Jon Ortner was born in Great Neck, Long Island in 1951. He started painting and drawing at an early age, which laid the foundation for his photography. In college, Jon continued to pursue art, and the study of natural history and ecology. In 1978 he moved to New York City with his wife, Martha McGuire, where they opened a photography studio and continue to collaborate. Jon's books, Where Every Breath is a Prayer (STC), Angkor (Abbeville), and Buddha (Welcome Books) are the culmination of numerous journeys to the far corners of the Himalayas and Southeast Asia. A compilation of NYC photographs was published as Manhattan Dawn & Dusk (STC). His award-winning images and stories have appeared in numerous magazines, including GEO, Communications Arts, Travel & Leisure and Architectural Digest. Beginning in 2005 Jon turned his focus and passion to the canyons and deserts of the Southwest. From the greatest canyons on earth to the brilliant swirling colors of the Grand Staircase and Vermillion Cliffs, through panoramic portraits of a vast, monumental landscape at once familiar and astounding, Jon shares with us his unique vision of the beauty and incomparable majesty of America's great wilderness.

To visit Jon's website, click here

To read an edited interview with Jon Ortner from Kodak's ProPass Magazine, (March 2010) click here

Greer K. Chesher's book Heart of the Desert Wild: Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument won the Utah Book Award for nonfiction in 2001. Having rangered for the National Park Service for 20 years—everywhere from Bandelier National Monument to Grand Canyon National Parks—she has written several books about her experiences, including The Desert's Hoodoo Heart and Bryce Canyon Impressions. Her latest book is Zion: A Storied Land. She currently lives in Rockville, Utah.