Saul Reyes

Saul Reyes is a wildlife and nature photographer who lives in Ocala, Florida and travels and explores Central Florida with his camera. He was born in New York City to parents who were Cuban immigrants to the United States. He spent seven years of his childhood living in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and carries cherished memories of playing outside in the woods with his brothers.

Reyes has lived in Florida since 1996, and he finds joy in discovering and rediscovering Florida’s beauty and capturing that beauty in photographs. Within just a few minutes to less than a half day’s travel, one can explore the natural beauty of beaches, coastal dunes, mangroves, swamps, springs, wetlands, pine forests, scrubs, hardwood hammocks, rivers, lakes, and marshes.

Photographing wildlife since 2013, his work represents the natural beauty of Florida and the diverse wildlife that calls it home. He enjoys photographing birds of all types, although owls, hawks, woodpeckers, herons and egrets captivate his interest most often. He has also photographed black bears, alligators, and bobcats in the wild. He is inspired by the storytelling photography of Clyde Butcher, Carlton Ward, Mac Stone and other environmental photographers.

Reyes will often use medium to long telephotos to isolate wildlife and show some close-up details of feathers, eyes, and other animal features. He typically shoots with a full frame Nikon camera to capture better lowlight details and allow high quality enlargements of his photographic prints.

He often features the classic and elegant look of black and white photography in his wildlife prints. Though shooting exclusively in digital now (Fuji and Nikon), his interest in black and white photography developed while shooting 35mm film cameras, including a Nikkormat FT2 and Nikon FM, and medium format film cameras, including the Yashica D twin lens reflex camera and the Mamiya RB67.

He is an artist member and board member of the Marion Cultural Alliance (MCA) in Ocala, Florida. He is a frequent exhibitor in juried and open art shows at MCA’s Brick City Center for the Arts, including Pleasures, Best of the Best, and Pleasures 2. His photographs were also selected for the exhibition, Oclawaha: Wild and Endangered River. He was selected for the juried art exhibition Community sponsored by Fine Arts For Ocala (FAFO). He has also exhibited in the juried show, Seasons of Change, at the newly opened NOMA Gallery in Ocala, Florida.

I was walking around Ybor City in Tampa when we entered this building. We were upstairs admiring the patterns of the floor. Another person walking through the building came upon the piano, and with the building being empty, sat and played a song for a few minutes. She really didn't notice me, she was just in her own world playing the piano for  few minutes. I raised my camera and her white hat and white walls contrasted with the floor and piano. I immediately knew I wanted to print it in black and white. I only wished the ebony and ivory keys of the piano were visible in the photo too. I later photographed the keyboard, also in b&w, but I liked the emotions and introspection of an anonymous lady playing the piano in an empty building.

FL

USA

The "found" object is the subject of my photograph, an abandoned and rusting car in Ocala National Forest, a car that has been purportedly in the woods for over a year.