The ideas and inspiration behind Wayne Charles Photography is with its founder and manager, Wayne Howitz (pronounced How-Its).  Wayne was a South Jersey native (Exit 6 on the Turnpike for all you NJ residents) before he met his wife and created a home with their children in the suburbs of Pennsylvania.  A Drexel grad, Wayne established a successful career as a Civil Engineer designing bridges and highways before finding his love of photography.  Still today, Wayne finds a good balance between his passions of family, consulting, and photography.

 

With over 15 years of photography experience, Wayne continues to further his skillset through hands-on workshops with some of the world’s best photographers, online seminars, books, and a huge personal network of friends in the industry.  What good is a skill if you can’t share it?  Proudly, Wayne has mentored several photographers into opening their own successful studios, many of whom still shoot alongside him today.  While competitive in spirit and in learning, he does not limit his competition in photography, he welcomes and supports it.  The greatest gift the art of photography can give is more emotion, more memories, and more opportunity.

 

Why photography?  Wayne always had a passion for taking photos, from the class trips with a disposable film camera, to a Disney vacation with one of the first digital cameras he always enjoyed capturing experiences.  Many years after his first film camera, and armed with a brand-new digital camera at a friend’s wedding, the Bride and Groom asked Wayne if he minded taking a few getting ready photos since their photographer was not booked until the ceremony.  Keep in mind this was a destination wedding with a standard event package from the travel agent (there were no full-day photo options).  So, Wayne agreed and dove right into it with a Canon SLR he just bought and started snapping away at all the interactions he could find.  As he became comfortable with the camera and the idea of taking these important wedding images, Wayne started composing his own shots, setting up different angles and lighting.  Before he knew it was time for the ceremony and the real photographer to begin, but the photos didn’t end there.  Wayne and the photographer were somehow shooting together and assisting each other through the wedding.  A big kudos to this photographer who allowed this to happen and basically launch the beginning of a wedding career.  It wasn’t until the photos were back in the hands of the couple that Wayne learned they loved his images a little more than their professional simply because they were candid, in the moment, and not the wedding standard the photographer was likely trained.  From here, friends of the Bride and Groom started asking and hiring Wayne for other events simply based on this one referral.  Sure, there was much to learn and a ton of growing pains, but Wayne took the opportunity and evolved into the photographer he is today.  The peer-to-peer assistance he received that wedding day drove his passion to teach others his skill set and help develop their photography dreams.