My interest in photography started when I was 12 years old and won a trip to Disneyland in California. I bought a cheap 110mm camera and used up 15 rolls of film in 4 days. It was the first time out of Wisconsin, first on an airplane, first time anywhere. Used a couple rolls on the plane taking pictures out the window of mountains, crop circles, clouds, anything that caught my eye. I had no idea t
hat this investment would turn out to be a passion for over 54 years. After graduating high school I bought my first 35mm SLR camera. I thought it was time to get seriously into this hobby that allowed me to use my artistic eye. I used that camera to take my first wedding pictures of one of my best friends as a present for their special day and they were not at all bad. I usually went through about 5 rolls of film a week with this camera. Experimenting with a lot of techniques and settings mostly for personal fun. In the late 80’s I started to travel a lot and that really rekindled my interest in photography. On my first trip to Europe I shot over 40 rolls of film. At 36 shots per roll that was nearly 1500 pictures. This hobby was costing me a lot of money and photo albums started to pile up. I thought of changing to slides but then no one likes sitting through those 3 hour slide show presentations. I now have a closet full of negatives and photo albums. Oh well. That first 35mm film camera lead to a couple more having quite an investment in hardware as the digital cameras started to come out. That first Ricoh camera was still my favorite but the thousands of pictures started to take its toll on it. The last trip I used it on the shutter started to stick and that spoiled a lot of pictures. I thought to save money and to be able to have the pictures instantly I would try a digital camera and bought a 3.2 megapixel Nikon point and shoot. Thinking this would just be a fun camera and I would still use my 35mm one for important shots. Well I never picked up the 35mm again. It was time to bite the bullet and pull the trigger on a digital SLR. Five digital SLRs later I have a Nikon D850 with six lenses, speedlight, lighting umbrellas, tripods, and more invested than I liked to admit. When I got that first digital SLR I started to earn some money on the side to support my new habit. While still not wanting to do this as a job and give up every weekend for weddings, I did mention it to anyone I met that I did photography for more reasonable prices than those doing it full time. I had some business cards printed up with my information and that was the start of Vision by Vande Voort. I currently do about 4 to 6 weddings a year where my daughter uses her camera to have a second perspective on those special events. I also average a dozen or so graduation and family portraits a year. I limit my paid engagements to keep it fun and more of a hobby than a job. Not relying on it for a job helps me to keep my rates more reasonable and I give all my shots on disk to my customers with permissions to make reprints as they desire. My pet peeve is photographers that hold your pictures for ransom. I know they have to make a living but the pictures mean nothing but an income stream for them. With 2023 we look forward to servicing all your photography needs.
