Rob Curtis became interested in photography when he went to Florida to do art & craft shows in 1987. At this time his media was lapidary and metalsmithing. Upon arriving in Florida, he immediately noticed the large herons that seemed everywhere. Noting that there seemed to be several types, and armed with a field guide and binoculars, he set out to identify the different species. Wanting people back home to know about these amazing birds, he photographed a green heron with an Instamatic camera that had been a gift. Getting the prints back though, he could hardly find the bird in the picture, so small was its image. Rob then bought a decent 35mm camera and became obsessed with photographing birds for the six months he was down there. Every free day, from dawn to dusk, he would seek out new species to document, traversing the state many times, from the Keys to the Everglades to the northern forests, enduring bites from the mosquitos, ticks, chiggers, no-see-ums, spiders and fire ants that permeated the habitat of his subjects.

Knowing nothing about photography, he kept careful records of all his camera settings, and learned from his mistakes. That first year all his shots were on 400ASA film and shot with a 300mm lens with a 3x multiplier. All shots were thus very grainy and not of professional quality, but the essence of photography was picked up. Back in Chicago, he got a very good deal on a used 600mm Nikon lens, and he took this as a sign that this was an opportunity to take expert quality photos. He returned to Florida the following winter and again spent every free day from dawn to dusk for 5 months photographing wildlife, chiefly birds. This time, the pictures were of professional quality and could be submitted to magazines. The first one published, of a Painted Bunting, was used on a cover of the National Audubon Society magazine, American Birds. It was later re-used as the frontispiece logo to promote the magazine. Among the many other pictures that were taken that year and used by magazines, three more were used for covers.

Since then, Rob has expanded his choice of subjects to other wildlife, including insects, flowers and scenics, and photography is now his main occupation. He has had thousands of photos published in nature magazines and books in the US and the UK, including 8 covers.. Some contributions:

39 shots to the newly revised National Audubon Field Guides to the Birds         

49 photos in the Stokes Bird Field Guides.

Double page Natural Moment” feature in the Natural History magazine  entitled “Snowball” , of a Bluebird fluffed out in the snow, became one of his most popular shots.   

The National Geographic birdwatching site guides used some of his shots.

The covers of a Chicago Wilderness Magazine,

City of Chicago publication, Windy City Birds 

“Birding in Chicago City Parks” brochure , used his photos exclusively.

Placards along the Chicago Birding Trail and at the Jarvis Bird Sanctuary at Addison and the Lakefront used over 100 of his shots.

The Kenn Kaufmann Field Guide to Insects, used over 300 of his shots, the largest single contribution of any photographer.

Overt 1700 of his bird images were used on the latest Thayer Birding Software DVD, which was the highest total of any contributor.

Currently, images of over 1138 species of living things have been published, 567 of them, birds. 

Other credits include:

The first photographic exhibit at the prestigious art gallery “One Touch of Nature”

2nd place prizes twice at the Broadway Art Fair

 “Best of Show” prizes at the Wright College Art Fair and the Chesterton “Wizard of Oz Festival”. 

First prize was won at the Downer’s Grove Art Fair and other awards include from the Gold Coast Fair, and Glenview Art Fair.

 A Bald Eagle flying with a fish on the August issue of WILD BIRD magazine. 

Second place at a September Elkhart Fine Arts festival. 

COVERS of June/July and August/September 2009 issues of NATIONAL WILDLIFE MAGAZINE 

95 images in iPhone app, BIRDSEYE. 

A diving American Kestrel on the cover of WILD BIRD magazine, their penultimate issue.

Rob’s greatest hope is that his photos will add to the awareness of the diversity of life and nature that is being lost daily. Perhaps a photograph may induce a viewer to care about the subject and contribute to some of the many organizations that are trying to protect endangered species and their habitats.