Cultural Fine Art Artist 

Wildlife, Historic Venues and Political Action are central to Don's work.  Below see wildlife of Florida.

Military: US Navy 1959 - 1963

Education: BA in Marketing University of Central Missouri 1963 - 67

Occupation: Founder CEO Browning Forms & Systems, Inc, Browning Press

Activities: Boxing, Sailing, Golf, Auto Racing, Acrobatics, Tennis

Public Office: Winter Springs Florida city councilman, 1973 - 1976

Candidate US Congress 2010 Republican Candidate Sheriff Marion County Florida 2012

Two Term Member Florida Arts and Culture Council

Board member Florida Juvenile Justice Foundation Board

Founder Marion County Sheriff's Lake Watch Lake Weir

Board Member Marion Cultural Alliance

Old Dogs Racing Member, Browning Browning Racing cofounder

Value Investing and Real Estate are consulting venues for Don Browning

Some work and lots of play keep Don

active.  

Former Florida Council for Arts and Culture member, and US Congressional candidate,  Don promotes The Best Florida Visits for economic, fine art and racing tourism.

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Pitts S1S, Greatlakes, Citabria, Stearman Don enjoys above the track or on the track.  Years with IAC, EAA pals was an honor to experience.

Artist's Biography

Mr. Browning resides in Weirsdale, Florida. He is an accomplished photographer whose work has been shown in numerous exhibitions and included in corporate, public, and private collections, as well as the Florida Department of State Art Collection. Mr. Browning served in the United States Navy and received his degree from Central Missouri State University. In addition to a design and graphics career in central Florida, he was also a councilman for the City of Winter Springs. Mr. Browning currently serves on the Department of Juvenile Justice Foundation Board, Brick City Center of the Arts Board, and is a member of Department of Corrections' 2007 Arts in Prisons Committee.

Congressman Rich Nugent

Visits with Jennifer Beville and Don Browning at the Browning Center, Belleview Florida.

In the early 50's Don built a photographic darkroom in the basement of his home outside Kansas City Mo, in the small town of Hickman Mills.  In 1959 Don joined the US Navy and was afforded an opportunity to photograph Western US venues and an extensive portfolio in the Far East.  In 2015 Don announced a 50 year plus Retro Japanese Sports and Culture Exhibit.  Featured are rare inside the inner curtain "YokoSuna Images of Taihō Kōki, and Tochinoumi Teruyoshi.  Many important sumo matches developed and Don participated with the Japanese Military Institute of Yokosuka on the near by island of Jōgashima, Misakimachi Jogashima, Miura, Kanagawa Prefecture 238-0237, Japan.  The Sumo Retro Exhibit is expected in Spring 2016.  Included is expected Old Tokyo, Kamakura, Fugi Moto Yokosuka and Yokohama.

Don with Great Lakes 9GL at North Florida IAC Acro Championships

Keystone Airport Central Florida, Fondulac Wisconsin and Sebring Airport Acro IAC.

Prize Rossini powered 1999 Mazda Miata

Early Wildlife Bio Don Browning

For wildlife photographer Don Browning, his profession is more than about just taking pretty pictures. It’s about celebrating the community of nature, about man’s role as both citizen and steward of that community.



    Browning’s art and convictions have converged into what has become his signature work – the photographing and preservation of Florida’s wading birds. Since 1998, Browning has focused his camera lens primarily on the heron and egret population of Lake Weir’s Treasure Island. The result of that dedication has yielded both protective legislation for the birds and a stunning collection of photos.



    The latter – Florida’s Wading Birds … A Legacy for the Future – is currently a one-man photo exhibit on display at the Heritage Gallery in Tallahassee. The exhibit, located on the first floor of the R.A. Gray Building, opened January 19 and runs through April 16. It includes 50 of Browning’s close up and personal photos of the fascinating world of a wading bird rookery.
 There is a reason that the exhibit is making its debut in Tallahassee. If not for Browning, a community of concerned citizens and legislators, there would likely no longer be a wading bird colony on Treasure Island. With Browning’s photographic record of the birds’ endangered population spearheading the conservation effort, protective legislation was passed in 2001. 





Signed into law by Governor Jeb Bush, the Sunset Harbor Wading Bird Rookery Rescue Bill    provided for a 500-foot buffer around the island from the intrusion of jet skis and power boats. 
“The conservation effort began on the grassroots level with nature lovers, the Marion County commissioners, Sheriff’s Office and legislative delegation,” recalls Browning, who lives on Lake Weir within a half-mile of Treasure Island. “We moved forward with the help of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Department of Environmental Protection, senators and representatives of both parties, and right on to the Governor. It took a community to save a community.” 



 The photo exhibit is a celebration of the now thriving wading bird colony. There’s a Great Blue Heron family, among the first to be photographed by Browning. With the parents dubbed Romeo and Juliet, and their chicks named Mutt and Jeff, they became the poster birds of the conservation mission. It’s a role befitting the largest of the herons, which appear to be all knees and elbows like gawky teenagers. But they are skilled fishermen and aerodynamic wonders.  Once airborne, their bluish gray bodies resemble streamlined missiles and their wingspan can easily exceed six feet while in flight. The Great Blue Heron shares the stage with equally eye-catching photos of Little Blue Herons, Tricolored Herons and Green Herons.
Also depicted in the expansive exhibit are the Great Egret and Snowy Egret,  showy, snow-white birds that seemingly love the camera. Picture after picture, these dramatic birds appear to be putting on a performance just for Browning’s sake. Perched on a tree branch, a green-masked, golden-beaked Great Egret with his startling-white breeding plumage in full splendor appears to be ready to attend a masquerade ball. Nearby, another Great Egret is performing a delightfully impossible walk-on-the-water ballet.



Perhaps the most telling picture of the rookery’s healthy environment is one of a Snowy Egret and a Little Blue Heron perched side by side on a branch. In this world, birds of a feather flock together is more than just a catchy phrase. While egrets and herons do co-exist in a rookery, it is highly unusual for these two birds to tolerate each other in such proximity.
Browning is particularly fond of that picture. “It gives me hope and joy,” he says. “And I think it shows that all creatures, man included, all are part of the fabric of nature. We are all connected in some way bigger than our individual selves.”
That thread of connection to nature and photography began for Browning in his childhood. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Browning was 11 when his uncle built a darkroom in the basement of the family home. He’s been taking pictures ever since.





Early Bio; Don Browning
“My earliest mentor was Ansel Adams,” says Browning, now 72. “I studied all his pictures, all his books. There were a lot of good photographers, but he was the only one who brought together the art and the technical aspects. And his large format black and white shots of nature intrigued me. I adopted the format as well.”



Browning even took pictures for many years using the box cameras of Adams’ era. He would sit the big box camera on a tripod, line up his shot, pull the cloth over his head and click away. 
At 17, Browning joined the U.S. Navy and it would provide him with his next great influence. While stationed in Yokouska, Japan, for nearly three years, Browning gained uncommon access to that culture. “Because I could speak Japanese, I was allowed in places most foreigners were not,” he explains. “The Asian culture has a tremendous respect for nature, especially birds like herons and cranes. Their paintings incorporate mountains, waterfalls, clouds and birds. Each element represents qualities like honor, trust, integrity. I began to do the same with my photography while I was there.”






When he left the Navy and returned to the United States, Browning carried his worldly experiences with him to Central Missouri University. While majoring in business administration, he continued to formally study photography as well. It was also while attending college that he met future wife Leslie; the couple has been married for 40 years now. Leslie and daughter Jennifer are both pottery artists. Son-in-law Chris, eight-year-old granddaughter Katherine, and Sailor, a 5-year-old Golden retriever round out the present family. 
Business opportunities and the love of the water drew Browning to the Baltimore and Chesapeake Bay area in 1971. “I always felt comfortable on the water,” says the sportsman, who was at different times an avid golfer and tennis player. “One of the first things I did was buy a sail boat and soon I was into competitive racing.”  Later racing would involve Don's Mazda Race Car currently campainged under the Old Dogs Racing banner. 






But as a self-described “high-adventure guy,” Browning was soon looking for new opportunities and a new place to live. The choices were narrowed down to Florida and Alaska, two places that offered vastly different adventure choices. 



“I made one visit to Florida and immediately connected,” recalls Browning, who would later visit runner-up Alaska. “We moved to the Orlando area in 1972, founded my medical business forms and systems company, and stayed there until 1998. That’s when I discovered Lake Weir.”
In addition to the water, Browning also had a long-time affinity for the sky. Of course, he had to learn to fly. And just plain ol’ flying wouldn’t do for him. Once armed with a pilot’s license, he bought and began flying open cockpit bi-planes. Not just flying either, but taking part in precision aerobatics competition as he barnstormed around the country. And to his ever-growing skills as a photographer, add sports aviation photography to the list.



It is only fitting that Browning discovered Lake Weir via air and water. “I owned property in Leeward Air Ranch and had flying buddies who lived there,” he recounts. “So I’d do a lot of flying back and forth between Orlando and Ocala. I always liked Ocala with its lakes, forests and horses farms. One day, I flew over Lake Weir and it just grabbed my attention. First chance I got, I rented a boat and went around the lake, writing down numbers on the real estate signs in front of property for sale.”



As he made his way around the lake, Browning used his cell phone to call the realtors listed on the signs. By the time he docked the boat, he had property lined up to see. Shortly thereafter, the family was moving into a lakefront home within yards of Treasure Island.
“I didn’t even know about the rookery when we bought the house,” says Browning. “But soon I began observing the comings and goings of the birds. Then I was appalled to see the havoc being caused by the jet skies and the power boaters. They would go right up over the island, scattering the birds every which way. I don’t think they realized what damage they were doing to the birds’ environment.”



The disruption was destroying the birds’ habitat and life cycle. Startled birds would take flight again and again, damaging their eggs and becoming dangerously exhausted. Unable to sit and watch the destruction passively, Browning picked up his camera and thus began the successful grassroots conservation mission. It also led to Browning being invited by President George Bush to the White House for the 2004 Earth Day. The Marion County Chamber of Commerce presented Browning with the 2005 Walt Driggers Environmentalist of the Year Award. All that aside, Browning is still mesmerized by the birds.



His current Lake Weir home is a little farther away from Treasure Island than his first, but still only a 10-minute pontoon boat ride away. On his boat deck Browning mounts an eight-inch Celestron spotting telescope, rests his camera atop that and clicks away. He uses a tripod if he wants to shoot the birds looking up and a ladder if he wants to shoot down. 
“Because of the large format size I shoot, long lenses are the key,” says Browning, whose first major photo exhibit in 1999 was entitled Lakes and Rivers of Florida. “I use Nikon digital cameras and lens. Although I do still have my old box cameras and a new Wisner box camera, which I will sometimes use.”
It was the birds that made Browning switch from mainly shooting in black and white to color. And it was environmental concerns that had him abandon processing his own film and embrace the digital camera. “I couldn’t resist all the beautiful colors of nature. I had to shoot in color,” he says. “And I didn’t want to pollute the water system with processing chemicals. When I do shoot in film, I use a commercial processing lab.”
When Browning heads over to the island, he says he feels like he should “have a passport because it’s like going to another country.” The birds and the season dictate the shooting schedule. Once he picks out his spot, Browning will just relax and “let the birds tell their story.” He uses notes to complement his photos showing every aspect of the birds’ life from mating to nest building to hatching to raising the young.



“One of the best things to watch is the young birds learning to fly,” says Browning, then adding with a laugh, “or I should say learning to land. They pick up the flying part pretty easy, but there are a lot of crash landings before they get the hang of that part of it.”



Browning also incorporates many other elements of the birds’ environment into his photos. Not far from a heron fishing from the bank is a lurking alligator. Or perfectly camouflaged in the underbrush behind an egret are several different varieties of snakes. And a turtle can be seen peeking out from the very same hollow log that two birds have landed on. His photo collection also includes many other birds that are residents of the Lake Weir habitat: osprey, hawks, eagles, wood ducks.



Reveling in all of it, Browning never fails to find new joy in nature. And feel a tremendous sense of responsibility. “We are on watch and we must do our part to preserve and protect the nature we have been blessed with here in Florida,” he says. “This is our time to preserve these treasures and pass them on to future generations. All life survives one generation at a time.”

Lake Eustis Sailing Club and Lake Weir Sailing

Congressman Rich Nugent and Congressman Ted Yoho work with Local Voters to reform Congress.  Congressman Cliff Stearns was challenged by Don Browning and Ted Yoho pulling in over 20,000 votes while Sheriff Rich Nugent worked the same 2010 campaign circuit to win a seat then converted into the Cliff Stearns District.  Again in 2012 Don Browning Challenged Stearns in the Ocala area driving Stearns north into the new district.  Stearns was hoping to avoid Browning and Nugent in the south district.  Once Stearns vacated the south area Don withdrew and supported Yoho and Nugent.  

The Strategy worked, as Stearns was swamped with incumbent candidates to the north and Nugent went unchallenged in the south.  Don Browning was then able to go back to Fine Art Photography sales, auto racing and real estate investing.  Cliff Stearns lost his seat to current congressman Ted Yoho, within 24 months of the Congressional Reform program lead by Candidate Don Browning.

North Florida Basic, Sportsman-Intermatiate Champion transition to Auto Road Racing SCCA

2015 Don Browning member of Old Dog Racing 

Don's first race car was self built in 1953 as a Soapbox Derby racer.  Sponsored by the Miller Brewing Company.

1955 Don and brother George ventured from Kansas City Mo, to Indianapolis In to witness the Indy 500.  Motor Racing has been a passion along with Acrobatic Flying in the IAC flying Great Lakes, Citabria, and Pitts S1S aircraft competitively. 

Wildlife images from Don Browning Fine Art Gallery Summerfield Florida.  All images ® Copyright protected.  No use without written permission of Don Browning © 2014

Copyright Don Browning. All Rights Reserved. 2010 Congressional Candidate Don Browning enters a different type of race.  A member of Old Dogs Racing stable, Sebring International Speedway along with Daytona International Speedway are Don's favorite race venues.

Don Browning's MX-5 Spec Miata Mazda

Race Car at Miami- Homestead International Raceway SCCA National Races 2015.