ALLIGATOR ALLEY | Niki Butcher

Big Cypress National Preserve © 1986

Photographic Story The freeway, I-75, was once known as Alligator Alley. It was a dangerous two-lane road that stretched from Ft. Lauderdale to Naples. Although it was dangerous, I loved the drive and enjoying the ‘river of grass’ and the cypress forests. One day while driving across the Alley I was amazed by the number of birds that had perched in the cypress trees. Clyde pulled off and I slowly made my way toward them taking photographs as I went. I managed to capture several images, but I like this one best because of the position of the wood storks. The Art of Hand Painting Black & White Photographs Niki prints her images on fiber-base black and white mat surface paper in the darkroom, then using Q-tips and cotton balls, she applies a thin coat of oil paint over the surface allowing the image to gently be seen through the oil paint. Archival Print Making Niki’s open edition gicleé artwork is printed on Sunset Bright Velvet Rag matte finish paper using eight archival inks. A state-of-the-art Epson Stylus Pro printer creates deep, rich dark values that hold subtle detail in the shadows as well as bright vivid colors that are truly tropical.