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Rodney Lough Jr.

Rodney Lough Jr. (b1960- ) is an American photographer noted for his wilderness landscape photographs of nature, and his purist approach to photography.

About the Artist Although Wilderness Photographer Rodney Lough Jr. has traveled many paths through life, the theme of his journey is fearlessness. He often packs his 80 pounds of large-format 8x10 photography gear 60 miles into the American wilderness. Rodney is also the proprietor of the Wilderness Collections Gallery at San Francisco’s Pier 39.

Passion From Childhood Rodney has been viewing life through the lens since the age of twelve. His father’s best friend, a photographer, noted young Rodney’s eye for composition and encouraged him to photograph his world. Here are some thoughts Rodney recently shared. “My ‘Uncle Bill,’ as I called him, gave me a beat up 35 mm Olympus, showed me how to load film, and helped me set up my first darkroom in the bathroom. I was fascinated by the process. I still am,” Rodney recalls. “I initially gravitated toward photography as a means of documenting my travels, of recording the natural beauty that surrounded me in my youth. As I grew more comfortable behind the camera,” Rodney explains, “I began to view the capturing of the natural landscape as an expression of creativity and passion rather than as a chronicle of my adventures.” From an early age, Rodney encouraged others to view the natural world from a unique, celebratory perspective. “The world is a remarkable place full of beauty and splendor,” Rodney exclaims. “To witness the simple grandeur of creation, the miracle of nature, is perhaps all that we need. The peace received while viewing a leaf turned color at the height of fall is immense and divine.”

Making a Change Although the wilderness has always fed his soul, it was the corporate world that first fed his children. Rodney began his professional life as a statistician and mathematician. After working for several years as a Director of Database and Research in New Jersey, living within the confines of cubicle walls became unbearable for the outdoorsman. “I came home from work one day,” Rodney reminisces with a smile, “And I told my wife LeeAnna that I had quit my job. She asked me what I intended to do for work, and I said that I was going to focus on my photography. She whispered in my ear, ‘It’s about time.’ That’s when I knew I had married the right woman. We’ve been sharing a life for eighteen years now.” Within a week of his liberation from all things statistical, Rodney and LeeAnna rallied their four young children and journeyed west. “I withdrew our life savings, which wasn’t much at the time, to move home to Colorado and begin a new life. I vividly remember my excitement during the first few months of our transition. This was a time of great hope and great uncertainty. I was sustained by the love of my family and by the freedom to finally pursue my passion.”

The early years were busy ones. Rodney endured long days spent traveling to over 30 national juried art shows each year. “To make ends meet during my first few years as a self-employed fine art photographer, I entered nearly every juried art show in the country. As I accumulated awards and complements from coast to coast, I realized that although I photographed the American West, there was demand for my work everywhere, from California to Ohio to Florida. This experience inspired me to reach above and beyond the juried art show circuit.”

In a familiar leap of faith, Rodney again withdrew his life savings to open his first fine art gallery in the summer of 2002. The original Wilderness Collections Gallery is nestled along the waterfront among the quaint shops of Sausalito, California. After a successful first year in Sausalito, Rodney pooled the financial resources of several friends and collectors and signed his name to a formidable gallery lease. Measuring in at 5,500 square feet, the second Wilderness Collections Gallery occupies one of the largest retail spaces at San Francisco’s Pier 39, the most popular tourist attraction in California and the third most-visited venue in the nation.

The Galleries As gallery sales steadily increased, fine art collectors trumpeted their newfound talent. Word of Rodney’s mastery reached Fuji Film executives, who invited Rodney to join the Fuji Film Talent Team as an expert lecturer. A jury of art critics also recognized Rodney’s talent and elected him to the ranks of Ansel Adams and Eliot Porter as a Yahoo Master Photographer. “I was standing at the foot of a mountain,” Rodney recalls, “Thinking that the face was too steep to climb. At that moment, my cell phone rang in an area that usually has no service. My friend had called to tell me that I had been added to the Yahoo Master Photographers list. I felt so surprised and honored; I didn’t even know Yahoo was aware of my work! So I hung up the phone, and without a second thought, I climbed the mountain.” Another year later saw the opening of yet another gallery - this time in the famous Mall of America. All of the Wilderness Collections Galleries continue to thrive as Rodney scouts locations for another gallery. Folks won't have to wait long though as the groundwork has already been set to open in Las Vegas in 2009.

The Methodology When asked, Rodney thoughtfully details the formula for his success. “One fundamental key to my success is my ‘do-it-myself’ approach. I create everything in my studio, without an assistant. I photograph, I print, I mat and I frame. As a result, I’m able to guarantee excellent standards without breaking the bank. And because I’m the craftsman and the retailer, I can offer museum-quality work for honest prices.” Rodney leans back in his chair and rests his feet on the desk as he searches his mind for the secret of his prosperity. Although his thick beard cloaks the look of intensity on his face, his eyes betray his focused concentration. “I prosper because I’m willing to strike while the iron’s hot, to take a risk at the right time. Although I research all potential outcomes of any financial risk I take, the future’s always uncertain. This uncertainty fires up the same excitement I experience on the trail.”

Rodney’s responsible risk-taking applies to more than business ventures and wilderness expeditions. Rodney takes chances on people, too. “There is an overwhelming demand in the corporate world for individuals who have decades of related experience on their resumes. By contrast, I hire sales associates who have lived abroad or explored their passions, and are more interesting people as a result. Because my sales associates have already cultivated their minds and personalities, they’re easy to work with and they build a natural rapport with many types of people.” “Because I give my employees a chance to prove what they’re worth,” Rodney continues, “They go above and beyond the call of duty to earn my trust. Because I have few employees, mutual trust and respect is extremely important, and I foster that by giving individuals from unrelated fields or recent college graduates the opportunity to reach their potential years before they could elsewhere.” To nurture the delicate balance of mutual trust and respect, Rodney travels from his home in Happy Valley, Oregon to his galleries to lead Saturday morning sales meetings. Rodney is always the first to arrive bright-eyed at 8:30 a.m., bearing donuts, orange juice and his usual playful grin. “Sure, I could hire someone else to manage my employees and conduct our sales meetings,” Rodney reasons, “But that would create a sense of distance between us. It’s important to me that my employees—my friends—know that I’m a member of the team, not some distant observer.”

Despite the diversity of his roles—artist, father, husband, craftsman and employer—Lough insists that each role complements the others. The sum is greater than the parts. “The skills I have for managing employees and for parenting—patience, trust, flexibility and intuition—I learned from the wilderness. Because nature is dynamic, because no other morning will ever look like this morning, I have learned to allow the wilderness to inspire and direct my photographs. Because I have learned to give myself to the elements, I am better equipped to embrace the unpredictability of all aspects of life.”

Although Rodney typically gleans wisdom through experience, he welcomes the friendly advice of his photographic mentors. “In my first year as a professional photographer, I had the rare opportunity to meet Willard Clay at the Grand Tetons. I asked him if he had advice to offer an aspiring wilderness photographer. He simply replied, ‘Always remember that the wind is your friend.’ Anyone who’s attempted to photograph in the wind knows that the wind is not your friend. Initially, I was confused by advice. And then in a moment of enlightenment, I understood his message. I realized that if I were willing to wait out the wind, when the wind stops, I would be the only one present to capture the moment. Time and again, I’ve relied on this advice in situations that try my patience.”

Because Rodney strictly abstains from using color filters and digital effects, he often waits for weeks in one location for the ideal illumination of autumn leaves or for a fleeting highlight to reveal the delicacy of a dogwood bloom. “To capture my photograph ‘Day Dreaming,’ an image of the Grand Tetons at sunrise, I returned to the same spot each day for three months. Sure, I could have easily created this photograph by digitally manipulating an inferior image, but that would undermine my goal. I want to present nature in a truthful way. I want people to appreciate the beauty of nature, not the ingenuity of the photographer.”

The ideals of purity and honesty that Rodney developed as an artist have created a compassionate businessman. “For any relationship to succeed, balance must be achieved through mutually beneficial exchange. Because I owe my good fortune to my relationship with nature, it’s my duty to give back to the wilderness. Each year I donate a portion of my profits to a national park or wildlife conservation organization. In this way I can help to protect our vanishing wilderness.” Rodney Continues, “If our wilderness is defiled, what will remind us that each moment is a gift to be cherished? I’ve stood on mountaintops that echo a pure silence, like that of a chapel, and have wept from the excellence of the experience. Each time I frame the world through my camera lens, I remember Emerson’s words: ‘standing on the bare ground a mean egotism vanishes. I am nothing; I see all. The currents of the Universal Being circulate through me. I am part or particle of God.’”

Photography career

Rodney Lough Jr. is a renowned award winning Master Photographer beloved by thousands of fine art collectors worldwide. His last book “Wilderness Collections” won two prestigious Benny Awards and he was recently honored by the Smithsonian as being the worlds best landscape photographer.

Renowned for the vibrant colors and intricate textures in his wilderness landscape photography, Rodney is a purist who captures what nature creates, using no color filters or darkroom deception. More than simply documenting his travels though life, Rodney is able to bring back with him the spirit and essence of a place, enabling us all to view the natural world from a unique celebratory perspective and to share that remarkable moment when he clicked the shutter and stilled a moment in time. “The world is a remarkable place full of beauty and splendor,” Rodney exclaims. “To witness the simple grandeur of creation, the miracle of nature, is perhaps all that we need. The peace received while viewing a leaf changing color at the height of fall is immense and divine.”

You are invited to share Rodney’s works, and enthusiasm for wilderness, at one of his Wilderness Collections Galleries located at PIER 39 in San Francisco, in downtown Sausalito, at the Mall of America in Minnesota, City Center in Las Vegas, and at his original studio in Happy Valley, Oregon.

Rodney Lough Jr. lives and works in Happy Valley, with his wife LeeAnna and their four children. When not at home with his family or in his studio, you can find him searching the national landscape for overlooked treasures in America’s vast and beautiful wilderness.

Books

• Wildernness Collections on Amazon
  
• Beyond the Trail
  

Awards

Rodney has never been really big on entering contests, in one sense it’s a part of who he is and why he’s so good at what he does, affording him the freedom to seek out his own artistic vision of the world.

For the first time ever, in 2007, we talked him into submitting his work into the best photography contests the world could provide, just to see what would happen. We thought that if we could even get a mention, that would be amazing. We never expected the tribute that followed.

Rodney put it eloquently when, at the Smithsonian Awards, he said: “I am humbled that such a prestigious group of art critics, in a way artists themselves, have awarded me such great honors this year. That you have blessed me with such high esteem and recognition will forever fill me with joy.”

2007

  Professional Photographers of America 
  International Print Competition
       PONDERING THE POND   ...............  MERIT
       GOD’S GARDEN   .....................  MERIT
       PASSING THROUGH    .................  MERIT
       PONDERING THE POND   ...............  LOAN
       PASSING THROUGH    .................  LOAN
  WINDLAND SMITH RICE INTERNATIONAL AWARDS
  BEST LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHER 
     WORLDLY WONDER  - ON DISLAY AT SMITHONIAN
     NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
  THE LUCIES - INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS
     PROFESSIONAL HONORABLE MENTION
  ENVIRONMENTAL PHOTOGRAPHY INVITATIONAL
     PROFESSIONAL HONORABLE MENTION

2006

  SECONDARY MARKET BEGINS TO SELL WORKS 
  In EUROPE

2005

  UNITED NATIONS CITATION
  WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY
       HOSTS UNITED NATIONS CEREMONY AT HIS SAN FRANCISCO GALLERY
  RECEIVES OFFICIAL UNITED NATIONS CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION 
       FOR OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION
  INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM OF WOMEN
       “GENERATIONS” BY RODNEY LOUGH JR.

2003

  NAMED TO THE YAHOO’S MASTER PHOTOGRAPHERS LIST
  DENTON ART & JAZZ
       BEST OF SHOW
  THREE RIVERS ARTS FESTIVAL</B?>
       FESTIVAL AWARD

  NAMED TO FUJI FILM TALENT TEAM
  AUSTIN FINE ARTS FESTIVAL
       BEST IN MEDIUM
  THREE RIVERS ARTFEST
       ACHIEVEMENT IN PRESENTATION

  ANN ARBOR ART FAIR
       AWARD OF MERIT
  TULSA INTERNATIONAL MAYFEST
       AWARD OF EXCELENCE
       ART EXPO
  THREE RIVERS ARTFEST
       ACHIEVEMENT IN PRESENTATION
  BENNY AWARDS
       RECEIVES TWO (2) BENNY AWARDS OF EXCELENCE

  PUBLISHES FIRST BOOK - WILDERNESS COLLECTIONS
  ANN ARBOR ART FAIR
       AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
  TULSA INTERNATIONAL MAYFEST
       AWARD OF EXCELENCE
       FESTIVAL AWARD OF MERIT
  THREE RIVERS ARTFEST
       BEST OF PHOTOGRAPHY

  ANN ARBOR ART FAIR
       AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
  HOUSTON FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS
       BEST OF SHOW
  BAYOU CITY ART FESTIVAL
       BEST OF SHOW
  GHENT ART EXPLOSURE
       AB JACKSON AWARD

  PORT CLINTON ART FESTIVAL
       FIRST PLACE PHOTOGRAPHY
  CHICAGO’S NEW EASTDISE ARTWORKS
       BEST OF SHOW

  AMMOCO
       PURCHASE AWARD
  SIERRA CLUB
       FIRST PUBLICATION

  FIRST PROFESSIONAL SHOWING
       EVERYTHING SELLS

  FIRST PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST
       WINS BEST IN PHOTOGRAPHY AT 17

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