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JULY 29, 2024—Pat Luke ('84) always had a passion for the arts, and it's a passion he turned into a highly successful photography business. But it didn’t happen overnight.

Luke is the owner and operator of Luke Photography, where he blends school portraits with commercial and industrial work.

We spoke to Luke in the “daylight room” of his 2,000-square-foot studio along the Erie Canal in the village of Fairport. The studio sits inside a 100 year-old building that once housed a vinegar warehouse for the French's mustard company.

The room we sat in includes large windows, brick-lined walls, and various lighting and background options. The overall sprawling studio space itself boasts a variety of set pieces and camera equipment mixed with memorabilia like cameras from past generations.

He moved into the studio 13 years ago when it was just the remnants of an insurance business. He says the space was half the size when he first moved in.

A look inside the main part of the studio

“What I’ve created here is a really adaptable, very efficient workspace that allows me to take an incredible range of photographs,” Luke said.

Luke estimates he does between 70 and 80 high school and 160 to 170 business portraits annually.

That’s on top of some of his commercial work, which includes clients ranging from Oak Hill Country Club to the University of Rochester Medical Center. He also takes action shots at local high school sporting events.

He most recently assisted with team photos during Pal-Mac’s inaugural Media Night in the spring.

“I've never worked harder in my life, but I love what I do,” Luke said.

 

A Blend of Art, Science, and Everything in Between

Luke's senior photo in the 1984 Zenobia yearbook

Luke’s love for all things photography didn’t happen by accident. He grew up just a few steps from the Intermediate School playground, but the real thrill came from watching his father, who was a painter and a drawer. It wasn’t long before he took up those hobbies himself.

He would also soon branch out to find other art-related passions including wood carving and ultimately, photography.

“I just love creating things and working with my hands,” Luke said. “And I always had that eye for photography, which is why I got into it.”

To this day, he hand-designs and builds all of his set pieces. He says he also builds furniture on the side. He also still hand-draws each set or photo idea before he even picks up a camera.

He calls this process “creative mayhem,” which is his way of showcasing the swirl of ideas in his head. He says he’s constantly changing how he approaches a specific portrait, whether it's the lighting, location, or the shot itself.

“There’s no bigger thrill than having an idea and being able to execute it and get to within 99% of what I thought it was going to be,” Luke said.

Luke also blends in his love of the sciences into his work. When he was 13 years old, he initially decided he wanted to be a veterinarian. He remembers the impact longtime science teacher Philip Opdycke had on him as a young student. To this day, the two still go “birding,” which is the process of identifying and taking pictures of birds.

Luke in the 1984 Zenobia yearbook

Luke says he spent a lot of time between the art and science wings throughout his school career. He says he uses the scientific method when it comes to deciding when and how to make his artistic changes. He also incorporates math into how he approaches lighting angles and sets measurements.

But he did find other passions at Pal-Mac, including sports. He split time on the baseball, soccer, and football teams, with baseball being his favorite.

When he wasn’t in the classroom or on the field, Luke was a member of both the high school yearbook club and the photography club. His photographic contributions were included in the 1984 edition of the Zenobia yearbook.

“Everything I learned from then through every job I've had brings me to where I am now,” Luke said.

 

College, and a Career-Defining Move

Luke’s initial veterinarian dreams took a detour to another field: biology. His path took him from acceptance into Cornell University down to the beautiful sunsets of SUNY Geneseo.

He graduated and began a 20-plus-year journey between environmental and software engineering for both Kodak and Fujifilm. The money was good, and so were his experiences on the job, but there was always something knocking at the door: photography.

Luke did some amateur photography on the side, beginning with a wedding gig for one of his fellow Pal-Mac grads when he was 21 years old. He worked as a part-time photographer while he held on to his day jobs. But then something changed.

In the spring of 2010, he’d had enough. He felt it was time to leave his engineering career behind and take on his true passion full time.

“I loved it too much to not do it every day, all day long,” Luke said.

With a blessing from his wife, on April 1, 2010, he officially launched Luke Photography, and he's never looked back

In 2010 he earned the Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) certification through the Professional Photographers of America (PPA), which less than 3% of professional photographers have attained. He's also presented at conventions and photography organizations across the country.

 

Passion Yes, Easy No

While he says he loves what he does, Luke admits it’s not always easy. He estimates he works roughly 80-hour weeks during the fall, which equates to roughly 16 hours a day.

In addition to the photo shoots themselves, Luke also spends time editing each picture.

“I'm up at 2:00 in the morning retouching photos at my home studio,” Luke said. “But when I get everything to the way I want it to be, it's magical.”

In addition to the creative side, at the end of the day, he does run a business. Luke says when he’s not taking or editing pictures, he’s also working on invoices and coming up with new ways to market what he does.

He says to be successful in the photography business, you have to balance putting out a great product while also marketing yourself effectively.

“Unless I can do something that you can't do with your cell phone, you're not going to come to the studio,” Luke said.

In recent years, he’s posted work examples to his social media accounts and expanded to using video to promote his services. He’s also worked to be more engaging with social media comments.

But there’s another combination fueling his long-term success: a passion for learning and his never-ending creativity.

Luke says he spends hours searching through magazines and books for inspiration; he’ll also reach out to other professional photographers to gain insight into how they continue to innovate. His studio is a representation of those efforts, as he says he’s rearranged his space based on tips he picked up along the way.

Photographers aren’t the only people Luke’s reached out to for inspiration, as he says he’s watched how artists in other mediums approach both the creative and business sides.

The key, he says, is to keep an open mind, as someone could take inspiration from anything, including a plumbing convention.

“I probably could have made more money in other careers,” Luke said. “But the creative end of this is what drives me. Having that fun, especially executing a good vision, is what makes it all worth it.”

 

Lessons for Thee and Me

Luke looks back at his several-decades-long journey with a smile and a 2,000-square-foot studio full of lessons learned.

As part of the Alumni Spotlight series, we always end our interviews by asking the alumni if they have any advice for current students or recent graduates.

Luke started with students looking to enter the professional photography field. If his story didn’t already serve as an example, he says breaking into the field is difficult.

As he mentioned before, it’s not enough to just be good with the camera; you have to know how to market yourself.

But for those who do choose to follow through, he suggests “latching” on to another professional photographer.

“Find someone willing to help you,” Luke said. “You’ll learn so much just by hearing how they talk and seeing what they do.”

For those who don’t want to follow the same path, he simply suggests:

“Find something you like doing, something you're good at, and something you can make a living at,” Luke said. “When you find something that you're good at and love doing, and you can make money at it, that's a really good place to be in your life.”

As we wrapped up, Luke showed us some examples of a few upcoming projects. Some examples were sketched out in his small, lined paper notebook, while others were still imaginary sketches in his mind.

He knows it’ll take time and some revisions to make his ideas come to life. But as he sketches them out, he can’t help but emphasize how much he’s enjoying the process.

“Knock on wood; whatever I'm doing is working, and I’m going to keep doing it for as long as I can.”

Know an amazing alum who should be recognized? Fill out our form! Pictures and/or video can also be sent to Public Information Coordinator Andrew Hyman at andrew.hyman@palmaccsd.org