The Photographer

Mark J Harlow is a National Award Winning Nature - Wildlife Photographer from Minnesota. A self admitted "social hermit" for many years, Mark had not had a website On-Line for nearly 7-years. "I do what I do because I truly love Nature and Nature Photography. I don't seek (but appreciate) the recognition to keep going". In just his second year back (after a 22 year absence), Mark declined coveted opportunities to work with Nikon USA, Getty Images, and National Geographic, choosing instead to continue on his own with his minimalistic photo style and staunch ethics. "I consider my self a minimalist both photographically and editing wise. The new photography mindset seems to be "get it close, fix it in post, use high ISO settings, Lightroon etc". Some folks spend many minutes if not hours editing just one image. That photo style or editing mindset does not interest Mark. "My motto is... take pride in your in your initial image. Photograph like you will be judged on your work straight out of camera, with no cropping or editing. That is how I photograph and what I've strived for the last 20+ years of shooting digital."... says Harlow.

Mark has been involved with photography officially since 1976 (although he was taking pictures whenever possible since 1968. He also chose High End Imaging and Fine Art Printing as a career since 1983. He specialized working with critical color reproductions for many clients over those years. He has been photographing digitally since March 27, 2004. Mark is a staunch Single Mode exclusively... photographer. None of his photography is ever taken with a Pre Burst, Burst or Continuous Drive Mode. ALL images are a one click at a time, especially the action Wildlife action imagery. He never baits, or photographs "Backyard, Personal Private Property", Urban or Suburban subjects. All images shown required loading up his vehicle and going out to locations.  All Wildlife is truly wild, all events happened naturally and organically. 

Image Editing is done at a minimum. No plug in's, automated actions, saved presets, focus stitching or stacking, HDR, or Lightroom, foreground/background separation are used. Mark still only edits in Photoshop CS4 or CS6 with minimal adjustments...that's it! Most edits are easily done in less than 30-seconds, not 30 minutes or longer.