Renowned American nature and wildlife photographer Thomas D. Mangelsen has traveled throughout the natural world for over 45 years observing and photographing Earth’s last great wild places. A Nebraska native, Mangelsen’s love of nature, his life outdoors and business success were heavily influenced by his father. An avid sportsman, Harold Mangelsen took his sons to favorite blinds along the Platte River in Nebraska to observe the great flocks of ducks, geese and cranes that migrate through the valley. From these adventures, Mangelsen learned important lessons for photographing in the field, most notably patience and understanding animal behavior.

Initially Mangelsen was fascinated with photographing birds in flight. In the early 1970s, Tom and his brother David began selling limited edition prints of his images. In 1978, Mangelsen opened his first Images of Nature® gallery in Jackson, Wyoming. Since then a number of Mangelsen®—Images of Nature Gallery locations have opened across the United States.

In 2015, Grizzlies of Pilgrim Creek: An Intimate Portrait of 399 was published. In stunning images by Mangelsen and words by Todd Wilkinson, Grizzlies of Pilgrim Creek tells the dramatic story of Grizzly 399, the most famous mother bear in the world. In a book that has been called unprecedented by Jane Goodall, readers are taken on a heart-palpitating adventure into the harrowing life and death encounters of both grizzlies and people as bears try to survive in the modern world. This book has been awarded the Los Angeles Time’s Mesmerizing Coffee Table Titles, the Forward Indies Book Award, the High Plains Book Award and the Outdoor Writers Association of America Excellence in Craft Contest.