I live in Jacksonville which sits on a vast network of creeks, swamps, lakes, and marshes that make up the estuary of the St. Johns, a wide, lazy rive that runs from central Florida 300 miles north and empties into the Atlantic at Mayport Harbor. In less than an hour from mid-city we can reach dozen of public launch sites throughout the estuary and gain access by canoe or kayak to these wild, overgrown, bio-diverse waters – the swamp.

Jack Stephens and I use a canoe made in Wisconsin for duck hunters who, like photographers, need enough stability to be able to stand up in it, aim, and shoot. It is a full time job, navigating the boat through the many swamp hazards (hidden stumps, logs, shallow mud and quicksand, low hanging branches, unexpected current changes, not to mention gators, and snakes). So only one of us can photograph on any one trip.

We launch an hour before daybreak to be ready when those first magic sunbeams filter through the arboreal canopy and throw a spotlight onto a bit of swamp life, turning it into a thing of exotic beauty. There is no time to compose the shot. If my click finger hesitates, the spotlight will move on and all that’s left is dank, muddy swamp debris. It is like improvising in a jazz band, rather than playing a rehearsed orchestral score.

I shot “Swamp Idyll” on a cloudy, steamy August morning in Durbin Creek. We came around a sharp bend that fed into a shallow, dim pond surrounded by a thick canopy. Suddenly, the clouds opened and the sun which had just topped the trees zapped its beams through the steam. Jack and I shouted with awe (probably startling the egret) and I, sitting in the photographer’s seat that day, managed to get off about 20 frames (manually) before a cloud moved in and all was dank again.

Although the gators are shy and usually slip underwater as soon as they see us (thank goodness), they take ghoulish pride in catching a large bird. Before swallowing it, they swim around with half of the bird dangling from their mighty jaws for the whole swamp to see.

I never tire of photographing the wildlife in our swamps, especially the large wading birds. I also like to play on Photoshop, creating “Swamp Root Fantasies and Nightmares” out of swamp muck that I shoot when it’s a slow day in the photographer’s seat. Some of these images were featured in the February 2025 issue and on the cover of the Photographic Society of America Journal.