WILD BLOG: Wild America through the eyes of EO's James Overstreet
UPDATED March 30, 2010 / 12:30 p.m.

ARLINGTON, Wash. - I fancy myself a bit of a photographer. Occupational hazard, I guess. You spend 22 years in the media business, you occasionally have to pick up a camera and start shooting.

Not that I mind. Quite the contrary, I've been accused of being a photo freak. My buddies cringe when I step on board with them because they know if, God forbid somebody catches a big fish, the fishing comes to a screeching halt as the Shangle flashes start popping.

Yes, that's right, I fancy myself a bit of a photographer.

That is, I did until I met James Overstreet.

You might recognize the Overstreet name. If you've logged into ESPNOutdoors.com anytime in the past eight or nine years, you've seen Overstreet's work. J.O. is the lead photographer at EO, and has consequently shot everything from the Great Outdoor Games to the PBR to the Bassmaster Classic.

J.O.'s photos are all over the various sites in the ESPN Outdoors family, and, as a semi-psuedo-half-assed outdoors-photo geek, I've long been a fan of his work. If you're a waterfowler, go take a peek at some of the stuff he's shot for Duck Trek and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Having said that, I really had no idea just how freakin' weak I was with the ol' Olympus, until two weeks ago, when I first met Overstreet face-to-face at the Duel in the Delta Elite Series tournament in Stockton, Ca., and got a look at his latest photo project.

'Street on the street: James Overstreet bears a striking resemblence to a guy you know. He looks a heckuva lot like an old cow boss I knew at one of the ranches back home, and I bet he looks a heckuva lot like your old wrestling coach, or the preacher at your church or the bouncer at your favorite corner bar. Matter of fact, Overstreet used to own a construction company before he became EO's hired photo gun, and was a former waterfowl guide back home in Arkansas.

In other words, he's a huntin' and fishin' good ol' boy with a camera, about as far removed from the stereotypical arty/dorky/fussy photo nerd as a man can be. But, brother, what J.O's eyes see, and what his cameras capture would make Ansel Adams stop and take notice.

After the first full day of working the Duel in the Delta for Bassmaster.com, EO's Rob Russow and I dropped by J.O.'s room on the way down to grab some dinner. J.O. had driven to Stockton from Arkansas, via the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Yosemite, the Greenhorn Mountains, Route 66 and Western Americana, U.S.A., shooting photos for a road trip gallery that would run soon on EO.

"Hey, boys, check out some of these photos," Overstreet drawled - because, being from Arkansas, the man drawwwwls with the best of 'em - hitting the slideshow button on his laptop.

What I saw blew me away. Stopped me flat-footed. Welded me to the ground in front of the monitor. Made me mumble a curse in amazement: "$*&! ... are you kidding me, Overstreet?!?"

Photo after wondrous photo of the wildlands of our great country rolled by.

The blazing orange walls of the Grand Canyon ...

The wind-blasted arches of soutern Utah ...

An impossibly curving train track in the Greenhorn Mountains, the red snakey cars of a train passing each other, going in opposite directions ...

The "Forrest Gump" road ...

And the most ridiculous photo of Yosemite anyone will ever take.

A small version of that photo is at the top of this page, and I promise you, the 660-pixel version here doesn't do it justice. It's the kind of photo that you blow up to 5 x 7 feet and cover an entire office wall with.

As a matter of fact, that's exactly what I plan to do with that photo.

James Overstreet has taken thousands of photos like the handful on this blog page, and I didn't even realize the depth of his work until I blundered onto his personal website this week. Silly, dumb ol' me.

Go check it out: Photo geek of not, if you're even a passing fan of beautiful, interesting imagery, you owe it to yourself to spend some time surfing OutdoorShooter.org, Overstreet's site. I warn you, though, it'll cost you a little: As soon as you see some of his shots, you'll be reaching for the Mastercard to order prints.

And heads up: the first of Overstreet's "American Roadtrip" galleries runs today (Tuesday) on ESPNOutdoors.com, and Parts 2 and 3 go live on Thursday and Friday. I guarantee, you'll see images that you'll keep coming back to again and again.

-JS

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