The photo above taken over 40 years ago is the photo that finally hooked me on photography as a lifelong passion.As I look at it now, it really was not that special, but at the time I thought it was amazing and could not believe that Iwas the person who created it.

I had just purchased a Pentax K2 camera and had been out taking photos all day at the many beaches in Gloucester and Manchester which are oceanfront towns near my hometown of Danvers Ma. Digital Photography was a long way into the future, so all the photos I took that day were with slide film. So back then Kodak sold film and slide film in 24and 36 exposure film cannisters and you needed to make your photos count or it became very expensive very fast.

This particular photo was taken at Singing Beach in Manchester Ma. and after I printed it up, I got all kinds of positive feedback and encouragement. So naturally I learned of a photo contest at the local photo shop and entered the photo, and actually won. Cool, I won $50 and got my photo displayed in their store and boy was I hooked.

From that shot and the recognition that I received, I eventually decided to try making money with my photography along with the support of my day job. My wife was working in real estate at the time and the lady she worked for owneda commercial building in the downtown section of Danvers and after doing a few real estate shootings for her was offered3 months free rent to make a go at the photography business. I worked the 11 – 7 night shift at the time, so I did that and worked all day making a go of it in the photography business.

Well my wife Sue and I kept that pace for a couple of years and had to make a decision about leaving my day job to concentrate full time on the photography business, which everyone thought was a crazy idea, except us. But it worked outand we are still at it 40 years later and have photographed over 2000 weddings, thousands of high school senior portraits,and so many other kinds of photo assignments. It’s a wonderful thing to do something you love for a living, they say it’s not like work at all, and I have to agree. And it all started with that little sunset picture in this post.

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Ed Mercer

Owner at Mercer Photography
I am the other half of our husband and wife Photography studio with my wife of 41 years Sue. We opened our studio in Danvers, Ma in February of 1979. As members of Professional Photographers of Mass, New England and America, our goal in life is simple – Capture the beauty in every subject and create timeless joy to share. We are still at it after all these years and love what we do as much as when we started. Together we are also teaching and coaching photography, image editing, and the business of photography.
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