Born and raised in Boise, Gary comes from a family with deep roots in Idaho. Those deep roots included a rustic family cabin on the lake at McCall, and it was the summers in McCall that led Gary to the mountain life reflected in his photography.

Like many before him, Gary did not set out to be a professional photographer. During a brief stint in college, he discovered he had a photographer’s eye and the technical skills to capture striking images. His run at higher education ended abruptly, and Gary found himself in boot camp at Fort Knox. It turned out, the base had a well-equipped dark room, and Gary’s work — particularly the black-and-white images of his fellow soldiers — became popular with the base community. He sold enough to buy his first high-end camera. He also made a mental note that “you can sell photos.”

Gary’s military obligation came to end in 1972, and he decided to find out what it was like to live in McCall year-round. Before he knew it, he had a wife, two daughters and his own business. Supporting the new family left little time for hiking and photography. Fortunately, his work did have him traveling the dirt backroads through the spectacular mountains and river canyons in the area around McCall. He looked at the distant peaks and wandered what treasures a backpacker might discover hidden away up there.

Time passed, and Gary found himself working at Brundage Mountain Ski Resort where he discovered again that you can get paid to do fun work. Gary was on the hill all through ski season. When Brundage set up a summer whitewater rafting operation on the Salmon River, Gary became a river guide.

Everywhere Gary went, he was surrounded by pictures begging to be taken. The seasonal nature of his work provided more opportunity for Gary to explore all those back country peaks. Following a scary surgery in 2000, Gary stopped saying “some day” and started exploring. He dug out the old camera and disappeared into the mountains.

Before long, Gary had a large (and growing) collection of coffee-table book images. He began showcasing them one-by-one as the Photo of the Day on the Brundage web site. The photos were a hit, and the site started getting requests from all over the world for more photos.

Eventually, Gary left his job at Brundage and turned his hobby into his profession. He retired his trusty old Canon film camera and went digital. Time in the darkroom gave way to time at the computer. Gary had long been a natural with computers, and he quickly added Photoshop to his toolkit.

Today, Gary’s portfolio includes everything from sunrise over a remote mountain cirque to a young buckaroo hanging on for dear life at the Riggins Rodeo. Accompanied by his apprentice, Nikki the Boarder Collie, Gary shoots scenic vistas, wildlife, action sports, sailboats, snowy streams and anything else he can find that evokes the essence of life in Idaho’s untamed interior.