Biography

Sam Parks is a professional wildlife and nature photographer specializing in the native wildlife of the American West. Sam's goal is to provide an honest, unfiltered depiction of the wildlife, both their struggles and their triumphs and what they go through everyday to survive and reproduce in the wild. Through images, he hopes to tell their stories, uncensored, with an emphasis on how they interact with each other and how they interact with the land.

Sam spends over 250 days a year in the field, traveling the West's great wild places in search of those magical wildlife moments. From cross country skiing through brutal winter temperatures in the northern Rockies to scorching summer hikes in the Southwest, there is no length he will not go to in his endless quest to find new and powerful wildlife scenes. Rain, snow, or shine, Sam can be found out in the West's hidden reaches, searching, waiting, and hoping for that perfect image.

Sam has had a burning passion for wildlife and nature since he could walk. A lifelong Wyomingite, it was always the wildlife and the wild lands of the West that filled his childhood dreams with magic. Sam spent his youth in the outdoors; hiking, fishing, camping, and watching the tremendous array of animal life that makes the West so special. It was only a natural progression that he began to pick up a camera to capture the wild animals he so loved in photographs. In the decade plus since, he has worked to learn everything he could about wildlife, the land, and the art of photography. A student at heart, Sam's never ending desire to learn and improve has shown in his photography.

Sam's work has been published both nationally and internationally in numerous books, calendars, and publications, such as Defenders, Sierra, Wild at Heart, Colorado Outdoors, and Wyoming Wildlife. Other clients have included the National Audubon Society, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Pathfinder Renewable Energy, the Sweetwater River Conservancy, and the Wyoming Office of Tourism. In 2014, Sam was awarded the Grand Prize of the Defenders of Wildlife photography competition. In 2016, he received the top prize in the Nature's Best/Yellowstone Forever competition, taking home first place in the professional wildlife category. 

Sam currently resides in Laramie, Wyoming, a small city nestled between the Laramie Range to the east, and the Snowy Range, to the west. On the rare occasion that he's not photograhing, Sam can most likely be found out in the woods somewhere, hiking, camping, fishing, or generally enjoying the wilderness.

Thank you for taking the time to visit the site and please have a look through the various galleries and images.