CloserLook Nature Photography
What is CloserLook?
Benjamin R Miller & Ellen Kanazawa
We are a hushand and wife team providing detail-oriented images of nature for commercial and private use. Based near Boulder, Colorado, we specialize in capturing photographs of wild fauna and flora in their natural environment. We hope that through our photographs you will come to know these creatures and by seeing their beauty you will want to preserve and protect them for all generations to enjoy.
Benjamin R Miller
Photo copyright Art Morris/www.birdsasart.com
That's me, Ben Miller, getting low for a closer look of a group of Marbled Godwits in La Jolla, California. My work as an atmospheric scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration (GMD/ESRL/NOAA) in Boulder, Colorado, concerns the fate of man-made and biologically produced trace gases in the atmosphere that are responsible for ozone depletion and climate forcing. Specifically, we use analytical instruments to measure the abundance and trends of these gases, thereby gaining information about their sources and sinks. My wildlife photography is an extension of that same curiosity to learn about nature.
Telephoto work with parrots in Victoria, Australia
Canon 1D Mark II body with Canon 500mm f/4 IS USM lens, 550EX flash, Gitzo Explorer tripod with AcraTech ballhead.
Education / Research:
B.A. in Geochemistry, Bridgewater State College, Bridgewater, Massachusetts, 1988.
Ph.D. in Earth Sciences, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 1998.
Post-doctoral research, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 1998 - 2001.
Project Scientist, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 2001 - 2007.
Research Associate, Global Monitoring Division, ESRL/NOAA, Boulder, Colorado, 2008 - present.
Published photographic work:
AFZ-Fischwaid, front cover photo, issue 5 (Sept./Okt.) 2006. Image: Cormorant #D30010146.
California Wild, California Academy of Sciences, "In Pursuit of Science: Desert Defender", by Deborah Knight, pp. 40-44, vol. 58, no.2, 2005. Image: Peninsular Bighorn Ewe and Ocotillo, #D30023985.
CRES Report Fall 2002, Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species, Zoological Society of San Diego, "Living on the Edge in Our Own Backyard: Peninsular Bighorn Sheep", by Esther Rubin, Ph.D., pp.1. Image: Stretching Bighorn Ram #D30014975.
Sequoia and Kings Canyon Visitors Brochure, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 2002. Image: Velvet antlered Mule Deer in blue flower field #D30016492.
ZOONOOZ, November 2001, Zoological Society of San Diego, "CRES: A Commitment to Worldwide Conservation", by Michael McKeever, pp. 13. Image: Bighorn lambs #D30014701.
ZOONOOZ, September 2002, Zoological Society of San Diego, "Protecting the Bighorn Sheep of the Peninsular Ranges", by Esther Rubin, Ph.D., pp. 3, 14, 16 & 17. Images: Bighorn lamb #D30023716, Bighorn herd #D30023638, Flower-girl #D30023985, Lamb #D30014351.
Awards:
"Best of Show" in the San Diego Union Tribune's Quest Nature & Eye Photo Contest, May 2006. Image: Dragonfly #D30026888.
SeaBird Picture of the Month, October 2002, "Pacific Brown Pelican", Seabirds, Forage Fish, and Marine Ecosystems in Alaska. Image: Brown Pelican #D30022772.
Editor's Pick, Nature Photographer's Network, April 2002, "Springtime Sycamore blossoms", Image: Springtime Sycamore #D30023879.
SeaBird Picture of the Month, March 2002, "Double-Crested Cormorant Wrestling with Fish", Seabirds, Forage Fish, and Marine Ecosystems in Alaska. Image: Cormorant #D30010146.
Editor's Pick, Nature Photographer's Network, January 2002, "Peninsular Bighorn Silhouette", Image: Borrego Sunset #D30022558.
Picture of the Month - April 2001, Birder's World Magazine Online, "Lawrence's Goldfinch", Image: Lawrence's Goldfinch #D30012503.
Selected Published Scientific Work: (click here to view a more complete listing)
Miller, B. R., Weiss, R. F., Salameh, P. K., Tanhua, T., Greally, B. R., Mühle, J., and Simmonds, P. G., "Medusa: a sample preconcentration and GC-MSD system for in situ measurements of atmospheric trace halocarbons, hydrocarbons and sulfur compounds." Analytical Chemistry, 80, 1536-1545, (2008)
Prinn, R. G., Weiss, R. F., Fraser, P. J., Simmonds, P. G., Cunnold, D. M., Alyea, F. N., O’Doherty, S., Salameh, P., Miller, B. R., Huang, J., Wang, R. H. J., Hartley, D. E., Harth, C., Steele, L. P., Sturrock, G., Midgley, P. M. and McCulloch, A. “A history of chemically and radiatively important gases in air deduced from ALE/GAGE/AGAGE.” Journal of Geophysical Research, 105, 17,751-17,792 (2000)
Rhew, R. C., Miller, B. R. and Weiss, R. F. “Natural methyl bromide and methyl chloride emissions from coastal salt marshes.” Nature, 403, 292-295 (2000)
Miller, B. R., Huang, J., Weiss, R. F., Prinn, R. G. and Fraser, P. J. “Atmospheric trend and lifetime of chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22) and the global tropospheric OH concentration.” Journal of Geophysical Research, 103, 13,237-13,248 (1998)
Ellen Kanazawa
Backpacking into the Sierra Nevada Mountains, California
With a focus on business and customer service management, Ellen Kanazawa joined CloserLook in 2004 as President and Art Director. She brings a unique aesthetic sense to our work, derived from her professional experience both in front of and behind the camera, her theater work and from her study of Ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement).
Field work with Koalas in Victoria, Australia
Ellen's background includes providing financial, organizational and marketing services to the corporate, government, not-for-profit and private sectors in Dallas, Texas and San Diego, California. Her professional and volunteer experience includes working for Electronic Data Systems (EDS), Republic National Bank of Dallas, the State of Texas (Fifth District Court of Appeals) and with Quin Mathews Films, Habitat for Humanity, Parkland Memorial Hospital, and the Dallas Museum of Art. Ellen graduated with a BBA from Texas A&M University - Commerce, and now resides in Lafayette, CO.
Ellen and Ben examine the detail in a 20"x30" Chromira print of Dragonfly #D30026888.
