From icicles to wildlife, Scottsdale photographer looks for the ‘amazing’

Jim Burns’ first attempts at photography were pictures of icicles hanging from the trees in the Midwest where he grew up.

“I've always been a very visual person,” the Scottsdale resident said.

“I inherited my love of nature from my parents, and as a young adult spent a lot of time poring over coffee table books by Art Wolfe, David Muench and Ansel Adams.”

But he found wildlife more interesting than icicles, and one of his photographs appears in the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s 2026 calendar.

First there were birds, and he wanted to document the species he was seeing.

“From there I evolved from portraiture to flight and action because I wanted to share a deeper dive into lifestyle and natural history, aspects of nature that casual birders often overlook or miss.”

He’s been doing