ART
Close Encounters of the Wild Kind
By JOE BUTLER
I t’s 3 a.m. and it’s dark and cold. While the rest of the world sleeps, Tim Christie is waiting for the first signs of daylight and a chance to spot some kind of animal on the move. It’s always a wonder what the morning will bring. A bugling bull elk. A curious coyote. An otter pop- ping his head out of the river. A bear grabbing berries or pausing to enjoy the rising sun. It could be any of those things — or none. And that is the chance Christie takes as a wildlife photographer, something he has devoted himself to for the last 40 years. “I find everything in the wild both interesting and worthy of photo- graphing,” he shares. Throughout his career, he has photographed just about every wild animal in North America and even a few in Africa. His photos and stories
have been published in thousands of outdoor-focused magazines, in- cluding more than 600 cover shots. He’s received industry honors from organizations like the Outdoor Writers Association of America, the Professional Outdoor Media As-
sociation and the North American Nature Photographers Association. Christie encourages cooperation, not competition, in the industry, and has also taught plenty of peo- ple the technical and creative skills required to capture great nature
Tim Christie has photographed wild animals from all over North America.
Photo by Joel Riner
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