Biography

My love of the outdoors began at a very early age and led to the hobby of photographing nature, which I have done for over 25 years. In college I earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in physical geography and ecology, and had the opportunity to study the physical landscapes I was photographing. Over 20 years ago, I turned this passion into a professional business and have photographed extensively in the western U.S..

I am entirely self-taught, preferring to do my learning behind a camera. Since 1985, I have produced many thousands of photographs a year. Almost from the beginning, I have used a large format camera for my work. In 1990, I added medium format to my equipment, and five years ago added a very high quality digital camera. These cameras create exceptional fine art images.

My first sale was in 1985 to Peter Pepper, a company producing a catalog of fine art prints for the corporate art market. Fifty of my photographs were selected for this catalog. Encouraged by this early success and determined to make my career flourish, I made many submissions to a variety of markets, including books, magazines, calendars, greeting cards, posters and others. I used the proceeds from these sales to expand my area of photographic coverage. In 1993, I began extending my photo trips outside of Oregon, and have spent a good deal of time since then capturing images from the entire West.

Although I sell images to all sorts of markets, the bulk of my enthusiasm is spent producing prints for the fine art market. My prints have been shown and sold in several galleries. Today I continue to have my work accepted for several national juried exhibitions and have won numerous awards including the prestigious Westmorland Art Nationals “Photograph of the Year”. I sell hundreds of photographs each year, and have published five books and 16 sole photographer nature calendars. I currently am working on a book of fine art photographs entitled " Lightdances Across The Landscape," and am devoting my full time efforts to producing fine art images.

Artist Statemment

I poured over photograph after photograph in National Geographic, Sierra Club, Audubon, and others, almost forgetting to breathe. I thought this kind of photography was unattainable for the average photographer.

At age 14, after saving for a long time, I purchased my first camera for $100.00 with money earned from a paper route. Full of youthful exuberance, I took pictures of nature and scenic subjects that occurred in my small world. I was so disappointed with these early photographs. If I couldn't dazzle people with my pictures like National Geographic, then it wasn't worth the effort, I thought. I gave up, put my camera in the closet and literally went fishing.

In college, my passion raged on for the natural world. I studied landscapes and ecology, and received a master's degree in these areas.

Later, over twenty years ago, I felt compelled to revisit my love of photography. I remember it so clearly. I was fly fishing in Montana, and, in between catching 20" brown trout on the Madison River, the thought came to me, almost as if by divine communication, "when I get home from this fishing trip, I'm going to start shooting pictures professionally." I know this sounds like the old, "It came to me in a vision at stream side" story, but I'm not making this up.

I've always yearned to bring emotion to my life, and to that of others. Photography allows me to do this. Now, with a staggering amount of work, my photographs have made the pages of National Geographic, Sierra Club, and Audubon. They have brought emotion to art directors and their publication audiences all over the world. I take great pride that I have been able to help my clients look good. I can't say, "I've arrived", but I can tell you I feel an immense satisfaction that my work touches the lives of others.

— Dennis Frates