J.L. 'Woody' Wooden lives in Wapiti, Wyoming and is a retired Professor of photography from Northwest College. Woody has a B/A/ and M/S/ from Brooks Institute of Photography. He studied under W. Eugene Smith at the University of Arizona in Tucson up until Gene's death in 1978.

He has over twenty-five years in commercial photography. His photography has been in over 100 museums and gallery exhibits through-out the United States, Canada, China, and Europe. Woody has over thirty-seven years photographing lightning and has had several articles published on the subject. He has received numerous national and international awards and recognition for his work.