Duncan Neilson was born in Coulee Dam, Washington, where his father served as the town doctor for the crew building the third powerhouse during the early 1940s war effort. His family later moved to Oregon, where he was raised and attended public school in Portland. From an early age, Duncan developed an intense fascination with birds. At ten years old, he joined the Audubon Society of Portland and began attending bird walks and photographic outings with his uncle, Ronald Neilson, and family friend Charles Conkling—well known for his photography of Oregon’s Steens Mountain. Those early experiences led him into the darkroom, where he watched his uncle experiment with the intricate process of dye-transfer printing. Duncan went on to graduate from Reed College with a degree in Biology and later earned his medical degree in Baltimore, Maryland. While completing residency and fellowship training at Johns Hopkins Hospital, he continued to study photography, converting his apartment bathroom into a makeshift darkroom. After returning to Portland in 1974 with his wife Rosalie and their young family, Duncan resumed his photographic pursuits alongside Leonard Conkling, son of Charles Conkling. Together, they made frequent photographic trips throughout Oregon—especially to Harney County and the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, which Duncan has visited annually for more than four decades. In 1980, he founded his own photographic studio, Natural Reflections, dedicated to producing high-quality black-and-white and color photographic prints. While his portfolio includes landscapes and floral subjects, his foremost passion remains bird photography. Duncan continues to capture expressive, intimate images of avian life—celebrating the grace, mystery, and quiet resilience of the natural world that has inspired him since childhood.