Welcome to the Nature of Things Photography site, and my sincere thanks to you for your visit!

In the winter of 2006 I signed up for a photography class at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois. I had a Kodak digital point and shoot camera, a very flimsy tripod and a lot of enthusiasm. The class was taught by two notable nature photographers with a passion for photography and the natural world. Little did I know, those two weeks would have a profound affect on my life.

For those who love the outdoors, photography adds a whole new dimension to the experience. It engages and focuses all of your senses on the world around you. It is difficult to explain how the call of a spring gobbler echoing through a canyon, or the smell of fog hanging over a prairie at dawn, or the taste of mist rising up from a waterfall contribute to the making of an image, but all of these things leave their imprint on your photograph.

I have often wondered why it is that photographers, be they amateur of professional, become so absorbed in this media. I have come to realize there are as many answers to that question as there are photographers, and for me, every time I make a new image or discover a new place, a new reason is added. I’ve heard it said that photography teaches you to stop looking at things and start seeing them. I think there is a good deal of truth to that.

There is no force on our planet more powerful, more beautiful, more mesmerizing than nature itself. No matter the season or the weather, spending time in nature and capturing those experiences with my camera is something I truly love to do. It is my hope that with my photography I can inspire more people to get out and discover the amazing places that await just a short distance from home, and the calming and rejuvenating effects nature can have on your spirit.

--Mark Baldwin

A word about Post Processing:
The use of digital image processing software is often a subject of contention, so I want to let anyone interested in owning one of my prints know up front that I do apply post processing to the images I shoot. My images are captured in RAW format using a Nikon digital SLR camera. RAW digital files require processing just as film negatives require developing. My personal preference is a light touch, using just enough adjustment to restore basic elements such as sharpness, white balance, color saturation and contrast to produce a finished image that is as close to what I saw through my view finder as possible. I do not clone out or add any major features to any images.

About the prints ordered from this web site:
When you order a print through this web site it is processed by Bay Photo, a state of the art printer in Santa Cruz, California. This is the same lab I order my own prints from, and I have always been impressed with their quality and service. For what it’s worth, my personal photo paper preference for fine art nature prints is either Lustre or Metallic. Both are printed on Kodak Endura professional paper. The Lustre paper has a subtle satin sheen, while the Metallic provides deeper color and a unique three-dimensional appearance. If exposure to direct sunlight is limited, these prints are engineered to last a lifetime.

Who inspires me?
It has been a privilege and a pleasure spending many hours in the class room and in the field with two professional photographers who have become both friends, and mentors:

Willard Clay http://willardclayphotography.com
Hank Erdmann http://www.hankphoto.com/

There are many photographers today who bring us remarkable photographs of the few remaining wild places left on our planet. Below are just a handful of them. I find great inspiration in their images:

Ansel Adams http://www.anseladams.com/
Marc Adamus http://www.marcadamus.com/
Dan Anderson http://danielandersonphotography.com/
Bill Atkinson http://www.billatkinson.com/Homepage.pl
Steve Brimm http://www.brimmages.com/
Alain Briot http://www.beautiful-landscape.com/
Elizabeth Carmel http://www.elizabethcarmel.com/
Carr Clifton http://www.carrclifton.com/
Charles Cramer http://www.charlescramer.com/
Daniel Ewert http://www.ewertnaturephotography.com/
Tom Mangelsen http://mangelsen.com/
Kevin McNeal http://kevinmcneal.smugmug.com/
Tom Murphy http://www.tmurphywild.com/
William Neill http://www.williamneill.com/
Stephen Oachs http://www.stephenoachs.com/
Bruce Percy http://www.brucepercy.co.uk/
Chip Phillips http://www.chipphillipsphotography.com/
Galen Rowell http://mountainlight.com/
John Shaw http://www.johnshawphoto.com/
Linde Waidhofer http://www.westerneye.com/
Manuel Diaz http://www.manueldiazphotography.com/
Jack Dykinga http://www.dykinga.com/