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Bald eagle at Iona beach last month.
Photo by Kate Paton
Richmond wildlife photographer shines
Published 10:37 PST, Tue December 11, 2018
Last Updated: 2:12 PDT, Wed May 12, 2021
Kate Paton’s journey to life in Richmond as a
wildlife photographer has been a circuitous and unanticipated one.
Growing up in what became Zimbabwe, she moved
to New Zealand where she and her growing family lived for 10 years. Then
Richmond beckoned, temporarily.
“My husband relocated for work. We thought we’d
only be here for two years, but now I don’t want to go back, because the
wildlife and the scenery has just blown me a way. We’re now permanent
residents,” Paton says.
Paton was used to working in offices. When
she moved to Richmond in her early 50s, she found it hard to break into the
world of paid employment.
“My age worked against me,” she says. “My
kids said, ‘Don’t worry about work mom.’ They got me a camera. They saw that
when I walked outside, it just lifted my spirits and the world was a wonderful
place again.”
Paton describes her new-found calling as, “Ethical
birding and wildlife photography—it is so important to respect wildlife and
birds. No photo is worth disturbing a bird for.”
She may be an unpaid photographer but her
photos have appeared in many publications. “I’ve been in quite a few different
things. The New York Times used some.”
In fact, Paton is up for an international
award. To vote for her online blog for the Terra Incognita Award go to
tinyurl.com/PNKate
Voting closes at the end of December. Only
one vote per person is allowed but if you vote for #44, you help Paton, and
Richmond wildlife, get greater exposure.
To see more of Paton’s work, she can be found on Twitter as@pnwkate, on Facebook and Instagram as pacificnorthwestkate
For now, Paton is just happy to be able to
get out and snap the abundant life around Richmond: “Hopefully, one day, I
would love to do something with my work with wildlife. I’m not sure what but
perhaps it could be with education, wildlife and conservation.”
And, after six years in Richmond, how does
Paton feel about here newfound home? “If I could, I’d like to stay here
forever.”
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