Nightlife in Florida

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

The Everglades.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I love the tonalities you've used for that friendly creature.
 Bravo!

[David Eckels]

Yikes!

[RSL]

I love the tonalities you've used for that friendly creature.
 Bravo!

+1

[kers]

A photo made 300 million years ago! well done...

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Here is another one:

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Another beauty!

[Alan Klein]

Nice shots.  Where in the Everglades?

[degrub]

Nice shots.  Where in the Everglades?

anywhere.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Nice shots.  Where in the Everglades?

Big Cypress National Preserve.

[Jeremy Roussak]

Both excellent, Slobodan. I think I prefer the second. How do they look on paper?

Jeremy

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

...How do they look on paper?

Like my stock returns... excellent... on paper... when I finally sell, however, who knows

In all seriousness, have not printed it yet. I expect it will be difficult to print well.

[Alan Klein]

Big Cypress National Preserve.

I suppose CLyde Butcher's galleries are closed?

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

I suppose CLyde Butcher's galleries are closed?

No. Visited. In fact,  the first alligator was photographed right there.

[Alan Klein]

No. Visited. In fact,  the first alligator was photographed right there.

Oh that's great.  I can't believe he walks around in the swamp shooting landscape pictures.  In any case, what did you think of his photos?  Did you see both his digital and film prints?

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... what did you think of his photos?  Did you see both his digital and film prints?

I didn't notice the separation in the gallery of digital vs. film.

As for his photography, I have mixed feelings. They are really impressive in all their enormous sizes, but reduced to a thumbnail or postcard, they are much less impressive, almost banal. The attractiveness lies in incredible details that 8x10 camera and 10' enlargements offer.

In his defense (if any needed), it is also incredible challenging to shoot the Everglades. It is often a huge mess of details, and hard to find appropriate composition. Color saves the day sometimes, though not for him.

Here are a couple of my attempts:

[Alan Klein]

These are nice shots. Florida is hard for photos.  What Butcher explains is that he uses big clouds as mountains.  They add drama, scale and make the repetitive ground view more interesting.  I saw his work in his Venice, FL gallery as well as his production facilities there where he did digital prints and chemical.  Impressive setup.  He's like Ansel Adams of the Everglades.

[MattBurt]

Love the gators and the highlights against the darkness. That works nicely but I agree it may not print well very easily.

I've also found Florida challenging to photograph. So different from what I'm used to.