Weldon Lee www.weldonlee.com  www.RockyMountainPhotoAdventures.com         Weldon Lee travels around the globe to the world’s most exotic locations photographing wildlife, and capturing the essence of their personalities in his images. He has a special way of communicating with animals and his images depict that relationship.   Weldon’s dramatic portrayals of wildlife in their natural surroundings provide viewers an intimate glimpse into their daily lives and is but one reason his images are popular among collectors. His work has been exhibited in the Denver Museum of Natural History and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh.   Lee’s early work focused on wildlife in the Rocky Mountains. His first book, Watchable Birds of the Rocky Mountains, contains over 50 photographs depicting a cross-section of the avian species found throughout the Rocky Mountains. Erwin and Peggy Bauer, friends and lifelong wildlife photographers, had this to say about his second book, “No region of North America offers so many opportunities for wildlife photographers as the Rocky Mountains. No one has ever described its wildlife and captured their natural beauty so thoroughly as Weldon Lee in A Guide to Photographing Rocky Mountain Wildlife.”   Weldon’s images have appeared in numerous magazines including Mature Outlook, Backpacker, National Wildlife, National Parks Magazine, Bird Watcher’ s Digest, Outdoor Photographer, and Petersen’s PHOTOgraphic. As Assistant Editor of Nature Photographer magazine since 2001, his images and articles appear in every issue of that publication. In addition, his photos illustrate text and natural history books by Macmillan, Westcliffe, Falcon Press, and Roberts Rinehart to name just a few. His work has been featured on all the major television networks, including ABC, CBS, and NBC.   In January, 1995, Weldon was elected Chair of the Education Committee of the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) and served three years in that capacity. In addition to being a charter NANPA member, he is also a member of the Rock Mountain Outdoor Writers & Photographers and in 2007, received that organization’s Selected Works Award for Excellence in Photography. The American Bald Eagle Foundation honored him as the 2010 Photographer of the Year. A University of Northern Iowa photography professor ranks Weldon among the top five wildlife photographers in North America.   According to Weldon, “Photography transports me into the spirit world of my wild brothers and sisters, where I find myself connecting with them and listening to what they have to say. When I look through the camera’s viewfinder into their eyes, I feel as though I am touching their spirit. I feel their hardships and losses during severe winters. I rejoice with those that return safely from another marathon migration, or dodge the hunter’s bullet during yet, another hunting season.”   He sums it up, “Whoever . . . whatever . . . created them, also created me. We’re made of the same dust. We share almost identical DNA. That makes us related. This is my philosophy. This is who I am . . . and this is what, so I am told, is portrayed in my images.”