Welcome to the Mostly Wildlife Photography online gallery — a collection of wildlife, nature and travel photographs gathered over more than three decades in the field. From the frozen tundra along Hudson Bay to the ice shelves of Antarctica, from the high country of the Rockies to the lavender farms of Provence, every image here began the same way: long before sunrise, with a camera, a long lens, and a great deal of patience.
Laid Back Bear
No. 123 · Hudson Bay
Emperor Penguin Family
No. 198 · Antarctica
Colorado Aspens
No. 161 · San Juans
Mostly Wildlife — and a Little of Everything Else
The name says it honestly. Wildlife has always been the heart of this work — wolves, polar bears, bald eagles, emperor penguins, elephants and bison fill most of the frames in this gallery. But a camera that travels also finds doorways in Ireland, canals in Burano, adobe walls in Mexico and weathered faces in Tibet. Those photographs earned their place here too, which is why this collection has always been called mostly wildlife.
Each photograph in the thumbnail gallery has its own page, and each page tells the story of how the image was made — where the light came from, how close the animal came, what nearly went wrong. Photography of wild animals is mostly waiting, occasionally luck, and every once in a while a moment so good it justifies all the frozen mornings. Those are the moments collected here.
A Field Photographer's Approach
None of the animals in these photographs were baited, called in or staged. The working rules have never changed: learn the animal first, keep a respectful distance, let behavior unfold, and leave the place exactly as it was found. Organizations such as the North American Nature Photography Association have long published ethical field practices for nature photographers, and this gallery was built on the same principles years before they were written down. A photograph is never worth more than the welfare of its subject.
Most of the wildlife images were made with long telephoto lenses — 400mm and beyond — which allow intimate portraits without intruding on an animal's comfort zone. The travel and landscape work leans the other way: wide lenses, early light, and a willingness to stand in one spot until the scene composes itself.
Exploring the Gallery
There are three ways to wander through this collection:
- The Thumbnail Gallery — browse every photograph at a glance and click through to the full story behind each one.
- The Slideshow Gallery — sit back and let the images rotate full-screen, the closest thing to the old art-fair booth experience.
- The story behind Mostly Wildlife — how a childhood spent reading nature magazines turned into a life behind a viewfinder.
For many years these photographs were sold as matted and framed fine art prints at art shows across the country. The prints page describes how those prints were made, though print sales have now concluded. The photographs remain here for what they always were first: a record of wild lives, wild places, and the long quiet hours it takes to see them properly.