Falls, Bathtubs, 2005

A photographer since 1976, Vaughn's entire professional career has been based in the out of doors, from his years working for the US Forest Service in various capacities, including steelhead counter, mule packer, trail builder, fire fighter, campground maintenance, wilderness ranger, and fire lookout, to his current vocation as a full-time landscape photographer and teacher.

While enrolled at Humboldt State University (HSU) earning a BS Degree in Natural Resources Management, Vaughn studied with the three Tom's of the photographic department: Tom Knight, Thomas Joshua Cooper and Jim Toms. He transitioned to a full-time career in photography in 1991 when he became the darkroom technician for the HSU Art Department, operating the teaching darkroom for the Art Department. 

A frequent instructor and assistant at workshops throughout the American West, he also teaches photography to high school students in the summer through the HSU Art Academy. He has been a favorite instructor at the Ansel Adams Gallery, where his original limited edition fine prints are represented.

Though he is accomplished with color, silver and platinum-based printing processes, it is the carbon printing process, with its long-lived imagery and its distinctive, raised relief that is especially suited to express the wide array of textures and the delicate light that filters through fog and dense forests of coastal redwoods near his home in Northern California.