AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY (short version)
Hi!. I'm Keith Szafranski (sah-fran'-skee) author of the Travels With Barrington Bear series of picture books for kids 5 and up. While I have
only been a book author since 2007, I have been a professional photographer for over 25 years. In 1979, while living in my native state of
Wisconsin, I picked up my first 35mm camera and it was literally love at first click. A short four years later, in 1983, I moved my family to
Livingston, Montana so I could pursue a career in wildlife photography. I have since traveled to 6 of the 7 continents in persuit photographic
subjects. My work has been published in magazines around the world including; National Wildlife, Ranger Rick, Outdoor Life, Field & Stream,
and BBC Wildlife magazines, Audubon and Sierra Club calendars and National Geographic books and filmstrips. I have won awards from
National Wildlife Magazine, Costco, Sports Afield, the Outdoors Writer's Association of America, BBC Wildlife and many others. My work has
even been in the Smithsonian Institute.
In 1989 I tried my hand at selling fine art prints of my work at art & craft shows around the country. Finding this to be more lucrative, I
diverted most of my energy into cultivating this market. It was at one of these shows that an artist friend of mine suggested that I try writing a
children's picture book using my photography. The idea interested me very much. I thought about what I could write about for almost two years
before I came up with an idea that I really liked. I decided to have a little stuffed teddy bear named Barrington Bear take my place on all of my
world travels. Thus the Travels With Barrington Bear series of children's picture books was born. The first two books in the series, Barrington
Bear Visits the Emperor and Barrington Bear On Safari are found on this website. Not only do I take all of the photographs in the series but I
also write the stories and layout all of the books. I even designed and sewed Barrington and all of his clothes.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY (long version)
Hello. My name is Keith Szafranski and I am a professional photographer and author from Livingston, Montana.
I would like to introduce myself by telling you the story about
how one man found his dream and followed it successfully into reality. That
man is not rich or famous. You won’t see his name in the news or read
about his latest escapades in the scandal sheets at the grocery checkout.
But that man is, for the most part, happy and is still enjoying living his
dream after many, many years. And that man, of course, is me.
When I was young, say 8 or 9, I loved looking through magazines like
National Geographic. (And not just for what most little boys liked to look
at National Geographic for!) I loved to read about far off places and dream
of someday visiting them for myself. I wanted to walk on the Great Wall of
China, go on an African safari and get up close and personal with a colony
of penguins. I am sure that a lot of young boys and girls had similar dreams.
But this was mine and no one could take it away from me.
While I couldn’t go to Africa or Antarctica then, I was
lucky in that my parents often traveled out my native state of Wisconsin and
took me along with them. My Dad loved to hunt and fish. When I was about 8
years old, we took our first of several fishing trips into Canada to fish
for walleye and northern pike on remote lakes. When I was 12 we helped some
friends move to Florida. I didn’t like Florida much. It was hot, humid
and crowded even then. But I found it interesting nonetheless. And when I
was 14, we took a trip that was to shape the rest of my life. We visited some
friends who had recently moved to Colorado. When I first saw the Rocky Mountains,
I was awestruck. Right then and there I told myself that this is where I want
to live when I grew up.
My family made several other trips out West in the following
years, mostly to AZ. Time passed. I was in high school and had to decide what
I wanted to do with the rest of my life. In my day, all anyone told me was,
“Go to college and get an education.” So I went to college at
the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and because of my love for animals
began studying to become a veterinarian. But after talking to a few vets I
decided that veterinary medicine wasn’t for me. However, I was never
a quitter so I finished college with a B.S. in biology and entered the working
world.
I got the usual responses upon looking for a job, “Too
much education!” “Not enough experience!” I finally found
work in a job that used none of my education or skills but paid pretty well.
For a while I was content. Eventually, my wife and I saved enough money to
travel out West. During these trips I would take a few photographs with my
old instamatic camera to put in the family album. However, since I preferred
roaming around in the early morning hours when the air was clear and the animals
were active but the people were not, my photographs were rather disappointing.
I didn’t realize then that the little point-and-shoot camera I was using
was designed for midday photography when most tourists were out and about.
So, one day in 1979, I decided to purchase a decent camera before
a planned trip to AZ. I bought an inexpensive 35mm camera and standard 50mm
lens. It was a typical tourist outfit. I practiced with the camera, mostly
on my kids, the dog and the flowers in our garden. I quickly fell in love
with the camera and photography. I loved the control I now had over my photographs.
Within a year I bought a better camera system and told my wife that I wanted
to be a wildlife photographer. She gave me a “Yah, right!” look
and went on with what she was doing. Over the next couple of years a lot of
people gave me that same look but I never let it discourage me. I kept working
at my now boring job and learning as much as I could about the world of photography.
Then, in 1982, just three years after picking up my first real
camera, I made the decision to quit my job and become a wildlife photographer.
We put our house up for sale and started making plans.
It took almost a year for our house to sell. During that time
I learned some very interesting facts about my fellow workers and I think
about mankind in general. While talking with my workmates at the lunch table
I found that some of them sympathized with my decision but most of them thought
I was “NUTS”! I also found that many of them had similar dreams.
Some were talented musicians. Others painted or made jewelry or even wrote
stories or poetry. But they all had one thing in common. They were afraid
to follow their dream. They were too content working at a job they didn’t
like because it paid well and had good benefits. In other words, it provided
security for the future.
Well, if there is one thing that striking out on my own to pursue
a career in photography did not supply, it was security. After my wife and
I both quit our jobs and moved our family to Livingston, Montana I struggled
to make ends meet for a long time, much longer than I had anticipated. At
first, I pursued my career in the only way I knew about. I sold stock photography
to magazines, calendars, books, etc. Stock photography means taking the pictures
first and then trying to find someone to sell them to. That went on for a
few years and I found it hard to support my family on the income I made from
photography. So, I took a part-time job. And then another. And another. At
one time I had three part-time jobs besides my photography work. All of these
jobs were such that I could photograph when I wanted to and ‘work’
when I needed too.
My work appeared in many publications around the globe: National Wildlife, Ranger Rick, Outdoor Life, Field & Stream, and BBC Wildlife magazines, Audubon and Sierra Club calendars and National Geographic books and filmstrips. I have won awards from National Wildlife Magazine, Costco, Sports Afield, Outdoors Writer's Association of America, BBC Wildlife and many others. My work has even been in the Smithsonian Institute.
In 1989, I decided to try selling my photographs at a few art & craft shows. I had seen other photographers doing this and thought if they could do it so could I. That decision changed everything. I had finally found the means to make my dream a reality. People liked my work. People bought my work. After a few years, I had enough money to take my first big trip, a 3 week safari in Africa. My childhood dream had finally come true and in a way I had never imagined. I was traveling the world and actually getting paid to do it.
I have been doing art & craft shows now for 19 years. I have
traveled to all but one continent, (I will get to Australia soon.) most continents
more than once. Recently, my photography has helped me to realize another
childhood dream of mine. That of writing. I loved writing when I was young.
I would write about almost anything. My classmates enjoyed my stories as I
read them in front of the class.
But as I grew older, I drifted away from writing. Then, a few years ago, a friend of mine suggested that I try to use my photography to illustrate children’s picture books. The idea interested me very much. I thought about what I could write about for almost two years before I came up with an idea that I really liked. I decided to have a little stuffed teddy bear named Barrington Bear take my place on all of my world travels. Thus the Travels With Barrington Bear series of children's picture books was born. Not only do I take all of the photographs in the series but I also write the stories and layout all of the books. I even designed and sewed Barrington and all of his clothes.
So, you may ask, what has all of this stuff about some old geezer
with a camera have to do with me? Well, if you haven’t figured it out
already, it has to do with following your own dream. If there is something
in your life that you REALLY love to do, find some way to make a living at
it. It probably won’t be easy. You may even fail. But if you don’t
even give it a try you’ve failed already. And if someone else tries
to talk you out of your dream just show them your determination to succeed.
Work hard. Have a plan. Most important of all, don’t stop following
your dreams.
And if it's not too much to ask, help me to continue following my dreams by visiting my websites and perhaps consider making a purchase or two.
With Kind Regards,
Keith Szafranski