Distinctly Montana Magazine

D I S T I N C T L Y M O N T A N A M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 42 TELL US ABOUT YOUR FIRST ATTEMPT AT PHOTO- GRAPHIC ART. WAS IT A SUCCESS? My first attempts were definitely not "suc- cessful" in terms of art. I started out shoot- ing "snapshots" and eventually graduated to better, more artistic images. I often took workshops where I learned most of what I know from some very talented instructors, especially Tyler Stableford and Adam Jones at Canon. I am mostly self-taught in post- processing. WE DON'T NOTICE A PARTICULAR PATTERN TO YOUR PREFERENCE FOR SUBJECTS FOR YOUR WORK. HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHAT IS WORTH THE ATTENTION OF YOUR LENS? I am mostly a landscape, wildlife, and travel photographer. I look for beautiful scenery such as colorful fields, mountains, waterfalls, and lakes. I do a lot of bird photography in the California desert where there is a nice variety of birds and settings. I also enjoy architecture in interesting locations. Foreign travel fasci- nates me because of the different dress of the people, the architecture, and the opportunity to learn about different cultures. MONTANA FIGURES LARGE IN MUCH OF YOUR PORTFOLIO. IS THERE SOME- THING SPECIAL IN USING MONTANA THEMATICALLY IN YOUR WORK? Montana is a photographer's dream. ere is such a variety of crops, col- ors of fields, wildflowers, mountains, rivers, lakes, wildlife, and waterfalls. e unpredictable weather offers lots of opportunities to capture clouds, sunsets, sunrises, lightning, and rainbows. e light seems to be constantly changing, giving us new opportunities to capture scenes under a variety of conditions. DESCRIBE ONE PHOTO IN YOUR ARTIS- TIC COLLECTION WHICH YOU BELIEVE IS ILLUSTRATIVE OF YOUR BEST WORK. WHAT IN YOUR MIND MAKES IT THE BEST? My favorite photo is of a Great White Egret and a Blue Heron standing over a waterfall just after the heron has caught a fish and Montana is A P H O T O G R A P H E R ' S D R E A M Bison Head Fairy Lake

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