Who We Are 2016

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.