Doug Miller is an entrepreneur.

It's not what you think. Sure, the lawyer owns his own business, a real estate title company, and yes, it's expanded to include eight locations and more than 70 employees. But the Minnetonka resident uses the word entrepreneur in a broader sense. To him, it reflects his approach to life.

An entrepreneur isn't just focused on money. Rather, entrepreneurs seek out projects that are fun, creative and meaningful, says Miller.

"I am very passionate about many things I do," he says, and the father of three applies that passion to "everything [he] does."

Nowhere is this more evident than when he talks about his photography. His enthusiasm is clear over the phone as he relates his adventures hiking through Carver Preserve, in the Three Rivers Park district, with a tripod-mounted camera slung over one shoulder.

"My best shots always occur around water," he says, telling stories of treasured pictures, whether it's a droplet on a twig, a bird touching the surface of a lake, or a bead of water nestled in a flower. Of the latter, he says that looking intently at a flower, then capturing its veins and pollen on film, can be "like traveling in another world."

Passionate, indeed.

Miller discovered photography in high school. Although he never had any "formal training," he did have a good friend with his own dark room. From a film SLR in his teens, through an entry-level digital camera, to more advanced, digital SLRs today, the lawyer's had a decades-long love affair with photography.

It's hard to place Miller on the amateur-professional sliding scale. He doesn't make his living from photography, but his best work is clearly saleable. The entrepreneur does, in fact, make some money from his photos, and he earmarks that income for buying new photography equipment and paying for prints, professionally produced by Amy Webster, of Webster Photo Services.

Miller is more than just a dilettante, though. He is an artist whose other passion- business and real estate law- has freed him from the financial pressures so often associated with the artist's life.

"I don't think I ever go out to shoot to sell something," he says. In fact, while he acknowledges that he would benefit from professional training- a one-on-one informal apprenticeship with a pro, perhaps- he worries that learning too many tricks of the trade might spoil some of the fun. In his view, a step-by-step procedure to create a great shot would, to some extent, sap out the creativity.

A successful entrepreneur knows when opportunity knocks, however, and he doesn't pass up chances to improve his craft. When he took a three-week voyage to Antarctica, one of the other passengers was Bob Kris, a photographer for National Geographic. Miller seized the opportunity to observe and shadow a master.

"I learned some wonderful things from that man," he says, "and he was very kind and generous with his tips."

Trips abroad are Miller's "down time"; a chance to escape the pressures of work, lose himself in nature, and hopefully capture some of that natural beauty with his camera. His trips have taken him to many exotic locations, from the aforementioned Antarctica to the Galapagos Islands, and the Azores to Central America.

"I have a very chaotic lifestyle, so my sanity is [being] out there shooting."

The photographer would encourage readers to pick up a camera when they're at the cottage. Sometimes it can take an entire weekend at the cabin just to unwind, says Miller. You're finally relaxed on Sunday night, but then it's back to work the next morning.

An early morning photo shoot on a still lake, however, "transports you" to a holiday frame of mind, he says.

Quotable Miller

"The most important [thing] for taking a good photograph is your sense of composition."

"You're not going to take your best photographs when the sun is directly overhead... a lot more color comes out when the sun's going down."

"I almost always use a tripod."

"Find a unique perspective that no one else will see."

When it comes to equipment, Miller says hobbyists can take great shots with a basic digital point-and-shoot, as long as it has a good quality optical zoom- not just a digital zoom- and manual settings with a preview mode. "It's a beautiful, easy, hands-on way to learn photography," he says.

More of Doug Miller's photos can be viewed at his web-site, www.loonseye.com.

By Eric Sparling