2017 Wildlife Photo Contest

About The Photographer

*no captive or baited wildlife* Josh grew up in rural up-state NY with his parents, Dr Kenneth P Able and his mother Mary (research assistant to his father). His dad was a Biology Professor at the State University at Albany and specialized in ornithology. Growing up Josh had the chance to travel extensively with his parents along with gaining exposure to, and understanding of biology. Wildlife and wildlands were drilled into his DNA from a young age. During this time Josh started to use his fathers extensive camera equipment and started to develop his passion for photography. in the early mid 2000s Josh moved to the US Virgin Islands, this ended rapidly as he became ill and returned to his parents in far North Eastern California to be diagnosed with stage 3 lymphoma cancer. After a time of chemo and trying to make bald sexy he recovered and carried on. 2013 found him living in Reno NV and working in a Laboratory and getting more into photography. January 2013 saw him get hit by a car, thankfully there wasn't major damage, just a nasty hematoma on his right leg near his knee. Unfortunately it never went away and several months later he had to have surgery on it, this resulted in a botched surgery, massive infection and almost losing the leg from the knee down. A second surgery (with a new doctor) and almost 2 weeks of IV Antibiotics resulted in Josh still having both legs, though one does tend to cause a limp. At this time he had 2 roommates who shared his house, and he was ready to change this. On July 1st one was supposed to move out and the other was destined to move in September. July 1st comes along and he was awoken at 5am by the moving roommate assaulting him with a hatchet and knife. Josh managed to survive and get out, with multiple skull fractures and a plethora of other wounds, both physical and psychological. The roommate then assaulted the other roommate, killed her and then tried to commit suicide. He currently is in a cell and will never see the light of day as a free man. After 2 months of recovery the Neurosurgeon cleared Josh to drive and he promptly headed to Pebble Creek Campground in Yellowstone and the rest is, well, history. Wildlife, solitude, ptsd and photography are a good mix. After being in the Yellowstone region for some time Josh is, as of June 2017, returning full time to Northern California. He will be spending time traveling and photographing in the US and Canada along with spending as much time as possible in Africa. Multiple Galleries now carry his work and he will be visiting shows, so keep an eye open! Josh wishes to thank all his friends and family for helping him carry on and try to find peace. As he says, "the future looks very, photogenic".