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Natural Virginia

Panoramic Landscape Photographs by Ben Greenberg

	Book Contributors

Virginia Regions

Tidewater

Piedmont

Western Virginia

Ben Greenberg

Ben Greenberg is a lifelong resident of Virginia who moved to Charlottesville for the third time in 2002. He grew up in Richmond and lived most of his adult life there. His passion for photography began in 1970 when his oldest son was born and he was lent a manual Kodak Retina C Camera to photograph his first born. From this beginning his fascination with and commitment to photography grew quickly and it wasn’t long before he began capturing images of the world around him.

He has now photographed scenic vistas in Virginia, the mid-Atlantic area and many locations throughout the United States for more than forty years. His carefully crafted landscape photographs have won local and national awards and competitions, including the International Grand Prize for the KINSA photography contest, and they have been exhibited in numerous individual and group shows. They have been featured in diverse publications and purchased for thousands of private collections.

Ben's images are currently represented in galleries and shops primarily in central Virginia. Ben also enjoys exhibiting his landscape photographs in selective outdoor arts and crafts shows and he has had numerous exhibits of his work in locations in the Richmond and Charlottesville Virginia areas.

Ben takes great pride in creating photographic images of the highest quality in color and black and white. He works hard to plan his visits to locations in the field at the perfect time during the day and year when it is most photogenic, and, if the weather or light is not optimal, Ben will revisit locations as many times as it takes to find dramatic images. He has used the best of traditional and cutting edge technology, film and digital, seeking to capture photographs that provide the discriminating viewer with an image that portrays all the natural beauty of the subject. His photographic prints and all materials used in their presentation are prepared to meet archival quality standards for maximum longevity and a lifetime of enjoyment.

In recent years Ben has taken great pleasure in sharing his photography knowledge and skills with aspiring photographers through one-to-one mentoring as well as teaching classes, leading workshops and speaking to photography groups and clubs.

Ben's primary subjects are the scenic vistas of mountains, landscapes, rivers, lakes and shorelines of Virginia and the nation. Ben is well-known for his images from throughout the state of Virginia, including the James River, the Blue Ridge Parkway and Shenandoah National Park, as well as numerous state parks, wildlife management areas and national wildlife refuges. Ben has visited locations throughout the state of Virginia, including Tidewater, the Piedmont, Tangier Island, the Eastern Shore, Southwest Virginia, Northern Neck, the Shenandoah Valley, and Northern Virginia. Ben has also expanded his subjects to waterfowl, including great egrets, great blue herons, ospreys and eagles.

Deane Dozier

Deane Dozier is an outdoor writer and wildlife photographer living in Virginia’s Blue Ridge on the southern end of Shenandoah National Park, with black bears and wild turkeys as her closest neighbors.

Deane’s love for the Virginia outdoors began in childhood when the family would spend summers and winter weekends at their camp deep in the George Washington National Forest in Deerfield Valley near the Calfpasture River. Her first writing/photography job was at the Waynesboro News Virginian, followed by a position as a News Bureau Chief for the Charlottesville Daily Progress. For 17 years, she supplied the Richmond Times-Dispatch with outdoor writing and photography when her late husband Garvey Winegar was their outdoor writer.

As she explores the mountains and valleys of Virginia, Deane observes and makes intimate photographic portraits and word pictures of wildlife and native plants. World-renowned tracker and wilderness survival expert Tom Brown Jr. of the New Jersey Pine Barrens helped Deane learn how to get close to forest animals by studying tracks and signs. She learned how to capitalize on natural lighting by specializing for a time in outdoor portraiture. She has followed black bear biologists through woodlands and swamps in Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania, notepad and camera in hand, and accompanied Afton Mountain hawk watchers and Eastern Shore bird banders to learn what they know. She especially enjoys the challenge of capturing the many moods of mature forests and wilderness areas with the goal of furthering an appreciation of Virginia’s incredible natural heritage. Her wildlife and nature photographs have won numerous blue ribbons and two Best of Show awards in exhibits up and down the East Coast, and she has been recognized by state organizations for her conversation writing and investigative reporting. She is also a web designer, with an emphasis on outdoor themes.

The Staunton, Virginia, native is the author of the comprehensive Longstreet Highroad Guide to the Chesapeake Bay and co-author of Highroad Guide to the Virginia Mountains (J. F. Blair, Publisher) and Natural Wonders of Virginia: Exploring Wild and Scenic Places (McGraw-Hill). Each of the two Highroad Guides won the Virginia Outdoor Writers Association's Excellence in Craft award.

William Tayloe Murphy, Jr.

W. Tayloe Murphy, Jr. has been repeatedly recognized for his outstanding service to the Commonwealth of Virginia. His efforts for the state were highlighted by his 18 years representing Northern Neck in the General Assembly’s House of Delegates from 1982 – 2000. During his tenure as a Delegate he patroned important legislation and was instrumental in the passage of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act and the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Act. He has been described as the father of most major pieces of environmental legislation in the state legislature.

Tayloe Murphy also served as a member of the Chesapeake Bay Commission and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. He chaired the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission during its two-year review of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. From 2002 -2006 Tayloe Murphy was Virginia’s Secretary of Natural Resources in the Administration of Governor Mark Warner, serving as the state’s chief protector of the state’s natural environment.

Tayloe Murphy has been a leading voice for environmental interests in Virginia for decades. He played an instrumental role in the development of key legislation, regulations and policies. It has been said that he has served the Commonwealth with great distinction and an uncommon commitment to the conservation and stewardship of Virginia’s beautiful and cherished natural resources.