Photography is not just a hobby for Greg Wise. It’s also a way that he gives back to his community.
No matter what time of day or night that you catch up with him, there’s a good chance he’s got his camera.
Watch Greg Wise describe his love of photography:
“I love night photography. I love the Northern Lights. I do them right out here at Deaver Reservoir quite a bit. The other thing I really enjoy is going to Yellowstone quite a few times a year—I’ve been 14 times already this year,” he says.
It’s hobby that Greg first got into about 25 years ago.
“I bought my first one back in 1999, and over the years, I kept stepping up. It was mostly my family that I was shooting at first,” he recalled.
He has certainly put his camera equipment to good use.
“I have well over two million pictures on six or seven hard drives,” he says.
You get the picture. He takes a lot of pictures.
“The Northern Lights, grizzly bears and mountain goats are my top three things. I’ve also gotten a lot of sunsets that I’ve always been so proud of,” he says.
Many of his landscape and weather photos have appeared on Q2’s weathercasts over the years.
And if Powell High School is playing most any sport, you’ll Greg on the sidelines. It’s something he started doing a few years back when his own kids were in school there.
“When the last one graduated from high school, I assumed I was done. And people approached me and said, please don’t quit. You take pictures of our kids, and I got involved there shooting high school sports,” he says.
He also shoots sports for Northwest Community College.
But it’s not just sports. You also find him snapping photos of Powell’s proms, graduation, and plays—photos he then shares.
“Just knowing that I’m getting pictures that mom and dad can’t get with their cell phones—I can reach out with my lenses. I just enjoy doing it. I feel like I’m shooting my own kids because I know so many of the kids,” Greg says.
A hobby that might feel like a job if he didn’t enjoy it so much.
“There are days when I get a little frustrated because I can’t keep up. People ask me, are those pictures coming up pretty soon? But for the most part, people are very good to me, and I really appreciate that,” he says.
Greg grew up in the Minneapolis area and owned a couple of Sears catalog stores before he moved to Powell and ran a furniture and appliance store before his retirement.
His photography has become a beautiful way of connecting with a community he says he’s come to love.
“That’s been important to me, so I just found it was a way to pay back,” he says.
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