
Under a full moon, a green sea turtle heads back to the ocean after nesting. This photo, converted to black and white, was taken without any artificial light. Photo by Chris Kridler, ChrisKridler.com
I recently accompanied friends as they roamed the east central Florida beaches one evening looking for nesting sea turtles. Our target was the Floridana Beach area, north of Sebastian, a popular area for turtles. We saw perhaps ten that night, under the full moon – at least when it stopped raining. The shoot was incredibly challenging, as watchers are forbidden to use white light to see these protected creatures. A red light is OK, and one of my friends had one, but it was rarely used. So focusing was almost impossible. (Next time, I’ll bring a red light to assist with focus.)
Nonetheless, there was something magical and primal about these beautiful creatures emerging from the ocean to do what they’ve done for thousands of years, and I did my best to capture the experience. See more photos here.

A shelf cloud over the Indian River Lagoon and Cocoa, Florida, on July 6, 2015. Photo by Chris Kridler, ChrisKridler.com
Now that my Tornado Alley season is over, I long to photograph more Florida storms. I chased one on July 6 that produced a spectacular shelf cloud – a type of arcus cloud – with beautifully lit layers. See the photos here.
And send some lightning my way, won’t you?