3 minute read
Through His Lens
NorthWestern Energy compliance coordinator finds perfect hiking companion – his camera.
NorthWestern Energy Compliance Coordinator Jason Boeckel lived at Georgetown Lake after he started working at Dave Gates Generating Station near Anaconda, Montana. During the week, moose and eagles were the neighbors he saw most often, especially in the spring and fall.
It was those neighbors that sparked a renewed interest in a former hobby – photography.
“I started taking photos back in high school in the film days to get ideas for paintings,” said Jason, who grew up in Glendive, Montana, and took art classes in high school. “Now in the digital camera era, you can take high quality images easily, and affordably. I don’t know who said it, but the quote ‘For $200, you too can be Ansel Adams’ really is true.”
A lifelong hiker, Jason’s frequent trips in the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge near Stevensville, Montana, provide ample opportunities to photograph birds and other wildlife.
“There was a great horned owl nest near the trail one year, and I think they were the most photographed owls in the state ... maybe the country,” he said. “But there are also birds others don’t get to see very much. There were some Virginia Rail (marsh bird) babies in the refuge that I was lucky enough to watch and photograph last summer.”
Mountain goats, moose, elk and bears are sometimes on the other side of Jason’s camera lens, but he finds himself pursuing waterfowl, raptors and small birds most often.
“I probably used to make fun of birders, but I’ll be hiking, hear a bird and stop and sit to watch for it,” he said.
Photography is now Jason’s art, and he’s built an expansive inventory of images, including scenery and black-and-white photos of old machinery, trucks and ghost towns.
Wildlife and scenery are his preferred subjects, although he did do prom photos and senior portraits at the request of a friend.
“Teenagers are just a different kind of wildlife,” he said.
Right now, his images are gifts for friends and family and posted on social media and online birding sites.
Jason uses a compact Panasonic Lumix camera, has worn out several others - and broken a couple.
“The technology in these point-and-shoot cameras is impressive and you don’t feel as bad when you drop them,” he said. “The key is to get as much optical zoom capacity and pixels as you can. One day I’ll probably buy a more expensive camera, but I’m probably not packing it up a mountain.”
He may also launch a side business in the future with his images.
For now, photography is the perfect complement for Jason’s hiking pursuits.
“Hiking has always been my way to get outside in the wilderness and get away from things,” he said. “There is nothing so satisfying as working your tail off to get up a drainage, thinking, ‘Why am I doing this?’ then getting to the top, turning around, looking back and you know, ‘Yep, this is why.’”
