Early on a Saturday in early March, amateur wildlife photographer Jo Gryniewicz was first-in to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary east of Naples. Experienced shooters know that the more people around, the fewer animals stick their heads out.

Gryniewicz walks through the entrance into the slice-of-really-old-Florida sanctuary, not to take photos of the 800-year-old ancient bald cypress, nor the super-rare, super ghost orchid, nor any other plants that have made the Southwest Florida sanctuary an international destination.

For more than 25 years, animals have been her thing. Home is Pennsylvania, where she's the owner and photographer of a pet portrait shop, in part, to pay for excursions like this one-week trip to Fort Myers to shoot wildlife photos.

That Saturday morning, just a few feet into the sanctuary, just through the doors separating rural Collier County from the famous 2.3-mile boardwalk that winds about in the ancient swamp forest and stays cool even during the South Florida summer, she notices some painted buntings perched on a bird feeder nibbling away.

The multi-colored bird is arguably the most stunning in North America. If whoever decided what to name flying animals was thinking straight that day, that songbird would be known as the rainbow.

A loud rustling sound behind Gryniewicz pulls her attention that way. Something — something big — is pushing aside saw palmetto fronds as it moves toward her.

She turns to see a Florida panther frozen in place, the look on its face betraying that it isn't expecting to break through the understory into plain view.

"I looked in that direction, just to see that big cat coming through and looking right at me," she said, perhaps 30 feet away. "At the same time that I realized it was there, it realized I was there."

The panther is motionless. Gryniewicz is shooting — one, two, three photos. Muscle memory.

"You're kind of trained as a photographer to pick up your camera and shoot before you actually even know what's going on," she said. "I took a couple of shots before realizing even that I was really, you know, taking a picture of a panther."

A pair of benches almost blocks the shot of the Florida panther's big, bright, blue eyes. That's the feature of the creature that, like the forever smile of a bottlenose dolphin or the black patches around the eyes on the bright-white face of a giant panda, makes the animal universally lovable.

"It stayed there for 15 seconds and then turned back and started running the other way."

Gryniewicz's heart is racing. Thirty feet away, three shots. In her camera are images of a highly endangered animal that some professional photographers never see in the wild during their careers.

Environmental reporting for WGCU is funded in part by VoLo Foundation, a nonprofit with a mission to accelerate change and global impact by supporting science-based climate solutions, enhancing education, and improving health.

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