While I had dabbled in photography growing up, what hooked me for good was doing a month-long mountaineering expedition in the Alaska Range in 1996. The natural scenery was the most amazing I had ever seen. My senses felt sharpened, and my feelings extra vivid. I wanted to capture some slices of that world, as personal mementos of course, but also importantly as a way to share the power of that experience with others back home.

I take pictures of things that have emotional impact for me. Sometimes that impact is based in the striking, awe inspiring nature of a scene. Maybe it is first light pouring onto a huge, looming mountain wall, or wild storm clouds billowing overhead. Nature seems to serve up plenty of these moments if you are looking. In other cases, the impact comes from a feeling of connection with a person pictured. In these cases, I attempt to communicate a real sense of what the person is experiencing. If I can combine both of these aspects in one photograph, it's all the better. Seeking out, recording, and sharing these images is what fuels my photography.

Please visit www.pollackphoto.com to see more of my work, and for information about licensing images and purchasing prints.