Book Signing 5/7/09 with artist & author Ernest J. Schweit started taking pictures when his father put a camera in his hands at the age of 7. It was a simple box camera with a small leather strap and a plastic eyepiece. Basic as it may have been, that camera — along with the inspiration of seeing his father constantly taking pictures — sparked what would be a lifelong love of photography. Today, Schweit continues to pursue this passion. Currently, his work is focused on preserving rural America and nature. He specializes in limited edition, fine art prints available at art fairs and on this site. His work is also being shown in a traveling museum exhibit, Prairie Temples, which can be seen at www.saveabarn.com/temples. Schweit’s photographs have appeared in galleries, art fairs, newspapers, libraries and is in the corporate collection of a suburban Illinois park district Schweit has won awards at Zoom, a juried show at the Bloomingdale, Ill., museum, in the Volo Bog Nature Photography Contest at the Volo Bog Nature Sanctuary in Volo, Ill., and at Photo 2003, also at the Bloomingdale, Ill., Museum. Living in a family of artists, Schweit is basically self-taught. His influences include Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, John Sexton, Robert Shaw, David and Marc Muench and Sam Abell. Schweit attended Lincoln College in Lincoln, Ill., and graduated from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He lives with his artist wife, three kids, a dog and a cat in Wheeling, Ill.