Artist Highlight: Angela Marie 

Extended version from newsletter

What is your favorite way to spend time outdoors? 
 
Daily. My favorite way to spend time outdoors is daily.  The best lesson my parents taught me early on was to “get outside.” Beginning each day by being active outdoors is imperative for nourishing my soul, clearing my mind, and energizing my body. I love to play outside, from skate skiing and kayaking to swimming and hiking to eating (I am really good at this). From team sports and biking to walking our dogs. And, of course, photographing.

The big year of 2020 (for birds and…the obvious) turned my focus from 40+ years of performing in bands to studying photography. Wildlife photography has extended my love of early mornings. The anticipation of what I may see at dawn with my camera wakes me before my alarm. My favorite part of the day is just before sunrise and the next hour. The magical lighting of a new day is full of hope and is the most active time for all the wildlife I experience daily. 

When did you first get involved with the Conservancy?

I was so excited and honored to receive an email in February of 2023 from the Conservancy expressing interest in my wildlife photography. The ultimate goal and achievement of my photographic work is to provide education and to improve lands for wildlife habitat, native plants, and clean air and water. My relationship with INLC is a perfect match, especially working with inspirational people like Carol and Gillian. I am so grateful and wish to do more for such an important organization.

What are some of your favorite places to explore/pull inspiration from?

I lived in the Hangman Creek area when I first moved to Spokane 22 years ago. Before this, I was born and raised in Cheeseland, aka Wisconsin, and then lived in the Seattle area for ten years. My eyes were open wide with excitement upon my first moose sighting in the Hangman Creek area, and I was astonished at seeing a wildfire barreling toward my home. I am in awe, from the area’s numerous waterways to the scablands to the magical firs and tamaracks of north 
Idaho. I pull inspiration from every type of terrain. 

There is beauty (and devastation) everywhere. It is very hard to choose a favorite place of exploration. I have traveled extensively to developing countries, providing phenomenal inspiration in many ways. At the same time, there is nothing like the migration explosion of warblers in Wisconsin; even so, I have to claim our home in Hauser, Idaho, as my favorite. Every morning and many nights, I walk near the lake’s edge and around a phenomenal reserve we fondly call “the duck ponds.” The intimacy with which I have gotten to know this area over the past 18 years allows me to quickly notice activity among the branches and water etched in my mind. I see something every day with the lighting change upon the landscape and the wild ones living among the habitat. Every single day of all these years, I declare how astounded I am that I get to live here. My gratefulness and concern for the area only grow. 

How does photography help you connect to nature?

One of the surprises I have found with wildlife photography is how much more in the moment I am looking through the lens. Photographing with a 200-500mm lens allows a safe and ethical distance between myself and the subject. I am always on foot (or in my kayak), hand-holding my zoom lens on my dinosaur-aged camera, which connects me deeply with truly experiencing the elements of the habitat. I am enlivened beyond words by closely witnessing the inhalation and exhalation of beings, let alone individual behaviors and those among the beings. There is the wild excitement of seeing a rare species, yet getting to know the “regulars” is just as fulfilling. The more I photograph, the more I get to know the species – flora, and fauna – which leads me to a deeper connection as I dive into studying their nature in and out of the field via experience, books, the internet, and human teachers. There is zero control of lighting, subjects, and places in wildlife photography. You have to go in order to know what is out there. Variables change constantly, and continuous practice is needed to accommodate this. My loved ones would also say what a zany sport this is as I will oftentimes wait 2-3 hours at a time in a ditch or marsh in ridiculous temperatures, with camera up and ready, for an animal to wake up or a bird to take flight.  Some call it wacky; I call it thrilling. The time in the field certainly connects me not only with the subject but also with the weather and the habitat. The more I learn about the species and the habitat, the better I get to know and predict behavior, enhancing my photography and deepening my connection to nature. 

Anything else you want folks to know about you? 

Since I was a little girl, I have been deeply moved by the natural world. I would weep as I heard the geese flying south for the winter, and I would jump for joy at the sighting of the first robin of the Wisconsin spring. The beauty of the natural world holds me up, while the devastation by humans crushes me. Both aspects can be overwhelming. Introducing humans to the intricacies of the natural world is one of my greatest joys. Infinite gratitude for all that INLC does to identify and protect these special places in the natural world.  

Oh, and the music lives on, with our band returning to the stage to sing about the natural world, among other things. Sing, photograph, write, share, and live it! 

Want to see more from Angela Marie? Visit The Angela Marie Project