Angelo Sciulli has the photographer's eye - the ability to eliminate background clutter and zero in on the essence of an image.
You can see it in his photographs of grizzly bears in British Columbia, tortoises in the Galapagos Islands and orca whales in Alaska.
The fact that the 55-year-old Lancaster man is suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, as known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is just a detail about the man behind the lens. Recently, the Arts Council of Chester honored Sciulli with a 15-image exhibit of his nature photographs.
Sciulli was director of chemical research for Springs when he retired in 1997 to pursue a second career as a nature photographer and writer. Less than a year later, he was diagnosed with the disease.
"Everything was falling into place with my new profession when I began having difficulties with tripping and speaking," he wrote recently in an e-mail. "My world turned upside down. While trying to sort out my thinking after my diagnosis, I found comfort and purpose in my photography and decided to continue as long as possible."
About 30,000 Americans currently suffer from ALS. The disease kills nerves that control arms and legs, as well as muscles used to breathe, swallow and talk.
Sciulli's wife, Janet, says photography has helped fill a void in her husband's life.
"ALS is a very difficult disease to cope with but Angelo has done remarkably well," she said. "And the photography has really been a blessing, coming along when it did. It gives him something to focus on and in turn, his photography also helps spread the word about people with ALS."
His photography has been exhibited at the National Press Club in Washington and he has lectured and has been the subject of several magazine articles about photographers with disabilities. He has also helped volunteer in local Muscular Dystrophy telethons.
"Shortly after my diagnosis I decided to use my photography to raise awareness for ALS/disabilities," he wrote. "Since then I have been published with a message telling about ALS and its affects. Hopefully I have managed to spread the word."
Of the 15 images displayed in Chester, 14 were taken after Sciulli's diagnosis.
"One was taken prior to my illness to make the point that one cannot distinguish ability from disability upon the basis of artwork," he wrote.
ALS has the highest mortality rate among the dozens of degenerative neurological disorders. There is no cure or consistently effective treatment to significantly slow the disease's progress. Several drug programs are under study. Patients generally die of respiratory failure an average of five years after diagnosis. The disease manifests itself differently in different people.
With Sciulli, he's still able to walk but fatigues quickly and uses a walker and wheelchair. He's able to use his upper body to operate his cameras and computer keyboard. His main problems are speaking and swallowing, frequently using a pen and paper to communicate with strangers in public.
He almost had to cancel his most recent nature photography journey to Kenya, but reconsidered after consulting with the touring company.
"I'm still not sure how he did it, but that's the kind of man Angelo is," said his wife, a banking consultant in Charlotte. "He can accomplish about anything he sets out to do. And he'll do what he has to do to get that photograph."