Lon Sharp

I am a life-long resident of the Black Hills and the high plains. I specialize in photography of wildlife and nature in western South Dakota. My vision is to show wild places naturally and wild things at their best.


My love of the natural world, and especially birds and animals, has been a passionate focus for over 50 years. Days playing as a child, days off work or vacationing as an adult were nearly all spent participating in nature with either field guide or fishing pole, longbow or camera in my hand. In the course of my years afield I have worn out many pairs of quality hiking boots. My camera gear has evolved from the Kodak Brownie Starflash I won in a contest as a first grader to a series of Olympus cameras and lenses during the “film era” to finally, with the maturing of digital technology, a Nikon DSLR and the best lens collection I can afford.


People often me ask about the camera required for wildlife photography. My answer is that a good camera is helpful, but a quality lens is far more important, regardless of brand. But, the critical tool in the pursuit of superb wildlife images is knowledge and understanding of each wild species in habit and behavior throughout the changing seasons. In other words, knowing how to get very, very close to an animal without causing it undue stress is much, much more important than having a super long telephoto lens! Of course it is important to understand the principles and mechanics of making a good exposure, but knowing where an animal will be at a given time and being there waiting, sometimes for extended time, is key to a memorable image capture. My lifelong effort to become a decent amateur naturalist has sometimes allowed me to find those images!


Those captured images are frozen fragments of time that flood me with the memories of that day in sights and sounds, light and color, and the magic feeling of close encounters with the wild beings of this world. Hopefully the images I share will help recreate for others some of the awe I felt. Perhaps it will cause some to care more about wild places and wild living things. And maybe, just maybe, it will help nudge someone to work to protect these treasures for the benefit of generations to come and for the health of this marvelous planet we share as home.


Visit www.LonSharp.com to see more of his work. Or, stop into Chautauqua Artisans Market