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"Being out in nature, watching and photographing these wonderful sentient beings became my passion and addiction...now sharing their wonderful portraits and stories with the public is my mission..." Pamela Underhill Karaz

My artistic journey started 30 years ago when I decided to give up a sales and marketing career for one that I found much more in tune with my spirit and my love for animals and wildlife... I picked up a brush, paints and a canvas and I decided to become a wildlife painter.

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From the very beginning, I found my passion in both the creative process and in my subjects. Creating something, life, from just a white, blank canvas to me was just such an incredible experience, the financial aspect or lack of didn't matter at that point, I found my passion and there was no turning back.

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Photography then was only a means of getting subject material for my paintings, it wasn't artistic, it was just reference material. It wasn't until I moved back to Trenton Falls, NY that photography took on a new importance. I fell in love with one of the scenes not far from my house, the Prospect Gorge, and my journey into photography grew from being reference material to being artistic. The local scenes spoke to me and I spent years chasing the light, the snow, the spirit of the scene.... and my camera gear got better and better. Then the Snowy Owls came in numbers with the irruption during the winter of 2013/2014 and my addiction, my passion and my obsession with photography grew... that was the real start of my wildlife photography.

Holding a Snowy Owl that was in the process of being banded by professional banders for Project SNOWstorm

Photographing Bison in Yellowstone National Park

I’ve had some wonderful experiences since the owls, an eagle’s nest, then the heron’s nest and a couple of gray fox dens where I was able to photograph the family for several weeks before they moved on. These incredible experiences have given me the chance to experiment and to be creative with my work… and to learn how to create a photograph that is more than just a photograph, but one that I consider to be art, one that evokes an emotion and tells a story and, hopefully... one that speaks to your soul.

The wildlife who inspire me are always first and foremost in my work, my thoughts and in my desire to learn more about them. I often study and photograph them for weeks and sometimes months to follow their progress and to do justice to their story… and their safety and well being always comes first. 

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Thank you for visiting our website and having an interest in my art... it is a journey.

​Pamela Underhill Karaz Co-owner of The Curious Otter

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My current equipment:

Cameras: Nikon D850, Nikon D800, Nikon D500. Lenses: Nikkor 17-35 f2.8 ED,  70-200mm f4, 105mm f2.8 Micro, 400mmf2.8 FL ED VR, 600mmf4 FL ED VR, 1.4x and 2x teleconverters, Gitzo tripod and Wimberly Head.

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