Juan A. Pons was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. At the age of sixteen, Juan began attending high school at Chapel Hill-Chauncey Hall in Waltham, Massachusetts. The school had an excellent photography program lead by an inspiring teacher, Alice Solorow, and it was here that Juan's interest in photography began. Juan's studies focused on the essentials of photography such as light, composition, and developing an artistic eye. Juan concentrated on black and white photography in high school, developing his own film and processing his own prints.
Upon graduating from high school, Juan attended Clark University where he continued to pursue his interests in photography and gain experience working with the media. Juan worked as student photographer for the university's communications department and also took on occasional photo work for the university newspaper and yearbook. In addition, he helped develop photo portfolios for several aspiring models/actresses.
Following his four years in college, Juan's photography pursuits yielded to his professional career demands and he was not able to dedicate time to developing his skill. Juan has led a very successful career as a computer engineer specializing in scalable, high performing, and secure systems design for over 14 years. He has held various positions including Director of IS, Senior Systems Engineer, Chief Systems Architect, and most recently Vice-President of Development for a mobile applications development company. After several years, Juan picked up photography with renewed vigor, this time using color slide film for its color richness and ease of use. Juan continued to learn about the artistic and technical aspects of the craft and, as a lifelong nature enthusiast, Juan's photography subjects became focused on nature and wildlife.
Soon after rekindling his interest in photography, Juan converted to digital equipment due to the tremendous advantages he feels digital technology offers. Digital equipment allows Juan to have the same control over his images as he once had when he developed and printed his own black and white images. While Juan now uses digital photography technology exclusively, his images are unaltered and present subjects as they appear in nature. Juan has been recognized for the considerable skill he has developed in digital photography and now runs a business offering services to other photographers in the early stages of using digital photography technology.
As a nature and wildlife photographer, Juan is a strong supporter of wildlife and natural habitat conservation and is a member of several conservation organizations. Though private individuals purchase photos directly from him, Juan donates his images to non-profit organizations with nature and wildlife preservation missions.
Juan, his wife Abby, and their son Nathaniel live in Pittsboro, North Carolina. Although much of his photography is focused on native wildlife in North Carolina, Juan and his family also travel frequently to other regions of interest, such as Puerto Rico, New England, and the Southwestern states. Juan never ceases to be amazed by the natural subjects he photographs and hopes that sharing his photographs will inspire others to appreciate and respect natural life.
Juan's work has been featured on numerous publications, including: Sierra Magazine, Nature Conservancy, Audubon Magazine, Audubon North Carolina, Wildlife in North Carolina, The Independent, and others.
I am affiliated with Naturescapes.net, the premier nature photography community on the internet. I serve as their web consultant, moderator for the Photo Essays forum and as an ocassional contribuitor.
