About Steve Richardson
I grew up in the southern New Mexico city of Las Cruces and usually
spent each summer traveling, exploring and camping with my family. Both my parents were professors, and every summer we would
load up the car or camper and head out on one of our great adventures. Each morning I would wake up to the smell and sound
of a campfire, and bacon and eggs cooking, and go to sleep in the evening with a billion stars flickering through twisted
tree branches above. Often in the morning the air would be cool and crisp with the sound of a rushing stream nearby or a local
squirrel chattering overhead. The grass was usually covered with dew as was a nearby alpine meadow carpeted with a thousand
wildflowers. One day we would be in northern New Mexico high in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains nestled in the cool tall pines,
and the next day I would wake up camped in the Painted Desert of Arizona with not a tree in sight.
My parents loved to explore and get us on hair-raising roads high
above the timberline with a thousand foot drop off on one side and only enough room for one car on the road. We experienced
the horror of coming across another vehicle, and Mom looking out the window, saying "You still have six inches on this side."
Those were the days that still enchant my thoughts. Those were the days when I knew complete contentment and happiness. Not
a single worry except the daunting thought that school was only a month or two away. We would trek all over the western United
States visiting places like the Ruby Mountains in Nevada and Mount St. Helens in Washington, Glacier National Park in Montana
and the rugged coast of Oregon. I remember the deep red rocks at Capital Reef National Park in Utah and the many lakes of
the Turtle Mountains in North Dakota.
It was the Richardson code to never camp in a campground. We always
had to find the perfect isolated spot next to a running stream 100 miles from the nearest town. Those trips had an incredible
impact on me. They gave me a wonderful love of nature and wilderness. Every stream, every sunset, every quivering leaf above
the trail had something to teach my soul. It's hard for me to take credit for my photography because I think it was the wonderful
childhood that my parents provided me that taught me to see the beauty in nature and the world around me. My photographs are
really just an expression of the love and wonderful childhood my parents gave me; an expression of the world they taught me
to see.
"Thanks, Mom and Dad! With Love and Gratitude, Your son, Steve"
My Parents
Shirley Dial Richardson passed away on April 9th, 1997. Shirley's
career started as a high school music teacher, later on a college professor, painter, psychologist and businesswoman. She
was the author of "A Guide to Career and Life Planning" in 1983. I will always remember her as my closest friend and confidante.
Al Richardson currently lives in Las Cruces, New Mexico where he
recently returned to be near his daughter and grandchildren. Al was a chemistry professor at New Mexico State University for
36 years and had many accomplishments during his career. He also did research and/or consulting at Iowa State University,
White Sands Missile Range and University of Colorado, and at Los Alamos, Lawrence-Livermore and Sandia National Laboratories.
In his research, he had several important, cutting edge discoveries. After Mom died, Dad took over as my closest friend and
confidante.
Siblings: Steve is the youngest of seven. Four sisters: Corinne, Elizabeth, Margaret http://www.chambersinteriors.com/ and Anne. His older brothers are David and John. John was killed in a car bicycle accident when he was 14 in
1982.
Published Books: Billy's Mountain
Picture Book (coming soon) Illustrated by Herb Leonhard www.herbleonhard.com/books/Billy's-Mountain.pdf
Published Photography:
Steve has published three scenic calendars through his
own business Richardson Photo/Graphics including "Moods of the Grand Canyon 1995,"San Juan Mountains, Mesa Verde National
Park, Colorado 1998" and "Grand Junction, Colorado 1998". In 1998 he also produced a limited addition note-card set for the
Archdiocese of Santa Fe's 400th anniversary featuring 12 of New Mexico's scenic missions and churches. The set includes an
introduction by the Rev. Michael J. Sheehan, Archbishop of Santa Fe. Steve has frequently been published by: New Mexico Magazine,
Santa Fe, New Mexico; Smith-Southwestern Calendar Company, Tempe, Arizona; and Gold Leaf Publishing Company in Richfield,
Utah. Steve has had a total of 18 images of Southwestern Missions published in the Catholic Extensions "Missions USA Calendar"
for the years 2001 and 2002. Most recently Steve has had a number of images used in the "New Mexico and Southwest Vista's
Calendars" for years 2004 through 2007 published by Mike Butterfiled http://www.butterfieldphoto.com/
Steve is 37 and lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
