After a 30-year international sales career, a corporate merger gave me the opportunity to step off the treadmill for a few months. The first thing I did was sign up for classes at DCP; I was hooked and never looked back. Three years later I launched my family & pet portrait studio and enjoy shooting my personal passions of documentary and photojournalism imagery.

Erin Emery McWhorter is a professional pilot and photography enthusiast living in Dallas TX. She started taking classes at DCP about a year ago, improving her ability to highlight the beauty of flight and capture authentic moments from her travels. Recently she left her position as chief pilot at a company that operates life flight helicopters to embark on a new career at the airlines. As a hobby she writes an aviation/travel/photo blog. Erin hopes to have her own darkroom in the near future.

I’ve always had an interest in photography and other art mediums. Recently a dear friend gave me her husband’s old Nikon F and I discovered a real passion for taking photos. I focus mostly on street photography, looking for a quick shot that allows me to tell a story. Wandering through a city and looking at its streets and people through the lens gives me an interesting perspective of our world and how we live in it.

Retired from the U. S. Navy, Michael now works as an aircraft systems analyst. Since moving to Dallas in 2008 he’s become fond of exploring the ghost towns and abandoned places of Texas and surrounding states. Michael started with a Nikon D3100 to document his visits to these fascinating places and began taking classes at DCP. He took Noel Kern’s night photography/light painting workshop and has been honing his skills ever since.

I picked up photography as a hobby a few years back and it has quickly grown into a passion. After several classes and workshops at DCP, I look at everyday things in a different light. Originally from Pune, India, I came to the USA after receiving my chemical engineering degree. I completed my Masters and Ph.D. at the University of Colorado at Boulder and work as an semiconductor engineering manager in Dallas.

“Be curious and learn” is Connie’s mantra in her approach to life and photography. Her background in strategic sales with well-known consumer brands taught her to look for the story or the hero in creating images. A current passion is working with business owners to share their stories through visual imagery. She loves to read cookbooks and pretend she can cook.

Born in Romania, Claudia considers herself a citizen of the world. She’s lived on four continents, worked as a public relations professional and is an artist at heart with a soft spot for photography. She loves capturing magic with her Fujifilm X cameras. Claudia now shoots full time and lives in Dallas with her husband. http://claudiacuriciphotography.com @ClaudiaCurici

Everywhere I look is a photo waiting to be captured. It doesn’t matter if I’m in a grocery store, driving down a farm road or looking into the face of a stranger. Armed with my Nikon D750, I’m striving to take photos that are not ordinary. I’m challenged to know more, to do more, and it is my hope to become recognized as an accomplished photographer.

John is a venture capitalist in Dallas who has shot mostly travel photos much of his adult life, starting with a point and shoot Ricoh in Spain in 1973. Today he carries a Canon 5D MK III and chooses travel destinations mostly for their photographic potential. He tries to maintain a very light touch when it comes to post processing.

Claire is a high school student in Dallas. She received her first DSLR camera during the summer of 2014. She enjoys traveling and her favorite lens is the Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM. Claire is looking forward to expanding her photographic skills and learning more about nighttime and portrait photography.

Sandra Reid has a passion for photography. The creativity of expression provides an outlet for her creative growth. She believes in the importance of spending time practicing, studying with the guidance of experts, and asking lots of good questions. She is drawn to images of people being humans in their natural settings. Her ultimate goal is “getting really good at street photography” no matter where the street may lead.

A professional in the corporate world for over 30 years, I was searching for an outlet to reconnect me with my creativity. Photography links me to the things I love; family, friends, food, and travel. I love the words associated with it: raw, exposure, grayscale, stop, contrast. Through them I find metaphors for challenges greater than taking a beautiful photo.

Leslie holds degrees in anthropology, fine art, and primate conservation. She worked as a photo finishing artist for several years, turning her focus to primatology in 2000. Leslie has worked on projects in the USA and in Africa, specializing in human-monkey conflict in tourist areas. She photographs the animals she’s working with as well as the surrounding cultural landscapes.

Olivia is a recent SMU graduate from Dallas. She currently works as an English teacher in a remote mountain village in Japan. She is an avid traveler and amateur photographer who attended Sam Abell’s workshop at DCP in February 2014. That workshop along with private lessons has certainly shaped her abilities as a photographer.

Shane is the President of a commercial construction company in Dallas. He bought his first DSLR camera in 2011 while working in India and was inspired by their colorful culture. He also likes diving and plans on expanding his photography interests to the underwater world. His favorite lens is the 70-200 mm.

Patricia “Minou” Wessant starting doing film photography in college many years ago. After several years of resisting digital, she finally embraced the digital world and loves it! She is looking forward to using her skills to fulfill a dream of photographing the wildlife and landscape in 3 African countries this June 2015.

Leo Wesson is a Fort Worth based photographer/videographer who is in love with light, gesture and composition. Sometimes, if he is there, he gets the right moment – with a little bit of oddity thrown in. He likes to travel (anywhere) and will gladly go over the mountain just to see what he can see.

I have always traveled and taken photographs. With the sudden death of my wife my perspective on life changed drastically. After 27 years in corporate America and two kids now in college, I’ve embarked on a life-long dream; to explore and photograph the National Parks. (Watch for David’s upcoming exhibit at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History)

I’ve been photographing family and friends since high school but got serious six years ago when I purchased by first DSLR.  Since 2010 I’ve had the privilege of  photographing top athletes for the Texas Acrobatic Gymnastics Association, USA Gymnastics and the World Olympics Gymnastics Academy in Plano and Frisco.

I was born in a small town outside of Milan, Italy. In 2013 my husband, two children and I moved to historic downtown McKinney. My love for portraits and figure painting naturally evolved into a passion for photography. I write about my town and its amazingly warm community on my blog and share portrait and painting work on my website.

A gift from our children to spend two hours with Peter, five years ago, morphed us from point-and-shooters to Nikon FX and DX enthusiasts scraping up money for better glass. We love to travel and delight in arguing the importance of managing light vs. frame composition.

Jill Jordan is a technology executive with a leading financial firm who became serious about photography in 2013. She believes in spending her time practicing good photography rather than sitting in front of her computer modifying images in Photoshop. Jill takes pride in her uncropped images and hangs them on the wall of her home office.