Kent Mason is a landscape and nature photographer and conservationist who is currently creating a photographic environmental study of extraordinary wild places in the highlands of West Virginia. This is a collaborative effort with The Nature Conservancy which will result in a book titled the Wild Alleghenies.

Kent has been involved in photography for over 30 years and has been teaching visual design classes for the past 15 years. He sells fine art landscape photography in galleries, has displayed his work in such places as The Nature Conservancy headquarters, has had images published in books, calendars, Wonderful WV and Nature's Best magazines, and often has images displayed on The Nature Conservancy and WV Land Trust websites and in their literature. He has produced 4 internet books for The Nature Conservancy which have proved very helpful to their conservation efforts. He also provides individual and small group instruction and leads photo tours in the West Virginia highlands where he lives six months of the year.

Watch the Kent Mason video on YouTube

My Beliefs on our Natural World, Mankind, and Photography

• All plant and wildlife species have the right to live and survive. For thousands of species the preservation of their habitat, wild places, is essential for their survival.
• For mankind the value of wilderness preservation is extensive. To name a few: cleaner air and water, opportunities to hike, camp, fish, hunt, kayak, bird watch, or to enjoy the woods, the quiet open spaces to connect with the natural world. It is our natural heritage.
• The spectacular beauty of our natural world inspires people into action to preserve and conserve wilderness for future generations. Great photography of our natural world is a powerful, compelling preservation and conservation tool.

For me, exploring and photographing our natural world is an inspirational journey of renewal where I create compelling images from the heart that can connect with the emotions of others and hopefully engage them in the preservation/conservation movement.