Meet the Artist
Dan Elster
Photography
Dan Elster was born in Chicago in 1971. In 2006, he and his wife moved to Ashland, Oregon where Dan began his career as a full-time wildlife photographer. He has participated in hundreds of art festivals throughout the Pacific Northwest including the Bellevue Art Museum show, Bend Art in the High Desert, Marin Art Fair, Anacortes, Lake Oswego, Edmonds, Washington and the Bird Alliance of Oregon’s Wild Arts Show for 9 consecutive years. He has served as a jury member and board member for the Lithia Artisan's Market in Ashland since 2010. In 2015 he was featured on the PBS television show - Oregon Art Beat. In 2019, he published a 150-page, hard cover coffee table book of his best work from the last decade, the crowning achievement of his career, at least so far. Dan has been the recipient of over $15,000 in grant money over the last few years and he regularly contributes money, time and images to both conservation causes and children's education. In 2019 Dan launched his now signature line of greeting cards called "Big Picture Greetings". Ten percent of sales is donated to various wildlife conservation Organizations. Almost $5,000 dollars has already gone "back to the wild". Recipients have included Project Coyote, The Rattlesnake Conservancy, and The Elakha Alliance among others.
Dan’s photographic images are of wild animals only (no captive/staged subjects). The subject’s welfare always comes first. Most of Dan’s work is of Oregon wildlife. 95% of his images are created the "traditional" way, but recently, he has begun experimenting with sophisticated motion detecting techniques to photograph very rare, strictly nocturnal species. He does minor Photoshop alterations only (contrast, cropping, color tweaks). Prints are produced by a fellow local fine artist. Dan does all his own mounting and framing using only archival materials.
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