Donte Hunter at work capturing images.
By Molly Kirk/DWR
Photos by Donte Hunter
Donte Hunter expresses his love of the outdoors through photography, and he’s traveled all over the world to document wildlife. “I used to enjoy fishing and hunting, but my love of wildlife behind the camera has begun to change my perspective, so my trigger finger is now my shutter finger,” Donte said. “Capturing the wild moments in frame by frame is something I can share with everyone. Some of us lead extremely busy lives so it also brings awareness to the beauty all round us.”
A resident of Ashland, Virginia, Donte works as a senior sales engineer. Some of his favorite sites to visit and photograph in Virginia are Three Lakes Park, Crow’s Nest Natural Preserve, Mason Neck State Park, Chincoteague, and his own back yard. But Donte has also captured wildlife images on trips around the world. His most memorable outdoors moment came in Tanzania. “We parked under a tree to have lunch and during that 45-minute period, a herd of about 20 elephants approached and grazed within meters of our jeep. The low rumbles and dominating size of these wild animals generated a blend of excitement and fear that I will never forget,” he said.
Donte supports DWR through the Restore the Wild habitat initiative because “everyone and everything benefits when there are healthy habitats for all creatures,” he said. “If we take these things for granted, it’s very possible our future generations will only experience these wonderful things through archived pictures and video. The better we do at conservation now the easier it will be in the future. I chose to support the Restore the Wild campaign because I wanted to contribute to a program I believed had the same view and respect for the great outdoors as I do.”
All photos below taken by Donte Hunter.
