Michael Heller, 45, is a Professional Photographer who resides in East Hampton, Long Island, New York. A graduate of Bard College in New York and the Art Center College of Design  (BFA, Photography) in Pasadena, CA, Mr. Heller has been photographing for over 21 years. In addition to spending many years working in photo labs in both New York and Los Angeles, Mr. Heller has been a contributing photographer and/or a staff photographer for several newspapers and numerous publications in Los Angeles and New York City. For a period of time, Mr. Heller also shot mug shots as a member of the N.Y.P.D. Photo Unit. Within the fire service, Mr. Heller has written and illustrated several articles for Firehouse Magazine and National Fire & Rescue Magazine, documenting the involvement of the fire service with such events as the Super Bowl, the Indianapolis 500, Spring Break in Panama City Beach, Florida, Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and most recently the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

In 1996, Mr. Heller formed 911 Pictures, a stock photography agency representing over 60 of the finest fire/police/rescue photographers in the country and abroad. 911 Pictures can be found on the World Wide Web at www.911pictures.com.

Mr. Heller has been an active, Class-A Certified Interior Firefighter with Hook & Ladder Co. #1 of the East Hampton Fire Department for the past thirteen years, and is the Department Photographer. In 1992 he received the honor of Company Firefighter of the Year. He is an active member of the Long Island Fire Photographers Association, and was just recently promoted to the position of Vice President of the International Fire Photographers Association.  His photography honors include ten first-place trophies and numerous second- and third-place trophies in the annual IFPA photo contest over the last six years, as well as two honorable mentions in the international photography “Bombero de Oro” (fire photography contest) given in Spain in 1998. On September 11^th, Mr. Heller spent many hours at Ground Zero assisting with the rescue effort and making photographs that were significant for him personally as well as professionally.

In other, non-fire areas of photography, Mr. Heller has participated in and assisted with the renowned American Photo Trek Photography Workshops, and has taught photography part-time at a community college near his home. His other interests include computers, science fiction and travel.