Why I Started Digital Imageries Photography

How It Started

Photography has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. My dad was the one behind the camera at every family event growing up, and that's really where it started for me — watching him capture things, then eventually picking up a disposable camera of my own just to see what I could do with it.

My real interest in editing actually started in high school, in an image editing class using a program called paint (or paint . net) — a pretty bare-bones version of Photoshop. We didn't do anything too wild, though some of the more artistic students in that class made some genuinely impressive work. That class planted a seed that followed me into college, where I took a photography elective. I didn't own a camera at the time, so I borrowed my parents' point-and-shoot (it's probably still sitting at my mom's place, battery long dead). The class was informative, but with everything else going on in college, photography took a bit of a back seat for a while.

It didn't stay there long, though. When I picked up a Samsung Galaxy S4, I started taking photos constantly when I was out with friends — food, people, random collectibles I owned that I'd edit in Photoshop just to make them pop: swapping backgrounds, adjusting lighting, anything to make an image stand out. That habit of editing for fun never really left me, and it's genuinely helped in professional jobs since.

Finding My Own Camera

In 2016, I bought my first real camera, the Canon T6i. I still miss that camera. It came with a kit lens, and I later added a 50mm f/1.8 that I still own and still use — I actually had it out on a portrait job just a few months ago because it takes incredibly sharp photos. Two years later, I upgraded to a Canon 6D Mark II, which felt like a massive step up in quality. That camera went everywhere with me — family events, pets, anything — because I'd noticed how many moments just pass by unnoticed if you don't have something on hand to hold onto them.

Somewhere in there I also ran into a very common photographer problem: GAS, or Gear Acquisition Syndrome. Thankfully, the price tags on most of that gear were enough to keep it in check.

The Business Begins

In 2019, I was helping my dad with a small eBay business he ran, photographing inventory and putting together product videos. That experience gave me a real taste of what running a business actually looked like, and both he and my mom pushed me to start my own with photography. The original plan was even for my dad and I to run it together. I built a logo, put together a website, and launched Digital Imageries Photography in 2020 — right as the pandemic hit, which was, to put it mildly, not the ideal timing. Business was slow at first, but that didn't stop me from shooting and improving my craft: a graduation here, a soccer game there, a few local events. I liked knowing that these were moments people would want to look back on someday, and that I could help give them a quality photo to do that with.

The Photo That Changed Everything

Around this time, I got into flash photography, and my dad got curious enough to test it out alongside me. He too was getting back into photography, but we chose different paths (he went with Nikon and I went with Canon, we’d have some fun back and forth crap talk about which was better). Somewhere in those sessions, there's a photo of him that means more to me than almost any other picture I've taken — a few playful shots mixed in, but one in particular that really stuck.

In 2023, my dad passed away suddenly. While going through old photos afterward, that was the one we chose for his funeral service. That moment is really what solidified something I now believe deeply: everyone should have at least one good photo of themselves. Something to be remembered by, and something for the people who love them to hold onto. My dad was a huge influence on my life, and he still is — he's one of the biggest reasons I got into photography in the first place.

Family, Partnership, and Why I Do This Now

I met my wife in 2022, and she was one of my biggest supporters from the start — patiently coming along on more photo outings than I can count while I photographed pretty much everything in sight. I'm still not entirely sure how she put up with it, but I'm endlessly grateful she did. In October 2025, I married her, and it's genuinely the best decision I've ever made. She's artistic in her own right, and our ideas naturally bounce off each other — she pushes me to be as creative as possible, and I try to do the same for her. Right now she's actually working on a creative project of her own that I won't spoil until she's ready to share it, but I'll say this much: watching each other grow creatively has pushed both of us further than either of us would've gotten alone.

Life moves fast, and there's so much we can't predict about where we'll be or what might happen next. That's why I believe so strongly that everyone deserves at least one great photo — of themselves, of the people they love, of the moments that matter. Something to look back on. Something to remember, and be remembered by.

If you're in South Jersey and looking for a photographer who keeps things straightforward, communicates clearly, and genuinely cares about the images you walk away with, I'd love to work with you.