Extraordinary Stories From An Ordinary Guy: The "Digital Success" Story

It was an ordinary day. Looking at the images that Eric just sent to me from the photo shoot this morning. Eric was a student of mine in both graphic arts and photography who graduated from high school in the late 90s and is now a professional photographer. A week ago I was looking at the "Lancaster County Magazine" and told my wife that I bet Alan Holm, well-respected and excellent photographer, had taken the photos dealing with the dental offices and labs in Lancaster. Great shots that looked like his work.

Photographer Eric Forberger

Leafed back to the start of the stories and found that Eric Forberger had taken all of them. I knew that Eric had started his own business, but didn't realize the extent of his business and the quality of his photography. Pulled up his website and spent an hour checking all the photos and videos that he had posted on the site. Remarkable photos! I gave him a call the next day to ask if I could come and visit with him to see his studio and to talk about his business. Called my son Tad and asked if he wanted to tag along on my visit, since he was a friend of Eric. Well, this morning Tad and I walked into the renovated Slaymaker Lock building, entered the elevator and headed to the third floor where Eric has his studio. Neat studio that covers quite a bit of the third floor of the old lock company. Old wooden floors with white stone walls and a white painted ceiling that must be 15 feet high. Huge windows cover one entire wall facing west. Eric occupies part of the top floor and has plenty of room for expansion. We walked around the studio then sat and talked in his office about how he began his business. After high school Eric spent a year at Stevens Trade studying Electrical Engineering and then spent another year at Millersville University in the Communications program. Then took a job at Franklin and Marshall College working with their computers. Ever since graduation from high school he maintained an interest in photography as a hobby. In 2006 he decided to take an online course with PPSOP (Perfect Picture School of Photography). Through the online course, he got to know and meet Bryan Peterson who was one of the online instructors. Eric eventually started doing freelance work and at times was called to take photographs for the Lancaster New Era, Lancaster's evening paper. A turning point in his career dealt with one assignment where he was to take photos of a baseball tournament sponsored by the newspaper. Game time was 6:00 PM and Eric was to be there for the photos.

"People Magazine" photo

A day or two before he received a call from "People Magazine" asking if they could hire him to take a photo for a story they were doing for Animal Planet Cop. He had to take photos of a Lancaster County Amish puppy-mill that was to be raided the same day as the baseball tournament. The two assignments would be hours apart and he thought he would have no problem. Well, the "People Magazine" assignment drug on and on since the judge could not be located to sign a search warrant to allow the PSPCA and the State Police to enter the Amish farm. Eric had to make a decision and chose the puppy-mill story over the baseball game. He knew his future might be helped more by the national exposure he would get in "People Magazine." It turned out to be the correct decision! In 2006 he opened his first studio on the second floor of a building at the corner of West Chestnut and Water Streets in downtown Lancaster. His interest is in commercial, editorial and advertising photography and his business is growing. Some of his clients are Armstrong, Millersville University, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster General Hospital, Auntie Anne's, Red Bull, Dunkin Donuts and naturally Lancaster County Magazine. He ran out of space in his downtown studio and recently moved to the

Eric taking a portraiture of LDub in his studio

location we visited today. Really interesting guy who has realistic goals set for himself and his business. I know he will be a huge success in the future because of his drive, creativity, photography knowledge and his personality. After all, he was a student of mine and here's hoping the photo he took of me today will become a collector's item in the future. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - More of Eric's photos follow ......

This photo and the following 5 photos are from the "People Magazine" shoot.

This photo and the following 3 photos Eric took for his portfolio. What is different about this particular photo is that the mountain man is actually my youngest son Tad who visited Eric with me today.