Gary Sharlow is a photography instructor and hiking guide. He is based out of the San Francisco Bay Area and also lives part-time in Northern New Mexico, where he works at a Buddhist meditation retreat center. Gary is the founder of the prestigious BigPicture Natural World Photography competition, which is now presented by the California Academy of Sciences. This and other efforts support his passion to share images and stories about the natural world through the storytelling concept of conservation photography. He can often be found on the hiking travels in his home county as well as in national parks throughout the western United States.