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About Ron St. Germain
"DaPhotoDude"
Michigan freelance writer and photographer Ron St. Germain has stepped into the forefront of outdoor communications. Rarely does an individual find success in both venues of writing and photography and possess the skills needed to capture an audience in both markets. He credits his success as a testament to good people who have helped him along the way and a driving passion to produce award winning work.
As a photographer Ron’s images have appeared in galleries, posters, calendars, greeting cards, books and on magazine covers. He has covered assignments for a multitude of publications including National Wildlife and API (Associated Press International) He is also a touring wildlife photography artist. His awards for outdoor photography span from several Michigan State level competitions, to National best of shows, to World qualifying and publications in the best of photography annuals.
In 2002, he was accepted into two professional media organizations, The Michigan Outdoor Writer’s Association (MOWA), and the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA). OWAA’s membership includes the world’s best outdoor writers, photographers, broadcasters, publishers and speakers. Since his acceptance into MOWA he has been the recipient of 21 professional craft awards. Most notably he won the “Charlie Welsh Award” from 2003-2006. The Welsh award is presented to the year’s best published black and white photograph.
In 2003, 2006 and 2007 Ron won the “C.A. Frenchy Paquin award, considered MOWA’s most prestigious writing award.
In 2004 he won the “James Hall” award for best travel writing.
In 2005 Ron was awarded both the Welsh award and the “Gill Clark” award for the year’s best published color image. He also won his first International professional award from OWAA winning the Nikon/OWAA scenic color photo of the year.
Perhaps the best news came in 2006 when Ron won 3 photo categories in the OWAA International professional competition. He won the wildlife and scenic color categories and also won the black and white scenic category. In the 82 year history of OWAA very few of the world’s best outdoor photographers have claimed 3 categories in a single year.
In 2007, along with the Paquin award, MOWA honored Ron with Michigan’s best outdoor feature in a newspaper.
Typically Ron’s writing does not focus on “how to” topics. His strong points are more related to feature stories on people, events, travel, photography, humor and well researched topics involving wildlife and fisheries issues. His work may be found in a variety of magazines and newspapers. His outdoor column “Dear Fish Diary”, which has finished top 3 in OWAA’s International humor category since 2006, now appears in Woods-N-Water News, a monthly Michigan publication found on most news-stands. His column will soon be syndicated to other publications as his first book is nearing production.
Ron has created his own photography programs in the Mid-Michigan area and is available for public speaking events. His energetic approach to building confidence among people with desires to become published writers or photographers always leaves his audience up beat and laughing.
Ron is a father first. He spends a great deal of time helping with scouts, school events as well as coaching baseball. He understands how everyday life can get in the way of a writer or photographer’s dreams but insists parents don’t have to quit on their ambitions, just scale them down a bit to a more realistic approach. “You don’t have to quit on your kids to fulfill your dreams”, he says. “Nor do you have to quit on your dreams to fulfill your children”.
