Scot Stone's Passion of Animal Photography

I am asked so often, "Are you afraid of being attacked or killed by the bears?", while guiding the bear viewing trips in Katmai National Park or on Kodiak Island. My answer is a simple "No." My answer is always the same, "Is it the car wreck, the plane crash, the shooting, or the bear we are afraid of?" No, to most all of us, it is death that drives those fears. The reason I am not afraid of the bears nor anything we face is that I'm not scared of death, I have lived a life that most would could only dream about in my almost 45 years. I say it often if I died today I've been blessed.

I was asked to write about my love of photography, and for those that follow my work, they know it goes hand in hand with bears specifically, but wildlife in general. I was born in the hospital in Fort Benton, raised on my parents Leonard and Myrna's farm north of Geraldine, and graduated from there in 1993. All of my family lives in Montana, and I am damn proud to be from here, a farm kid at heart. I ended up following a career in construction that lead me to Kodiak, Alaska, starting in December of 2015, running work on the Coast Guard Base there.

I did like so many other people 25 years ago, I bought a camera with some lenses, and took some images on a few trips but never felt I had an eye, and the camera collected dust, not memories. Once I spent a few months in Kodiak, I met several local photographers that were out daily, just like me, always soaking nature's beauty and spending every waking minute looking for and watching the fantastic Kodiak brown bears. Seeing all those huge lenses and hearing all sorts of photo terms that I knew nothing about almost scared off my thoughts of jumping into the DSLR world of photography. Like so many of us, I would take photos with my phone and post to chronicle my travels but never gave it much serious thought until Kodiak and my friends there fueled the fire. Wanting to share what I was seeing with my family and friends back home in Montana, I bought my first DSLR camera in February of 2017.

Endless hours of online and YouTube study, I told myself that if I didn't learn how to indeed shoot within three months, I would set the camera down. I poured every ounce of my being into those three months almost quitting several times; I am an extremely driven and competitive person who's also an insomniac, all that mixed drives a fascinating life. Through many conversations and encouragement from other shooters, I stayed the course, and within four months things were starting to click.

Once you learn how to use light, compose, and manipulate light, the photography world is at your fingertips. All those terms I didn't understand when I first started, were making sense, and with that, you truly begin to explore what is possible. Chasing sunrises and sunsets to the real-time reaction of wildlife photography, became an addiction. As time has passed, I've begun to assemble better gear with constant upgrades and by the years end I will be exactly where I want to be equipment-wise. All that equipment and gear is being used to tell a story of my travels, with a constant drive to show people new things and make them appreciate the world around them just a little more or inspire someone to travel or do something they usually wouldn't.

I haven't had a tv in over five years, I've spent my entire life in the outdoors and studying animals constantly, everything I do is geared towards working to the next trip to tell the next story coupled with the best images I can produce, as well as a constant study of all areas of photography. This coming year will be a challenging one for all of us with the current virus we are all facing, but with some luck I'll be back in Kodiak and Katmai guiding bear view trips this summer, packing 50 pounds of camera gear every step of the way. I have a polar bear trip scheduled for late September in Kaktovik, Alaska, and have several places and things I plan on shooting here in Montana this year as well.

Currently, I am writing a few books, both on life growing up on the wind kissed plains of Montana and my travels since my life took this photography turn. I am also working on a series of photography books, which I hope to have released this fall. Lots of hours went into my website, and that is an ever-changing outlet as well.

I get asked often where my tireless drive comes from, that's easy, like so many of us; I have several relatives that died very young and with that, I will live every day to the fullest, chasing my photography dream wherever it leads because we are not promised tomorrow. Montana and it's people sit squarely in the center of my heart, although I split time in Alaska, the Big Sky is always going to be home. Currently, I spend about ½ the year in both Montana and Alaska, and I don't see that changing any time soon.

For those interested in following my adventures, the next few years are going to be amazing. Trips in the making beside this year's polar bear trip are the rare Spirit Bears (white, black bears) of British Columbia, grizzly bears of the Khutzeymateen, musk oxen, arctic fox, lynx, wolverines, and other Alaskan game and always Montana wildlife when I am home. Iceland, Africa, and the Amazon are also in the making on top of many trips around the US to bring my supporters the best I possibly can. Eventually, I will settle back in Central Montana and spend the bulk of my days in Glacier and Yellowstone country and, most importantly, photographing the farming and ranching operations that are still the very center of my soul.

You can follow my work at scottstonephotography.com, on Facebook as Scott Stone Photography and also on Instagram at sstone_images.