Call of the wild

Wildlife photography has long been a consuming hobby of Gary Harris ’84. He first got started by experimenting with underwater photography, specifically when he borrowed a 35mm underwater camera for a dive trip in April 1992. “I shot five rolls of film from which I only had about three really nice pictures,” he said. “A normal person would have thrown up their hands and said, ‘This is too hard.’ I, however, really liked those three pictures, and I was hooked.”

Since then, Harris has traveled all over the world on photo trips, giving him opportunities to view wildlife up close and personal and capture the best shots of exotic creatures. His foreign work assignments gave him access to some remote locations. “Working in the oil industry my whole career has afforded ample opportunity for me to pursue my passion,” he said. 

Harris has visited almost every continent, seeking out some of the most elusive of wildlife, such as bald eagles in Alaska, Japanese cranes in Japan, penguins in Antarctica and jaguars in Brazil. On a 2002 photo safari trip to Botswana’s Savuti Safari Camp, Harris managed to capture the perfect shot of a lioness lounging in the setting sun. “On these trips, one may do photography for 12 to 16 hours per day. This was one of the last shots of the day due to the failing light,” Harris explained. “The sun highlighting the lion’s face and the deep, rich, horizontal shadows made a very attractive setting.”