I thought it would be fun to see who our mentors and heros are in Nature and Wildlife Photography. When I was a kid back in the 50's and 60's, every book and magazine I picked up had these incredible photos of animals and nature. The photos all had one common credit. Leonard Lee Rue III, the most published nature photographer of all time, published by 2000 different companies in 44 countries and 1800 national cover photos. The techniques he used to get the photo was unheard of at that time, but now are common. He has a series of photos of a Flying Squirrel that has not been duplicated by anybody and he was using Nikon manual equipment at the time. He is the person that inspired me to love nature through his photos as I grew up.

John Shaw convinced me through his books that I too could photograph Nature. When I see a John Shaw photo, I see a representation of what Nature looks like to me. He has a basic and simplistic style. He boils down the process of graphic design, composition, exposure and equipment usage to its most elemental forms and creates (in my opinion) the best Nature photos of anybody. When I am out in Nature and I see an animal, a scenic, a field of flowers, etc.; I see a John Shaw photo. When I see a John Shaw photo of a place I have been to, I see in his photo, what I saw while I was there.

Who are your mentors and heros?