Local Photographers If you're a regular listener, you'll already know that I am both a photographer and author. It was through both of these rolls that I'm feeling very sad today to hear of the passing of Doug Leighton. Doug was a visionary photographer who introduced countless numbers of people to the magic of the Canadian west. His coffee table books and calendars were widely collected. I remember a particular favourite was a large format 11 x 14-inch calendar which thousands of people bought simply so they could frame the images. We were both published by Altitude Publishing in Canmore and I had a great appreciation for the work that Doug produced for them. It was an especially appropriate relationship for Doug. Altitude publishing was created by another pioneer photographer from Banff by the name of Byron Harmon. For the larger part of a century, Altitude Publishing represented the very best of mountain imagery, and Doug wore that mantle well. Doug left the Bow Valley in 2005 and moved to the Blaeberry Valley near the mountain community of Golden, B.C. where he passed with his family on March 28, 2018. Doug was born in Banff in 1953 and the mountains were his inspiration for all of his life. Rest well, Doug. You helped us all see the Rockies just a little bit clearer. Another local photographer, John E. Marriott has recently been honoured by the League of Landscape Photographers for his long practice of ethical wildlife photography. League magazine is a collective of photographers for whom ethical image capture is their first priority. As they state on their website: "Rather than a top-down, formal structure, the League of Landscape Photographers is a grassroots group comprised of photographers with similar values. It transcends borders both physical and digital. If your art has something personal to say about the world, if you photograph with care and respect for other people and the environment around you, if you post these values (or your own ethical values) to the world – then you are the League. " John was awarded The Best of the League for 2018. The advent of digital cameras has seen tens of thousands of so-called wildlife photographers explode onto the scene. Those of us that photograph  WILD life understand that the well-being of the animal or bird is what matters - not the photograph. John has been an advocate for wildlife for decades. He not only refuses to photograph captive or baited animals, he is a powerful opponent of such practices. Here in the Rockies, every year we see more and more people crowding animals, baiting and enticing them, offering food, and even illegally using wildlife tracking equipment to locate research subjects. Way back in episode 6, I shared a story of Banff Park Wardens finding evidence of photographers using antennas designed to help researchers keep track of animals fitted with radio collars just so they could photograph them. I've been a wildlife photographer for many years and I've seen many indefensible actions by unethical photographers, but this is a new level of low. You can listen to the story at www.mountainnaturepodcast.com/ep006. Social media is full of photographs of distressed animals, baited owls, and all means of creating situations dangerous for the photographer, but all too often, more dangerous for the animal. Photographers like John call out this practice. He has made a career of raising the bar and educating photographers on how to capture ethical images. No photograph is worth the life of a grizzly bear, or wolf, or owl. As the League puts it: "Not only does John practice ethical wildlife photography, but he is also an activist for wildlife causes. His YouTube video series,  Exposed with John E. Marriott, highlights wildlife conservation concerns with ideas for concrete results. John is not a complainer but one who points out the facts