GEORGE BELLER:

PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEYS

Dr. George Beller is a landscape and wildlife photographer who lives in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is an emeritus professor of cardiology at the University of Virginia Medical Center. After retiring in 2012, he began his journey in nature photography after completing a photography workshop in the Grand Teton National Park. Over the years, he has photographed in national parks in the West and Appalachia, as well as on trips to Alaska, Iceland, the Arctic Circle, and Patagonia. He cites Bob Llewellyn, a renowned photographer, as his primary mentor.

In his landscape images, Beller tries to capture dramatic contrasts between light and shadow and the relationships among colors. He is especially drawn to the drama and beauty of clouds as they settle over mountain peaks. Most of his landscapes are taken just as the sun rises or sets; in these images, he is compelled by the serenity that defines the beginning or end of a day. He is particularly inspired by reflections of mountains and trees in water, the contours and shadows of dunes, the beauty of fall colors, and wildflowers emerging in spring. His close-up shots of wildlife create intimate portraits, whereas his longer-range photos depict wildlife as it is naturally encountered in the landscape.