“I always say I was born into this business,” says Bert VanderVeen of VanderVeen Photographers, Inc. “I am the fifth generation of photographers in my family, starting with my great great uncle and grandfather in business in Tunbridge Wells, England.”
VanderVeen Photographers, Inc. is a husband and wife team. Bert tends to veer toward the commercial and business to business world and Becky captures more live events. They usually keep their clients separate, except for big events like the High Point and Las Vegas Furniture Markets. “Becky and I met in 1999 and her fine art background really elevated the photography and sparked us to another level, first in weddings and now in other areas,” says Bert.
Bert came to the University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG) to get out of the family photography business, but that didn’t quite work out. “My work-study job was with the campus photographer, Bob Cavin (Cavin and Stovall, Greensboro, NC) and he became one of my mentors as I just couldn’t quit photography,” Bert says. Another great influence on his career was commercial photographer, Kenton Robertson (Greensboro, NC), who taught him composition and lighting.
Bert got his first paid photography job at age 12, and it has been his formal occupation since 1997. It didn’t take long before he opened his business in 1999.