It was her love of wildlife and a desire to interact with wild things that started Cathy Illg down the road to a career in nature photography. Never satisfied with a superficial, generic shot, she specializes in images that show something of the spirit of either the place or the animal she's photographing. And she is often attracted to places and species that other photographers have passed by, even going so far as to maroon herself on a deserted, tropical island to accomplish this. She feels that every species, no matter how common or overlooked, has a story to tell and a central role to play in some stellar photos.

Her work appears in nearly every major nature publication in North America. Dynamic Wildlife Photography, her latest book, which she co-authored with her husband, Gordon, provides instruction on how to take photos that are more than just technically correct. Cathy and her husband also lead nature photography tours under the name Adventure Photography. Several of her photos decorate the tails of Frontier Airlines' jets, and she has earned numerous awards in the Nature's Best International Photographic Competition.

www.advenphoto.com