Equal parts creative and technical, John has always had a career-identity crisis. Graduating from George Mason University with a degree in Graphic Design and Animation, he had a brief stint as a freelance 3d animator, helping to create content for network television.
"3D Studio Max, especially in those early days, is still the hardest thing I've ever had to learn. We had to actually go to a bookstore to get our tutorials. A bookstore".
In a complete change of pace, in 2002, John joined a startup technology company on the cutting edge of large scale data processing for litigation support. He dove head first into the emerging E-Discovery industry, designing workflows, collaborating with software developers, and managing large scale projects with small, talented teams of people. This environment allowed him to hone his problem solving skills and his ability to understand the nuances of a wide variety of technologies. From there, he joined another litigation-support company in DC as their Operations Director. John also learned valuable lessons about project management and selling to clients, but more importantly, customer service.
"It actually became one of my hallmarks. Ask anyone I've worked with and the phrase 'customer service' comes up first."
In 2010, while taking a long hiatus between jobs, John somehow found himself talking photography with his old animation crew from college. As these stories go, one thing lead to another and he found himself on another career path, applying his technical skills, creative problem solving, and good customer service to the wedding photography industry.
With Sidecar Post, he currently does highly specialized photo processing for several prominent wedding photographers, and even dives in to designing workflows and scripting new utilities to speed along the work. On the weekends, you can find him assisting Jennifer Cody with her wedding shoots, and the unique off-camera flash style she has developed over the years.
"You learn quickly that this kind of work isn't easy. With off camera flash, you also learn the importance of good teamwork. And the importance of breakfast. Don't skip that on the wedding day."
