It was steady contact with nature and wilderness that inspired my interest in photography. Working as an outdoor educator and later as a backcountry guide, I spent virtually every day outdoors. As my awareness of nature increased, I developed a predictable response: a desire to take pictures. The idea of making a career of nature photography was simply to enable me to spend most of my time in nature. Now I return often to the varied places I enjoy most: Utah's redrock canyons, Minnesota's northwoods canoe country, the northern Rockies, the Pacific coastline, and of course the nearby granite peaks of the Sierra Nevada.
In those early days, I recognized that the real value of spending time immersed in nature is not merely what we see, but how the place makes us feel. Rare is the photograph which captures the essence of a place so well that viewers really feel what it was like to be there, but I suspect that is the intent of most nature photographers. I work toward that goal by concentrating on what light does to the landscape. Every now and then, exquisite lighting transforms wild places into something indescribably beautiful, and sometimes I succeed in making images which come close to portraying the sensation I felt. But actually being there is always better, so I'll just keep on spending as much time as I can in these wild places.