My Story
I am a self‑taught nature and wildlife photographer and cinematographer who relies on the outdoors for stability, sobriety, and peace. I live with PTSD, Anxiety, and Social Phobia, and time in nature is the one place where my mind settles. I share my wildlife videos so people who can’t get out into nature themselves can still feel connected to it.
I’m married to a wonderful woman who supports me and has become an excellent owl spotter. I’m currently unemployed and trying to make a living through my wildlife cinematography work. Being outside is how I stay grounded, sober, and sane.
My past shaped me: a difficult childhood, stressful jobs, and seventeen years as a therapeutic foster parent. I also spent eight years as a computer technician and twelve and a half years as a Network Administrator at a private high school in Manchester, Vermont, where I worked closely with photography and cinematography programs. Those skills still guide my work today.
I adopted two troubled kids who left home at seventeen, and my biological son is now a responsible, successful adult living in Georgia. I hope to move south someday to film more reptiles and amphibians — the wildlife I connect with most.
Everyone deserves a little nature therapy.
— Rick Armitage