I'm Don Kates

I began photographing nature very early in life. I originally started out as a bird photographer, where, among other things, I honed my skill of hand-holding a 600mm f/4 lens as I photographed birds in flight (see pic bottom right.)  Normally, these lenses are mounted on big, expensive tripods and tripod heads that allow near effortless shooting with these heavy and awkward lenses.  Since I was just starting out, I could afford the lens but not the rest of the gear to go with it, so I learned to shoot hand-holding these massive lenses.  Little did I know that this would be a valuable skill later in my career as a motorcycle photographer.  My love of photography was eventually combined with my love of motorcycles and I became one of the leading photographers of custom motorcycles and the "biker" lifestyle in the country.  I eventually formed Shooters Images, a company and website dedicated to high end custom motorcycle and car photography, racing, motorsport events, and the biker lifestyle. I was often required to shoot fast moving motorcycles or cars with big lenses in situations that could not accommodate big tripods normally used to hold the lens.  Thus, enter my bird photography skills.

  Throughout the years, I became one of the most highly published motorcycle photographers in the country and was featured in every national motorcycle magazine, various car magazines, TV shows (as set decorations, biker documentaries), ads, catalogs etc.; oftentimes having features in 4-5 different magazines a month. After opening a large studio, I also became very involved in commercial photography for major motorcycle accessory companies and produced many photographs for catalogs and ad campaigns. One of my favorite assignments came when I was selected from a large group of well known photographers to document a 10-day motorcycle ride through the dangerous Baja region of Mexico. The photos and article appeared in Harley-Davidson's HOG magazine and United Airlines "Hemispheres" magazine. 

My company, Shooters Images, has been the official photographer for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally since 2008 and has provide all the promotional photography for the Sturgis Rally Department, including the Sturgis MC Rally, Camaro Rally, Off-Road Rally, and Mustang Rally. My work has appeared on several motorcycle documentaries on the Discovery Channel, History Channel, and HBO - most recently "The Time Traveler's Wife."  Along the way, I formed another company - Kates Nature Photography - where I collected a portfolio of landscape and wildlife images, as time permitted.  Most of those images were never seen or were posted on an obscure website for this company.  Due to time constraints, I never really promoted that business - until now.  I currently divide my time between both companies, but more and more time is being spent on the return to my other passion - landscape and wildlife photography. 

My art business has been designated as a "Trusted Art Seller" with The Art Storefronts Organization, which means you can shop with confidence, and know that I stand behind the quality and value of my products.