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Images That Define A Career

On September 11, 2011 By

Every photographer who has engaged in the business on a professional level will, in time, produce an image or images that defines a style that is the signature for that person. Be it color, angles, lens choice, etc. each individual will eventually put forth images that are synonymous with the name. Margaret Bourke White’s coverage [...]

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Our Ocean Above

On September 5, 2011 By

I am going to steal a line or two from the acknowledgment in my 1998 book, “Texas Sky”, and describe the sky as I see it. “….A shroud of mystery and element of hope”.

I well recall a time over 50 years ago when I would gaze into a summer sky in wonderment, watching with [...]

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El Coyote

On August 29, 2011 By

Lying awake in my bed on those autumn nights so long ago I well recall the southerly wind brushing lightly across my chest as I listened to the calls of nocturnal creatures as they engaged in their secret life after dark along the Brazos river bottom. A screech owl softly whistles from his perch in [...]

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The Ritual Of Autumn

On August 22, 2011 By

I recall the day I came home from school and walked through the front door to be surprised by my brother holding a new shotgun, the simple but beautiful little Stevens single shot .410. I had been ragging on my father to get me a shotgun of my own for some time and now a [...]

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It was in the northern Texas panhandle in the spring time of 1874 and small bands of buffalo hunters were gathering at the famous Adobe Walls to initiate the beginning of the great slaughter that would, in four years, decimate the southern herd of bison into near extinction.

In the early 1870′s it was estimated [...]

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My career as a  photographer began innocuously enough after my major professor at Texas Tech University loaned me a camera in 1972 with the instructions to document the data I was collecting for a research project on coyote dietary habits. I became enthralled with the camera and what Kodachrome could do in rendering the color [...]

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Meinzer honored for pioneer spirit By Jeremy Goldmeier Posted July 22, 2011 at 8:21 p.m. Benjamin native Wyman Meinzer is known as the “Official Photographer of The State Of Texas,” as decreed in 1997 by then-Gov. George W. Bush.

That’s quite a bulky title to carry around, but [...]

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Several years ago after presenting a paper on coyote behavior at a symposium on predators in Kerrville, Texas I struck up a conversation with a friend and west Texas mountain lion hunter by the name of Bill Pat McKinney. B.P. was working for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department on the Black Gap area and [...]

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Droughts have been a nemesis to all living things even before documented history. The great millennium drought of 6,000 years ago wrought untold misery to life in the plains of mid America and is actually documented in geological strata at the Lubbock Lake State Park where ancient people lived beside this isolated oasis for generations [...]

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Shooting The West

On July 18, 2011 By

I love photographing our Texas but sometimes the call to go elsewhere is inevitable.
My wife and I recently spent a week in the Laramie mountains outside of Douglas, Wyoming working on a book project for a very prominent rancher and equine advocate. Unlike current conditions in Texas, the region had received moisture and [...]

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I would venture to say that many people might be able to recall a defining moment that signified the beginning of a life long hobby or even a career. It might have been the actions of an unknown person or perhaps a friend that initiated the drive to continue on to achieve a dream. [...]

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About Wyman Meinzer

Wyman Meinzer

Wyman Meinzer is the only official State Photographer of Texas. He was raised on League Ranch, a 27,000-acre ranch in the rolling plains of Texas. Since then, he has traveled across the state many times to capture the first and last rays of sunlight as they kiss the Texas landscapes.

He started his career as a professional predator hunter. He transitioned into a research associate for the university and now teaches a senior-level course in Special Problems Photography at Texas Tech University in addition to his ongoing book projects and freelance magazine assignments.

Professional Credentials

Meinzer has a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Management and was voted Outstanding Alumnus in 1987 by the department of Range and Wildlife Management at Texas Tech University. He also received the Distinguished Alumnus award in 1995 from the School of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. In 2009 he received the Distinguished Alumnus award from Texas Tech University in recognition of outstanding achievement and dedicated service.

After 28 years as a professional photographer, he has about 20 photography books to his credit and more than 250 magazine cover credits. His images have appeared in Smithsonion, National Geographic Books, Natural History, Time, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report, Audubon, Sports Afield, Field and Stream, Outdoor life, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Texas Highways, Korea GEO, German GEO, Das Tier, Airone, Horzu, BBC Wildlife, and many others.

His awards include: State Photographer of Texas, the John Ben Sheppard Jr. Award from the Texas State Historical Foundation for contributing to the preservation of Texas History through writing and photography, 1997 National Literary Award for the book, "Texas Lost: Vanishing Heritage" (with Andrew Sansom) and the San Antonio Conservation Award for the natural history book, "Roadrunner."

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