• Type of Art: Photography
• Personality (extrovert or introvert): Both, depending on situation.
• Hours per week dedicated to art: 60-70
• Favorite Artist/Mentor: John Fielder, Tom Mangelsen, Art Wolf
• Artist Website: http://www.pix2love.com/

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Richard Seeley, local wildlife and landscape photographer, would go almost anywhere to capture that perfect image.

Seeley has several photos displayed at the co-op gallery in Breckenridge, Arts Alive.

One of his pictures features a mother eagle encouraging her offspring to fly from their nest for the first time. The angle and clarity of the shot makes it appear that Seeley may have climbed a mountain or tall tree to obtain it. Not so, but it still wasn’t easy.

To obtain this shot, Seeley faced a long and arduous paddle by kayak. After an hour-and-a-half in the boat, he reached his destination — an island that served as a nesting site for eagles — only to discover that the island was a protected wildlife refuge, and thus closed to the public. Ever resourceful, especially when it comes to photography, Seeley located another island nearby that was not restricted. He eventually found a good angle to take shots of the nest on the other island, and then assiduously adjusted his camera lens. The resulting shot displays an intimate image that most mothers can relate to — the moment when a child “leaves the nest” for the first time.

While many of Seeley’s shots are meticulously planned, he’s always ready for the spontaneous photo opportunity. A particularly piercing shot of a fox peering over a log — aptly entitled “Peekaboo” — was shot from Seeley’s back yard.

“We were just sitting down to dinner and we had some guests over, and one of them
looks out the window and sees these two ears sticking up from behind this rock. He points them out to me, I grab my camera, I walk out the back door to take this picture, and [the fox] stuck his head up when he heard the door open.”

Catch Seeley’s exhibit, “Born to Be Wild” beginning April 16 through May 11 at the Wildside Studio in Frisco.

<b>How did you get started with photography?</b>
I’ve always been interested in photography, but I’ve never considered myself a professional. The world changed for me back in 2003 when I got my first digital camera. I was a professional in the computer development business … for many years. With that digital camera, several things came together. The digital world melded with my artistic eye, which melded with computer technology. That turned out to be a winning combination.

Some of my images are what I call composites, and I advertise them as such. It is an opportunity to improve images by adding additions to the image.

In a composite, “the background and foreground are both in focus. There aren’t too many photographers who can do that, because it requires significant skill in Photoshop, an artistic eye, and camera technology. It … can be just stunning.

<b>If you had an unlimited budget, where would you go?</b>
Africa, Kenya. It is so diverse with wildlife and opportunities. Alaska is another place. We have that on our list for this summer. That’s a little closer.

<b>What’s your greatest challenge?</b>
To create a wildlife image that evokes an emotional response. I want to capture the animal in an intimate moment ... in some way that the viewer can relate to the animal. The other challenge to get that response is to come up with a title that adds insight, personalizes it and makes (the viewer) smile.

<b>Where do you want to be five years from now?</b>
I would very much like to be a nationally recognized wildlife photographer. I would also like to be able to make some kind of … significant impact on the awareness of the preservation of wildlife. Wildlife is around us, we see it all the time, we say we’re sensitive to it, but it isn’t until you start photographing it that you become hyper-sensitive to it."