There’s
no place like home
We’re learning
that more and more folks are returning back to their hometown. Jim
Stepanik and his wife, Denise (Menarchik) Stepanik, owners of JAMES
Photographic and The Gallery at 86 West Main Street, Uniontown, PA, are no exception. They both graduated from Fairchance Georges class
of 1974 (now Albert Gallatin High School), and went onto college in
Pittsburgh and then married a few years after college graduation.
From there Jim
and Denise found work with the Federal government which took them to
the West coast, Europe, Mid-West and East coast. Jim was a
photographer for the government both as an active duty military
member then as a civilian. While on the east coast in 1997, Jim
opened his photography business operating out of their home where he
successfully ran it until Denise retired from her civilian government
job in 2012. At that point, they decided they missed the mountains
of their hometown and brought their business back here in Downtown
Uniontown. Jim firmly states, “One of our personal and
professional goals is to promote and build the love and display of
art in every form and to help transform downtown at the same time.”
“It took 2 1/2
years to find the right home,” Denise reports. “We were rather
picky. We wanted a view of the mountains and we finally found the
right home which we LOVE. Then it took us another year to find the
right place for our business. We are very pleased with our location
on West Main Street in Downtown Uniontown. Rebecca Hilton formerly
of the Main Street Program was very instrumental in facilitating
this, and we are also very grateful for the Fayette County
Redevelopment Authority to open their space for us.”
JAMES
Photographic is on the first floor of the old Stickler and Hess
building. The location is ideal as it is close to drive-through
banks and between three popular downtown restaurants. Street parking
out front is usually available. “We encourage our custom photo
clients who are seen on an appointment-only basis to call us to check
on available parking. We want to offer a place where our clients
feel welcome and special. I usually meet them at the door, and walk
them back to their car when they are finished,” said Denise.
“We have a
large space at the front of our location which serves as a show room
for Jim’s photography and most recently, we are thrilled to
announce we just opened more of the space for local artists and
artisans’ works. THE GALLERY @ JAMES Photographic features
a new artist every week. We have several artists in the gallery now,
and to help expand even further and to include families, We’ve been
visiting local art teachers and sharing our news. We encourage good
art students to show us their works for consideration.” The
Gallery’s regular hours are Thursday through Saturday from noon to
6. However, special viewing hours are available for groups as
needed.
On the custom
photography side of the business, “We want to show people how to
decorate with and display photography alongside draperies, lamps,
tables, and furniture to help inform and educate our clients. We
feel it is also so important to display personal photographic art
rather than canned art as they serve as reminders of special moments
in time. This is especially true with children. When a child is
proudly displayed on a prominent wall in a beautiful large portrait,
that child feels very special in the family. There is immeasurable
value in taking these steps to build the self-esteem of your child
and family. I could talk about this all day,” says Denise, who
holds a degree in psychology and has worked with children. Denise
also worked as a beauty consultant and was trained by make-up artists
to the stars over the years. We also just recently partnered with a
tanning company called, Bronzed Finish (bronzedfinish@yahoo.com) and
they offer great sunless tans, perfect preparation for an awesome
portrait. All of these experiences have prepared me to offer
advisories and consultations to clients in preparing for the best
portraits possible.
We have a proven
5-step process to ensure complete success and value our conversations
with our clients to assure they are satisfied with the final product.
Jim shoots on
location and in the studio with numerous backdrops and props.
Clients may bring as many changes of clothes and props as they desire
to customize the look of the image. We charge by the hour for the
photography sessions, and then you select and buy what you want at
the photo review session. Photo session may occur in the studio,
outdoors or another location. The sky’s the limit here.
We also have a
robust commercial photography capability. We have a long list of
business clients who have used our photography in their advertising,
websites, brochures, and business displays. We work with our
business clients to glean their purpose and vision and capture that
through photography. Jim has a knack for capturing amazing features
on products as well as quality processes used by business clients.
His 40 years of experience as a photographer for so many types of
clients just shines in the final products!! “He is an award
winning photographer after all,” brags Denise.
Politicians and
their marketing executives use us, as well as several businesses in
the area. We offer regular photographic prints and wall displays
along with digital, press printed and designed marketing pieces using
photographic images.
During his almost
40-yr career, Jim photographed Mt. St. Helen following its eruption,
President Jimmy Carter, other politicians, numerous military
officers, and hundreds of individuals, families, business products,
and helped support several volunteer and religious organizations
through donating his photographic services. Jim has received
numerous awards for his photography and in addition to local media
publications, has been published in national and international
publications over the years. “This is the level of photographic
experience we bring to Uniontown and surrounding areas,” brags
Denise. Our customers so far have been thrilled with the results and
our products. We guarantee our service.
And in addition
to the photographic skill, we use only top quality professional
photographic printers for our products and displays. We take pride
in ensuring the printed product is 100% perfect to reflect the
quality our customers deserve. If you just take electronic digital
imagery just anywhere for printing, we can’t guarantee the beauty
of the final product. So we want to offer the print quality only
obtained from professional photographic printers to preserve our good
name and make our clients happy to use our services. Our photo
products are top heirloom quality which will last for generations
when cared for properly.
Our gallery
contains examples of the types of products we offer. We provide
loose prints, framed and unframed wall displays of all sorts, large
and mini brag-book albums, amazing photo boxes where you can rotate
your displayed matted images, returning them to the box to rest and
stay protected. We also offer photo press printed products such as
photo business cards, invitations, holiday cards, books, post cards,
brochures, banners, all with top quality photographic imagery and
graphics.
Our latest
promotions include high school senior portraits (we are looking for
current juniors to serve as our models for next year!!). We will be
offering walk-in photography at 86 West Main Street, Uniontown,
during all downtown events such as the Italian Festival and parades.
All other times are by appointment only—so that we can offer our
clients special attention. JAMES Photographic may be contacted by
e-mail at customercare@jamesphotographic.biz
or by phone at 724-438-9096. You can see more of our imagery at
www.jamesphotographic.com.
