Home/Studio: Missoula, Mont., and Charlottesville, Va.

Published books: "Vanishing Breed," "The Photographic Essay," "A Time We Knew," "Time at the Lake," "Portraits of America" and "Five Decades".

Awards: Western Heritage Award, 1982; Leica Medal of Excellence, 1982; University of Minnesota Outstanding Achievement Award, 1994; Joseph A. Sprague Memorial Award, 2002; University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communications Award of Excellence, 2004.

Preferred equipment: Nikon D3s and D700; Leica M8; Panasonic Lumix GF1 ("I love that little Lumix"); notebook and pencil.

Personal projects: Upcoming book of women's portraits, "Her Picture in a Frame," and the novel he's writing.

Hobbies: Hunting and music (singing).

Inspirations: For black-and-white photography: W. Eugene Smith, Robert Frank, Paul Strand, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Walker Evans ("to a certain degree"). For color photography: Henri Matisse, Edward Hopper, the Impressionists and the Dutch Masters. "I was always attracted to looking at paintings," he says. "I slowly became more influenced by painters than I was by other photographers."

Advice to aspiring travel photographers: "You've really got to be hungry," Allard says. "You're not going to do superior work if you're indifferent. You may have talent, but if you don't want it badly enough, there's somebody out there that may not have as much talent, but they'll get in because they wanted it that much harder."

Also, he adds: "If you ever do get a chance to talk to a Geographic editor — and that's a very tough nut to crack — do not say you have this urge to travel. That's not going to help you. Most everybody likes to travel."