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Business & Tech

Skip Nelson: Photographer to Presidents, Now Offering Services in Edmonds

Local photographer with impressive portfolio relaunches his business in Edmonds.

Photographer Skip Nelson might be retired, but he isn’t ready to settle down. Instead, the Edmonds resident is traveling around the world and enjoying his free time, all with a camera in hand.

Although his photography business took a back seat while he worked for the U.S. Postal Service, Nelson is ready to once again open shop, offering professional photography services through his company Image Tree Media

Nelson’s work has appeared in numerous publications, and he has snapped images of big names such as former presidents Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon. A client list of that caliber might seem intimidating, but the friendly, soft-spoken Nelson is not.

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“I’m retired now, but I’m not a couch potato,” he said with a laugh as he sipped espresso in downtown Edmonds. “I decided to get back out there and do something I enjoy. I love taking pictures.”

Nelson, who was born and raised in Kent, picked up his shutterbug habits from his father, who was interested in photography as a hobby and always had cameras around. Nelson got his first camera at the age of 7 and used it to snap images as his family traveled around the west on vacations, taking in the vistas of such majestic locales as the Grand Canyon. 

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In 1967, Nelson entered the Army and was sent to Vietnam.

“My father gave me a camera to go over there,” he said, a seriousness underlying his voice as he recalled his service in the Vietnam War. He glanced away for a moment as though revisiting haunting memories. “I wasn’t really a professional at the time, but I took a lot of pictures, and a lot of those pictures survived throughout the years.” 

Nelson returned to the U.S. and enrolled in college, but his time oversees stuck with him and he'd eventually travel back to Southeast Asia to travel and take pictures. He dabbled in business and marketing but wasn’t fully satisfied. Photography was his passion, and with the encouragement of his father, he applied to Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, one of the most illustrious photography schools in the world. He was accepted.

After graduation, the young photographer worked in Palm Desert, specializing in photographing jewelry, interior design and architecture. One day, his neighbor, who was chief-of-staff for President Ford in the post-White House years, stopped him with a request.

“She said, ‘You know Skip, President Ford needs a photographer—are you interested?’” Nelson recalled. “I don’t even remember if I got paid or not, but that wasn’t the issue. I got to photograph President Ford.”

Nelson shared a whole archive bursting with intriguing stories about the people he’s photographed, as well as his world travels. He's planning a three-month trip through and around various countries in Asia including Cambodia, Vietnam and possibly Bali.

But until he leaves, Image Tree is open for business. Nelson offers a diverse group of services including portraits (with holiday package specials available on his website), product photography, branding packages (business cards, logos, websites) and documentary work.

“Professionally, I’ve photographed a lot of highly reflective objects such as jewelry and glass. I also like to do documentary work. Sometimes I’ll just go through the Internet and find events that are happening and go shoot them.”

A good reminder to keep your eyes open and your smile ready—you never know who’s behind that camera. 

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