Photographer / Adventurer
Jeff Slapp ~ “Your photographs can be your best souvenirs! “
I first began my photography hobby when I was fourteen years old! It started in an unusual place – a police station! At the time, my father was a detective and his sergeant, a family friend, introduced me to photography by developing black and white film in an old police photo lab. I was hooked! I needed a camera! I needed my own darkroom. I knew this was my destiny.
When growing up, I was raised with the values of you get nothing for free. This meant I was going to have to save my money to purchase a camera. It was the summer of 1979 (not to be confused with Bryan Adams’s summer of 1969 where he got his first six-string). I flew up to New York from my home in Venice, Florida to spend the summer with my grandparents. While shopping with my grandparents, I found my first 35mm camera! It was a Canon Canonet 28 (which I still have and pictured at top of the page), featuring a “rangefinder” focusing system. That summer I took two photographs that captured the memories of my grandparents that hang on the walls of a few family members.
The following Spring, I took two more photographs that would become a couple of my favorites-a picture of the White House and a nighttime picture of the Lincoln Memorial. By this time, I was fifteen and my camera went wherever I went. I saved up more money and my father built me a darkroom in the garage. By the time I was sixteen, I began working part-time in a police photo lab and would eventually start taking photographs at places I never imagined-crime scenes! While finishing high school and going to college, I worked a few part-time jobs. I continued working in law enforcement, worked at a camera shop, and freelanced doing wedding photography and photocopy work with some restoration. I kept busy, but photography remained part of each job. Friends and family were convinced that photography would be my career. However, my path led me into law enforcement as a deputy sheriff for thirty-one years.
Throughout my career, photography would somehow manage to become part of what I did. During my career, I worked in many areas but found another passion; education and training. Having obtained my graduate degree, I began teaching undergraduate classes at a local university-including course in forensics ( and yes involving photography). As I moved up the ranks, I found myself in charge of our training section and became introduced to the field of instructional design. Photography and now video once again became part of my professional life as I incorporated them into online training.
After thirty-one years with the same agency, I retired as a Captain at the age of fifty-one. I didn’t really want to retire but my pension benefits were going to change, so I had to lock-in what I worked towards. Now what? I continued teaching at a local university, traveled and most of all spent some quality time with my parents. A decision I will never regret because one year and two weeks after retiring, my mother passed away. While trying to absorb the loss, I turned back to my hobby of photography. It was something my mom always loved. She was my biggest fan! Realizing how life can change so quickly, I decided to buy an RV and travel the country taking pictures which are the best souvenirs!
So in 2018, I will begin my journey of traveling around the country (and out of the country) taking and sharing my photographs and my journey. I also plan on putting my other passion for education and instructional design to work by teaching photography and travel tips. So stay tuned!
