Meet Our Staff
Eric A., CPP Owner & Head Photographer
I have been certified by the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) as a Certified Professional Photographer (CPP). To achieve this certification, applicants must achieve a passing score on a written test (100 questions) covering multiple aspects of photography (proper exposure, use of lighting, equivilant exposure, camera settings, composition, etc.) as well as pass a technical evaluation on submitted images. Why is this certification important?
A good analogy is with cooking. Almost everyone can cook to one degree or another, but not everyone is capable of making a dinner worth paying money your hard earned money for. The more skilled the chef, the better the food tastes, and the more you are willing to enjoy their meal. Right? The same is true with photography. Almost everyone can snap a picture, but when you want an image to display or capture a specific mood, not everyone can do it. It takes knowledge, skill, and a mastery of the art of photography. These elements combined together help produce images that can be shared, displayed, and enjoyed for a lifetime. While there are many good photographers who are not certified, certification is an easy way to help distinguish a photographer that may suit your needs. Certification is not a guarantee, but it is a great starting place for getting the results your looking for.
Hello, my name is Eric. I've been interested in photography since I picked up my father's camera more than 40 years ago. My first pictures were of some migrating Evening Grosbeaks on our backyard bird feeder and after seeing the prints, I was hooked for life. As a child, I knew I wanted to be a photographer and have my own photography studio. However, like with most things in the world these days, life got in the way of living, so it's taken me just a bit longer than I originally planned to make my dream come true.
Like many, I went to college right out of high school and took the only photography course my University offered. It didn't take me long to realize that college just wasn't meant for me at that time, so I made my way to the Marine Corps, where I served in combat arms for 4 1/2 years before being Honorably Discharged as a Corporal. About 18-months later, I was reactivated for Desert Storm where I was promoted to Sergeant.
In the Corps, I started a family and felt it was best to focus on them when my original commitment ended. While that marriage didn't work out, I was awarded 100% custody of my two children who were 3 and 4 years old. I was a single father of two for almost four years before starting my second family with the woman I'm still deeply in love with to this day. While a single parent, I went back to College where I earned a degree in Microcomputer Systems Analysis. I felt it best to focus on a skill where I could provide for my children. The Marines had trained me to blow up tanks at more than 2 1/2 miles with a guided missile system, but to this day, I've yet to see that job being advertised for in the Help Wanted Ads. Having been a single father, I have the utmost respect for any single parent. Due to this life experience, I have a unique viewpoint on certain issues and challenges women face that other photographers, male and some female, do not have.
Some of my other interests outside of photography include music (I played/taught saxophone along with playing several other instruments-just don't ask me to sing), cooking, outdoor activities, Japanese culture, and the martial arts. It has been a long and bumpy road toward my studio dream, and while I never stopped being a photographer all this time, things are finally starting to settle down enough for me to pursue it as a livelihood once again.
My personal mission is to empower anyone who puts their trust in me through the photographs we create together. I will ensure that everyone who puts their trust in Captured Light Studios, LLC. is treated with the respect and appreciation they deserve. I want them to not only have a fantastic experience, but fantastic photographs as well to remember it by.
