Pilgrim’s Progress celebrates women who reach down into themselves and find that spark which makes a difference in their quality of their lives. In this episode, we talk to Gail Daman. In her early years Gail was stuck in an unfulfilling 9-5 job, but she would sometimes shoot weddings for her friends on the weekends. Referrals started coming in, and as her wedding business picked up, she realized that she could quit her job and do photography for a living. She loved the lifestyle. The weddings were a delight, and took her all over the country. Every weekend was an adventure. She found she had a natural advantage of being a woman photographer, because it gave her access to all the intimate moments with the bridal party, before the big event. Gail talks to us about her discovery of wildlife photography during her trips to her “camp” in Maine. For 21 years she would go there in the summer, and there were so many wild animals to photograph, she became good at being very still and capturing just the right moment. Now, retired and living in Florida, she photographs wildlife almost exclusively. She is a sought-after photographer because of her sensitivity to the animals she photographs – whether horses and their owners in the nearby equestrian community, or local dogs which she snaps with her I-phone on her four miles walks every day. Gail, now retired, talks to us about finding a passion, and nurturing it through out a lifetime. Joy can be found in the simplest activities, even if it is just snapping pictures of birds at her birdfeeder, just outside her window.

Produced by Kitty Pilgrim, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud @ Radio Free Rhinecliff