Dean Krakel
I have devoted my adult life to covering the Rocky Mountain West, specifically Wyoming and Colorado in photographs and words. I am familiar with the indigenous cultures as well as the cattle, farmland and recreational cultures.
An avid outdoors person who skis, backcountry, alpine and touring, an expert oarsman (have rowed the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon twice) and not so expert of kayaker, long distance backpacker (thru hiked The Colorado Trail and the Continental Divide Trail from Mexico to Yellowstone National Park), I am comfortable in the wild country for covering any number of stories in words and photographs.
I have authored 3 books; Season of the Elk, the story of a year in the life of the Jackson, Wyoming elk herds; Downriver, A Yellowstone Journey, the story of the Yellowstone River from source to finish; Krakel's West, a collection of my photographs taken from Canada to Mexico.
My work has appeared in National Geographic, Time, Life, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Outside, High Country News, and all manner of periodicals, newspapers and magazines. I have been an editor of a small weekly newspaper, The Pinedale Roundup and was Director of Photography at The Rocky Mountain News before its demise in 2009. From 2013 to 2015 I was a photo editor at the Denver Post with my main task being sports. From 2016-2017 I was a night photo editor. Now I freelance, based in Almont, Colorado.
Job title: Freelance journalist
Topic expertise: I'm a generalist. Having worked nearly 4 decades in the newspaper business I am capable of handling nearly any subject I'm assigned to write about or especially to photograph. I prefer the outdoors, nature, landscape, the people and environmental concerns of the Rocky Mountain West.
Location: Almont, Colorado, between Crested Butte and Gunnison
Education: Attended Western State University in Gunnison and Central State University in Oklahoma.
Honors & Awards: Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News, photo staff, Columbine High School shooting: 2000; Pulitzer Prize, Rocky Mountain News photo staff, Wildfire coverage, 2003; Pulitzer Prize for breaking news coverage, Aurora theatre shootings, Denver Post staff 2013; Finalist, Rocky Mountain News for spot news reporting of deadly wildfires, 1995; 2013 Angus McDougall Excellence in Editing Award, The Denver Post; 2016 Emmy Award for "The Long Haul," video produced by The Denver Post; 1976 Golden Quill Award for "Season of the Elk," Lowell Press; Best of Photojournalism and Pictures of the Year competitions for photography and photo editing too numerous to list
Contact:
Email: dkrakel@gmail.com
Instagram: @dkrakel
Website: deankrakel.com