In the News....

Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Outdoors Section, Thursday, February 16th 2006:

A very flattering story was put out today in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle Outdoors section....

Craig Hergert takes in the big picture
By BEN PIERCE, Chronicle Staff Writer
Article ©1996-2005 the Bozeman Daily Chronicle

You've probably seen Craig Hergert's photographs around town.
His sprawling landscapes of the Big Sky state are hard to miss.
Hergert is the man behind Montana Panoramic Company and his images, some more than seven-feet long, grace the walls and window fronts of several downtown businesses.
While Hergert is experiencing success now, his path to capturing "the big picture" was a long and winding one.
After majoring in fine art and graphic design at MSU, Hergert landed a job marketing and advertising in Bozeman.
Barely removed from his days as a college ski bum, he was happy to be making a living in town, but it wasn't long before his job began to take a toll.

"Work started to take over my life and it just got to breakneck," Hergert said Friday at his gallery in the Emerson Cultural Center. "I got totally burnt out. Instead of going hunting or fishing or hiking I was at work. I realized that that is not why I live here."
Hergert revamped his outlook on life. He started thinking of ways he could turn his job into something he loved to do.
With a life-long passion for photography and the outdoors, Hergert applied his skills in marketing to start Montana Panoramic Company.
"I wanted to be outside and making a living too," Hergert, 31, said. "I still work constantly - night and day, seven days a week - but it doesn't feel like it anymore."
Finding a niche as a professional photographer is no easy task. Fortunately for Hergert his passion as an artist fit perfectly with his medium.
"It would always drive me crazy when I was out hiking to see this beautiful mountain vista and only be able to capture this tiny little 35mm frame," Hergert said. "Large format didn't really do it so I started stitching or taping images together and (the panoramics) slowly evolved from that."
With the dawn of digital photography Hergert took his images to the next level.
By combining numerous individual shots and meticulously editing them in Adobe Photoshop, Hergert is able to create high-resolution photographs that can be printed on a large scale.
It wasn't long before his dream-like depictions of Montana started turning heads.
"Craig's photographs are incredibly representative of Montana," said Glen Stark who displays Hergert's work at Starky's Authentic restaurant on Main Street. "It is technically innovative and people are fascinated by it."
Hergert's panoramic images capture the grandeur of the Big Sky state in a way ordinary methods cannot. But his motives as an artist go beyond the confines of a frame to include conservation, history and inspiration.
"I see how fast everything is changing, even in the 10 years I've been in the Gallatin Valley," Hergert said. "I like to document those things so people can look back 50 years from now and see what this place was like.
"A lot of people aren't able to sit outside and watch the light change these days and I try to capture that. You can barely see out a window, let alone a wide-open mountain stream with an elk walking by."
Hergert has streamlined his photographic process and derives satisfaction from having compete control over his work. From concept to development to shooting, editing and printing, Hergert's vision is pure.
The process makes each image a unique work of art.
Hergert limits fine art print runs to 75. The images can cost $800 or more, but Hergert offers postcards and poster prints to get his work out to a broader audience. He also donates images to charitable foundations and fund-raisers.
On a recent honeymoon trip to Belize, Hergert began experimenting with underwater panoramics of coral reefs, but his true love is still Montana.
"I like getting out to the eastern part of Montana. That is the true Big Sky state," he said. "I could spend every weekend going to a different part of the state and still not see all of it in my lifetime."
With so much to learn and photograph, Hergert is right where he wants to be doing a job he loves.
"My favorite thing is to hop in the truck and with all my gear and my camper and not leave a dirt road for a week at a time. That was one of my favorite things to do before and now I get paid to do it.
"Life is very good."