You Can't Be Everywhere At Sunrise

Images of the American Wild

Welcome to my website. The images in the site are from a 40-year odyssey through the wildlands of North Americas mountains, deserts, coasts, rivers and prairies. They include familiar icons as well as remote backcountry locations. The wildlife images depict not only the animal, but behaviors that give insight into their lives. All animals are wild, free-roaming and in their natural habitats. It is my hope that these images create an appreciation of wild country, and an acknowledgement of the importance of protecting it in the future.

Pete Bengeyfield

About

I am a retired Forest Service hydrologist, and have been photographing the American west for forty years. Portraying the natural world through photography started as a pastime, but quickly moved through the hobby/passion/obsession progression. Today there are over eighty thousand images in my files.

I have chosen the images in this portfolio to give the viewer an idea of the breadth of subject matter and geographic coverage in my library. Landscapes show not only the familiar icons, but seldom-seen backcountry locations. Wildlife images depict not only individual species, but also the behavior that gives insight into their lives. All animals are wild, free roaming, and in their natural habitats.

I have written and photographed two books. Mountains and Mesas (Northland Publishing, 1996) depicts the natural history and environmental issues of the Northern Rockies and Colorado Plateau, and Incredible Vision (Riverbend Publishing, 2003) takes a similar look at the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The e-books on this site were put together in 2014.

My photographs have been published in Outdoor Photographer, National Wildlife, Sierra Club Calendars, as well as many regional publications. I was honored to have an image of a red fox named as one of the twenty best photographs of the first forty years of National Wildlife. In 2006 I was fortunate to win the Annual Editors Choice Award in the Fauna catagory at Nature Photographers.Net, and have also had several weekly Editors Choice awards at NPN over the years. I have had had articles on photography published in Outdoor Photographer and on NPN. Currently I lead Road Scholar Groups in Yellowstone, and have taught a photography class for the Yellowstone Institute.

One of the great truths of nature photography is that you need an understanding and patient spouse. Alice has been with me on many backpacking and river trips - here we are in the Sea of Tranquility - and has waited countless hours for the light to be right. These images are as much hers as mine.