Although there were some elements of these things in my earlier photographic years, I did"t make a conscious effort to add them to my visual bag of tricks until the day a young hippie-type couple stopped by my studio for an appointment with my partner who photographed weddings at the time. His bowler hat, their innocence, aroused something in me that said "make a photograph". I gave them a flag, some roses and we proceeded to make a fun series. Later I added one of this photo series to my portfolio. Within a week, I saw an art director I had been trying to get an assignment from for over a year of meetings. He liked the image and requested a print for his office. Two weeks later he called me back for a meeting with the agency's owner and I walked out with one of the largest dollar-value jobs in my career.

From that time on, I've made it a conscious effort to do more personal work and include some in my portfolio presentations. Over the years this approach has added to the satisfaction I get from being a professional photographer.

Thomas the tank visits Lancasters' Amish farmland.

Lancasters' B&B's, motel/hotels and other accomodations are always booked heavily during tourist season.

Specializing in commercial/advertising/editorial work, I frequent flea markets, garage sales, antique stores, etc. in search of props. At one flea market I came across a box of kitschy French Poodles. They sat in my prop room for a few years until one day when I had some models from a local tattoo parlor. The men had some great animal tats, to which I added the poodles. I chose one image of the dragon/poodle tattoo for a self promotion marketing piece with a regional printer. Result: calls for my portfolio and new clients.

To this day I'll pull off the road for a great rural Halloween yard display,

walk a new city and discover a Civil War heros' statue going incommunicado

...or watch for my daughter running in the NYC Marathon only to discover some neon-colored sneakers being chased by an I-pod jamming Batman ahead of her.

Give me a call and I can help you balance your photography needs!

That's 717 393-0918 to brighten your days.