Meet Forrest Czarnecki

When seeing the maturity and masterful skill of his photography, most people would never guess that photographer Forrest Czarnecki hasn’t even started high school. His pictures of sports action and local nature can be found impressing residents all over the Evergreen and Conifer area. What started off as a hobby of taking shots with his dad’s camera phone quickly evolved into a passion.

Forrest has been involved in photography for almost three years now. He stumbled upon photography during his older brother’s hockey tournament in Michigan a few years back. His father’s friend from college, a sports photographer for his local paper, attended the tournament as well; and Forrest was fascinated by the friend’s camera equipment and began to try it out. Before long, he was hooked.

He has spent hours with his camera, photographing everything from hummingbirds to hockey players. “He’s very patient,” his mother says. “He’ll just sit for hours and click away to get the perfect shot.” Forrest talks about one of those times when he took special interest in an afternoon lightning storm. He set up his computer by a set of bay windows in his house, aimed at where he thought the lightning would hit, and waited for hours. Eventually, the amateur photographer got a perfectly professional shot.

Forrest has already gained local recognition for his work and has been featured in both the Canyon Courier and the High Timer Times for his impressive photography. He has entered photos in contests like the National Wildlife Foundation and hopes to enter in the upcoming Mt. Evan’s Hospice calendar competition. “He’s taking pictures all day long,” his father adds. “He works on strategies and tactics, developing his own style.” In order to further enhance his photographs, Forrest saved for a year and a half to purchase a special lens for his camera, saving roughly $2,000 from yard work and birthday money.

It’s already clear that this young photographer’s investment is beginning to pay off.  He has been approached by the Canyon Courier to submit weekly photographs of happenings around Evergreen. When attending a Jr. Showcase for hockey in May, he was hired by the director of the showcase to photograph next year’s events. He also sells his photographs to locals who take an interest in his work. If you’re interested in purchasing some of Forrest’s work, email him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

But Forrest isn’t getting too far ahead of himself either. He’s excited to photograph for Conifer High School’s newspaper and yearbook when he starts high school this fall, as well as take his first real photography class. When he’s not behind a lens, he also finds time to play competitive ice hockey and enjoys spending time outdoors by hunting, fishing, and camping.

Where his photography will take him, we’ll have to wait and see. But for now, Forrest enjoys his time improving his skills, taking photographs to impress and capturing the perfect shot.