Could be his best

Tim Christie is a helluva photographer.

He's a helluva writer, too.

The retired North Idaho College photography instructor recently collected a pair of writing and photo awards from the Outdoor Writers Association of America and the Professional Outdoor Media Association.

"It's really humbling, but it's also saying that's really, really good," he said.

The Coeur d'Alene man received OWAA's Presidents' Choice Award for his article, "A Long Shot," published in the September/October 2010 issue of Colorado outdoors.

He also was honored at the 2011 Pinnacle Awards at POMA's Annual Business Conference in Ogden, Utah, Aug. 12. He won the Photography/Art/Illustration category with "Bohemian Waxwing in Flight" published in Wyoming Wildlife. He also was honored for Outstanding Achievement for his photo "The Stripper" published in Outdoor Life magazine, and his article "Memories in Blue Steel" printed in Wyoming Wildlife magazine.

Christie's article, "A Long Shot," is about the ethics of long-range shooting and hunting.

People go out, buy a rifle, scope, ammo, go to the range, practice for a few days, then they think they can make a shot from perhaps a thousand yards or longer, he said, but it's harder than they think. He believes there are people who don't take the time to prepare, and that's wrong.

"Any time you pull the trigger on a big game animal, you should know that bullet is going to kill that animal. It's going to be a lethal shot," he said. "As a hunter, I take that responsibility very seriously. My dad instilled that in me."

Christie, who retired from NIC after 35 years there, still goes on photo treks that take him to Jasper, Wateron, Glacier, Yellowstone or the Tetons. He loves to rise early, when the light is right, and disappear for hours.

He is also a hunter.

"I think I photograph like I hunt. I can anticipate things happening before they ever happen with an animal," he said. "I think that's one of the successes with my photography."

His photo of the Bohemian waxwing in flight ranks among his top pictures.

"My wife thinks it's the best photograph I've ever taken in my life," he said.

And his picture of a deer stripping the velvet off its antlers, captured a magical moment.

"He was attacking this bush. The bush explodes and literally, the particles of the bush are suspended," Christie said.

Perhaps his most prized award was recognition for "Memories in Blue Steel," which was about his grandfather, Merle.

"It's probably the best piece I've ever written," he said.

It recounts times the two shared, and the lessons Christie learned in his youth - lessons he never forgot and that still guide him today.

He said from the time he was 6, his parents would drop him and his sister off at their grandparents' 2,000-acre ranch outside Hardin, Mont. They would stay from the first week of June to the last week of August.

"I really believe they wanted us to have that connection with the land, because both of them had been raised on ranches," Christie said of his parents.

It was there he learned to shoot, to hunt, to respect and to honor. He recalls being handed a .22 rifle - and a sandwich in an old flour sack - when he was just 7, and given his freedom to explore the land with a Cocker Spaniel, Tammy.

"We would go out and spend the entire day roaming around this ranch," he said. "It was a wonderful place to grow up. I don't know that they ever worried about us."

In "Memories of Blue Steel," he recounts receiving five rifles from his grandfather, too old to use them any longer, with but one condition.

"Do with them what you want, give them to who you want," he told his grandson. "But let them know where they've been."

As Christie tells the story, his eyes glisten with tears, his voice cracks.

"It was a bittersweet moment," he said. "He's giving away his legacy."

Later, following publication of "Blue Steel," Christie received numerous notes, emails and calls from people thanking him for sharing such a personal story.

"That meant as much to me as the awards did, how it touches somebody else's life," he said.

To view Tim Christie's images and work go to www.TimChristiePHoto.com.