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Journal of Light: The Visual Diary of a Florida Nature Photographer

Journal of Light: The Visual Diary of a Florida Nature Photographer
By JOHN MORAN

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In wonder and gratitude, prize-winning photographer John Moran travels the Sunshine State with his cameras, seeking his vision of natural Florida as it must have appeared to Ponce de Leon and other early strangers in paradise. This remarkable collection of images and essays celebrates the magic of a landscape born of water, he writes, and "blessed with beauty beyond measure."
The book caps Moran's 20-year odyssey to discover the soul of one of the most photographed states in the country. Still, he says, for a photographer who works on the road, he doesn't get around very much. The outer limits of his travels ordinarily are defined by places close to home, with names like Live Oak, Cedar Key, and Micanopy. Working mostly in north and central Florida, Moran says his pictures consecrate a region "steeped in blackwater swamps and rivers, populated by egrets and alligators."
Keenly aware that much of the state's wilderness has all but vanished, his pictures sometimes only suggest the illusion of unspoiled nature. "I can't tell you how often I've had to recompose my pictures to eliminate a beer can or a bed mattress or worse in the woods," he writes. At times, he's made his best pictures literally within sight of his car, "aware of my own impact on the land, mindful of the myth of untainted nature that I promote with my camera." He's also worked in unconventional situations, lying inside a homemade PVC pipe-and-burlap blind to photograph dancing sandhill cranes and perching inside a bucket truck 50 feet aboveground to photograph nesting ospreys.
The companion essays reflect Moran's philosophy about both nature and photography, and they weave together personal narrative, natural history, and photo-technical instruction. They include commentary about the actual moment he snapped each picture, factual information about the place, and sometimes a historical perspective on the setting by such well-known writers and naturalists as William Bartram and Archie Carr. Moran emphasizes "making" pictures as opposed to casually taking them, and writes that his job can't be done without a plan and a specific set of tools and materials. But, he says, his job "isn’t always about the picture, it's about the experience of just being there, chasing the light; alive and awake and aware." And he recalls some of the best advice he ever received: before you focus your camera, first focus yourself.

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Customer Reviews

The Best of Florida5
This is the most beautiful visual book regarding Florida I've seen on the
market. The photography, by Jon Moran, is world class. Florida is my home
and when I want to send information and want to give a glimpse of this
lovely state that I live in, to friends around the world, this is the book
that I send to them. Everyone has appreciated the historical notes, the
factual information about the places where the pictures were taken, and
the visual memories of the authentic natural Florida, unfortunately
now not always seen by visitors.

The shots I try to get5
I, too, am a Florida nature photographer: but my case is far different, as I'm a student with a limited budget and have only been shooting for two years. This book is especially close to my heart and experience, because, like Mr. Moran, I delight in travelling North and Central Florida in search of that perfect shot--it was great to turn the pages of a beautiful, glossy *professional* book and see all my old haunts, compare my experiences with Mr. Moran's (his passion for the state and the art is so evident), and, when I go back home to Colorado in a month, have someone else's take on Florida's beauty with me. I'll never tire of looking at this book.

See Florida at its Natural Best5
"For 20 years Moran has traveled the Sunshine State with his cameras, capturing natural Florida as it must have appeared to Ponce de Leon and other early strangers in paradise. Narrating a slide show of his remarkable collection of landscape photography, Moran reflects on his quest to capture the soul of one of the most photographed states in the country." (review from the Florida Humanities Council)
Before moving to Florida, I only had a vague idea of its natural landscape gleaned from television documentaries on the Everglades. This book brings the wide range of Florida natural beauty into our living room. Enjoy!