Check Out Larry Braun’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Larry Braun.

Hi Larry, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I grew up in a small town in south Ste. Genevieve County, Saint Mary, MO. Saint Mary was originally a busy Mississippi River town, but in the late 19th century, the river changed its course and moved east about 5 miles. When I was growing up, I especially enjoyed going on long hikes with my grandfather Braun. It was from him that I learned to enjoy being outdoors and learned to appreciate the beauty I found in nature. Grandfather delivered mail on a rural route for the USPS. I like to think he would have been proud to see his grandson’s photo featured on a postage stamp.

After graduating from St. Vincent High School in Perryville, I worked at several temporary jobs. Not having a clear career path, in 1971 I looked at the US Navy as an opportunity to see the world, mature, and save money for college. I served in the US Navy aboard an aircraft carrier, the USS Midway, which is now a museum in San Diego Harbor. At the beginning of my four-year enlistment, I bought a professional 35mm camera. I started taking photos that would be best described as street photography. I didn’t know at the time that it was called street photography because I didn’t know about the different kinds of photography and photographers like portrait, documentary, landscape, street, etc. I just started walking around the ports we visited and I took photos of subjects that appealed to me.

When I finished my enlistment in the Navy, I attended Southeast Missouri State University where I earned a BS in chemistry. I was hired as a chemist at the New Madrid Power Plant and I continued to work there for 34 years. During that time, I moved to Benton and focused time and energy on my career and raising my family. I think Missouri was a great place to raise a family and I feel blessed to now live within a day’s drive to all my children and grandchildren. After my children were grown and I got close to retiring from the plant, I started looking for activities to enjoy in my spare time. I joined a hiking club from St. Louis and soon realized that I wanted to try to capture images of the beautiful trails I hiked on in Missouri, Southern Illinois, Kentucky and Arkansas. Small digital cameras that were easy to carry on the trails were beginning to come out on the market at that time. I started taking photos on the hiking trails with one of those small low-pixel cameras. In time, I found I became more interested in stopping to take photos than in keeping up with the hiking club.

My interest in photography grew to the point that I took a detailed online photography course, I bought some professional camera gear, and I also studied the use of the Photoshop computer program. The creative options of the Photoshop program were a game changer for me. I use the program to adjust lighting and composition to give my images an artistic look. I also use high dynamic range, HDR, processing to extend the dynamic range and depth of an image. I think the result is a photograph that looks more like what you see with your own eyes…instead of just looking like a two-dimensional snapshot.

In 2009, I entered a photo in the Margaret Harwell Art Museum photo contest called Pictures by The People. I won the first-place award which was a big deal for me. The annual contest had over 200 entries and my successful recognition there made me seriously think about starting my own photography business. For years I continued to enter photos in local contests, received many awards and also refined my workflow to develop my own unique type of artistic image. I joined the River Region Photography Association which is a camera club in Cape Girardeau. I became active in the Art Council of Southeast Missouri, the Visual Arts Co-op in Cape Girardeau, and the Art Guild in Ste. Genevieve. These groups of talented artists provided me with valuable knowledge about our local art community. They also provided opportunities for me to share my work with others and they gave me lots of encouragement as my photography business grew.

I started getting offers from local businesses who wanted to install my photos in their workplace offices, board rooms, halls and lobbies. I like to think that my photos will help lift the spirits of the visitors and staff in these facilities. I feel like I am best known for my unique professional perspective on the local landscapes. I often spend time studying the history of a building or a community before I photograph it. That helps me decide how I can best photograph it to bring that out in my final image.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think getting recognization is a big struggle for a freelance photographer. Everyone has a camera on their phone, so the market is filled with millions of photos every day. The struggle is how to get attention to your work through the myriad of photos posted every day.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I specialize in photographs of small towns struggling to hold on to the fast-changing environment. I grew up in a small town and watched it go from a thriving community to a skeleton of structures that seemed to disappear each day.

What makes you happy?
My happiness comes from successfully capturing the feeling I have about the place I photograph. A photograph can come alive and bring the essence of the place to people that have never been there but can feel what it’s like to be there.

Pricing:

• Prints 8 x 10 $20
• Prints 11 x 14 $30
• Prints 12 x 18 $50

Contact Info:

• Website: larrybraunphotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LarryB52

Image Credits
Larry Braun