Elijah believes there is immense beauty in the natural and human-influenced worlds; but because people are often not looking in the right place, at the right time, or with a deeper connection and understanding, they often miss it. His goal is to help others recognize and appreciate this beauty through his photography and education. He believes that the world can be made a better place through human effort, but only if we are continually striving to do better. He hopes his art will influence others to strive to do better in our interactions with our environment and with our fellow human beings.
He has been a science fanatic from a young age, particularly the natural sciences. Despite a deep love of photography, he decided to pursue wildlife biology in college, hoping that a deeper understanding of animals, their behaviors, and their habitats would lead to better photographs. He went on to pursue graduate degrees in science education and ornithology and continues to be active in both research and science education. Somewhat paradoxically, given his deep love of hard science, he is also a hopeless dreamer and lover of fantasy and science-fiction.
He strives to create images that have high aesthetic qualities, but also move beyond the aesthetic. In his nature photography, he endeavors to create images that go beyond illustrating the beauty of the natural world; creating images that also illustrate a scientific concept, an interesting behavior, or a conservation concern. In his more fine art digital imagery, he creates multi-layered images that are steeped in symbolism, and attempt express some scientific concept or human truth.
Elijah is an avid outdoorsman with extensive experience backpacking, hiking, kayaking, caving, and rock climbing. His scientific experience ranges from banding hawks and owls during migration in New Jersey, to surveying beaver activity and bird populations in the Adirondacks, to studying bird song learning all over the Eastern Seaboard and Mexico. His images have been used by organizations including the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Geographic News, among others.