The National Parks by Ian Shive, Tom Kiernan

IAN SHIVE

At thirty years old, Ian Shive is one of the youngest nature photographers in the industry, setting him apart from his contemporaries who are typically much older, if not twice his age. He is a full-time conservation photographer based in Los Angeles, California.

Shive has always had an intimate relationship with the national parks. Like many Americans, he was exposed to these wild lands as a child and the love continued from there. Thanks in part to a lifetime subscription to National Geographic from his grandparents that began he was five years old,his love of photography and the outdoors grew. After nearly a decade working with Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures as a marketing executive where he was integral in the campaigns for the Spider-Man franchise, many Adam Sandler films and at least sixty other feature films, he began to work in conservation and connected with the non-profit stewards of the park system, the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) based in Washington, D.C. His first few images were published in the magazine marking the beginning of a 4-year relationship.Over the last few years, Shive has found himself working regularly in the parks on assignment, covering stories in the parks that not many people knew and witnessing places not many people have ever seen. Deciding that there were many images never published in the magazine, a book on the parks offered Shive an opportunity to share his intimate experiences.

Shive is an emerging member of the International League of Conservation Photographers, a Washington, D.C. based group whose membership represents the highest ethics and standards in conservation photography. Their small roster of photographers is a who’s who of the outdoor photography world. He is a gold place recipient at the 2008 Folio Awards – Eddie’s&Ozzie’s for his National Parks magazine story Ghosts of Steamtown, and placed gold in the category of “Best Use of Photography, Association or Non-Profit.

Many of Shive’s images have appeared in the world’s most prestigious publications including Time magazine, U.S. News & World Report, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Outside magazine, National Geographic, Popular Science and many others. Shive is also a frequent contributing columnist to Popular Photography & Imagine magazine, the world’s largest photography publication. He contributed 4 “how-to” articles in 2008, including one cover story. Other 2008 covers include Ski Magazine, Popular Photography and Big Sky Journal, a regional publication.

As a leading chronicler of America’s national parks, Shive shot two covers for National Parks magazine in 2008, and his images of the parks have appeared worldwide in other NPS-related publications. Monde de la Photographie, a Paris, France based photography publication compared Shive to Ansel Adams for his National Park imagery and many consider Shive to be “picking up the torch” of where Adams left off. His images have appeared worldwide in 2008 including in China,South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, France, Italy, UK,Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Mexico, Canada, Australia, India and many others. Shive is most proud of his work with non-profits. He has worked with many non-profits, including such lead organizations as The Nature Conservancy and the National Parks Conservation Association. He was part of a major magazine story for The Nature Conservancy in 2008 featuring the Mediterranean habitat of the California landscape. To see more of Shive’s work, visit his website at: http://waterandsky.com/.