FOCUS ON SWFL

Mila Bridge

Polish-born Marco Island resident Mila Bridger has a body of work that includes fine art and fantastical portrait photography shot around the world as well commercial work for numerous magazines. When not on assignment closer to home, she takes her camera along wherever she goes, but especially enjoys photographing nature and wildlife in her own backyard (the burrowing owl) and while trail riding with her husband in the Fakahatchee Strand (top), Big Cypress National Preserve and other vast expanses in the Everglades. They often pass the Ochopee Post Office (above) on the way to a trail. “It’s amazing how much nature you can see that is raw and untouched,” she says, adding her adventures often require a permit and a vehicle inspection.

03/08/2023 01:00 AM

www.milabridger.com

Mila Bridger has recently taken up trail riding in the Everglades with her husband, Ryan Darling, a fifth-generation Floridian. “These trails aren’t on Google maps,” she says. They use Gaia off-road maps to lead them to places like the Dinner Island Ranch Wildlife Management Area, shown here. Managed by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, the ranch is 29 miles east of Clewiston in Hendry County.