For more than thirty-six years, Jim has used his photography, writing, speaking, and teaching to inspire and motivate others. A naturalist first and foremost, Jim’s workshops always include a bit of natural history. He believes the more you know about your subject, the more your photography will stand out from the others.

 

A contributing editor for Outdoor Photographer Magazine, Jim’s articles and images have also appeared in magazines such as Nature’s Best, Defenders, Wildlife Refuge, Wonderful West Virginia, Birders World, Country, Photo Media, and Wild Bird. Other clients have included Nikon, Nik Software, National Wildlife Federation, Zeiss Optics, Nature Conservancy, and FujiFilm. To date, Jim has had 28 articles published in Outdoor Photographer.

 

Jim is the author and photographer of four books: West Virginia: The Allegheny Highlands (Westcliffe Publishers), Mountain Memories: An Appalachian Sense of Place (WVU Press), Between Ocean & Bay: A Celebration of the Eastern Shore (Mountain Trail Press) and his first children’s book, The Adventures of Buddy Beaver, which he coauthored and photographed with his son Carson. Jim and Carson just completed the second book in the Buddy Beaver series: Mystery of the Missing Friends (Carson Clark Photo). Stay tuned for details on release date.

 

Jim is also one of the co-author/photographers for The Ultimate Guide to Digital Nature Photography (Mountain Trail Press). Jim was a major photographic contributor to the book, Coal Country (Sierra Club).

 

Jim is Past President of the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) and in 2000, Jim received NANPA’s Outstanding Recognition Award. Jim also serves on the advisory board for Nature’s Best Magazine and from 2000-2008, he was a member of the Fujifilm Talent Team.

 

Sponsors for Jim and his son Carson include Hunts Photo, Lowepro, Manfrotto, Nik Software, Wimberley, and Singh-Ray.

 

The documentary film, Mountain Memories, profiled Jim’s life and career as a nature photographer. The film, which aired on PBS in August 2003, was also shown at the prestigious 2005 American Conservation Film Festival.

 

Jim has been a naturalist ever since his days growing up in the coalfields of southern West Virginia. He parlayed that passion into a 30 years career as a wildlife biologist. He has degrees in wildlife biology from Tennessee Tech (BS) and West Virginia University (MS). Jim has also been a member of the faculty for West Virginia University, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and University of Alaska – Fairbanks.