Ryan's Story

Born in California, Ryan Hansen grew up in the rain spattered, slug filled forests of the Pacific Northwest.  At the start of seventh grade his family moved to a small farm town in southern Idaho where he attended junior high and high school.  Ryan's father was a minister who specialized in small congregations made up of what seemed like extremely old people at the time.  Ryan and his brothers spent their time playing basketball, shooting bb guns, and reluctantly attending church whenever the doors were open... which was a lot!  In 1984 he left home to attend the University of Idaho, earning a degree in Landscape Architecture in 1988.

After college Ryan moved to Reno, NV to work as a landscape architect.  Laid off after only six months, he decided to move back up to Seattle where he found work with an environmental firm designing wetland mitigation projects.  While there he met and married Shonee Anderson.  After five years of very little sun and very pale skin, they decided to escape the dreary weather and move back to Reno where they have remained ever since, raising five children and a host of family pets.

In 1998 Ryan opened a highly successful landscape architecture firm specializing in the design of community parks and commercial landscapes which he still manages on a day to day basis.  Ryan always loved photography and became even more interested in it with the advent of digital and the art of post processing using programs such as Photoshop.  He incorporated both digital photography and Photoshop into the workflow of the firm, creating digital visual simulations for clients such as Nevada Power and the Nevada Department of Transportation.

Ryan developed an interest in the art of portrait and landscape photography which quickly tranformed into a passion.  He joined the National Association of Photoshop Professionals and the Professional Photographers Association.  As his passion and knowledge of photography grew he decided to open a wedding and portrait studio... which brings us to today and this blog. 

This blog is a daily journal of Ryan's adventure as he follows his dream of photography by opening a home-based studio.  His goal is to share everything along the way... his successes and triumphs, his failures and disappointments.

Feel free to follow along!