John Slaughter

is my name and taking pictures is my game. Kidding around of course, but I love capturing special moments. It is truly rewarding for me to see that perfect second paused in time. My story goes, I grew up in Southern Virginia where my dad took me outside fishing, boating and tubing on the lakes near our home. Family vacations were camping at the lake and visiting North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Luckily, the Appalachian Mountains were also nearby as I had to try all of the activities surrounding me like mountain biking, hiking, climbing and skiing. I guess, to balance things out, pencil and pen & ink drawings were another love. Adventuring and art were always a nice time to focus and simply enjoy life. Sometime in high school I picked up my my mom’s simple Minolta rangefinder to document my friends’ adventures. I didn’t think much of the pictures but I knew I had fun making them. Graduation. Off to engineering college. Just four weeks in, I was struggling to find any footing except when I borrowed my friend’s film SLR camera. None of those pictures were really very good, but my friend said she enjoyed them. I had a blast and pretty much immediately forgot about school. I withdqrew, bought a $600 film DSLR camera & lens kit on my way out of town to head to the mountains, then back home to regroup. I did soon return to college, at first, a photo program at the community college in my hometown of Danville, VA. And, then off to Glenwood Springs, CO at the Spring Valley Campus of CMC! When attending Colorado Mountain College I fell in love with the Mountain West and nearby desert environments of Utah. I was offered an internship/ assistant gig in Driggs, ID by an early photo mentor. I didn’t do any research except I knew there were mountains nearby. He said it was cool and that was enough. Simple as that… 18 years in Jackson Hole, WY and recently moved to Bozeman, MT, which my partner and our two dogs love! I’ve had the pleasure of working with close friends, meeting a ton of full-of-life people and traveling to new favorite places across the United States, Canada, Argentina and Italy. I’m looking forward to the next project alongside fun and  interesting collaborators. My personal photography style is typically more documentary however I love crafting an image with my clients. From special event photography to studio setups, mountain top ski elopements and family portraiture. I would enjoy hearing about your photography needs! What is your story? Thank you for visiting my site. Let’s make some photos! Talk soon!