Michael Quinton

Natural History, Dec, 2000

I usually stay close to home. By concentrating my efforts in my own backyard, I can be near my family while gaining an intimate knowledge of local wildlife. Of course, as backyards go, I've been fortunate. After having spent twenty years in Yellowstone National Park, we now have an even larger backyard, sprawling toward the massive, ice-covered peaks and volcanoes of Alaska's Wrangell--Saint Elias National Park, the largest in the nation.

I have always had a fondness for predators, both birds and mammals. Their beauty and savage nature is fascinating to watch and photograph. Some of my most cherished memories as a wildlife photographer have come from working on extended projects with raptors. I spent two or three years photographing the great gray owl and the northern goshawk. Despite my constant presence, the shy but aggressive goshawks went about their vital business of rearing a family.

The picture above was taken in the dead of a very harsh Yellowstone winter while I was photographing ravens. They were feeding on an elk carcass but keeping a watchful eye out for returning coyotes.

To see nature in this raw manner is like a dream. To be able to share what I see through my viewfinder is a dream come true.