I was born, raised and still live in Mission, Texas.  I have enjoyed photography since my parents gave me a Yashica 35mm camera in High School.  It didn't take me long to discover that what I enjoyed capturing with my camera the most was nature and wildlife.

I dabbled at this type of photography for many years but I didn't really get serious about it until 1994 when the Valley Land Fund put on its very first wildlife photo contest here in south Texas.  This is the richest wildlife photo contest in the world with over $120,000.00 in prize money awarded to winning photographers and land owners every two years. 

I have entered seven of the eight VLF photo contests held to date with varying degrees of success.  While I found my photography to be improving from one contest to another, the competition seemed to be doing a good job of keeping a step or two ahead of me and at first my winnings were few and far between.

I never gave up though and my persistence paid off in 2004 when my photograph of a Buff Belly Hummingbird frozen in mid-flight beat out the 700 or so entries to win Best of Contest and the People's Choice award in the Small Tract Competition of the Valley Land Fund’s wildlife photo contest.  

In the most recent Valley Land Fund photo contest I had the most division winning photos, including the 1^st and 2^nd place winners in the birds division, of any of the 50+ photographers entered in the Small Tract Competition.  Overall I won the second grand prize in this contest.

Over the years, I have had photos published in books, including most of the Valley Land Fund books, in magazines such as Birder's World and Bobcat Fans Magazine, in newspapers, such as The Austin American Statesman and in calendars. I have also had several of my photographs used in advertising and turned into postcards.

Several years ago I discovered that I also enjoy photographing sporting events, especially football games.  I have since photographed many high school and college football games including games at Texas State University, at SMU and at TCU.

In early 2009 I started photographing livestock shows.  I am now the official photographer for the South Texas Agricultural Roundup (STAR) Livestock Show which is held here in south Texas every March.

My dream is to turn my passion for photography into a career.  That is why I have just recently sold my interest in the family business to my brother so that I can concentrate on getting my photography career off the ground.  

With that in mind, I am now in the process of writing stories and articles that I will be submitting, along with some of my photos, to magazines, newspapers and book publishers in hopes of making my photos more marketable.  I have always enjoyed writing, so if I can combine my love of photography with my enjoyment of writing in order to get more of my photos published, it will be a win-win situation for me.

Speaking of writing, I am currently looking for a newspaper or a magazine that might be interested in having me write a nature and wildlife column for their publication. I have quite a few ideas for columns I could write and I would be willing to cover local nature events as a reporter as well.  I plan on using my photos to add a visual element to my columns and stories. 

Therefore, if you are an editor of either a newspaper or a magazine and you would like to discuss the possibility of my doing this for your publication, please call me at 956-458-6681 or e-mail me at luciano@bugsbirdsandbeyond.com. Thank you!