Rebecca Latson at Mount Rainier National Park/Rebecca Latson

Editor's note: The National Parks Traveler has operated with only one full-time staffer since its inception, but has a core team of freelance writers, photographers, broadcasters, and sound recording engineers that are relied upon heavily to provide content. They're being introduced to you in a series of short profiles.

Rebecca Latson

Based in Washington state, Rebecca is a long-running contributing photographer and writer for the Traveler. Born 24 miles outside of Glacier National Park, Rebecca inherited her love of photography from her father. She has photographed belly dancers, aspiring models, dance troupes, weddings, and other events, in addition to her landscape imagery taken within national parks. Since 2012, Rebecca has worked as a contributing photographer and writer for the National Parks Traveler, where she authors a monthly "Photography In The National Parks" column, as well as 3-day national park itineraries and a series of "Armchair Photography Guides.”

Favorite “go to” park: Mount Rainier National Park, about two hours’ drive away from my home in Yakima. I like every national park unit I’ve ever visited, but my personal favorites are Mount Rainier, Bryce Canyon and Yellowstone national parks. Aside from their stunning vistas and sometimes surreal geology (I’ve captured some pretty cool shots in these units), these parks each have good infrastructure and well-maintained trail systems that make them accessible not only to a seasoned backpacker, but also to a short, dumpy, somewhat-out-of-shape photographer like me with a photo vest and backpack each stuffed full of items for a day of photography in that park.

Favorite outdoor activity in the parks: Photography, naturally, is my favorite activity in the parks. Aside from that, just walking/hiking and admiring what’s around me.

What the Traveler means to me: Nine years ago, I had no idea the Traveler even existed. Now, for nine years, I’ve been contributing photos and articles to the Traveler, and it’s my “go to” site for the latest news about park units and protected lands, in addition to information and tips on what I might expect to see and do regarding parks I plan on visiting. I’ve looked at other sites touting national parks news, but they simply don’t stack up to what I read, see, and listen to on the Traveler’s site on a daily basis. As I get older, I try not to take too much for granted, and that includes the Traveler. I hope other readers don’t ever take for granted the reporting work by the National Parks Traveler, because they sure won’t be able to find anything elsewhere even close to it.