Artist Profiles

Paul Staniszewski

Paul Staniszewski received a bachelors degree in Industrial Arts Education from California University of Pennsylvania and taught technology in public schools in northeastern New Jersey. His professional accomplishments include receiving the prestigious School Leader Award presented by the New Jersey School Boards Association and he participated in the New Jersey Department of Education's Teacher Recognition Program. Additionally, Paul coauthored a book titled Understanding Educational Planning and wrote several articles published in professional educational journals. Upon retirement, he relocated to northcentral Pennsylvania and currently resides in Troutville. He spends a lot of time roaming the hills around Benezette, searching for elk to photograph. He enjoys meeting with other elk photographers to discuss photography equipment, techniques employed and share tips on how to successfully approach and photograph elk.

Paul’s elk photographs were featured in the 2013 CNB Bank calendar as the result of a photo contest. WQED, the educational television station in Pittsburgh, has a blog called "Outside My Window". The blog featured two articles concerning Paul’s work: wqed.org/birdblog/2011/07/08/attitude and wqed.org/birdblog/2012/07/16/rare-sight

Paul’s elk photographs can be purchased at the following retail outlets:
-Winkler Gallery of Fine Art- DuBois, Pennsylvania
-Elk Country Visitor Center - Benezette, Pennsylvania
-Evergreen Valley Vineyards - Luthersburg, Pennsylvania
-Elk County Council on the Arts Gallery - Ridgway, Pennsylvania
-Fairlady & Company - Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania

Paul has a Tortoiseshell Siamese cat named Abby. Like most Siamese cats, she is curious, smart, vocal and demanding. She enjoys being around water. There is a stream running through Paul’s property, and Abby will spend hours playing in the water. Also, every evening, she looks forward to their daily walks along the stream. She is not leashed or restrained in any way and will walk in a manner that any dog owner would appreciate. Paul supports the Siamese Cat Rescue Center - Working together to help homeless cats nationwide.
366 Meander Run Road, Locust Dale, VA 22948

View Paul’s work at: floralphoto.us and floralphoto.us/guidetophotographingelk

Email address: elkphotograph@gmail.com

Ronald "Buckwheat" Saffer

Ronald “Buckwheat” Saffer is from Western Pennsylvania. He has been photographing the PA elk herd since 1983. His photographs have been published in Bugle, PA Sportsmen, Keystone Sportsmen, Keystone Conservationist, plus several calendars and brochures.

Contact information:

buckwheat15767@yahoo.com

814-938-4973

Willard Hill

Willard Hill is from Fulton County, Pennsylvania. He attended Shippensburg University with the goal of becoming a history teacher. His path changed and he went to work for the PA Game Commission until 2007. He served as a maintenance worker and Deputy Wildlife Conservation Officer. For the last five years of his career, he served as maintenance supervisor for Fulton County and portions of Bedford and Franklin Counties.

Willard began photographing wildlife in 1974 and switched to video in late 1990. By 1999, he was working with still photography again and has continued a mixture of the two to this day.

Willard has been published in Bugle magazine, Pennsylvania Magazine, The Richard King Mellon Annual Report and the PA Game Commission calendar. His work is featured in the theater presentation at the Elk Country Visitor Center in Benezette, PA. Most of the elk in the movie were filmed by Tom Murphy of Weedville, PA, but Willard filmed much of the other species shown. He also filmed the tremendous bull fight that occurs near the end of the movie.

Willard visited Elk County for the first time in winter of 1995 and soon began a serious effort to accumulate a large body of footage with the goal of producing an elk film. Upon retirement, he intensified his efforts and “The Truth About Pennsylvania’s Elk Herd” was released in September, 2008. The two hour and 42 minute film gives a brief history of PA elk and goes on to cover their life cycle, with special emphasis on the rut. It also covers “elk culture” on Winslow Hill, primarily as it existed from 1995 through 2001. It concludes with an in-depth look into elk management Issues.

In October, 2007, Willard became the first on the internet to write extensively about PA elk and management issues, when he launched the “Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer” blog. The blog covers other wildlife, with an emphasis on white-tailed deer and eastern wild turkey.

Willard spends over 300 days a year filming and photographing wildlife. When he is not working with elk, his primary areas of interest are deer and turkey.

Willard released a second film in September, 2012 titled “Running Wild in Pennsylvania Elk Country”. This film features elk, but it also covers other species found in elk country. As a result, the viewer comes away with a good understanding of both the life cycle of elk and other key species such as deer and turkey.

Today, Willard continues to film and photograph wildlife. He also writes about photography and conservation issues.

Willard and his wife, Susan, have a daughter, Amy.

Contact information:
htpvideo@gmail.com
147 E. Hill Road, Needmore, PA 17238

Coy Hill

Coy Hill makes his home in the sparsely populated farm country and ragged ridges of Fulton County, Pennsylvania. Developing an intense interest in wildlife at an early age, he fished and hunted at every opportunity. In recent years, digital cameras and telephoto lenses have become his tools of choice for the majority of his hunting endeavors.

Coy first visited the PA elk range in the 1990’s and was awestruck by the beauty, size and grandeur of the mature bull elk. After acquiring his first DSLR in 2007, he could hardly wait until the rut to photograph the magnificent animals at their finest.

Coy’s work has been published in the PA Game Commission calendar and in Pennsylvania Magazine. A selection of his work can be viewed at countrycaptures.blogspot.com, which is a blog where he showcases his latest photographs.

For inquiries regarding prints or publication, you may contact Coy at countrycaptures@gmail.com.

Tom Dorsey

Tom Dorsey is from Kersey, Pennsylvania, which is conveniently close to the PA elk herd. He has been photographing elk for 15 years, but has become more serious about it in the last five years. Currently, he is a juried artist at Elk County Council on the Arts in Ridgway, PA. He maintains two online blogs: enjoyingallthatnatureoffers.blogspot.com and pawingerswhodathunk.blogspot.com.

Tom’s accomplishments include the following: Grand Prize winner PA Wilds Photo Contest, PA Parks and Forest Peoples Choice Award, 2013 CNB Calendar Contest, Kersey Bicentennial Photo Contest (4) 1st Place winners as well as Best of Show, selected for a postcard contest for Bicentennial celebration, photos and story published in a nationally circulated magazine (USCA Canoe News), photos used for promotional items in the state park system, photos published in Mountain Home magazine (including cover photo) and written article and photos published in Let’s Go (PA Great Outdoors magazine).

Tom has been married to his high school sweetheart, Jeanne, for 40 years. They have a son, Jeremy. Tom and Jeanne enjoy everything that has to do with the outdoors. They hike, ride snowmobiles, mountain bike, camp at PA state parks and kayak. They also enjoy touring on their Goldwing and geocaching. While they love photographing elk, they have a passion for all wildlife and anything in nature. Presently, they are trying to see how many different species of ducks they can photograph.

Tom and Jeanne rescued their cat, Casey, when he was abandoned by his former owners. He is a big cat with a huge personality and he definitely loves his new home.

Contact information: 814-885-8232; tdorsey01@windstream.net

Richard Coy

Richard Coy is from Graceton, Pennsylvania. He has been photographing PA elk for 12 years. His elk photography has been featured in the PA Outdoor Journal. Other photographs have been used in the Indiana County tourist calendar and on postcards. He created the Benezette Elk Camera Club and it’s Facebook page in September, 2010.

For 30 years, Richard photographed in areas ranging from Tionesta, PA to Coundersport, PA.

Richard and his wife, Barbara, have three sons, one daughter and 13 grandchildren. They also have a 13-year-old long haired Chihuahua named Mickey. “He never leaves me, as he knows I have a sight problem,” says Richard.

Richard has spent time rescuing animals for the humane society.

Legally blind since August, 2012, Richard has had to stop driving. Barbara never complains about driving him to various locations, so that he can continue his photography. “I would like to thank my wife, Barbara, for all you do for me in my quest to photograph the wilds. I love you dearly."

Contact Information:

Email: rlcblc@verizon.net

Phone: 724-479-9711

Blog: sunrisephotos-rlcphotos.blogspot.com

Jim Borden

Jim grew up in the small town of Holliday in Northern Tioga County, Pennsylvania. His childhood provided a sound basis for developing skills of interacting with wildlife. He learned to be an ethical and humane hunter, fisherman and sportsman, while spending most of his spare time at camp in Potter County. Jim began wildlife photography in the early 1970’s with a Minolta SRT camera and lenses. He took the camera with him on hunts and found as much enjoyment photographing wildlife as he did the shooting part of the hunts. His primary subjects were initially elk and deer. Jim began to use digital SLR photography in 2006 and shifted to all types of nature photography including elk, deer, moose, Bald Eagles, birds and scenic landscapes. Jim and his wife, Joan, have pro Nikon equipment and spend their leisure time photographing nature and wildlife. They endeavor to do the photography in a manner to avoid stressing animals or birds.

Jim is a juried photographer for the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition in Charleston, South Carolina. He had two images in the top five of the 2009 Maine Moose Photography Contest, has been published in Precision Shooting magazine and Bangor Metro summer guide. He also has a cover photo on Maine Sportsman guide.

Photographs can be viewed and purchased at bordenphotography.com.

Contact information:
1325 Sheldon Hill Road, Springville, PA 18844
570-965-2505; jim_mac69@bordenphotography.com.

Dave Anderson

Dave Anderson is from West Newton, Pennsylvania. He has been interested in photography ever since he bought a Canon AE-1 with his graduation money in 1979. Aside from photography, Dave is an accomplished and award-winning painter. There is nothing he enjoys more than getting the shot he is after and turning it into an oil painting.

Dave and his wife of 31 years, Vicki, have two daughters, Sarah and Jillian. He is very proud of his family and thankful for their support, as he has had to endure eight surgeries, including a kidney transplant, from 2006 through 2008. Close friend, Joe Omasta, donated his kidney to Dave.

Dave is the proud owner of Geno, a Yorkie rescued from a shelter in West Virginia. Normally by his side, Geno has been a big help to Dave throughout his recovery.

Dave donates some of his paintings to various wildlife organizations including “Trout Unlimited” and “National Wild Turkey Federation”. He also donates to area children who are battling cancer.

You may view his work on his Facebook page titled “Camera to Canvas by Dave Anderson”.

Email: davidw.anderson13@gmail.com