Award-winning conservation photographer, author, multimedia creator and environmentalist Ian Shive, 31 years old, is one of the youngest professionals in his industry. Set apart from typically older contemporaries, Ian is the embodiment of the revolution surging through the world of photography, specifically the adventure art form whose essence it is to not only convey but also disseminate stories about our planet’s wild places and its inhabitants through images. In a relatively short time, Ian has earned a reputation as the leading chronicler of America’s greatest treasures – The National Parks – while simultaneously pioneering innovative portals to deliver this information with.

Equated to American photographer and environmentalist Ansel Adams, Ian was raised in New Jersey, an only child whose father was a commercial photographer. An accomplished pianist and computer-technically savvy, he began photographing in 1996 while attending college in Montana, studying film and situated less than 90 miles from Yellowstone National Park. This consciously chosen proximity to Yellowstone would have a profound effect on Ian as would his first trip at age 14 to a national park (Petrified Forest). Yellowstone would allow Ian full access to indulge his lifelong, intrinsic love of nature and adventure in ways never before possible – hiking, camping and exploring at will its huge landscapes and minutiae of flora and fauna – and fuel photographic exploits that would lead shortly thereafter to his first published photograph in Big Sky Journal.

In 1999, Ian also designed and launched his web site entitled WaterandsSky.com, with the foretelling tagline, “Preservation Through Photography.” Still driven to pursue movie making, Ian relocated to Los Angeles in the 1990s, where he crafted a successful career at Columbia Pictures over nearly a decade, honing competitive skills in marketing and publicity as an integral part in film campaigns including the Spider-Man franchise, Memoirs of a Geisha, and numerous other motion pictures. Adventure photography demanded growing precedence, however, with Ian often jetting straight from red carpet premiers to shoot remote environs only to return back on the “red-eye” to be at his desk by Monday morning. He resigned several years ago to dedicate himself to photography and related environmental causes on a 24/7 basis.

A National Geographic certified scuba diver and experienced rock climber, Ian rapidly established himself at the forefront of outdoor lifestyle, landscape and, most notably, conservation photography. He fostered enduring relationships with key organizations such as The Nature Conservancy and The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), documenting diverse assignments from deep under waters off the California coast, to equatorial jungles in Malaysian rainforests, to a search-and-rescue mission at icy altitudes on Mt. McKinley, Alaska, North America’s highest mountain. He has traveled extensively including all 50 United States and the countries of Canada, Mexico, Ireland, England, France, Germany, Italy, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Taiwan, China, Japan, Malaysia, Costa Rica, and India among others.

Over the ensuing years Ian’s illustrious photographs have appeared in every major outdoor publication including National Geographic Adventure, National Geographic Traveler, National Geographic Explorer, Outside Magazine, Sierra Club Magazine, The Nature Conservancy, National Parks Magazine, and Popular Science, as well as other major publications including Time Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, Sunset Magazine, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Popular Photography, Outdoor Photographer, SKI Magazine, and many others.His images have appeared in nearly every country worldwide in 2008 and 2009 including China, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, France, Italy, UK, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Mexico, Canada, Australia, India, and many others. A prolific writer, he also has been a frequent contributing columnist to Popular Photography & Imaging and Outdoor Photographer, the two leading publications for photography in the United States.

In 2007, after years of being involved as well as donating his services to nature related causes, Ian became part of a 13-member team lobbying Congress to halt construction of the border fence along the 2,000-mile long U.S.-Mexico Border and preserve wildlife, using photographs to document its environmental impact from both the ground and air in 2008. His images later were featured in a documentary presented during a Congressional briefing on the matter with several included in the traveling exhibit, “Continental Divide: Borderlands, Wildlife, People and the Wall,” that opened on Capitol Hill.

Meanwhile, clearly enamored of the American landscape, Ian’s photographs of the country’s National Parks could not be ignored. In 2008 he received Gold Place at the Folio Awards for his National Parks magazine story “Ghosts of Steamtown” and Gold in the category of “Best Use of Photography, Association or Non-Profit.”

In barely under four years, Ian had amassed nearly 3,000 park images when he was approached to publish a book on the subject. Needing still more photos, he embarked on a 21-day grueling photo-expedition that crisscrossed the country and back, capturing with keen foresight much of the making of the book on video. The National Parks: Our American Landscape (Earth Award Editions), Ian’s first book, was released in August 2009. His goal to dust off the retired image of the Parks and demonstrate that they are still here, still worth preserving and just waiting to be seen, was a huge success. Boasting more than 224 pages of richly hued photographs, the 4.4-pound tome masterfully combines the light and tone of some of the most stunningly breathtaking places in the United States, from mountains and rivers to forests and plains. Accompanied by his simple but insightful narrative, the book celebrates not only the sweeping grandeur of landscapes but also the often-forgotten finer points of vegetation and wildlife, seen through fresh eyes.

Self-financed, for the next year Ian single-handedly promoted The National Parks: Our American Landscape, breaking new ground along the way with his innovative, winning style of marketing the book, particularly placing heavy emphasis on utilizing multimedia and the web, including online community populations, in a manner never before seen. Through strategically diversified micro marketing efforts, Ian also embraced individual targeted groups, among them the Hispanic, outdoor sports, and scientific communities.

Ian’s outreach integrated book signings and personal appearances, along with live Internet, radio and television spots, including NBC, CBS, and ABC, and the popular radio program The Dennis Miller Show, in the top national markets of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Denver, and Atlanta, as well as smaller key markets of Minneapolis, Palm Springs, Sacramento, Palm Springs, Oakland and Salt Lake City. To date, articles and promotions have appeared in news publications and magazines with circulations ranging from over 30,000 to more than 3 million readers. In August 2009, the book was featured in the cover story, “National Parks with Amazing Views,” in Sunset Magazine, a how-to guide to living in the West, in an 8-page uninterrupted spread, and again in December 2009 in Outdoor Photographer over 7 consecutive pages in the article “America’s National Treasures.”

In tandem with the book, Ian also co-produced the novel five-part film series, “Wild Exposure,” a behind-the-scenes look at the making of The National Parks: Our American Landscape from the road. Still in heavy rotation, “Wild Exposure” began airing in 2009 on “Current TV,” led by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt, reaching up to 41 million homes nationwide.

Receiving critical acclaim for his National Park imagery, Monde de la Photographie, a Paris, France based photography publication, referred to Ian as the next Ansel Adams, while others proclaimed he was “picking up the torch” where Adams left off. In April 2010, GoodReads.com, nominated for a Webby Award - what The New York Times calls the “Internet’s Highest Honor – published, “Four words that will cement his (Ian’s) place in history as one of the best park photographers of all time. ‘Not since Ansel Adams’…has one photographer published a work that truly captures the magnitude and majesty that are America’s National Parks. …Shive captures in all their glory, the rich and varied landscapes that make these hallowed lands America’s true national treasure.”

In November 2009, and hosted by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Max Baucus from Montana, Ian was a guest at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., where he presented images of the National Parks and shared stories of traversing its system from the backcountry and grizzlies of Yellowstone to the coral reefs of Biscayne, accompanied by his self-produced multimedia film that focused on the challenges confronting America’s most beloved landscapes.

Ian is a former member of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Media Photographers in Los Angeles, CA. Passionate about creating and using new technologies to advance the causes of conservation and environmentalism, as well as the art of photography and story telling, Ian formed as partner and executive director the state-of-the-art multimedia production company WILD COLLECTIVE in 2008. The collective unites a network of talented, award-winning filmmakers based in Los Angeles, the heart of movie making, and is comprised of a team of professionals including post-production facilities, cinematographers, original soundtrack composition, graphic designers and animators.

In addition to working with Fortune 500 companies whose principles align with its values, WILD COLLECTIVE specializes in delivering pro-active marketing and communications to the environmental and non-profit communities. With nearly a decade of experience in major motion-picture promotion and brand strategy, WILD COLLECTIVE aims to not only create stunning visual productions, but also define and develop projects that further a company's mission, visual identity and brand based on the company’s unique understanding of how the marketplace and public perception function. Ian has given many public presentations and speeches for companies and institutions including Walt Disney Imagineering, REI, The Annenberg Space for Photography, the University of Miami and Sacramento State University and the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific, to name a few. His images also have appeared as the face of many advertisers including Delta, Bing, Pfizer, Verizon and Ibex Outdoor Clothing, in-flight on Virgin Atlantic Airways, and can be downloaded as part of the iGoogle Nature Themes, alongside Ansel Adams, BBC Earth and National Geographic.

For more than a decade, Ian has dedicated his life to not only creating memorable photographs but also championing environmental awareness. Using photography as his primary tool, he has set trends with new technologies to further the art of adventure story telling. His latest “project,” and one he considers most critical, is his concept of “Wilderness Diplomacy.” Labeling himself an environmental diplomat, Ian has presented The National Parks: Our American Landscape in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Afghanistan and Cuba where it has been warmly embraced. He has witnessed the power that nature can be a common ground that opens dialogues between countries towards peacekeeping while presenting the unique geography of wilderness that connects America through its vast National Parks. He has observed the dismantling previous misconceptions as audiences see the United States for the first time in all its awe-struck beauty. In an effort to continuing bridging the gap at a grass-roots level, Ian traveled to India in April 2010, where he met with world leaders and documented the largest gathering of humanity in the world, the Kumbh Mela which takes place every 12-years along the Ganges River.

The National Parks: Our American Landscape currently is in its fourth edition including an upcoming eBook edition. It reached the number one spot on Amazon.com for conservation and photography and has remained in the top-ten selling list on Amazon for nearly eight months since its release. In May, the book won the 2010 Nautilus Book Award Gold Place for Great Peacemakers, putting Ian in the company of such past award recipients as the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Eckhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra, M.D., Barbara Kingsolver and Mariel Hemingway. In addition to concentrating his efforts on the concept of Wilderness Diplomacy, Ian currently is also photographing his next book entitled “American Wilderness.”

Shive resides in Los Angeles, California.