Starved Rock State Park

For Lee Mandrell, photography began as a hobby that quickly ignited into a fiery passion and then into a lifelong career. He started out at age 14 with a secondhand Minolta Hi-Matic E Rangefinder. Mandrell worked as a custom darkroom technician in a professional lab for years and was eventually promoted to production manager. An early adopter of both digital technology and Photoshop, he was actively involved in all current photography techniques and practices. He is author of Indianapolis: The Circle City and coauthor of The Great Smoky Mountains: A Visual Journey, Indiana Across the Land, Illinois Across the Land, and Illinois State Parks.

DeeDee Niederhouse-Mandrell's interest in the art of photography began over 25 years ago. What started out as a hobby eventually turned into a paying photography job—she is now the principal photographer for the Ray Skillman Corporation. After several years, Niederhouse-Mandrell became the corporation's creative photography manager for their upper-end magazine advertisements. She is coauthor of The Great Smoky Mountains: A Visual Journey, Indiana Across the Land, Illinois Across the Land, and Illinois State Parks.