Littlehales first experimented with photography as a Princeton University student in the late 1940s. His initial attempts with a borrowed Kodak Ektra camera led him to employment with the Princeton Photo Service and the Princeton Print Club. Littlehales gained technical experience photographing football games and parties for the Photo Service, while his job arranging art exhibits at the Print Club exposed him to the photography of such masters as Ansel Adams and the Westons. The remainder of Littlehales' photographic education he attributes to trial and error.

     Following college, Littlehales freelanced until joining the photo staff of National Geographic in 1952. Many of his early assignments carried him beneath the sea, exploring such aquatic wonderlands as the kelp forest off the coast of Baja, California. Littlehales even invented the "Ocean Eye" camera–a housing compatible with a range of water-corrected Nikon lenses, from an 8mm fish-eye to a 500mm mirror-lens that acted as a fish-watching telescope. Having been an avid naturalist and birder in his teens, Littlehales soon began suggesting and receiving wildlife assignments that sent him from the rain forests of South America to the remote Pacific Islands in search of the world's most interesting and beautiful creatures.

      Although his work involved hours of waiting in cramped concealment for his subjects to appear, Littlehales does not regard himself as a patient man. "I have no patience," he says, "but I have an interest, and interest puts a damper on impatience."

     Littlehales also discovered that every living thing has a rhythm, from the nervous, rapid movement of a hummingbird to the graceful bounding of a deer. "To be a successful photographer, you must learn the rhythm of what you wish to photograph, and then dance a counter-rhythm," he says. He also advises that time invested in observing and understanding an animal and its habitat aids in capturing both stunning and endearing photos.

     Shortly before Littlehales retired from National Geographic in 1990, he and Jody visited West Virginia to work on the book, Wild Southlands. The remote, mountainous beauty of the state struck them so deeply that they later purchased 160 acres in the Allegheny Range. Here the two built a simple log cabin, where they reside from early spring until the first heavy snows of winter.

     Despite a career of global travel, Littlehales now prefers the serenity and photographic opportunities of his West Virginia home. He and Jody have identified 10 species of salamanders, numerous migratory birds, and a host of other wildlife thriving on their land. "I have not even exhausted the photo possibilities of one season on our property," he says.

     Since his retirement Littlehales has published numerous pictorial books and calendars of his breathtaking photographs. Two books, Nature's Habitats and Wetlands of North America, feature cover shots of West Virginia's Dolly Sods and Glade Run near Gaudineer Knob, respectively. Littlehales also offers three-day nature photography workshops in the early summer, with Dolly Sods, Gaudineer Knob and Blackwater Falls serving as his classroom.

     In addition to nature, Littlehales and Jody also pursue an interest in old-time mountain string music; he as a student of the five-string banjo and she of the fiddle. Littlehales in particular focuses on 18th and 19th century tunes under the mentorship of West Virginia native and renowned banjo teacher, Dwight Diller. He and Jody also attend string festivals throughout West Virginia, where photographing the Mountain State's toe-tapping musicians has become Littlehales' newest hobby.

      Born and raised in West Virginia, Lucia K. Hyde loves to rock climb, backpack and meet interesting folks in her home state. She is now working with her father on a new West Virginia book.