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Blame it on the Farm Journal. As a 5th grade fund raiser in Upper Michigan, I sold the most subscriptions, winning a plastic Ansco 620 camera for my efforts. Perhaps the frustration of trying to capture a decent black and white image with such a camera at such an early age lead me on this odyssey to capture the "perfect" image using the "best" equipment. I was born and raised in rural Upper Michigan, so nature has always been a large part of my life. My first real job was in Isle Royale National Park, and I quickly realized my new 35mm rangefinder camera was woefully inadequate for photographing subjects like a moose feeding in a pond. Thus continued my never-ending quest for quality. After college (BS and MS in Biology, Northern Michigan University), I began working seasonally for the National Park Service in Denali National Park (Alaska), in various jobs (park technician, caribou researcher, road maintenance) so that I could remain close to (one might say "be part of") the wonders of Nature. And to be able to record what I experienced on film, and recently, digitally. Somewhere along the way my primary interest re-focused from pictures of wildlife in their surroundings to images of the individual animals themselves (in other words, portraits). When approached properly and given adequate time, an animal begins to ignore the photographer, and goes on with its life--eating, interacting, breeding, sleeping, etc. Close observation reveals the extent of awareness an animal in the wild must have to survive--from the smallest prey that must elude the predators, to the inter-species relationships of the predators themselves. Using my biological background and decades of field experience as a photographer, I try to anticipate a subject's actions, reactions and interactions, hoping to keep ahead of the action instead of only following it. And I emphasize try, since I am still amazed by the complexity and unpredictability of Nature. When the wilds of Alaska started to feel too tame, I extended my image quest to Africa. First to the marvels of Kenya (very few places can surpass the quality and quantity of wildlife on the Masai Mara), then to the deserts and arid bushveld of Southern Africa. Later, in part because of escalating political unrest in Kenya, my interest shifted to the Okavango Delta area of Botswana--home to the last stronghold of wild dogs, and herds of migrating elephants and zebra. And most recently, despite continuing turmoil in Kenya, I've returned there twice--Kenya still offers the best combination of animals and the classic African experience. Over the 30+ years as a professional photographer, my images have appeared in most of the major wildlife and nature oriented magazines (e.g., Alaska, Audubon, Geo, National and International Wildlife, Natural History, Ranger Rick), in books (National Geographic Society, National Wildlife Federation, Reader’s Digest), and in calendars (Audubon, Greatland Graphics, Sierra Club, and World Wildlife Fund). While primarily licensing images myself (as stock photography) and selling Limited Edition Photographic prints as well as souvenir photos, I am also represented by Ardea (London) and AlaskaStock (Anchorage) stock photo agencies. Finally, the animals featured on this website are wild, not from a zoo nor trained models from a game farm (with the exception of a leopard from a Rescue Farm in Namibia). The next time you see a perfectly composed, well-lighted, close-up picture of a bobcat kitten hanging by its front legs from a picturesque tree snag with a colorful background of wildflowers, ask yourself "what are the odds of a photographer finding this in the wild?" And the next time you see an aerial picture of elephants or any large mammals stampeding across the plains or swamp, ask yourself if the photographer captured a natural occurence, or caused the stampede for the picture? Only your complaints to the magazine editor will dry up the market for such pictures. If they could, the animals would thank you. |
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