Hello! My name is Paul Retherford and I am a freelance photographer and wedding photographer. I create photographs that I feel need to be documented. I have been making photographs for approximately 22+ years and have 15+ years of wedding photography experience. I capured my first wedding at the age of 18. I am exclusively a Canon 35mm photographer. I shoot 100% digital now.

I was born and raised in Alpena, Michigan on Lake Huron. My father has been a Charterboat Captain, www.troutscoutcharters.com, and High School teacher my entire life so I was raised on the water and taught to value my education. When you look at my images you can see that they tell a little bit about who I am and my experiences in life.

I attended college in De Pere, Wisconsin (St. Norbert College, SNC) where I started out in Pre-med and ended up in Environmental Science like so many others. In the course of my four years in college I played football, traveled to Panama for a Natural Science Field Study, studied in Washington, D.C. and traveled to Kenya with The International Environment and Development Semester, and I traveled across the USA on a 3,300 mile trip. In addition, I was both a Chief Photographer for SNC Yearbook and an Editor and Chief. I was accepted to participate in Peace Corps in Namibia, Africa but I declined since the departure date was on my friend's Wedding Day.

I immediately applied for AmeriCorps*USA, was accepted, and moved out to Arcata, California (northern) for 2 years to volunteer for AmeriCorps. My AmeriCorps experience involved working with The California Department of Fish and Game on both remote streams and logging streams. My volunteer service put me in the middle of the Redwood forest debate and the endangered Coho Salmon struggle. I was involved in salmon and trout surveys and censuses. This position allowed for some incredible images of the Redwood forests and remote streams and vegetation. I enrolled in two semesters of photography courses at the College of the Redwoods. While in California I obtained my Masters of Inland Waterways 100- Ton Captains License.

Upon finishing AmeriCorps, I returned to Michigan where I substitute taught, took photo and art classes from Kirtland and Alpena Community College, and ran a charterboat for part of a year. The following year I moved to the Florida Keys to work on a fishing boat. I worked out of Islamorada on the Miss Tradewinds. In my spare time I spent many hours photographing the Everglades. I moved back to Michigan again and headed to Chicago for 2 1/2 years, capturing lots of images of the city, working in picture framing shops, bartending, and capturing Weddings.

I am now married(May 9, 2004 in Key West, FL) to my beautiful wife, Megan, and we find time to travel and take photographs. We live in Michigan and love to travel around the Midwest. We have two dogs, a blue weimaraner "Sampson" and a Vizsla "Asta La Vizsla." Megan is a fully licensed Doctor of Clinical Psychology.

I have seen the whole gamut of photography from Polaroid film, disc film, medium format, large format, 35mm, etc. I have worked thousands of hours in labs developing my prints in both color and black & white. Presently, I work 100% in the digital darkroom. I prefer this method for my health and for the convenience. Although I do love the smell of the chemicals, I don't believe they were too healthy.

My photography encompasses my lifestyle. Every photograph that you see will explain a bit about myself. I am an active outdoorsman, a US Coast Guard 100-Ton Master Captain working on my brother's boat, www.catchabunch.com and others, and PADI Divemaster. My photography grows from my interest in the outdoors and the satisfaction of knowing that I am documenting generations of families that will cherish my work forever and also documenting species for conservation.

I continue to upgrade my photographic education by attending workshops and seminars, reading numerous books and magazines, taking classes and photographing daily. I love to speak with fellow photographers and I am willing to give advice to anyone who seeks it. I've learned most of my methods and techniques from photographers who were willing to educate others, and I feel that I can offer similar advice.

Thank you for taking the time to view my site and hopefully we can meet somewhere along the journey.

Paul Retherford Photography, LLC covering Michigan, the Midwest, International, and the World.