Category Archives: Nature Photography

To kick off our series of profiles of regular Good Morning, Richmond (GMR) contributors, we spoke to Johnny Choi, who is best known for his fiery sunset photos.

Choi started off as an avid reader of The Richmond News’ paper edition. His tenure as a regular contributor began after he found out about the News’ website and saw GMR.

“I saw other people sending in the photos, I thought I would give it a go,” he said.

Choi, who’s approaching 70 years old, has lived in Richmond for more than a decade.

For a long time, Choi worked as a tour guide in Canada for trips to Banff and even the U.S. When the travel industry took a downturn, Choi switched careers to work in food production factories, where he stayed until his retirement almost a decade ago.

Nowadays, Choi can often be spotted around Richmond in some of his favourite photo spots such as the West Dyke Trail, where he often takes photos of birds, animals, and Garry Point Park for the beautiful sunsets.

“I never thought there would be so much nature in Richmond (before I moved here from East Vancouver),” he said.

Choi’s love for photography began almost 50 years ago with film photography, but he decided to switch to digital cameras around the same time he moved to the city.

“Before I started using digital cameras, I never took photos of birds,” said Choi, explaining that the focus ability and faster shutter speeds for digital cameras make it much easier to capture the movement of birds.

Choi described his photography as capturing whatever he sees, whenever he sees them. The best thing about photography, he explained, is that it’s good for his health.

“Because you have no choice but to go outside (to take photos),” said Choi. “And when you take photos you have to think, and then think some more when you go home and process the photos on the computer.”

Choi told the News that he enjoys taking photos of Richmond’s many creatures as much as the scenery. But more often than not, Choi is out and about around the city capturing a beautiful sunset.

“(Sunset photos) can look very different and they’re not monotonous, especially between Spring and Fall,” he explained.

“If there are drastic changes in the weather, the clouds become exceptionally pretty as well.”

But there is one Richmond scene that eludes Choi, more than a decade after he started taking photos in the city ⁠— the sunrise.

“Sunrises vary a lot and there are many animals who are active early in the morning,” he said, adding there are many “beautiful sceneries” to be captured before sunrise.

“But I just can’t seem to be able to wake up early,” he said.

In his long and distinguished career, nature photographer Paul Nicklen has captured images that have been hugely significant in keeping awareness of conservation at the front of people’s minds. 

Photography has become far more democratized since Nicklen first picked up his camera, with the technical advances of digital cameras and the internet and social media making it easier than ever for photographers to connect with their viewers.

And it’s this connectivity that Nicklen has turned to for his Masters of Photography online course, which has just launched – spread over 50 lessons, budding or established nature photographers alike can learn from one of the top professionals working in the conservation space.

We caught up with Nicklen to discover more about the course, why he decided to participate in it, and what his prospective students will learn…

“After doing around 500 public lectures across the world and meeting thousands of photographers, and realising that our planet is dying and that we’ve lost 70 per cent of the biodiversity on earth, I have truly realised the power of visual storytelling,” says Nicklen.

“Now that I’ve gotten off the treadmill a little bit, now that I’m not shooting so much for National Geographic because we’re doing SeaLegacy, the non-profit, we need to galvanize certain warriors with their cameras – we need people out there shooting powerful impactful, meaningful photographs for telling important stories, and with the Masters of Photography course, I get to do a tell-all to thousands of people and I hope it inspires them.”

Telling stories is the key to helping achieve ‘conservation wins’, as Nicklen describes them. Citing a very recent example, he mentions sending an email from SeaLegacy which galvanised 6,000 people to write to Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister; the following day, 104 species of shark were given protected status – many organisations were involved alongside SeaLegacy, but as Nicklen adds, “you need powerful visuals to start those conversations.”

And those powerful visuals need to tell stories – a picture on its own isn’t enough, as Nicklen explains: “I learned how to shoot decent pictures at a young age – I followed the work of my heroes, who were Tom Mangelsen, Art Wolfe and others, but I just didn’t know how to tell a story. I didn’t know how to make a storytelling image or put together a series of images that told a story.

“Back in 1997, Flip Nicklen offered to mentor me and I moved down to his house in the US. He taught me and I tried to break through a brick wall of what it means to tell a story with a camera.

“It sounds so simple but it is so difficult and especially to get to the hallowed pages of National Geographic magazine, which was every young photographer’s dream, I didn’t realise how far away I was from that.

“I was pushing the limits of what the human body could endure, diving into sea ice in hypothermic conditions, but I was not telling a story. I was actually feeling a little deflated about just shooting pretty pictures in magazines and it was through that two-year mentorship with Flip and then later on a mentorship with Joel Sartore, who was another one of my iconic heroes at National Geographic, that I really fell into that family of great storytellers and got to learn from them.

“Then in 2001 I got my chance when Ken Oberstein, the director of photography at National Geographic, gave me a chance on an Atlantic salmon story, about fish farming and wild Atlantic salmon around the world, which was my first big assignment.

“And it was so difficult. They gave me a big budget – I could go anywhere I wanted to in the world, and it was a two-year journey of trying different phases, different chapters, of that expedition and coming back and failing and getting feedback from my peers like Joel Sartore and Burt Box; Burt was my editor at that time. And everybody kept telling me how disappointed they were with my work and that I wasn’t really capturing it, and adding to the pressure I had on myself, I was driving myself crazy.

“For two years I did nothing but eat and sleep. I had 600 contacts in 10 countries around the world for this assignment and all the scientists and other photographers and fishermen, and the story was supposed to be 16 pages in National Geographic and it ended up being 24 pages and I won first place at World Press Photo.

“It was the first time when I was like, ‘OK I can do this’; I’m building the confidence that I can pull this off. It made sense that when you string together a series of photographs and you work with a great writer and you have powerful captions, all of a sudden that story can effectively reach tens of millions of people and it can really wake people up.”

And humankind does need to wake up, says Nicklen. The planet is not in a good state right now.

Above: trailer for Paul Nicklen’s new video course

“I’m a biologist and have worked as a scientist but I am not a world expert,” he says. “But when scientists tell me that we’ve already lost 70 per cent of our biodiversity in ice, that the polar regions, the Arctic in particular, is going to be ice-free in the summer months in the next few years… when you see BBC video shots of 100,000 walrus stacked up on land falling off cliffs when it should be out on the sea ice… 

“When you see that the majority of major fish populations have collapsed or are collapsing, when you see that we are taking hundreds of millions of sharks out of the oceans every year, you see ocean acidification, coral reefs dying, as we are out there on the front lines, you feel so deflated sometimes, and you feel that the more down and out you get, the more depressed you get about the state of our planet – and the only antidote to that is to take action.

“If you stay inactive and this stress builds up, that’s where I think we have climate anxiety and climate depression… We have the whole younger generation terrified about the future of our planet but they’re paralysed. In this course I’m also trying to teach that the antidote to that paralysis and that fear and that depression is action – as soon as you pick up your camera and you get active, and you start to be a part of a win, then nothing feels better than that.

“I’ve taken bad photographs, I’ve taken good photographs, I’ve taken powerful photographs, I’ve taken photographs that have won awards – but all of that pales in comparison to having a major conservation win, because you use your visual storytelling. You galvanised a movement, you worked with a great team of storytellers and that just is where I’m trying to steer the photographic population.”

And a great way of helping to effect this change would be to sign up for Nicklen’s Masters of Photography course. The first 15 episodes are available to early-bird buyers now, with more to follow in early 2023. Click here for a flavor of the course. 

As Nicklen says this the “first and only time” that he will be sharing tips, tricks and insights from his 20-year career, it’s no surprise that he threw himself into the making of his Masters of Photography course.

He says one of his main motivations for doing it was to free people from any nagging doubts they might have regarding their abilities to become successful visual storytellers – especially as this is something that Nicklen had to overcome.

“When I was a young age, I had all the little voices telling me that I was going to fail,” Nicklen recalls. “My dad said, ‘You’re never going to make it – sell your gear and stay with your government job. What are you thinking?’ And all my peers said, ‘Don’t do it, you’re not a photographer.’ 

“And then as I’m going up through the ranks slowly, to have everybody saying you’re not good enough – I even had mentors saying that I was going to fall flat on my face, that I wasn’t going to make it to National Geographic, that I should just give up on the dream… These little voices wear you down emotionally.

“So I thought that if I can just set a lot of these photographers free, to allow them to believe in themselves… This course is supposed to inspire people – I want them to realise that stories are all around them, they’re in their backyard. 

“They don’t all have to head to Africa to take the same picture of the same lion, and then ask, ‘Now what?’ That would be setting themselves up for failure, so I really bring them through believing in themselves.”

Although Nicklen does reference cameras and equipment in the course, participants shouldn’t expect a lot of technique tips – instead, he would rather focus on the photographer’s mindset rather than recommending a suitable tripod height.

“On this course, I really get into left brain/ right brain,” he says. “Everybody has a left mathematical/ analytical brain and I’m trying to teach people to get stuff like ‘Which f-stop and what ISO?’ out of the way as quickly as they can – learn your gear, go sit in the bathroom, turn the lights off and do it that way.

“Instead, get into your right brain and get lost, get creative, just go on a journey. When I’ve done shooting an amazing scene, I am so numb, I am so weak and I almost don’t know where I am. Artistically I’m lost and that’s when I know I’m in the zone and from that I don’t even remember what I’ve shot until I go through the editing process.

“So we do a lot of that kind of thing, I really teach people a lot to set themselves free – again, get left brain/ right brain, don’t get too hunkered down on the technical side.”

In the course description, Nicklen’s ‘20-60-20 rule’ is cited as one of his cornerstone techniques. He explains that is something he developed for himself from the beginning of his first assignment for National Geographic, and recommends that other photographers should try it.

For the first 20% of his time at his chosen location, Nicklen will familiarise himself with his subject, allowing it to see him and smell him and get used to the camera, but without putting any pressure on himself or the animal. Once the familiarity has been established, Nicklen switches into the 60% period, which accounts for most of his shooting time; this is where he calls on his tool set of artistic styles.

Finally, when he feels he has captured enough photos, he moves into a 20% stage, where he tries out techniques he knows might not always work – things like 30-second handheld exposures and “wild split-images”, as he calls them – but where something might just be successful. This experimentation is worth it, he says, because it enables him to learn something and grow as an artist.

And it was from one of these 20% stages that Nicklen landed a National Geographic magazine front cover, for his photo of a spirit bear.

“The assignment was over and heading into an inlet, we hadn’t seen spirit bears for a long time,” he explains. “My assistant, Jed, saw this spirit bear walking out of the forest and the light was so low I was just watching it and not even shooting it.

“I looked over at my captain, who was a doctor, and he’d just bought the latest camera which was good in low light, so I grabbed it out of his hand and grabbed a few shots and all of a sudden it’s in my body of work. Psychologically, it wasn’t something that I had really worked for, and I had so many images that I liked more, but in the editing process it ended up staying in and sticking around.

“It’s the one picture of a spirit bear that I sell as a fine artist, the one picture that is on the cover of National Geographic and it’s the one that people gravitate to.”

The media landscape has evolved a lot since Nicklen started his journey as a nature photographer, and the adoption of digital technology means there has never been such a wide variety of outlets for visual storytellers to tell their stories. But does Nicklen think that the next generation of nature photographers will be as passionate as the previous one?

“I think the fire is there, they just don’t know how to direct it,” he replies. “Also, you get the fire burning in them, the desire to make a difference, then they’ve got the little voices telling them that they’re doing it all wrong.

“Again, I think that this course really helps to separate all that noise, all the mistakes that I made, and it will really help people coming through to focus and to think about what to do and where to go.

“Nowadays you need to be a Swiss army knife: you need to be able to write, you need to be able to blog, you need to be able to shoot, to edit video, to edit stills, to do an interview… you don’t need to be the best at all that stuff, but once you’re a Swiss army knife of stills, then any scientific or non-profit organisation out there is going to want to have you on their team.

“The world has changed – for me there was a funnel to get to National Geographic, just to shoot pictures and shoot stories, but all these mediums have changed now, just in the last 10 years, and it’s more exciting than ever.

“If you’re willing to put in the time to become a Swiss army knife then you no longer have to be the next big name in photography; you could just be a 22-year old who’s figured out all these high-tech gadgets and platforms and from there you’ll be value-added to a great [conservation] programme.

“I think it’s a great time to enter the conservation space, to get in the game. People are all very much value-added right now, and I want to teach people that they are needed and that they can become value-added.”

We started our conversation discussing the power of photographs, and what visual storytelling can achieve. Anyone who takes Nicklen’s Masters of Photography course will be fully aware of that power, and with participants being able to draw inspiration from Nicklen’s expert insights, practical know-how and creative guidance, more conservation wins are sure to come in the future.

“We need people to realise that taking pictures isn’t just fun and joyful and it’s not going to Africa and sitting in vehicles – it is being out there striving for the most powerful, most evocative image that you can shoot that will ultimately drive change.”

Sign up to Paul Nicklen’s course today

For early bird access to Paul Nicklen’s Masters of Photography course, go to the Masters of Photography website. 

Three pricing tiers are available:

Masterclass: $199 – the initial 15 episodes and following 35 episodes, plus unlimited access and access to a private Facebook group

Gold Access Masterclass: $249 – as per previous tier, plus bonus and behind-the-scenes episodes, plus a recording of the live ‘Ask Me Anything’ with Paul

Platinum Access Masterclass: $499 – as per previous tier, plus entry to a draw to win a Sony A7R V plus two lenses, entry to a draw for a portfolio review with Paul, plus live access to ‘Ask Me Anything’ with Paul

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Chris Rainier’s latest photo book was 40 years in the making. After being forced to slow down during the pandemic, the documentary photographer combed through boxes in his New Mexico home in search of unrealized projects. “I knew there was this body of work sitting in my basement,” Rainier says. The result of this archival work—as well as more recent photos Rainier took in Iceland and Saudi Arabia to “top off the tank”—is Sacred: In Search of Meaning ($85). Featuring a variety of perspectives on what makes a place sacred, Rainier’s images of breathtaking landscapes are bookended by essays from contributors like American writer Terry Tempest Williams, Tlingit storyteller Gene Tagaban, and British essayist Pico Iyer. “What I wanted to do was bring together a group of highly respected authors and spiritual leaders, and give people the opportunity to think about how we can make our lives more meaningful,” Rainier says. While he is not a follower of any particular religion, Rainier says his travels are motivated by a spiritual yearning. “Who are we, why are we here, and what is this all about? The book doesn’t attempt to answer these questions, but rather just reflect on what they mean to oneself personally.”

Tags: Natureone word captionsquotes

In a previous article, I shared my favorite way of dealing with an overcast sky in photography. Today, we will focus on the opposite: clear skies. Those can also be a challenge for landscape photographers. But there are ways to take great photos under such conditions, and in this article, we’ll explore several of them.

For many years of my photography career, I avoided taking photos on cloudless days. Because of that, I missed out on countless photo opportunities. I recently shared some statistics about my photographic year. Those show that great conditions are not the norm. Especially while traveling through Greece this past summer, I had to be content with clear skies. Had I tried to avoid those, I wouldn’t have taken many photos.

The following tips helped me to make this a successful photo trip. To provide some variance, I share a mix of photos taken in Greece and during other travels, as examples below.

Use Reflected Light

Particularly in the morning and evening, a cloudless sky casts beautiful colors on the land. At those times, it acts like a gigantic reflector. During blue hour, your subjects will get a blueish color cast, and closer to sunrise and sunset, a mix of warm colors will dominate. Those colors can help you create different moods or emphasize certain colors in the landscape.

Take the following photo of the crater wall of Mount Ijen in Indonesia. The warm sky, which isn’t part of the image, intensified the colors of the orange and yellow rocks. The soft light allowed me to capture the structures of the broken landscape without distracting shadows.

For the photo of the Kuhflucht cascade in Germany, I got up very early to capture it during blue hour. Not only allowed this for exposure times of around 30 seconds, but the blueish tones also give the image a moody atmosphere. It shows that it’s possible to take good photos of waterfalls on clear days. Just try to use the soft light of the late or early hours to avoid glare on the cascade.

Use Directional Light

Direct light isn’t always bad. For some subjects, it’s what you need to create interest. Below is an example from Ta Prohm in Cambodia. This ancient hallway doesn’t look that spectacular during most times of the day. But in the early morning, with the directional sidelight shining through the columns, the scene comes to life.

For such an image, hard shadows and contrasts create depth and help to draw the viewer into the frame. What this shot still has in common with the previous examples is the absence of sky and light source.

Capture Sun Stars

In the following example, the light source enters the frame. If you find a photogenic woodland, you can use a cloudless sky. Find a composition that allows you to include the sun. Stopping down the lens, you can create beautiful sun stars. It works best if you position your camera for the sun to peek out behind some trees, branches, or leaves. Moving around just a few inches can make a huge difference.

Aside from the sun, the clear sky provides a clean canvas against which the shapes of the trees stand out.

To get the most out of such a photo shoot, use times of the day when the sun is still low in the sky. The light will be softer, and the contrasts not be that harsh yet. Around noon it will become much harder to take a pleasing image. It will be difficult to include the sun in the frame, and the shadows will be more chaotic and less directional.

Zoom In

A common theme in the previous tips is the exclusion of the sky from the photo. Even in the last example that features the sun, the sky is largely hidden.

A great way to exclude the sky is by using a long lens. Try to find high vantage points which allow you to point your camera slightly downward, as I did in the example photo. By shooting early in the morning, you can also use the shadows created by the directional light. It gives such images more structure.

Look for Details

Even if you don’t bring the long lens, there are ways to fill the frame with subjects that don’t require the sky. The solution is to look down at what lies at your feet.

As I explored Sarakiniko beach in Greece one morning, I couldn’t compose a scenic photo of this moonlike landscape. The area I tried to photograph featured many rock patterns that would have required a dramatic sky to complement them. A clear sky didn’t work.

So I directed my attention at little details like this pocket of rocks. Using the warm, reflected light, I was able to create a minimalistic photo that puts the focus on the nature of the rocks at Sarakiniko.

Create a Clean Image

A day later, I still managed to capture a photo of Sarakiniko including the sky. The key to success is to find a scene without too many patterns. A clear sky is not a good backdrop for a chaotic landscape. But if you can compose a clean image with soft forms and shapes, a cloudless sky provides a natural balance.

It works best if you find subjects that reflect some of its colors, which helps to tie everything together. Lakes, rivers, and wet surfaces work well for that. But even rocks will reflect the colors of the sky to some extent.

Photograph Light Rays

Light rays are an elusive subject. Finding the right combination of light and mist is difficult, but the best chance to capture such conditions is on clear mornings. A cloudless sky during the night lets the heat from the earth’s surface escape into the atmosphere. It leads to cooler temperatures near the ground. Once those reach the dew point, fog can form.

Finding the right photo spot will still require preparation and scouting. A forest close to a lake or a large meadow will provide you with a good chance to capture light rays. Position yourself with your subject in the direction of the rising sun. You might also want to bring the long lens because zooming in on lines of trees surrounded by mist will help you better capture this phenomenon.

Shoot the Night Sky

If none of the above tips work for you, there’s one final thing you can do: Make use of the night sky. A cloudless night will be perfect for taking photos of the milky way or some other constellations. I dedicated a complete article to how to take stunning night photos. You might not get that much sleep if you are after images like the one below. But photographing the stars can be a great experience as, most of the time, you’ll have even the more popular photo locations for yourself.

Conclusion

As I showed above, there’s no shortage of photos you can take on cloudless days and nights. You just have to be open and not fixate too much on the notion that great landscape photos require dramatic clouds. To become a successful landscape photographer, you must learn to take good images in any condition. It will help you create a much more diverse portfolio that appeals to a larger audience.

Reuters Videos

UK’s Sunak asks homeless man if works in business

STORY: Sunak, a former Goldman Sachs banker and one of Britain’s wealthiest people, was serving breakfast at a homeless shelter in London on Friday (December 23), when he began chatting with a man who identified himself as Dean.”Do you work in business?” the prime minister asks the man at one point during the conversation, as he hands him a plate of sausages, toast and eggs.”No, I’m homeless. I’m actually a homeless person,” the man replies.Angela Rayner, deputy leader of the opposition Labour Party, posted a clip of the exchange on Twitter, calling it “excruciating,” while another Labour lawmaker, Bill Esterson, called Sunak “out of touch”.His ascent to the British premiership in October made Sunak the richest occupant of Number 10 Downing Street at a time when the country is struggling with a cost-of-living crisis.

Lehigh Acres is a sizable unincorporated community in Lee County, Florida.

It’s right next to the city of Fort Myers, which makes it a popular residential area for locals who want to be away from the hustle and bustle.

Because it’s primarily residential, there are not a lot of tourist hotspots here that will break the bank; most of its best areas are parks and nature preserves.

Still, if you’re visiting Lehigh Acres, you’d be surprised at the little secrets this community has, which are also free.

It’s also an excellent place for accommodation if you want to save up while enjoying quick access to the more touristy cities in Southwest Florida.

Here are free things to do in Lehigh Acres, Florida:

See Southwest Florida Wildlife at Harns Marsh

Harns Marsh is one of the best tourist destinations near Lehigh Acres, boasting around 140 species of wildlife.

Located in Fort Myers, Florida, Harns Marsh was a former farmland that became home to all sorts of wildlife after being converted into a stormwater facility in the 1980s.

Some wildlife you can spot here includes the world-famous Florida alligators and herons, swamphens, sandhill cranes, egrets, and limpkins.

You can get some fishing done in Harns Marsh as well.

Just avoid the alligators!

Harns Marsh is not a park, so there won’t be any amenities or facilities here.

The lack of conveniences could be a bonus for wildlife enthusiasts looking for rugged outdoor exploration.

You can find the marsh nine minutes from Lehigh Acres.

Take a Swim at Lehigh Acres Park

Lehigh Acres Park is one of the most recognizable attractions in the community, located along 5th Street in the heart of Lehigh Acres.

Thanks to its sprawling outdoor amenities, there’s a lot to do at Lehigh Acres Park, like tennis, baseball, and football.

However, perhaps the best-known amenity here is their community pool, a great way to cool down amid the Florida heat.

The pool is on the large side, making it an excellent place for adults to get some laps done, even if it’s pretty busy.

Besides the pool, there’s also a playground, which is excellent for younger children.

As the embodiment of the peacefulness of Lehigh Acres, this community park is a great place to relax and get some exercise out of the way.

Trek along Lehigh Acres Trailhead Park

While they both sound similar, Lehigh Acres Trailhead Park should not be confused with Lehigh Acres Park.

Unlike the former, which was designed to be a community park, Lehigh Acres Trailhead Park is meant to immerse you in flora and fauna of the area.

Various plants, flowers, and small animals, like birds and mammals, live along this park’s nature trail.

Throughout your loop, there are several information boards that you can read which comprehensively discuss local flora and fauna.

Besides wildlife watching, you can bring your dog here and do picnics as they have pavilions and a playground.

Lehigh Acres Trailhead Park is along David Avenue, west of Lehigh Acres Park.

Drive along Homestead Road

Homestead Road is one of Lehigh Acres’s main thoroughfares, and the area that connects to Ashlar Avenue is a place you might want to check out.

This portion of Homestead Road is one of the busier urban districts of Lehigh Acres, home to various shops, restaurants, and all sorts of establishments essential to your trip.

Whether you want to find a good meal or explore the community’s urban district, Homestead Road has a lot in store for you.

Some notable places in this area are Bealls Outlet, Vision Ace Hardware, Publix Supermarket, and Lehigh Flea Market.

Local restaurants are also within walking distance, so explore this district in Lehigh Acres.

Play Sports at Veterans Park

A little to the south of Homestead Road corner Ashlar Avenue lies perhaps the most visited attraction in Lehigh Acres: Veterans Park.

Like Lehigh Acres Park, Veterans Park is another community park, this time taking its game to a different level.

There are many unique things to do here, most prominently rock climbing and skateboarding.

It has a rock-climbing wall and a mini skate park.

Veterans Park also has a dog park, which is an excellent addition if you want to unleash your pet for a couple of hours.

Besides, Veterans Park has many sporting amenities, such as tennis and basketball courts, soccer fields, and a splash pad for kids.

The Actual Barefoot Lake is one of the most underrated spots in Lee County and a hidden gem in the southern area of Lehigh Acres.

Found along Meadow Road, The Actual Barefoot Lake is a scenic and tranquil spot where you can enjoy a mini lake that captures Lehigh Acres’s simplicity.

While you can read a book and enjoy some quiet time, the lake is also home to a good number of fish, making it an ideal place to cast your line.

If you’re feeling adventurous, you can swim at the Actual Barefoot Lake or go boating if you have a personal kayak or canoe.

As one of the best places to relax and appreciate a slow day, the Actual Barefoot Lake is a fantastic addition to your itinerary.

See the Able Canal

The Able Canal is perhaps the most prominent body of water in Lehigh Acres, stretching for several mines throughout the community.

In 2022, the Lee County government has begun working on a walking trail to let tourists and locals cross the Able Canal from Lehigh Acres Park to Harns Marsh.

However, you won’t have to wait for this walkway to finish to view this long and beautiful canal.

Many spots in Lehigh Acres give you sweeping views of Able Canal, but you can view it best along the Lee Boulevard corner of Williams Avenue.

While seeing Able Canal is free, you can accentuate the experience by checking out some of the restaurants and cafes in the area.

There’s a lot of varied plant life surrounding the preserve, so it’s an ideal habitat for all sorts of small animals.

While fishing and paddling are encouraged, the Frank Mann Preserve does not allow camping, so better take a day trip.

Go Fishing at Frank Mann Preserve

Located along Joel Boulevard by the northeastern corner of Lehigh Acres, Frank Mann Preserve is a rustic spot to do some fishing or a bit of nature exploration.

The preserve is stunning, especially on a clear day, boasting clear waters that glisten under the intense Florida sunlight.

Likewise, the preserve is open from dawn to dusk.

There are three primary things that Frank Mann Preserve offers: wildlife viewing, paddling, and fishing.

Spend the day outdoors at this preserve!

Spot the Alligators at Charlie R. Mathney Park

Located on Joel Boulevard corner East 6th Street, Charlie R. Mathney Park is an excellent alternative to Harns Marsh.

You can try spotting alligators there without doing a rugged outdoor excursion.

The park features a small pond that connects to the George Canal, another body of water that runs across Lehigh Acres.

Because of this, several migratory birds make their way to Charlie R. Mathney Park, along with alligators.

It’s important to note that your chances of spotting one here are much slimmer than at Harns Marsh.

That might be good news for some visitors who want to picnic and take a breather, as this park is also great for those activities.

Wander Jim Fleming Ecological Park

Jim Fleming Ecological Park is another public park with a nice boardwalk where you can appreciate the small ponds.

Like the other nature spots in Lehigh Acres, Jim Fleming Ecological Park is known for its varied flora that thrives because of Florida’s temperate climate.

The boardwalk is a delight to walk across; it is an excellent spot for nature photography if you find the right angles.

Jim Fleming Ecological Park is one of the more secluded parks in the area.

It draws only a few visitors, so this is an excellent place to spend some alone time.

The park is conveniently located within the urban district of Lehigh Acres, along Lee Boulevard.

Other Free Things to Do Nearby

See the Manatees at Manatee Park

Manatee Park is one of the most-visited attractions in Lee County.

It’s a public park that gives you access to the Orange River, home to herds of manatees.

The park is near a power plant that warms the Orange River, attracting manatees to its waters during cold seasons.

Besides seeing the manatees, you can explore its walking trails with various fun installations.

These installations contain ecological information about manatees, alligators, and other local flora and fauna.

You can find Manatee Park in Fort Myers, Florida, 23 minutes from Lehigh Acres.

View the Caloosahatchee Wildlife National Refuge

Across Manatee Park lies the Caloosahatchee Wildlife National Refuge, an eye-popping natural preserve in North Fort Myers, Florida, 15 minutes from Lehigh Acres.

This wildlife refuge is a small island-like mangrove forest in the middle of the Caloosahatchee River, another great body of water connecting to the Orange River.

While you can’t enter the area as it’s a wildlife sanctuary, you can drive along the long and winding Interstate 75 across the Orange River to see the expanse for free.

It’s a simple activity popular among tourists, as the views of the river and the mangrove island are a sight to behold.

If you plan to get a closer look, you can find public areas along the Caloosahatchee River where you can spot marine wildlife like dolphins and iguanas.

Check out the Caloosahatchee Wildlife National Refuge!

Tour the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve

Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve is a 23-minute car ride from Lehigh Acres to Fort Myers City.

As a free-to-enter public preserve managed by Lee County Parks and Recreation, Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve is one of the most beautiful attractions in Southwest Florida.

It’s well-known for its extensive boardwalk that lets you traverse the area’s wetlands, home to various wildlife such as alligators and birds.

You can find some of the most majestic local trees in this place, most of which you can spot up close thanks to its boardwalk.

Thanks to the wildlife you can encounter up close, this preserve is a must-visit for wildlife photographers.

Buckingham Community Park is only a 17-minute drive from Lehigh Acres to the neighboring community of Fort Myers.

It’s a great park known for its soccer and baseball fields.

This park hosts plenty of baseball games, so if you’re lucky, you can sit back and watch a game.

Besides that, the park is a relaxing way to walk with your dog.

The Buckingham Community Park also has various walking trails, including playground facilities for smaller children.

Cool Down at Edison Mall

Lehigh Acres doesn’t have a large shopping center.

However, Edison Mall at Fort Myers may be a great addition to your travel plans; it’s only 26 minutes from Lehigh Acres.

This is a large mall in Fort Myers that dates back to 1965.

Edison Mall has many classic American retail shops like Macy’s, JCPenney, and Dillards.

The aesthetic and overall vibe of Edison Mall is lively but relaxing at the same time, capturing that Florida summer feeling.

Beyond its sprawling retail stores, they have an excellent food court if you’re looking for a quick but delicious meal.

The fully enclosed indoor Edison Mall is a great way to check out one of the oldest shopping centers in Southwest Florida for free.

Final Thoughts

While Lehigh Acres isn’t necessarily a tourist hotspot, it makes up for it with its various public parks and nature preserves that you can all explore for free.

There’s a lot to do in Lee County.

You can begin your adventure budget-friendly with this list of free things to do in Lehigh Acres, Florida.

We saw some seriously good tripod deals during Black Friday this year, and they were essentially on Amazon Australia. The online retail giant has done it again, closing the year off with a bang by slashing prices of Manfrotto tripods by up to a very generous 57%!

• There are some excellent Canon camera Boxing Day deals

The sight of geese ice skating as they land on Viele Lake relaxes the stress of the holidays, and a walk around the lake relaxes both mind and body. Since the paved wheel-chair accessible path is only seven-tenths of a mile, many walkers stop at the numbered fitness stations for extra exercise after too much Christmas cheer.

Although you can do an outer loop around the park, we prefer the inner loop that crosses an inlet of the lake. To do the loop in a counter clockwise direction, turn right from the parking area next to the South Boulder Recreation Center and cross the bridge over the inlet. At the point where the inner and outer paths join, a side path leads up to Gillaspie Drive and Julliard Street. Continue past the children’s playground and circle the end of the lake where a cattail marsh harbors red-winged blackbirds even in winter.

Watch for two benches on your right and the almost-overgrown nature trail that winds uphill through a grove of ponderosa pines and junipers. This small dirt path provides great views down to the lake and out to the Flatirons and foothills and is worth the detour.

For a longer hike, continue up to Gillaspie Drive and walk east to Greenbriar Boulevard. Turn right on Greenbriar and follow the sidewalk to the Greenbriar Connector Trailhead on the left side of the road just beyond Smuggler Way. As its name suggests, this trail connects to several other trails, some of which go up into the foothills.

To continue circling Viele Lake, return to the main path, which curves east. A small pier juts out over the water in a short distance. Stop for a moment to admire the distant view of Longs Peak with a graceful bridge in the foreground. From here you can either return to the paved walk or skirt the east side of the lake on a small dirt path. When the dirt and paved paths rejoin, another side trail leads up to Fairview High School. On reaching the recreation center, you’ll find a small wetland, tennis courts, volleyball courts, a pickleball court, and a disc golf course.

Benches are placed at strategic intervals around the lake that is probably named for Addie and Albert Viele, who ran a dairy farm at Cherryvale and South Boulder Road from 1884 to 1942. Picnic tables sit under large cottonwoods near the parking lot.

Many years ago a bubbler kept the water unfrozen all winter allowing many duck species, including rare wood ducks as well as a multitude of geese, to flourish. The bubbler was turned off, and the diversity of ducks dwindled to mostly mallards. But there are still geese to give you a giggle when they skate across the lake.

Viele Lake is in Harlow Platts Park next to the South Boulder Recreation Center on the east side of Gillaspie Drive.

Ruth Carol and Glenn Cushman are the authors of Boulder Hiking Trails, published by West Margin Press