I’ve been taking photographs with a dedicated camera since 2008, when I was studying graphic design at Montana State University. I graduated with a BFA in Graphic Design in 2010 and returned to Eureka, where I now run my family’s electrical contracting business.

Photography has always been a creative outlet, but my interest in wildlife photography really began with an interaction in 2023. I came across a very young owlet on the ground and, concerned that something was wrong, contacted a biologist who explained that young owls commonly leave the nest before they can fly well, sometimes ending up on the ground before climbing their way back into the trees.

A few weeks later, a friend mentioned seeing owls nearby at Eureka’s Historical Village. I went looking and found them perched on an old fire lookout tower that had been relocated there years before. They were in the middle of town, in a public place I had passed countless times. Finding them made me realize that owls—and probably a lot of other wildlife—were around me far more often than I had noticed. I just needed to start looking.

Since then, my camera has gone nearly everywhere with me. Some photographs happen unexpectedly while I’m driving around northwest Montana looking at electrical jobs; others come from getting out before sunrise, heading out at sunset, or spending hours watching birds at places like Ninepipe and Freezeout Lake. Birding has become part of the process as well, pushing me to explore new places, learn species and habitats, and pay closer attention to the landscape around me.

That time in the field has become one of the ways I connect with Montana.

I also am a contributing photographer for the Tobacco Valley News. What began as occasionally submitting interesting photographs has grown into covering the fair, rodeo, events and other local assignments, along with supplying the paper with wildlife photos. My owl photographs have become enough of a fixture that the paper now runs an annual reader-voted “Owl of the Year” featuring photographs from the previous year.

When I’m not working or photographing on my own, I’m often outside with my three kids, and we are usually looking for birds.