Resume

BIOGRAPHY (as of June 2009)
Born May 8, 1951, in Greenville, South Carolina  
Raised in Fairfax, Virginia
Married, wife Mary Lee, two children, Michael (27), Andrew (23)
Now living in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

 

EDUCATION and SERVICE
Bachelor’s Degree; Photo-Journalism, 
University of Missouri, Columbia
School of Journalism, Class of 1979
Fine Arts Photography, Northern Virginia Community College 1974-1976
Fairfax High School, Class of 1969
U.S. Army 1971-1974, served three years in Germany

 

WORK EXPERIENCE
National Geographic Society, 1979 photo internship,
contract and freelance photographer, 1990 to present
The Virginian Pilot, Norfolk, Virginia, 1982-1990, staff newspaper photographer
The Missoulian, Missoula, Montana, 1979-1982, staff newspaper photographer

 

PROJECTS
The opening photograph in NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC INAUGURAL CELEBRATION slide presentation requested by Barack Obama and featuring 75 of National Geographic’s most beautiful landscapes, shown on the Washington Mall’s Jumbotrons, January 2009
(PROJECTS – con’t)

One of three National Geographic photographers interviewed for and featured in NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC’S ULTIMATE FIELD GUIDE TO LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY
by Robert Caputo, January 2007

Invited to participate in AMERICA 24/7, the first all digital photo-documentation of America, spanning one week in May 2003, published as a coffee-table book

 

PUBLISHED WORKS

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
“The Vanishing Prairie Dog,” April 1998
“Fire-the Essential Element” (Fire Ecology Story), September 1996
“Rocky Times For Banff” (Banff National Park, Canada), July 1995
“Andrew’s Aftermath” (Hurricane Andrew Hits Florida), April 1993
“Our Disappearing Wetlands” (Pristine & Degraded, United States), October 1992
“Eastern Wildlife, Bitter Sweet Success” (Wildlife in eastern United States urban areas), February 1992
“Tale of Twin Cities” (Minneapolis-St. Paul), November 1980

 

NATIONAL  GEOGRAPHIC  BOOKS
WILDLANDS OF THE UPPER SOUTH, 2004
GUIDE TO WESTERN CANADA, 2003
EXPLORING AMERICA’S WILD AND SCENIC RIVERS, 2001
YELLOWSTONE TO YUKON (Northern Rocky Mountain Ecosystem), 2000
GUIDE TO AMERICA’S OUTDOORS: SOUTHEAST, 2000
HEART OF A NATION (contributing photographer: essay and photographic collection), 2000
GREAT RIVERS OF NORTH AMERICA, September 1999
DRIVING GUIDES TO AMERICA: FLORIDA & THE SOUTHEAST, June 1997
AMERICAN LEGACY: OUR NATIONAL FORESTS, 1997
ENDURING AMERICAS (contributing photographer), 1995
CANADA’S NATIONAL PARKS, 1995
EASTERN PARKLANDS (contributing photographer; Acadia National Park, Maine), 1994
PATHWAYS TO DISCOVERY: AMERICA’S NATIONAL TRAILS (contributing photographer; White Mountains, New Hampshire), 1991
YELLOWSTONE COUNTRY, 1989
AMERICA’S OUTDOOR WONDERS (contributing photographer), 1987

 

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELER
“River Rafting at Ground Zero, ” (Taku River, British Columbia & Alaska), March 2001
“Seven Shades of Blue,” (Apostle Islands Lakeshore, Wisconsin), September 2000
“Bighorn Country,” (Wyoming), September/October 1999
“In Big Cypress Country, ” (Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida), March/April 1997
“Islands of Shell Coast,”  (Sanibel Island Gulf Coast, Florida), November/
December 1992
“Jasper National Park,” (Canadian Rockies), May/June 1991
“Teton Tableau,”  (Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming), March/ April 1990
“Elegant, Enduring Charleston,” (South Carolina), January/ February 1990

 

OTHER PUBLICATIONS
“Kauai: Garden Island of Hawaii,” ISLANDS MAGAZINE, March 1986
“Iceland: Land of Fire and Ice,” ISLANDS MAGAZINE, October 1985

 

LARGE, UNPUBLISHED STORIES and PROJECTS
– San Francisco, the City, Parks, Beaches, Bay, Marin Headlands, Route 1, & Redwood Forests, CALIFORNIA, 2003-2009
– Victoria, British Columbia, Neighborhoods, Parks, Gardens, Beaches, Rocky Coastline, & Rain Forests, CANADA, 2006-2007
– Washington, DC, City, Monuments, Tourists, Locales & Parks, UNITED STATES, 1976 to present
– People’s Republic, CHINA, commemorating 50th anniversary, 1999
– Maya Mountains, BELIZE, 1996
– Bialowieza Forest and National Park, POLAND, 1993

 

EXHIBITIONS
– “P4–Painting, Photography, Pottery and Prints”, Visual Arts Center, Portsmouth, Virginia, fine art exhibit with four artists, July 2010.
– “Circles of Light,” The Jung Center of Houston, Houston, Texas, fine art exhibit of National Geographic environmental portraiture “Out-Scapes” and more recent impressionistic “In-Scapes,” 2010.
Permanent Display, Equinox Restaurant (popular Washington DC dining establishment), beginning 2008.
Current Display, National Geographic Photo Laboratory, Washington DC, beginning 2008.
– “Beyond Reportage”, Virginia Beach Arts Center, fine art exhibit of black/ white photographs, 1986.

 

AWARDS
– Photographer of the Year Competition 1998
– 2nd place, Science/Natural History Picture Story: “The Vanishing Prairie Dog”
 2nd place, Science/Natural History Single Picture: “Turf Wars” (two prairie dogs fight in mid-air)
– Various Photographer of the Year awards including first place, “One Week’s Work,” 1988
– Southern Newspaper Photographer of the Year, 1984 and 1985
– Virginia Newspaper Photographer of the Year, 1984 and 1985
– Newspaper Photographer of the Year, runner up, 42nd Photographer of the Year, 1984
– “New Faces in Photojournalism,” AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHER MAGAZINE, 1984

 

RECENT EMPHASIS
For the past several years, I have concentrated on digital photography, shooting ordinary objects with a decidedly personal, impressionistic, and extraordinary focus. This new direction has been inspired by the belief that art can be created anywhere, without traveling far and wide, if one is sufficiently aware of what one finds provocative.

 

TEACHING EXPERIENCE – EXAMPLES
Upcoming Holiday on Horseback Workshop in Canadian Rockies (August, 2009): During this weeklong workshop, will be guiding adult participants on horseback through the Canadian Rockies, including Dormer Pass, along the Cascade River and Mystic Valley, to Rainbow Lake, and through the Bow Valley. Will offer presentations and slide shows, and provide instruction on camera use and photographic composition, perspective, and visual design and techniques in a natural, wildlife setting, The goal is to capture compelling, timeless images that rise above the snapshot or the cliché, and that require intuitive vision first, and photographic knowledge second.

National Geographic Expedition Photography Workshops in Canadian Rockies (July, 2007): As the National Geographic “expert” photographer, escorted adult amateur photographers for weeklong photographic workshops from Banff through Yoho and Jasper National Parks and onto the glaciers of the Columbia Icefield. Presented slide show of National Geographic photos and instructed participants on camera use and photographic light use, composition, perspective, and visual design in the wild.

Created Black Dog Workshops, Vancouver, BC: (beginning 2006): During three-day workshops for adults, teach techniques for digital cameras (with emphasis on Nikons). Instruction on principles of light, composition, perspective, and visual design in order to “see” like a National Geographic photographer during in-field shooting sessions. Educate on moving files safely to computer, and then editing images with Adobe Photoshop. Images are critiqued at the end of the workshops.

Wildwood Nature Center, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Biannually teach photographic techniques for the Center’s hands-on, active photography workshops, focusing on wildlife and nature shoots. Provide slide show presentations of original work, together with lectures detailing techniques, and then  judge the participants’ creative results. Participants range from high school students to older adults.
Photography Clubs (such as the Pennsylvania National Camera Club): Regularly provide slide shows and lectures on original work, both to younger and older adults. Teach in-camera techniques, proper camera handling, use, and care, and the principles for composition, perspective, and visual design of photographs.

College Classes (such as at Virginia Wesleyan College, Virginia Beach, Virginia): Offer slide show presentations and lectures about integrating photography with journalistic pursuits to photojournalism undergraduate students.

High School Classes (such as at Waynesboro Area High School, Waynesboro, Pennsylvania): Teach photographic techniques to high school students in advanced art classes, including leading them on shoots. Teach them film and digital image processing, Photoshop editing and enhancement, and techniques for high quality, archival printing. Assist students with creating their portfolios.

News Photographers Professional Association (NPPA): For ten years, regularly lectured and provided slide presentations at the NPPA annual photography regional classes and workshops. Participated in NPPA’s Flying Short Course, a yearly event in which those selected as Photographer of the Year were flown to different U.S. cities to provide instruction on photographic and camera techniques to large groups of people.

 

REFERENCES
Charles Kogod
Previously, Director of Illustrations, Book Division, National Geographic Society
Currently, Picture Editor, Defenders of Wildlife
Cell: 301-704-1443
Email: ckogod@defenders.org

Joanne Wheeler
Picture Editor for National Geographic Society Image Sales
Work: 202-857-5825     Cell 443-632-4446     Email: jwheeler@ngs.org

Sarah Leen
Director of Photography, National Geographic Society
Work: 202-857-2000
Email: susmith@ngs.org

Denis Finley
Editor in Chief, Virginian-Pilot newspaper, Norfolk, Virginia
Work: 757-446-2321
Email: denis.finely@pilotonline.com

Alex Burrows
Director of Photography (Retired), The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Virginia
Cell: 757-650-3880
Email: alex.burrows@cox.net

Constance Avery-Clark, Ph.D. (has taken my workshops and is my contact in Florida)
Member, Palm Beach Photographic Centre
Clinical Psychologist in private practice in Coral Springs, and amateur photographer
Cell: 954-849-7997
Email: caveryclark@me.com

(Other references available upon request)