By Grace Heimsness, Austin ArtWorks Festival intern

Welcome to the weekly ArtWorks Festival Preview. For the uninitiated, each Sunday we peek at festival artists and get stoked for this Aug. 23 and 24 event.

Photography is an everyman’s game these days. With the advent of smartphones and photo-sharing communities like Instagram and Snapchat, it seems that everyone’s an expert. But if you want to see photography of a different level, photography that stems from careful thought and a passion for capturing what inspires those who stop long enough to notice, consider the ArtWorks Festival your community.

For as long as he can remember, wildlife photographer John Duren has been fascinated with nature. As a child he often traipsed down the Hormel Nature Center Trails with his folks, who taught him to walk quietly as they looked for animals. In high school John took photography, and with his first assignment found himself back at the nature center in search of those same animals. You could say he’s been on one long nature walk since then.

Phil Masse, a fellow nature photographer, is a retired engineer and programmer who’s had a camera in hand for nearly 60 years. You don’t want to miss his idyllic landscape pieces.

Rounding out the medium is Vern Grove, who got his start as a photographer and draftsman for the U.S. Army. After working in Germany for several years, he came home to work as a studio photographer for Hormel. A graduate of the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, Calif., Grove now freelances in portraiture and advertising.

Look for Duren, Grove and Masse in our Turbine Gallery this August, and be sure to check our website at www.austinareaarts.org for festival news. Keep those eyes open.