Calendar/Events
Feb. 2008 Journal Entry #1
It was great morning to capture a collection of close up of birds...
Blog
Apr. 2008 Journal Entry #3
On April 2, I traveled to the east coast to document heavy construction equipment to show the moving of gravel with the SFWMD...
May 2008 Journal Entry #4
On May 20th Sammy Tedder and traveled to the Big Cypress National Preserve to document and collect more HD video footage...
June 2008 Journal Entry #5
On June 18, Nic Stoltzfus and Elam Stoltzfus traveled to the Big Cypress National Preserve to document and collect more HD video footage...
Aug. 2008 Journal Entry #6
Target event was thunderstorms, lightning and rain. Aerial and airboat out in the prairie areas. It was hot, humid and plenty of mosquitos….
Sept. 2008 Journal Entry #7
One of the few opportunities to experience some solitude and time to focus on small details...
This trip was made by Elam and Sammy Tedder and most likely will be final journey of filming into the swamp for the Western Everglades production. We were able to video the introduction and conclusion with Clyde Butcher. The location was one of my favorite places, behind the swamp shed in the pond behind the Big Cypress Gallery slough. Another special event was the effort that Joe Browder made to travel from Washington DC back down into the Big Cypress Swamp. It was great visual event to have him walk through the swamp, wade in a gator hole, and provide support to the project. Rick Cruz, Clyde & Niki Butcher, Bob DeGross and Maggie & John came along to assist in the video documentation.
Clyde Butcher on location presenting the introduction.
The rare tree snail located along Loop Road.
On the way back from Loop Road I stopped to capture a few more of these unique close ups. Including a snake and cat bird.
Earlier I had traveled up Turner Road and noticed that large flocks of birds were coming across the prairie to roost in a strand of cypress trees just east of the road. This was great for Sammy to be able to record the sounds of the birds flying overhead and in the rookery. It was an awesome sight and sound.
On Saturday we all met at Gator Hook Trail along Loop Road. The event was to video the segment of Joe Browder walking the prairie area and along a miniature cypress strand. Also filmed a short segment with Clyde. Later we walked over to an old gator hole and recorded a short interview segment with Clyde and Joe talking about Big Cypress. Here is a collection of images from Rick Cruz, Niki Butcher and still frames from the video. After we completed this scene, it was feeling of a sorrowful emotional moment for me. The feeling of leaving part of life in the swamp. However, I have brought back images and the experiences with me. These images will live in the story and documentary. I must say, in the past 16 months of filming, I have seen many new plants, birds that I had never documented, traveled over most of the region by ground, hiking, boat, airboat, swamp buggy, and aerial. Now we are hunkering down in the studios and begin to put together the pieces of large puzzle to tell this incredible story. I feel so blessed to be the storyteller and share this journey with many new people across this planet., Most of all, I really enjoyed making many new friends, meeting interesting people, listen to their stories, and supporters for
the project.
The location was one of my favorite places....
