"I can capture a moment, and that moment stays forever".
"I can capture a moment, and that moment stays forever".
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My Journey Into Photography:
The first time I ever held a camera, I was 15 years old. I was at a summer camp in the city of Bratislava, Slovakia. Someone asked me to hold their camera and said I could take some pictures if I would like. It was an Olympus Single-Lens Reflex. I couldn’t believe they trusted me to hold it, and I was almost too scared to touch it. I carefully grabbed hold and pointed it at some kids playing dodgeball. I remember thinking, “I can capture a moment, and that moment stays forever.” Since then, I hoped for more opportunities to take pictures.
About three years later, I was helping to clean out the attic of the orphanage where I lived and grew up. We found an old all-manual Russian SLR camera called Zenit. I asked if I could have it and the orphanage staff agreed because none of them knew how to operate it. Not long after, my friend Laco introduced me to his friend, Marci, who offered to teach me photography and gave me some books about it.
In 2007, I was living in London, working as a chef, and making more money than I had ever made before (about 100 GBP per week and free accommodation), so I saved up and bought my first digital SLR camera: a Canon 350 D. Living in such a beautiful place, I indulged in hobby photography, taking cityscapes and capturing details around the city.
London
London
London
London
In 2009, I moved to Bratislava, Slovakia, where I dabbled in a few different careers. I met my wife in 2011 and we started a family. With them as models at my constant disposal, I continued taking pictures for fun, but this time with a Canon 400 D.
Slovakia
Slovakia
Slovakia
Slovakia
Fast forward to 2019, life was looking much different for me. I gave my Taylor guitar – the guitar I was holding when I first set eyes on Leah, my wife – to my childhood friend, Laco. In exchange he bought me an Olympus EM10 Mark3 camera. My first mirrorless camera. I chose that one for its size and portability and low-light performance. The very next day after going to the mall with Laco to pick up the camera, he drove Leah and I, and our two young children to the airport in Vienna. We were moving to China!
China
China
China
China
We had plans to stay in China for years, but our time there was cut short due to the Covid pandemic. We came to Leah’s home state, Arizona, thinking that we would just “wait out the virus in China.” Things were closed, it was tough to gather with friends, but many online courses gave huge discounts, so I started studying photography again. I took the photography Masterclass by Tim Sheller. From CreativeLive, I took three basic classes, three food photography, one wedding photography, two family portraiture classes, three real estate photography classes, two classes devoted to lighting, and four editing classes.
In February 2021, while living in America and waiting for my Green Card, we sold our apartment in Slovakia. Leah generously and trustingly agreed to let me invest the profit from the sale into photography equipment. (Leah is my ghostwriter, so she gets to choose the adjectives.)
I had my Green Card by late May 2021 and immediately set up my sole proprietorship: Happy Dado Photography. My kids call me Dado, and I’m happy because for my career I get to capture moments and those moments stay forever.
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