Meet the Artist
Dan Elster
Photography
Dan Elster was born in Chicago, 1971. In 2006, he and his wife moved to Ashland, OR where Dan began his career as a full time wildlife photographer. He has participated in 100's of art festivals throughout the Pacific Northwest including - Bellevue Art Museum show, Bend Art in the High Desert, Marin Art Fair, Anacortes, Lake Oswego, Edmonds, WA and the Wild Arts Festival for 9 consecutive years, (ending with the arrival of Covid). He has served as a jury member and board member for the Lithia Artisan's Market in Ashland since 2010. In 2015 he was featured on the PBS television show - Oregon Art Beat. In 2019, he published a 150 page, hardcover coffee table book of his best work from the last decade, the crowning achievement of his career, at least so far. Dan has been the recipient of over $15,000 in grant money over the last few years and he regularly contributes money, time and images to both conservation causes and children's education. In 2019 Dan launched his now signature line of greeting cards called "Big Picture Greetings". Ten percent of sales is donated to various wildlife conservation Organizations. Over three thousand dollars has already gone "back to the wild". Recipients have included Project Coyote, The Rattlesnake Conservancy, and The Elakha Alliance among others.
Images are wild animals only (no captive/staged subjects). The subjects’ welfare always comes first. Most of his work is of Oregon wildlife. 95% of his images are created the "traditional" way, but recently, he’s begun experimenting with sophisticated motion detecting techniques to photograph very rare/strictly nocturnal species. Minor photoshop alterations only (contrast, cropping, color tweaks).
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