Ian Shive, who has traveled the National Park System to capture its unique and spectacular landscapes in his cameras' viewfinders, has been honored with the Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography.

The award, named in honor of the iconic American photographer, is given by the Sierra Club as the organization's "highest photography distinction and acknowledges the accomplishments of photographers whose talents have made superlative contributions to furthering conservation causes. Mr. Shive will officially receive the award at a ceremony in San Francisco on September 23rd."

Mr. Shive is the author of the top-selling conservation and photography book, The National Parks: Our American Landscape. The hardcover edition was released in April 2009, while a second, softcover edition, with more images was released earlier this year.

In both editions, the photographer pays homage to America’s greatest national treasures through an ambitious collection of breathtaking imagery encompassing richly colorful giant sweeping vistas to smaller but still remarkable, captured minutiae of Acadia, Denali, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Great Smoky Mountains, White Sands, Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks, to name a few. 

Placing the Los Angeles-based photographer in the illustrious company of past award recipients such as the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Eckhart Tolle, and Deepak Chopra, in May 2010 The National Parks: Our American Landscape garnered the Nautilus Book Award, Gold Place, in the Great Peacemakers category.
 
In 2007, Mr. Shive was part of a team that lobbied Congress to halt construction of the border fence along the 2,000-mile long U.S.-Mexico Border, bringing nationwide attention to related environmental issues. His images later were featured in the documentary Continental Divide: Borderlands, Wildlife, People and the Wall, that opened on Capitol Hill and was presented during a Congressional briefing on the matter. In November 2009, and hosted by U.S. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Max Baucus from Montana, he was also the keynote speaker at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. where he presented images and spoke on the national parks.
 
In tandem with the book, Mr. Shive has also co-produced the five-part travelogue film series, Wild Exposure, a behind-the-scenes look at the making of The National Parks: Our American Landscape from the road. Beginning in 2009, the show aired in heavy rotation on “Current TV,” led by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt, and reached up to 41 million homes nationwide.
 
A prolific photographer, Mr. Shive’s photos have appeared in nearly every country worldwide and in such publications as National Geographic, National Geographic Explorer, National Geographic Traveler, National Geographic Adventure, Outside, Men’s Journal, Backpacker, Sierra Magazine, The Nature Conservancy, National Parks Magazine, and Popular Science, as well as other major publications including Time Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, Sunset Magazine, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Popular Photography, Outdoor Photographer, Ski Magazine, and numerous others, many of which he has worked for on assignment.

To date, Mr. Shive’s efforts to disseminate the message of conservation and the importance of our national parks has reached over 100 million people through every form of media.

Mr. Shive continues to be a major proponent of conservation through photography. He does not own a car, preferring to walk everywhere, enjoys running, video games and loves to cook. To view his work visit IanShive.com