I developed my love for nature and wildlife in the Catskill Mountains of New York.
Born in 1939 and raised on a dairy farm in the Catskill Mountains, I learned first hand the many moods that nature has and learned to love and appreciate each for what it is. Wildlife, from the hummingbird to the deer and bear, along with the environment they live in continue to provide a "magnificent obsession" that I try to capture through my lens.
Interestingly enough those seeds lay dormant until 1998 when I moved to Pine Mountain Club California, a small, unique yet beautiful community nestled in the Los Padres National Forest. The elevation of Pine Mountain Club range from 5500 feet to over 7000 feet and the four seasons are very well defined, as shown in my photographs.
Smokey, which can be seen by clicking here with the EXTREME Fire Danger sign was one of my first and the one that motivated me to "take another." The night before Pine Mountain Club had experienced it's first snow fall of the year--nine inches. The comical paradox and contradiction represented between the "EXTREME" in red and the nine inches of snow on top, was captured literally minutes before the Forest Ranger pulled up and removed the sign!
Talk about opportunity and timing! Two more minutes and it would have been gone forever. Such it is with most photographs you will see--but in most, like the Condor, it can be just a second. Click here to see the condors.
Pine Mountain Club continues to be a major source of my photographs but the Eastern Sierras and the Central Coast of California are also favorite areas.
I also enjoy taking "candid" pictures at parties, weddings, festivals, etc. I do not profess to be a "portrait" photographer but have a knack for capturing people in a "candid" moment.
All images © Richard A. Walter / Mountain Man Photography