Dan Elster

Dan Elster was born in Chicago, Illinois. His interest in photography started as a hobby when bird-watching away from the busy city but quickly transformed into a passion. For Dan, communion with wildlife was a meaningful and life-changing experience and photography evolved from a documenting technique into a way of capturing the spirit, character, and beauty of animals in their natural habitat. In his drive to be closer to nature, Dan moved across the country and eventually settled in Ashland, Oregon. His subject matter, wildlife, is his biggest passion and his work is fueled by a desire to raise awareness to preserve it. His style was influenced by photographers and conservationists Thomas Mangelsen, Nick Brandt, and David Winston and by the writing of Henry David Thoreau.