About - upde

Not many people get to take their hobby . . their passion . . and make it their career. I have been fortunate to do just that. It started with slide shows. Actually it started with a camera I bought for $5 during college. An Argus C3. Not much of a camera, but it took pictures, and I liked that. After obtaining my Political Science degree from Wittenberg University, I bought a real camera. This time it was a fully manual Pentax Spotmatic. I learned a lot with that camera: exposure, composition, patience. Soon I was taking photos of my family, high school kids, sports, anything I could. And before long I was playing around with two projector slide shows, with music, narration, and a story. It became my primary hobby.


Well back in 1990 that hobby turned into my career. I was doing slide shows for organizations, companies, and schools around the country. I was affectionately called SlideShow Bob, a takeoff of SideShow Bob on the Simpsons. Over that time I refined my photography skills and style. People often spoke of how I would capture emotions and moments at just the right time. They said that I saw things in a way that they never would have seen. The slide shows that I did for the high schools were particularly meaningful for me. People really seemed to enjoy them . . and I enjoyed putting them together . . my desire to be creative was being fulfilled. But like many other things in our lives, after about 20 years I was ready for a change.

I have been photographing weddings for over 30 years. For 20 of those years I never thought I would want to do weddings as my principal business. No real judgement there, just didn't think that was what I wanted to do. I think digital changed that. With digital I felt I had much more control and much more opportunity to be creative in my photography. And so when I was looking for a change from the slide shows, weddings and events were a natural option for me.

I have two main objectives when I approach a wedding or an event: 1. to capture the best images I possibly can, and 2. to be unobtrusive. I enjoy working with people, finding ways to bring excellence to their picture taking experience. Your wedding photos are very important to you. You want to know that the person taking your photos knows what he/she is doing; that he/she is competent, comfortable, creative, and that he/she cares. You want photos that you are proud to share with your family and friends. And you want photos that really do reflect your wedding day (hopefully that is a good thing).

I believe I can be that person for you. People say that photography is the one area you should not compromise on when planning your wedding. Call me biased, but I agree. And I would be honored if you would invite me to be your photographer. In recent years I have been doing fewer weddings, primarily so I can take on some other projects; but I am still taking on the occasional wedding. Please let me know if I can be of service to you.
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