The Love of Gregory Rademacher

At Brainerd, Greg made another decision which would become a part of his life and career. He met his future wife Sally who was also a student at that time. She recognized something different, more intense, about Greg. Almost from the beginning, she became a part of his photographic ambitions. "It was he and I from then on." she says. In fact, at his first wedding shoot, Sally tagged along to hold cameras. If Greg was intense, Sally was enthusiastic. She remains today his biggest professional fan, the "people" person who makes work and family all come together in a rare, single-minded dedication.

Abandoning her own ambitions, she and Greg made plans to go to California so Greg could attend the prestigious Brooks Institute. Just on the verge of trekking across the country, a local photographer advised Greg to learn his craft from a working photographer. "Learn the real world," he told Greg, "and get paid while you are doing it." In retrospect, Greg believes that was the best advice he could have received and soon, the decision was to abandon academics for a kind of photographic apprenticeship. It was about this time that Greg bootlegged his way into a Professional Photographers' convention where he saw outdoor photography for the first time. Later, this unique style would become an intrinsic element in the Rademacher style, though that "look" was still years away. Years of working for others were still ahead.

Bouncing from Brainerd to the Twin Cities to New Prague, Greg photographed high school seniors, weddings, engagements, anniversaries, once a funeral, and ultimately, his own wedding to Sally. Sally tolerated two delays of her own wedding because two others needed a photographer. By the third time, Greg figured "I'd better show up." In a typical Rademacher gesture, he choreographed the shots of his own wedding so that he could set up the angles and cameras, and then jump in. By then, Sally was no longer surprised that this wedding would be a "Rademacher" like so many others.

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