Years in the Field
Top U.S. Wildlife Photographers
Award Recipient
Published Book
Every frame here was earned the slow way. Before sunrise. In cold water. In drifting snow. In the long pauses where nothing happens until suddenly everything does. I do not go out looking for trophies.
These are not the only animals in this valley. They are the ones I keep returning to.
“He turned and looked at me with the quiet authority of something that has never needed to run.”
— Packy Savvenas, Grand Teton, September
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“She stood on her hind legs and the whole valley seemed to hold its breath.”
— Packy Savvenas, Yellowstone, July
Wolves & other canines rarely give you the picture you planned for. They give you a pause at the edge of timber. A shape moving through weather. A look back that lasts half a second and stays with you for years. That is part of why they matter. They make you work for every scrap of certainty.
“The alpha paused at the tree line, looked back once, then vanished into the timber like smoke.”
— Packy Savvenas, Lamar Valley, February
I spent my summers in Greece, but the West gave me another name. It stuck because I kept choosing the long way. Before dawn. Through snow. Into the quiet. For more than fourteen years I have been meeting Grand Teton and Yellowstone in the hours when the animals are still moving and the roads have not started talking yet. The camera came with me, but the work was never just about the camera. It was about attention. It was about learning how to stand in a wild place without asking it to become smaller for me.
For the second year in a row, one of my images earned recognition among the Top 35 Wildlife Photographers in the United States — a moment built on countless mornings in the field, waiting for everything to finally align.
A bull moose in full velvet, caught in the last light after a long push through forest and water — one of three images recognized in the Horned Animals category at 35AWARDS.
The image that started it all — a bull moose standing in a warm spring at sunset, captured from the water after stepping in when everything finally came together.
Primary Body
32.5MP · 4K RAW · IBIS
My workhorse for moose and megafauna. The autofocus tracks through willows.
Primary Glass
f/4.5 · IS II · 1.4× TC
Reach without compromise. Pre-dawn light demands f/4.5, no exceptions.
Support
Carbon Fiber
Stability at 400mm is non-negotiable. The Manfrotto hasn't let me down in 7 years.
Post-Processing
RAW · Color Grading · Tethering
The color science handles the greens and golds of Teton light better than anything else.
Field Optics
10× · 42mm · Swarovision
I spot before I shoot. The Swarovski lets me read behavior from 400 meters.
Field Wear
Merino · Windproof · Silent
Wildlife doesn't care about your comfort. Kuhl keeps me warm and quiet at 3am.
This book came out of mornings most people never see. It is about field craft, patience, behavior, light, and the kind of attention wildlife photography asks of you if you want more than a lucky frame. It is not about collecting gear. It is about learning how to see.
Coming Soon
Group Size
Max 6 people
Duration
3–5 days
Location
Grand Teton, WY
Level
All skill levels
The best place to see the day-to-day work is still the field itself. The second best place is Instagram.
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Reach out about prints, collaborations, or my upcoming book. If the work means something to you, I’d like to hear from you.