Featured Professional: Thomas Mangelsen

One thing I have learned as a full time student in a graduate program is that to perform well, you need to know your material. In photography that means reading books and magazines, taking classes, and, obviously, shooting a lot. One way of studying photography that I enjoy is looking at other photographers images. They not only give me ideas where to shoot and how to compose an image, but also inspire me. Seeing a stunning image reminds me why I love photography and motivates me to work hard to improve so that I can capture images of equal beauty.













Guardian of Knight Inlet

Each week I will feature a professional photographer whose work I find inspiring. They may be well known or they may be hardly known at all. My hope is to show what is possible; to show how photography is being done by the very best and inspire us to reach for those heights.

The first featured professional is Thomas Mangelsen. Mangelsen is an Omaha, Nebraska based wildlife and nature photographer who has been published in magazines such as National Geographic, Smithsonian, and others. He has publishes several books and has galleries in nine states.














Clearing Skies, Elk

Manglesen has an incredible body of work, covering several continents and many years. You can check his photos out at www.mangelsen.com and www.mangelsenstock.com. Take some time to look the photos over. You'll be impressed. His full bio is here.

I was first exposed to his work when a friend gave me an old photo catalogue. I spent hours thumbing through it, looking at each image and imagining myself being in Alaska, shooting grizzly bears and caribou. The catalogue is pretty dog eared now, but I still have it and pull it out occasionally to look at. Great photos never get old.









Teton Memories-The Moulton Barn

All images ©Thomas Mangelsen; used with permission.