Striving to make my retirement enjoyable and fruitful, I invest time surrounded by Florida’s natural beauty with a camera in hand. One recent steamy morning, I had a favorite place nearby to myself, enjoying some of the wonderful birds that nest there.  Summer Tanagers were singing overhead, joined by the warbling song of a Blue Grosbeak and many others, when a Red-Headed Woodpecker alighted on the dead pine snag I’d

I love to kayak the spring-fed rivers of Florida. This is the Rainbow River in Dunnellon, fed by more than 700 spring boils. I took the photo in the fall. The tree is a red cypress. Normally, cypress trees are what cause the tea-colored water in the spring-fed rivers. There is something amazing about the springs. I truly find peace in them. They give me a reason to continue on

FORUM Magazine: Fall 2020 – Alone Together: Stories of Florida in a time of Crisis. Vol. XXXVIII, No. 3.

FORUM Magazine: Fall 2020 – Alone Together: Stories of Florida in a time of Crisis. Vol. XXXVIII, No. 3.

The complete history of this pandemic is yet to be written. Still, each of us has a story to tell about how we are navigating this terrain. We asked our fellow Floridians to share their stories, to chronicle in words and photos, details of their daily lives.

Tina Russell is a freelance photographer. In March of 2020, she began this photo essay to capture the experiences of Floridians in the Tampa Bay area living under quarantine and undertaking social distancing measures. We are proud to present the full collection of Tina’s work.

This photo was taken on one of my trips to St. Augustine while visiting a friend in Palatka. We happened upon all these birds, including this wood stork surrounded by roseate spoonbills, gathering by the bridge outside of St. Augustine heading toward A1A. I was so excited to see them – I’m always searching for birds to photograph. Photography has been my passion ever since growing up in Gainesville. I

In the early morning mist I woke just after 4 one morning and texted a friend to ask if he’d like to join me in Bushnell and motor over to Lake Apopka to get some early morning photos of wetland wildlife. After he said “no way,“ we met at McDonald’s and headed out. As we were leaving the parking lot, we learned the park was closed, so we hatched Plan