Galleries at REI stores: Seattle - 222 Yale Avenue North, 206-223-1944; Federal Way, Wash. - 2565 South Gateway Center Place, 253-941-4994; Denver - 1416 Platte Street, 720-855-7887.

Favorite gear: "Canon is the only 35mm I use," Wolfe says, "which was really very appropriate for most of this work because I was dealing in ephemeral moments." He also uses a Pentax 6x7, a Fuji 6x17 panoramic, a Hasselblad panoramic and a couple of Mamiyas. "I almost exclusively use tripods because I like to deliver a very tack-sharp image."

Like so many things in life, photography runs in cycles based on reaction and a desire for change, even if that means reinventing the wheel at times. Sometimes these changes lack the proper historical perspective of all that has gone before. Other times, the changes sought harken back to seemingly safer, more predictable times.

In the post-Civil War years, American photographers began turning their attention from the war to the West. They brought home images of the incredible, endless landscapes of the new frontier to an East hungry for expansion. They built an enthusiasm for these places that would help lead to the founding of the national park system, starting with Yellowstone National Park in 1872.

Today, more than a century later, nature photographers are still bringing home images...

This September, Seattle-based nature photographer Art Wolfe will be releasing 3 new books: California (Sasquatch Books), The High Himalaya (Mountaineers Books), and Africa (Wildlands Press).

California is the fourth book in a series showing the natural wonders (landscapes and wildlife) of the West, and follows Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and Colorado.

The High Himalaya will include photographs taken over more than 17 years of association with the Himalayas, from the 1984 Seattle expedition to Mt. Everest through March 2001. It will feature the landscapes and the cultures of Nepal, Tibet, Pakistan, and Western China, with a foreword by Tenzing Norbu, an introduction by Peter Potterfield, and interviews with such notable climbers and outdoorsmen...

Art Wolfe’s latest published works, “The High Himalaya” and “Africa,” are on the bookshelves and receiving great reviews and awards from around the world.

In recent travels, Wolfe flew to Sicily during a 72-hour journey to record Mount Etna on film when it erupted last fall. He was able to capture unique perspectives and amazing nightscapes of lava flows.

Wolfe’s “The Living Wild,” which is in its fourth printing, was a winner in...