Before retirement, Mark Gordon, worked in a variety of fields. He began his career in photojournalism, but also worked as a reporter and editor. He later became a public information officer for the Illinois State Senate, which is where he spent the bulk of his career. He was also the Director of Economic Development for the City of Springfield, Illinois and later worked for AT&T, before returning to the State Senate. After retiring from government, he returned to his first love, photography, working for a small college in central Illinois shooting everything from sports to portraits to theater to event coverage until the college closed, a victim of the changing marketplace for small private colleges. When he returned to photography, he became passionate about bird and wildlife photography. and he and his wife, Carol, also an accomplished photographer, spend as much of their free time as they can shooting birds and other wildlife. He was first introduced to photography and the magic of the darkroom by his father. At the University of Nebraska he studied under two talented photographers, George Tuck for photojournalism and Jim Alinder for Fine Art.