While his buddies in his hometown of Syracuse, N.Y., were off playing video games or just hanging out, Adam Bronstein was spending his high school weekends exploring the Adirondacks with some college-age friends.

Bronstein's life-long connection with the natural world is featured in "In Search of Wilderness," an exhibit of Bronstein's outdoors images at the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forest's Conservation Center in Concord.

The show offers about a dozen shots that Bronstein, 24, has captured in his travels from New England to Wyoming to Hawaii.

It was those high school hiking trips that ultimately led Bronstein

to become familiar with - and settle in - New Hampshire from his native New York.

And it was just about the time when he first discovered New Hampshire that Bronstein realized he wanted to visually document the wonder he was experiencing when out in the natural world.

He developed his photographer's eye and a seriousness of purpose.

"There are three things that bring you a great shot: perspective, light and luck - that's the formula I've come up with, anyway," said Bronstein.

The fourth element, though, may be that hard-to-define sense of possibility: knowing where and when to look closely at the ordinary world.

One of Bronstein's most striking images is "After The Fall," a close-up of fallen autumn leaves wet from the melt of a surprise fall snow. The photo was taken in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming.

"That was something," recalled Bronstein. "The leaves were at their peak color, and then there was this freak snow storm - it was beautiful. So beautiful."

In the hope of turning his passion into a career, Bronstein is happily working at aiming his lens elsewhere - he is taking on wedding photography and other events. He hopes to branch into freelance photography and writing.

Bronstein is no stranger to the Forest Society. By day, he works there as a research associate, focused mainly on strategic planning and land conservation.

Not surprisingly, his photographer's eye aligns with the mission of groups like the Forest Society - honoring and preserving the natural world.

Bronstein works to ensure his images reflect the real world as he sees it - he makes sure his printed photographs are color-accurate, so that the viewer sees just what Bronstein saw.

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