suck in the prey by an inrush of water or air, and trapping it within with a flap-like membrane. These bladders are located among the root-like leaves.
    Horned Bladderwort (Utricularia cornuta)
  • The delicate and beautiful showy milkwort is often found growing in the flooded prairies and cypress domes of the Big Cypress National Preserve.
    Showy Milkwort
  • The delicate and beautiful small butterwort is often found growing out of flooded prairies and cypress domes of the Big Cypress National Preserve.
    Small Butterwort (Pinguicula pumila)
  • The delicate and beautiful small butterwort is often found growing out of flooded prairies and cypress domes of the Big Cypress National Preserve.
    Small Butterwort (Pinguicula pumila)
  • The largest group of pine-pinks I've ever seen or heard of found growing in the Big Cypress National Preserve.
    Pine-Pink (Bletia purpurea)
  • Twin-spot skipper butterfly feeding on an unusually pale purple thistle in the Big Cypress National Preserve.
    Twin-Spot Skipper (Oligoria maculata)
  • The fantastically mottled and twisted flowers of the cigar orchid in a massive display deep in the Big Cypress National Preserve. This is by far the largest one I've found, and hopefully will provide plenty of seeds for this orchid to recover after decades of poaching.
    Cigar Orchid (Cyrtopodium punctatum)
  • A close-up of a cigar orchid flower against a black diffuser (a photographer's tool for adjusting natural light) in the Big Cypress National Preserve.
    Cigar Orchid (Cyrtopodium punctatum)
  • Lawn orchid photographed on the edge of Loop Road, deep in the Big Cypress National Preserve.
    Lawn Orchid (Zeuxine strateumatica)
  • Sunrise in the Big Cypress National Preserve.
    Misty Morning
  • Eastern kingbird seen in the Big Cypress National Preserve. It kept landing near us and seemed to want to be photographed!
    Eastern Kingbird
  • The aquatic leafy bladderwort growing in the wetlands of the Big Cypress National Preserve in Monroe County. This was photographed in the beginning of the dry season, and receding water levels left this plant high and dry.
    Leafy Bladderwort (Utricularia foliosa)
  • One can find these beauties everywhere in the springtime in the Big Cypress National Preserve!
    Black-eyed Susan
  • Yellow colicroot growing in the Big Cypress National Preserve along an old tram road. This was a very important medicinal plant used by that native Americans to treat digestive disorders.
    Yellow Colicroot
  • This large showy sabatia is commonly found in freshwater wetlands in South Florida, such as this one in the Big Cypress National Preserve.
    Bartram's Rosegentian
  • This is one of the many common wildflowers to be seen growing in the Big Cypress National Preserve in Collier and Monroe Counties. This one was in the Gator Hook Strand.
    Bartram's Rosegentian
  • A stunningly beautiful tricolored heron searches for frogs and small fish on the edge of a "gator pond" in the Big Cypress National Preserve in Southern Florida.
    Tricolored Heron in Breeding Plumage
  • Yellow helmet orchid growing in Monroe County off of Loop Road in the Big Cypress National Preserve. Prepare to go into the water to see these orchids!
    Yellow Helmet Orchid (Polystachya co..eta)
  • Of all the tiny butterflies found in Florida, the little metalmark is by far the easiest to photograph. This one posed beautifully for me in the Big Cypress National Preserve.
    Little Metalmark
  • The aquatic leafy bladderwort growing in the flooded prairies of the Big Cypress National Preserve in Southwest Florida.
    Leafy Bladderwort (Utricularia foliosa)
  • Alligator Lily in the Big Cypress National Preserve. These are very common in summer when the prairies are completely flooded in the middle of the wet season.
    Alligator Lily
  • Common grass-pink orchid growing in the Big Cypress National Preserve. Chances are that if you find one of these beauties, you are going to find very many of them in the area.
    Common Grass-Pink Orchid (Calopogon ..sus)
  • A beautiful gulf fritillary in the Big Cypress National Preserve.
    Gulf Fritillary
  • How it gets its name. In the summer, these orchids lose all their leaves, and the result looks like a clump of cigars attached to the base of a tree or cypress knee. This massive cigar orchid is the biggest I've ever seen!
    Cigar Orchid (Cyrtopodium punctatum)
  • This common weed is usually found in disturbed areas, such as this one on the side of US41 in Collier County, Florida.
    Sow Thistle
  • An alligator with its head framed in shimmering light from the sun above.
    American Alligator
  • Alligator swimming in the Turner River, Collier County, Florida.
    American Alligator
  • This incredible orchid has a long history of being taken from the wild for the orchid trade. There are stories of single plants weighing hundreds of pounds being pulled out of the Everglades by the wagon load. These days, small ones are difficult to find.
    Cigar Orchid (Cyrtopodium punctatum)
  • American Alligator in the Sweetwater Strand area of the Florida Everglades. This was taken in the beginning of mating season, when they tend to get a little aggressive.
    American Alligator
  • An alligator swims by slowly in the Sweetwater Strand with a great blue heron in its mouth.
    American Alligator with Great Blue Heron
  • Lubber grasshopper nymphs doing what they do best in the Everglades ... devouring foliage.
    Southeastern Lubber Grasshopper Hatc..phs)
  • The incredibly colored lubber grasshopper is a very common sight in South Florida in the summertime. These insects eat anything and everything!
    Southeastern Lubber Grasshopper
  • The skittish and shy green heron at the water's surface keeping an eye on minnows in the Sweetwater Strand, Monroe County, Florida.
    Green Heron
  • Simpson's grass-pink orchid  in the Florida Everglades. This is a subspecies of the common grass-pink, and is slightly larger with wider leaves. It is only found south of Lake Okeechobee.
    Simpson's Grass-Pink (Calopogon tube..nii)
  • A young adult alligator with a freshly caught great blue heron. An incredible sight to see in person!
    American Alligator with Great Blue Heron
  • As I was photographing a group of pine-pinks, I noticed how from above - they look a lot like little pink birds!
    Pine-Pink (Bletia purpurea)
  • Florida adder's-mouth found growing deep in the Gator Hook Strand in SW Florida. I found one colony here with over 100 individual plants here. Just be warned - there is a huge vicious alligator out there than nearly got me! No kidding!
    Florida Adder's-Mouth (Malaxis spicata)
  • Open prairie in the Big Cypress National Preserve. This is a wonderland for nature photographers, as it is loaded with all kinds of wildlife and rare plants.
    Big Cypress National Preserve
  • Dawn in the Big Cypress National Preserve in the Gator Hook Strand.
    Big Cypress Sunrise
  • Not commonly seen in southern Florida, the black-throated blue warbler is native to Eastern Canada down to the Carolinas, and is one of the few blue-colored birds in the Southeast. It is usually only seen while it is migrating south to the Caribbean or Central America where it spends its winters. This one was photographed in the Big Cypress National Preserve of SW Florida on a brisk fall morning.
    Black-throated Blue Warbler
  • This very wary 7-8-foot adult American alligator is poised to launch itself out from under the cocoplum bushes if I wade any closer deep in the wilderness of the Big Cypress National Preserve in Southwest Florida. As part of the Northern Everglades watershed, this area is very rural, there is often no dry land for miles. No help either in case of an emergency.
    American Alligator in the Big Cypress
  • This is a very common member of the St. John's-wort family, growing here in the Big Cypress National Preserve.
    Marsh St. John's-Wort
  • Also known as the snakebird, the anhinga is a common and very effective fish-hunter found along the coasts and interior of Florida and as far south as the Southern Amazon in Brazil. This male was spotted perched in a bald cypress tree in the Big Cypress National Preserve in Southwest Florida.
    Male Anhinga
  • Native and endemic to the Southeastern United States, this squirrel treefrog clings to cypress twigs on a cool autumn day in the Big Cypress National Preserve in Southwest Florida.
    Squirrel Treefrog
  • A large squirrel treefrog rests during the day on the trunk of a bald cypress tree in Florida's Big Cypress National Preserve.
    Squirrel Treefrog
  • The delicate and beautiful showy milkwort is often found growing in the flooded prairies and cypress domes of the Big Cypress National Preserve.
    Showy Milkwort
  • A juvenile black-crowned night heron practices to hunt for prey in a tree overhanging a pond in the Big Cypress National Preserve in SW Florida.
    Juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron
  • A red-shouldered hawk feasts on a panfish caught deep in the Big Cypress National Preserve of Southwest Florida.
    Red-shouldered Hawk
  • Close-up of toothpetal flowers deep in the Big Cypress National Preserve. Oftentimes, it is the fragrance that is noticed before the plant is actually found, as in the case here.
    Toothpetal Orchid (Habenaria floribunda)
  • Looking much like a miniature watermelon, the creeping cucumber is in fact a native cucumber that grows in the American Southeast as far north as Illinois and Pennsylvania and west to Texas and Kansas on long vines with grape-like leaves. While considered edible, it's just one of those things you wouldn't go out of your way to eat. These were found in the Big Cypress National Preserve in Southwest Florida.
    Creeping Cucumber
  • A pair if white ibises search the shallows of the Sweetwater Strand for aquatic insects and other invertebrates in SW Florida's Big Cypress National Preserve.
    White Ibises
  • Headshot of the anhinga, also known as the snakebird. The anhinga is a common and very effective fish-hunter found along the coasts and interior of Florida. This male is was spotted perched in a cocoplum in the Big Cypress National Preserve in Southwest Florida.
    Anhinga Close-up
  • A juvenile black-crowned night heron practices to hunt for prey in a tree overhanging the Sweetwater Strand in the Big Cypress National Preserve in SW Florida.
    Juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron
  • A pollinated night-fragrant epidendrum orchid bears fruit deep in the Big Cypress National Preserve in the northern Florida Everglades. Still visible are the dried remains of the flower hanging at the tip of the fruit.
    Night-fragrant Epidendrum
  • Fragrant ladies'-tresses deep in a slough in the Big Cypress National Preserve. I have seen literally hundreds of these in dense areas of the swamps. Be prepared to walk in ankle-deep flooded forest in November and December!
    Fragrant Ladies'-tresses (Spiranthes..ata)
  • Female golden-winged skimmer photographed in the Big Cypress National Preserve. The wet prairies here support HUGE populations of dragonflies!
    Golden-Winged Skimmer
  • This large showy sabatia is commonly found in freshwater wetlands in South Florida, such as this one in the Big Cypress National Preserve.
    Bartram's Rosegentian
  • Florida star orchid with fruit deep in the Big Cypress National Preserve. I have yet to see this one in flower in the wild - only in a cultivated one, but as soon as I do, I'll put it in this spot.
    Florida Star Orchid (Epidendrum flor..nse)
  • A perfect specimen of a dingy-flowered star orchid in full flower growing in the Sweetwater Strand, deep in the Big Cypress National Preserve.
    Dingy-Flowered Star Orchid (Epidendr..mum)
  • Queen butterfly feeding on a wildflower in the Big Cypress National Preserve. This is a butterfly nearly always found in and around wetlands in South Florida with lots of wildflowers.
    Queen
  • Female common buckeye in the Big Cypress National Preserve, off of Loop Road.
    Common Buckeye
  • Fragrant ladies'-tresses deep in a slough in the Big Cypress National Preserve. It's tough travel through these flooded forests, but many kinds of orchids can be found here together.
    Fragrant Ladies'-tresses (Spiranthes..ata)
  • Queen butterfly feeding on a wildflower in the Big Cypress National Preserve. This is a butterfly nearly always found in and around wetlands in South Florida with lots of wildflowers.
    Queen
  • Queen butterfly feeding on a wildflower in the Big Cypress National Preserve. This is a butterfly nearly always found in and around wetlands in South Florida with lots of wildflowers.
    Queen
  • Eastern kingbird seen in the Big Cypress National Preserve. It kept landing near us and seemed to want to be photographed!
    Eastern Kingbird
  • Eastern kingbird seen in the Big Cypress National Preserve. It kept landing near us and seemed to want to be photographed!
    Eastern Kingbird