Jeffrey Cardenas has traveled worldwide researching and photographing marine environments, focusing on coral reefs and their inhabitants. In 1993, the State of Florida awarded him a fine arts grant to photograph underwater landscapes of the Florida Keys, culminating in "Marquesa: A Time & Place with Fish.”  A collection of essays, "Sea Level," was published in 2002, with an introduction by Jimmy Buffett. National Book Award author and naturalist Peter Matthiessen described the work of Jeffrey Cardenas as "...very fine, lyrical and translucent.” The photography of Jeffrey Cardenas has been exhibited in Cuba’s Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and at the Sala de la Diversidad in La Habana. "Naturalezas Gemelas / Twins of Nature" was exhibited and published in 2016. An exhibition of images from “On the Reef” opens in 2025 at The Studios of Key West.