Welcome

Welcome to our blog.

Hitesman Photography has been around for a few years now but we're just now getting around to this method of communicating with our friends.

I began my interest in photography while serving in the US Army in Germany where I worked in the post studio/darkroom and earned some pocket money taking studio portraits of fellow servicemen for their families.

Kathy (my wife) began Hitesman Photography in 2005. But that was far from her first foray into the medium. She began with casual photography, as many of us do, many years ago and encouraged our son, Jason, who won early admission to the Scripp's School of journalism at Ohio University for his photographic accomplishments. Our daughter, Sarah, also inherited a talent for design and photography and has filled in as second-shooter when needed.

We all (Kathy, Jason, Sarah and I) developed our craft in the darkroom - film, red lights, noxious chemicals and the magic of seeing the image appear from a "blank" piece of material. In this age of digital media we're proud to trace our heritage to the real roots of photography.

For many years Kathy was content to use her talents for the benefit of our community - training budding photographers at the local high school where she continues to serve as the photography adviser to the high school publications staff. And donating her talents to the school, city and it's residents. The two of us photographed weddings for friends and family. And the buzz built.

Finally, in 2005, Kathy launched Hitesman-Barth Photography with the help of her close friend Hope Barth. Hope is also a talented photographer and, together, they began accepting assignments. But by the end of 2006, Hope recognized that the growing demands of the business were taking too much time away from her close/extended family. And she (wisely) decided to devote her full attention to her family.

In a remarkable expression of serendipity, in late 2006 I was offered the opportunity to retire from a career in international business (as President of a gobal group of companies with operations in 13 countries) and I took over Hope's position as Kathy's partner. Never really recognizing the reality of going from industrial guru to second-shooter with my wife as my boss. And thus was Hitesman Photography born.

In 2007 Kathy and I began our collaboration. As we began to work together, we discovered a new depth in our relationship. A relationship that began more than 40 years ago when we were high school sweethearts ( Kleenex anyone?).

Next post - I want to talk about photographing motorcycles at 200 mph from three feet away and how that relates to wedding and portrait photography. Stay tuned!