Venture Out!
Venture Out! is a running short multimedia series dedicated to exploring our backyards and finding adventure. Join Mac Stone Photography as we slog deep into the swamps of South Florida or as we track the illusive and invasive burmese python in the Everglades.
At the height of the dry season, Mac Stone goes out into Big Cypress National Preserve with three friends to look for new landscapes and wildlife. Just off the Florida Trail in Robert's Lake Strand, an 8 mile hike takes them through cypress domes and gothic pond apple groves. On their trip they catch glimpses of over 200 alligators, a black bear, and water moccasins.
Released into the Everglades many years ago, the Burmese python has become a major problem for native wildlife in South Florida. Perfectly adapted to the climate and habitat in Everglades National Park, their numbers have exploded. Biologists are working hard to understand more about these secretive and cryptic reptiles. Follow along as Mac Stone Photography goes into the field with wildlife biologist Trey Kieckhefer to learn more about these Everglades invaders.
Columbia Sportswear contacted Garl Harrold, Adam Chasey, and me to participate in their Beta Project this spring. They were testing out a new product called Insect Blocker on people whom they knew would be in close proximity to mosquitoes, noseeums, yellow-flies, and ticks. Since most our work has us in some of the most remote areas of the Everglades, it seemed like a perfect fit. While I am not able to divulge too much information on the new product, I hope you will enjoy the video I made while photographer Mark Going and R&D specialist Kristen Strott came from Oregon to film and interview us on our own turf.
Venture Out! Megalops atlanticus
Coworker Adam Chasey and I set out to film and photograph atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) for a short documentary series we're working on with National Audubon and Disney. Knowing that we didn't have the time or money to invest in a month-long trial and error process of hiring fishing guides, we went to the one place we knew we could find the megalops. Follow along as we try to capture images and video of these 7ft behemoths off Indian Key in Florida Bay.