This evening I glanced over at the bookshelf in my office and a photography book sitting on my shelf caught my eye. I purchased the book several years ago while at Shenandoah National Park. My wife, (then) infant son, and I were at Skyland Lodge and there was a photographer at the book store selling signed copies of his book.

We stopped for a bit and chatted with him. His book was amazing and I jumped at picking up a copy. After a few minutes chatting with him, I had the immediate impression of how friendly he was, and how enthralled in his work he was. I learned he was just ending his tour as Eminent Photographer for the National Park Service.

The National Park Service hires one person every ten years for this job. As Eminent Photographer, Frank was tasked with traveling to as many National Parks, National Forests, National Monuments...well you get the idea - he went everywhere. His body of work was prolific. He had photographed over 160 National Parks & Forests across the United States to create a database of over 40,000 images. He was the first Eminent Photographer to shoot digitally in the 21st century. And he lived here in Virginia, near Shenadoah NP.

After leaving the park that day, when I got home I looked him up online and found he was a prolific Instagram user, constantly updating as to which National Park he was traveling to from week to week and posting beatiful photos of his travels. He was super friendly in his comments, constantly answering questions of people about the park he was in, or how he took a photo. He would also frequently post dates of photowalks where people could come and meet with him, and join him in the park to take photos with him. His fanbase grew online and I was hooked.

This evening, when I saw his book on my shelf I remembered all of this and thought to myself, "I wonder what Frank is up to. I haven't seen him post on Instagram in a while."

I pulled out my phone to check his account, and that is when I learned that Frank tragically passed away on July 4th, 2021. I am so very saddened by this. I learned that he was in the middle of a project for the national Park service called the 79 years project He was going around and re-creating the iconic Ansel Adams photos, with the same 8x10” film field camera, lens, etc. trying to hit them at the same time of year and as many other similarities as possible.

The world has lost a prolific, beautiful photographer of our beloved National Parks. Rest in peace Frank. We will miss you, and your pictures, very much.