ABOUT

• Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1954.
• Received my first camera and darkroom at the age of 9. Thanks mom and dad!
• Started my photography career in my first year of high school working for B.Artin Haig, who taught me lighting techniques, color printing and processing and fine art portrait photography.
• BofA in Commercial and Color Technology at Brooks Institute of Photography 1977. 
• Moved to Wyoming 1977 to pursue my landscape photography passion. 
• 1984 released the first of many Grand Teton National Park photographic fine art poster prints. "Keep Wyoming Wild" was the first with over 30 thousand sold. 
• Starting in 1999 Guided photo tours in Grand Teton, and Yellowstone National Parks under Paul Martin's Photo Safaris. Many of my guests still keep in contact with me today. Thank you!
• Now retired and living in the Northwest and enjoying my photography passions in the digital world. 

There was a lot of life in between these dates, and the dates maybe a little skewed, but the purpose is not to write a complete biography, but to illustrate how photography has always been an influencing factor.

I have few regrets in life. I have skied when skiing was an art form and the phrase 'first tracks' had real meaning. I have windsurfed the toughest and most exciting conditions the Columbia Gorge can dish out. I have raised four of the most loving Golden Retrievers anyone could hope for. I have lived much my life in Jackson Wyoming during what I will argue were the best years Jackson Hole presented to date. Recently traveled to Thailand and met some of the friendliest people on the planet. I now live in the magnificent Northwest where there is perfect balance between the Pacific ocean, the city of Portland and the Cascade Mountains. I am truly grateful for a life well-lived and look forward to the final chapters as they unfold. 

Photography has always had my back. Like a good friend, I could always turn to photography to help direct my next path and adventure in life.

For me photography started in film and the darkroom, and while some photographers miss those days, I have embraced the digital age. I appreciate the instant results and gratification that digital imaging offers. Yes, I believe digital imaging has changed the photographic industry as I knew it, but at the same time it has opened many more opportunities.

My images are basic at the core. Not a lot of Photoshop, not a fan of overused HDR, and try to keep my mouse off the saturation slider. HDR and Photoshop have become overused in my humble opinion. I get that these are all tools we use to create an image we have in our heads, no different than a painter adding clouds, flowers and trees to create their images. Right? 

Photography, regardless of the content is capturing a moment in time. That moment will never be repeated in quite the same way, but a photograph stops time for that instant, giving us the viewer the opportunity to reflect.

-Paul Frederick Martin