CIGAR ORCHID POND © 2009

Big Cypress National Preserve, FL

After walking deep into the swamp for about an hour, I saw this crazy, beautiful, intricate scene. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera at the time. For nine years, I returned to this area looking to photograph the beauty, but each time I returned, it looked different, at times unrecognizable. Then, finally, after a rain awakened the resurrection ferns and covered the ground plants, I stumbled upon it once again. Luckily, the lighting was perfect, allowing me to immortalize the moment with this photograph. To me, this image captures the essence of the swamp, with its many lush layers, the ever-changing flow of the river of grass, and the profound impact that weather conditions can have on a scene. Not only was this a challenging scene to locate, but it also presented complexities in achieving the correct depth of field to appreciate every intricate detail in the image. Rare Flora of the Swamp These vibrant ponds, rarely seen by human eyes, support the greatest diversity of rare and endangered orchids, bromeliads, and arboreal ferns. Here, the waters fill with submerged aquatic plants that line the soft, thick, black, peat soil below. These areas rarely dry up entirely in the dry season and are a sanctuary for moisture-loving plants. The lush resurrection ferns on the tree limbs indicate a recent rainstorm. Cigar Orchid Pond was taken with a Deardorff 5×7 camera on T-Max 100 film.  This photograph is hand-printed in Clyde’s darkroom on fiber-based paper, selenium toned, then mounted and matted to current archival standards. The photograph is a limited edition and signed by Clyde. Camera settings f/45 | 72mm Schneider Super-Angulon XL lens | 2 minutes Disclaimer – Cropping, contrast, and image density may vary. To learn more about the darkroom printing process, click here.