NATURE PHOTOGRAPHER

Ruth Hoyt, professional photographer

Ruth Hoyt is an accomplished nature photographer. Her favorite kind of work is shooting close-ups of small details in nature: bugs on leaves, little animals hiding in trees, small birds gliding along the water.

She fell into her career quite by accident. In 1989, her house was broken into and she found herself replacing an expensive camera she had never learned how to use. She signed herself up for a camera class at a local community center and soon discovered a talent she did not know she had. Hoyt spent that first summer with a photography group going on field trips. When she entered her first competition the following fall, her photo of a cheetah cub in a hollowed-out log won first place. She had photography fever, and snapping pictures of natural settings became her first love.

It was not long before she decided to quit her day job and devote herself full-time to nature photography. That risky move eventually paid off monetarily and in many other more important ways. Her work has appeared in National Geographic publications, a Sierra Club book called Mother Earth, Missouri Magazine of the Columbia Journalism School, and dozens of other publications. Her van has over 300,000 miles on it, which should give you an idea of where her “office” is located. Currently, Hoyt directs the Valley Land Fund Wildlife Photo Contest, which entails organizing and conducting the contest, judging the entries, and compiling and publishing the book of winning photos. There is no question that she has followed her heart, and it in turn has rewarded her with this fulfilling career.