My daughter has always been the captain of our canoe. She sits in the stern and controls the trolling motor while I photograph all the critters. But last Christmas she got a GoPro camera, and it came with us to the swamp. Over the course of this four day trip, she collected some great footageContinue reading “Making of an Okefenokee Alligator Close Up Photo”
Tag Archives: williamwisephoto
Okefenokee Alligator Ate My GoPro!
There she lay; just ten feet from the edge of the dock. How could I resist? A big alligator right there within reach of my action camera. I hit record and lay upon my belly, stretching my arm to full length, the camera is only inches from her snout. No doubt this would be someContinue reading “Okefenokee Alligator Ate My GoPro!”
Okefenokee Alligator Pike Pole
Excerpt from the 1926 History of the Okefenokee by Hamp Mizell and AS McQueen: “When the Swamp was first penetrated by the pioneer white settlers of this section, and that was not so very long ago, so many alligators were encountered, and they were so large and vicious, that a boatman hardly ever entered theContinue reading “Okefenokee Alligator Pike Pole”
Okefenokee Friends
March 2020 Okefenokee Journal – Last minute packing, under-inflated trailer tires, construction on the interstate, slow drivers… just all the typical things that take place in this hectic world. We arrived in the Okefenokee later than I had desired. But once upon the waters of the swamp, all that was left behind. No cellular signal,Continue reading “Okefenokee Friends”
Okefenokee Alligators – Tolerant, Not Tame
The Okefenokee Swamp presents the adventurer an impressive number of alligator encounters. Large gators often line the edges of Okefenokee’s lakes, like Billy’s Lake, Minnie’s Lake and Big Water. These gators rarely pose a threat to humans, and more often than not they dive into the water before you even approach too closely. But atContinue reading “Okefenokee Alligators – Tolerant, Not Tame”
Okefenokee Cottonmouth Video
On the final day of our 2019 Okefenokee Swamp canoe trek, my daughter and I came across a nice sized Cottonmouth snake. It was just off the side of the boardwalk of the Trembling Earth trail in Stephen C Foster State Park. I was amazed how well hidden it was, camouflaged in his brown andContinue reading “Okefenokee Cottonmouth Video”
Okefenokee Blackwater River
The Suwannee; a mysterious blackwater river. Textured cypress tower high above, doubled in their height by their reflection in the obsidian-glass water. Their knees bumping and hindering the passage of the canoe. Pale green lichens and mosses creep out of the waters, ascending the base of every tree. Like swaying specters, the Spanish moss hauntsContinue reading “Okefenokee Blackwater River”
Okefenokee Gators Galore!
Why come to the Okefenokee Swamp? Gators galore! Other than a zoo, I haven’t been to another spot where there are so many alligators and so many opportunities for close up photography in the wild. Alligators of all sizes lie everywhere about this majestic swamp! Often, I return home with hundreds of usable alligator photosContinue reading “Okefenokee Gators Galore!”
Okefenokee Birding and Binoculars
Birds and reptiles! Large wading birds and huge reptiles of the order Crocodilia! That is what the Okefenokee is all about. It’s a wildlife photographer’s dream! But in 2019 there was something new for me: small passerines! New for me on this year’s paddling excursion was my new pair of Zeiss Conquest HD binoculars thatContinue reading “Okefenokee Birding and Binoculars”
Okefenokee Alligator Splash!
A short video from our 2019 Okefenokee Swamp trek. Here, a fairly big gator on Billy’s Lake near the Stephen C Foster campground gives us a big splash as I try for some close up portraits. The powerful swish of the tail can be seen in the slow-motion footage at the end of the video.
