Meet Dominique Braud

                  Nature photography is an obsession that has taken me to all corners of this country and beyond. However, I specialize in wildlife and landscapes from my adoptive state of Minnesota, with a strong emphasis on winter imagery.  I love the physical and logistical challenges that cold weather photography presents. I especially delight in the stark simplicity of snowy landscapes, the relative absence of people on the trails when the temperatures tumble and the wintry silence pierced only by the raucous call of the raven.

                  I am a natural history photo illustrator who has honed his skills behind the camera for over three decades, initially shooting slide film to satisfy the needs of the stock photo agencies that represented my work. My photo credits include Audubon, Birder's World, Field and Stream, National Geographic World, Natural History, National Wildlife, Outdoor Life, Outdoor Photographer, Ranger Rick and Smithsonian, to name a few, as well as a wide variety of  books and calendars. I have also authored numerous articles for nature and photo magazines, including a 12-year stint as a nature columnist for Lake Country Journal magazine based in Brainerd, Minnesota. I have been a contract photographer for the USFWS and, more recently, for the Minnesota DNR. My book, Minnesota Wildlife Impressions, was published in 2008 by Farcountry Press.

                 Retired from teaching high school after a 31-year career, I am now free to pursue my passion full-time. I live south of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, in one of the fastest growing counties in Minnesota, surrounded by farmland that succumbs to housing developments faster than I can type these lines. Having shared my childhood between the wide-open spaces of North Africa and South Atlantic France, I have a particular disdain for fenced-in landscapes and urban environments and an intense infatuation with oceans and water in general. Not surprisingly, it is in the less populated northeastern corner of Minnesota, especially along the stunningly beautiful north shore of Lake Superior, that I find the bulk of the inspiration for my photography. 

                  As a former educator, it saddens me to see that, in this age of irrepressible fascination with reality TV, selfies and all manner of hollow entertainment, ignorance of the most basic facts about our natural world is the norm. The real show surrounds us daily, in all its vivid colors, amazing cast of characters and breath-taking drama, and all it takes to have a front row seat to it is to put down the phone, be still, listen  and observe. It is my humble hope that the images on this website will inspire appreciation and respect for the infinite natural wonders that populate every square inch of the magnificent planet we live on.