Collection: Pro Photo VA - Dan Collins

When I held my first camera, a Yashica 35mm, something inside me clicked (forgive the pun). I loved how the camera helped me communicate my budding artistic vision.

I loved being in the darkroom. I loved the chemicals, shaking the film developing can, focusing the enlarger, and hanging wet prints to dry. Next thing I knew I was graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University with a BFA specializing in photography. Soon after, I got a job with a school photography company. 

While the school photography business limited my creativity some, it did afford me experience. I learned how to use light, pose and interact with my subjects, and how to get people to look their best. I fell in love with the idea that the portrait I'm taking will be on a parent's mantle for years to come.  

20 years later, I still love that idea. Only now it's no longer a school photo, it is my art. I want my audience to feel what it was like to be where I was when I captured the photograph that hangs on their wall.  See what it was like looking at the Rodanthe pier at sunrise or being under the magnificent double arch in Arches National Park. Maybe you prefer a sunset in the Florida Keys?

Whatever it is that you like, I hope you enjoy following my journey as I share my passion with the world.