When you love what you do, it’s not work.
That’s been David Hopkins’s philosophy throughout his 46-year career as owner of Hopkins Photography.
“My goal when I started was to make people happy with what they were seeing, and to treat everyone fairly. That’s important to me, that people leave feeling like they got a good deal and they were happy,” Hopkins said. “I’m blessed I got to do something I enjoyed for so long.”
Hopkins closed up shop and retired at the end of the year, bidding farewell to the studio at 201 S. Jefferson Ave.
Owning his own business — especially a business where he controlled how he scheduled his time — also mattered. Certain months of the year were busier than others, and he wanted to make sure not to give the impression that he was always working.
“If any of my buddies read this, they’re going to say, ‘Why didn’t he tell her he would take off three days a week to go fishing in the spring?” he said, laughing.
Work hard, play hard. He expects that strategy will ease the transition into retirement. He’s always made time for hobbies and activities such as spending time with his grandchildren, traveling, camping, hunting and fishing. Now, he’ll have even more opportunities.
PHOTOGRAPHY has changed a lot since Hopkins first started.
There are the obvious technical changes: The days of film are mostly gone. Everything is digital. The cell phone in your pocket takes higher quality photos than the first digital camera Hopkins ever bought, decades ago.
And because of that, not everyone hires a professional photographer. A friend with a high-quality camera or phone, in the right setting, can take senior photos or capture an adorable baby picture.
They may not approach the job with the same degree of experience and understanding that someone such as Hopkins does, though.
“Most professional photographers are going to make sure that exposures are correct, lighting is correct, the color is correct. Hopefully, they have some understanding about posing,” he said. The right pose and appropriate lighting can transform the way someone looks.
“The whole trick is to pose somebody but make it look natural, not posed. And to pay attention to fingers sticking out, not cutting people’s legs and arms off at joints. Make sure there’s not a sign post coming out of somebody’s head. Different things like that. It seems now people don’t pay attention to that,” he said.
“But it cost me money every time I took a photograph, so I tried to make it something that someone would want to buy.”
HOPKINS bought his first camera, using 35 mm film, in 1974 and took a photography class at Kansas State University.
