By Amanda A. Stevens
Albuquerque Journal
ALBUQUERQUE — Retired Corrales police officer Greg Hagel wants his photographs to be in National Geographic magazine. “So far, 11 (photographs) have been accepted (by the magazine). None have been published, but I have my fingers crossed,” Hagel said.
Hagel, 60, retired from the Corrales Police Department in December after 6½ years. Before that, he was a police officer for 10 years with the Albuquerque Police Department in the Criminal Scene Investigation unit, he said.
Working with APD, Hagel often took crime scene photos - which are very different from the type of photos he takes now.
“I did thousands of photographs and, of course, the photos I did, you’re not looking at the artistic end in crime scene photos. You’re looking at presenting them in court where you can say this is how the scene appeared,” he said. “The colors are all off and there is blood everywhere. This is exactly how the scene was when I was there.
“In nature photos, you’re waiting for just the right light. I sit hours and hours in the sagebrush waiting for a dumb bird to fly over.”
Hagel photographs wildlife and landscapes.
“I seem to be concentrated on raptors for whatever reason,” he said. “I just like hawks and eagles and I’ve been really lucky out here.”
What is it about nature that so appeals to Hagel?
“It’s disappearing,” he said.
Many people don’t appreciate the nature that is left, he said. “The interesting thing, the people in Corrales and Albuquerque, they never see the things (I take photographs of). They never see the hawks. They drive to work and they never see them. There’s an abundant amount of wildlife out there,” he said. “All I’m doing is driving around here and keeping my eyes open. There are porcupine, birds, snakes and raccoons.” Being a police officer offered many opportunities for Hagel to appreciate the wildlife around him, he said. He stopped by the side of the road “25-50 times per day, especially in Corrales,” to take photographs, he said.
“I don’t know if I can explain my inspiration,” he said. “Especially in the spring, in the early morning like 6:30 just before the sun comes up or just after. When the flowering plants start, everybody goes, ‘Look how beautiful,’ and they take a picture. But, they never take a picture of behind it when the sun comes through the foliage. Anything that looked remotely interesting to me, I took a photo of, and I still do.”
Ultimately, Hagel would like to get his work published in a magazine, and not just once.
“I would love to be a staffer for some major magazine,” he said. “That would be the ultimate for me. But, at my age, I rather enjoy selling my photos and I don’t sell a whole lot of them, but it’s nice when I do.”
Copyright 2008 Albuquerque Journal