Joe and Mary Ann McDonald with their friends, the king penguins of the Falkland Islands.

Joe and Mary Ann McDonald

Joe and Mary Ann McDonald are the most prolific and active husband-wife nature photography team in the United States today. At least half of each year is spent in the field, leading photo safaris to Africa and other remote destinations, leading photo tours to various US destinations, and conducting digital photography courses and classes at their studio at Hoot Hollow, Pennsylvania and at other US locations. Additionally, Joe and Mary Ann also conduct one-day and weekend seminars across the country.

Joe McDonald

Joe's been photographing wildlife and nature since 1966, starting with images of his pet turtles, lizards, and snakes he made as a high school freshmen. By high school he was selling photos to the National Wildlife Federation, and by his freshman year in college he was publishing in that magazine.

Since then, Joe's been published in every natural history publication in the U.S., including Audubon, Bird Watcher's Digest, Birder's World, Defenders, Living Bird, Natural History, National and International Wildlife, Ranger Rick, Smithsonian, Wildlife Conservation, and more. He is represented by multiple stock photo agencies, both domestically and world-wide.

He is the author of seven books, A Practical Guide to Photographing American Wildlife; The Wildlife Photographer's Field Manual; The Complete Guide to Wildlife Photography; Designing Wildlife Photographs; Photographing on Safari, The New Complete Guide to Wildlife Photographyand African Wildlife, A Portrait of the Animal World. His book, Designing Wildlife Photographs, was judged best book by the Outdoor Writers Association of America for 1994. In 1999 he produced Photographing on Safari, Joe and Mary's first instructional video. With Rick Holt and Mary Ann McDonald, he is also the author of Digital Nature Photography - From Capture to Output.

Joe is a founding member of NANPA, the North American Nature Photography Association, is a NANPA fellow and a former Board of Director for that organization. He has conducted multiple educational sessions at the annual NANPA summits, and he and Mary Ann have been Keynote speakers at this event. He has also addressed nature photography groups around the country, in Arizona, California, Florida, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and elsewhere.

Currently Joe is a columnist for Outdoor Photographer magazine. Joe and Mary Ann are co-columnists for www.photosafaris.com and Keystone Outdoors, and field correspondents for Nature's Best Photo Magazine.

Mary Ann McDonald

Mary Ann's been photographing wildlife and nature professionally since 1990, after her interest was ignited by taking a photo workshop run by her future husband. Since then, Mary's been published in most American natural history magazines, including cover credits with calendars and Natural History magazine.
Mary has written numerous children's books, including Leopards, Grizzly Bears, Woodpeckers, Flying Squirrels, Cobras, Boas, Pythons, Garter Snakes, Rattlesnakes, Jupiter, Cows, Horses, Chickens, Ducks, and Sunflowers. These text and photo books are illustrated with photographs by Joe and Mary Ann. Mary's also writen an adult coffee table book, Out of the Past, Tradition and Faith of the Amish in 1996.

In 1994 Mary won two first place awards in the prestigious BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition. Her two winning entries are once in a lifetime shots. Her fighting flying Great Egrets is a rarely photographed action, and her shot of Noon, a tigress in India, is historic as Noon, and so many other tigers of the Indian park where the image was made has probably been killed by poachers.

Joe and Mary Ann's work appears regularly in calendars and publications of the National Wildlife Federation, World Wildlife Fund, and such companies as Audubon, Birder's World, Brown Trout, Day Dream, Landmark, The Nature Company,Northword, Pet Prints, and numerous others. Although their work is represented by a number of stock photo agencies worldwide, they also maintain an active stock photo sales file from their Hoot Hollow home.

Leading photo tours, safaris, and workshops Joe and Mary Ann travel extensively. You'll agree, if you check out the Gold Schedule of their tours and trips. One year, Joe and Mary Ann traveled to six continents.