Dan is a cubicle escapee who purchased Techlab Photo from the company founders in December, 2006. He graduated from James Madison University and is a local, growing up in Glenelg. Thankfully for him and Techlab guests, he adopted a 2-year-old beagle-sheltie mix named Cougar, who has been the part time head greeter ever since. Shortly after adopting a best friend, he met his beautiful wife Katy while playing yard games in Patterson Park. Along with her dog Emma, they've been quite a happy family, adopting 2 more mutts along the way and moving out to the county. Photography was a passion for him since he was 5 years old when he entered 2 pictures of his dog Patches (sensing a theme here) into a local photo contest.
"I've always loved and been involved with some sort of photography and was usually the historian among my friends. Until I became a small business owner, I thought I was pretty good. Then I saw many of our customers' work and was immediately humbled!"
With apologies to all of the other mutts around, Cougar is the best dog who's ever lived. She was born in approximately 2004 and though now retired, she loved lazing around the shop, greeting customers, especially the ones who just came from Atwater's! Her real passion is running and sniffing her yard at home with her sister Stella. Thanks to all for all the nice pets and treats over the years!
It is with unbelievable sadness that I report that Cougar passed away the same weekend that we closed our retail location. She was with me from start to finish, quite literally. She accompanied me on my first day as owner of Techlab December 11th, 2006. All the words in the above bio are true but do not tell her whole story. She was more than a greeter, more than a furry co-worker. She was my best friend before I met my wife and she was "co-best friends" afterward. If you are interested in more of her story including photos and videos, please visit an album I shared on Facebook, which should be public.
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