10
S moke S ignals
NOVEMBER 1, 2015
Bynum has been to more tha
BYNUM continued
from front page
Sarah “Sally” Hudson Jones and
the great-great-great-grandson of
Chief Alquema or Joseph Hutchins,
who was the chief of the Santiam
Calapooya. Alquema signed the
Santiam Treaty of 1851.
Born in Walla Walla, Wash.,
Bynum moved to Olympia as a
child and graduated from Capital
High School. He earned a master’s
degree in resource management
and undergraduate degrees in
geography and land studies from
Central Washington University in
Ellensburg, Wash.
Bynum then spent the first 15
years of his professional life work-
ing on developing environmental
regulations in Indian Country, first
for the Yakama Nation and then
for the Environmental Protection
Agency in Washington, D.C.
Bynum became the acting senior
Indian program manager in the
assistant administrator’s office at
the EPA.
“I wasn’t seeing change as rapidly
as I wanted to see it, so I left that
job in Washington, D.C., shortly
after 9/11,” said Bynum. “I had a
daughter (now 13) after that and
I decided I wanted to raise my
daughter, and I wanted to focus in
on being home and being around
her.”
Bynum’s daughter, Jaida, is a
member of the Blackfeet Nation.
Building a portfolio
Bynum said he had always had
an interest in photography and
spent the next few years building
a portfolio of his landscape and
wildlife images.
“He has worked very hard,” said
Grand Ronde Tribal Elder Tracie
Meyer, who is Bynum’s aunt.
Bynum said he worked on a num-
ber of large conservation projects as
a photographer and that he liked
the results.
“The imagery actually changed
minds a lot faster than pushing
papers or developing or working
on policy at the highest levels of
our government,” said Bynum.
“It was really driven – the whole
photography thing – was really
driven by an interest in the out-
doors. I figured out I could actually
influence people’s thinking maybe
in a more effective manner just by
taking photographs and it was a lot
more enjoyable. I got to be outside
a lot more.”
Since beginning his photography
career, Bynum has photographed
buffalo, bull elks, grizzly bears,
black bears, mule deer, caribou,
Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep,
mountain goats, coyotes, northern
pintail ducks, sage grouse, bull
sprigs, geese, hawks and horses. He
also has photographed bow hunt-
ers, rifle hunters, backpackers, kay-
akers, river rafters, rodeo riders,
powwow dancers, yoga enthusiasts
and children, as well as landscapes,
flowers, trains, airplanes, lodges
and a dog outside of a restaurant.
Photo by Tony Bynum
Teepees on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana.
Bynum operates Tony Bynum
Photography and FinalShot Pho-
tography as well as his seasonal
Glacier Impressions Gallery. He
also worked as a location manager
for an IMAX film “Wild America –
Our National Parks” that will be
released in 2016.
When he is not out in the field
shooting, Bynum writes a regular
blog and an outdoor photography
column for Western Hunter Mag-
azine, where he is the photo editor
as well.
Bynum is also the elected second
vice president of the Professional
Outdoor Media Association and a
member of the board of directors of
the organization.
Bynum has traveled the world
taking pictures.
“I have been to over 40 different
Reservations,” said Bynum.
He has taken photographs
throughout Montana – including
Little Dog Mountain, Logan Pass
in Glacier National Park, Sinopah
Mountain, Chief Mountain, Badger
Two Medicine area, Saint Mary
Lake and Wild Goose Island, Swift
Current Lake, Flathead Lake, Two
Medicine Lake, Upper Missouri
River Breaks National Monument
and the Marias River.
Bynum has traveled to all the
lower 48 states, Alaska, British
Columbia, Mexico, Argentina, Af-
rica and, most recently, to France
and Switzerland to pursue his
profession.
“The Swiss Alps are some of the
most incredible places I’ve been,”
said Bynum. “That has to be one
of the highlights, being able to go
hunting and photographing in the
Swiss Alps was pretty fantastic.
The alps in France and Switzerland
were pretty spectacular.”
Most of Bynum’s international
travel has come during his time
working on an outdoor sports televi-
sion series called “Eye of the Hunt-
er,” which airs at 9 p.m. eastern
time on NBC Sports Outdoors on
Mondays. Episode clips of “Eye of
the Hunter” also can be viewed at
www.eyeofthehunter.com.
The show’s producer and director
Tom Opre hosts the show along
with his wife, hunting consultant
Olivia Nalos Opre.
Tom Opre, who has hosted the
program for the last eight years,
said the show is a big adventure
series based around hunting.
“We travel the world and meet
people and look into the history
and cultures of the places we go,”
said Tom Opre. “We take Tony
along with us to do photo docu-
mentation of everything. The stuff
he shoots looks like it comes right
out of National Geographic. He is
an awesome photographer. It really
helps us.”
Tom Opre said that he also shoots
high definition film for several cli-
ents and that he takes Bynum on
those outings as well.
“Often while we are doing these
shoots, they (his clients) would like
to have professional still photog-
raphy so we bring Tony on,” said
Opre. “We are traveling around and
we were just in France and Switzer-
land a couple of weeks ago. We were
hunting mountain ibex. We’re hik-
ing, climbing up mountains. We’re
stopping off at villages, eating at
restaurants that only serve wild
game taken from the surrounding
area. We meet a lot of different
people from different places.
“Tony has been all over the world
with us. He’s such a phenomenal
photographer. He’s just got a great
eye for capturing relevant, real
subject matter. He’s able to capture
these moments in time. It works out
really great because he captures
the essence of what we do.
“We’re out there in the wilder-
ness, on horseback or flying in
little planes to get to the middle of
nowhere, and being able to live out
there and be comfortable takes a
special kind of person to be able to
do that. Tony is a great guy, great
to be out there with. We’re always
striving to do things better than
the last time we did them. Tony
and I always push each other when
we are out on location. He is just a
phenomenally great professional.”
While working with Opre on a
television shoot in northern British
Columbia, Bynum met guide/out-
fitters Jim Peterson and Dempsey
Callison of Tahltan Outfitters. Both
Peterson and Callison live and
work out of Smithers, B.C., which
is east of Ketchikan, Alaska.
Peterson, who has been a guide/
outfitter for the last 15 years,
brought in Callison for this partic-
ular assignment.
Callison, 77, is a living legend of
sorts in the area and has been a
guide/outfitter for 35 years. Calli-
son said when he met Bynum on
the trip to hunt stone sheep, he was
impressed.
“I met him at a place called Gun
Lake,” Callison said. “Then, of
course, we traveled together up into
the mountains and it was fantastic.
He definitely was a real pleasure to
work with. He is very professional.”
Callison said that the Canadian
government divides areas up into
hunting zones for the guides and
that is the area they work out of.
He said his area is the northwest
part of the province within about
100 miles from the Yukon border.
“It is remote,” said Callison. “The
area that Tony was in is even more
remote because there isn’t any
roads at all. It’s one of the only ar-
eas in British Columbia that there
are no roads at all. It is 214 miles
of just complete wilderness.”
Peterson agreed with Callison on
Bynum’s professionalism and he
said you learn a lot about people
when you spend the night in a cave