joseph butsick on Fstoppers

Montana Man

I picked up my first camera when I was about 12 years old, an old twin lens Rolleiflex my dad had laying around the house. This medium format camera used 120 film creating a large 6x6 cm negative. It was a big and bulky and hard to focus device but was the catalyst that triggered my eye and sent me into a lifetime passion for photography. I cycled through a basic one lens SEARS 35 mm and a Petri range finder camera before purchasing my first 35 mm interchangeable lens camera body, a Nikon FE! I was in photographers heaven, snapping pictures everywhere I went. No one was safe!

Life made an amazing turn for me as I left Penn State University in the 80's. I landed a seasonal job with the US Forest Service in Central Oregon. Stuffed into a 1976 Honda Civic with tent and camping gear AND my Nikon FE, Vivitar Series 1 Macro lens and a 70-200 mm zoom I headed west. I was never the same after that virgin adventure, fighting wildfires, marking timber, snapping picture after picture of grand western landscapes, antelope, jackrabbits, golden eagles and sandhill cranes. I fell even deeper in love with photography, with the joy of capturing moments in time!

Although I started my photography career in the colorful world of the outdoors, I've ventured out into adventure photography, studio work, weddings, events, and portraiture.

A small sampling of my work can be seen at https://josephbutsick.smugmug.com

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