Chris Milliman describes himself simply, “I’m a New Englander.”

The photographer, who specializes in endurance sports and outdoor pursuits, was born and raised in Falmouth, Massachusetts. After completing a duel Master’s in creative writing and history at Dartmouth, Milliman has remained in Hanover, where he lives with his wife and two daughters. Despite his associations with his home region, Milliman rarely points his lens toward local subject. An exception to this rule, a series of stills capturing an afternoon of ice fishing posted on the Freeman Transport site, opened my eyes to Milliman’s work. Traveling the world, Milliman has built an impressive portfolio of commercial and editorial work related to the cycling industry. His clients include Cannondale, Craft, Gary Fisher, Giant, and Ibex. Impressive, in part, because photography is something of a new venture for Milliman.

After finishing at Dartmouth, Milliman worked as a writer and editor. By chance he was roped into doing some photography. “The first roll of film I shot, and I hadn’t shot anything in years, I got it back and had a great feeling. From then on I wanted to get better at it.”

Reinvigorated (to an extent) was a personal interest in visual arts, one that had him sketching sneakers as a youth and dabbling in photography. For a time assignments combined writing and photography. Milliman met several photographers during his travels, pulled from them a few tricks and the balance of writing to shooting started to shift. A fateful meeting with a photo editor sealed the switch. She told Milliman, “Never say you write and shoot.”

“Ultimately, I felt I should pick one or the other,” he says.

Picking the camera, Milliman also picked a new challenge. Understanding the levels and ways of creating a bad picture, he was drawn to objectivity of photography. Cycling, as a subject, made sense. He’d been racing for a while and knew a few pros.

“When I first started, I was shooting almost strictly editorial,” but Milliman readily admits the thought of doing the same all the time didn’t appeal.

Branching into shooting product, Milliman began to appreciate the control, patience, and preparation allowed. Given a comfort level with action shots, he’s not divorced himself from the races, but has grown as a photographer through collaborative work.

“Some of the best projects are not always the biggest, but about positive collaborations with the best people.”

For Milliman these projects have included work with Beloved Cycles of Portland, Oregon, and a soon to be completed set with Freeman Transport. While cycling has spurred his career, Milliman is also keen on capturing basketball, which he played throughout high school. Among his goals for 2010 a return to roundball ranks highly with the development of more fruitful collaborative projects.

Currently, Milliman is showing “Home and Away,” a selection of travel photographs, at Bloc 11 in Sommerville, MA.

What follows here is a selection of a few of Chris’ favorite images.

Hope you enjoy.