Mclean Bio

Biography

Over thirty-two years experience as a working professional photographer with the ability to maintain long term relationships by providing quality and expertise delivered on time and on budget.

I was born in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, at a very young age.

Growing up on a dairy farm exposed me to the philosophy that any job you do, you do the best you can. I carry this philosophy with me to this day and have incorporated it in my photography business throughout the years. Living along the St. Croix River and exploring the woods of northwestern Wisconsin also gave me an appreciation of nature and taught me to "see." Everybody looks, but very few people really see.

(F.Y.I. for people not raised on a farm: Despite the stories and Hollywood's occasional depiction, cows sleep laying down, not standing up, so you cannot tip them.)

After graduating from high school, leaving the farm, and realizing that my inability to swim would seriously hinder a career in oceanography, I decided to follow my real love, photography. In this pursuit, I attended MATC in Milwaukee, where I graduated with a degree in cinematography. Unfortunately, Hollywood didn't come calling, so I ended up in the next closest place... Ironwood, Michigan. There, I was lucky enough to work with a master photographer who taught me more about lighting and composition than I ever learned in school.

In 1978, I decided to move south (for the milder winters) and returned to the Twin Cities area. By the end of that year, I was freelancing for 3M and running a studio in downtown Minneapolis, which eventually gave way to full-time work at 3M.

Through the next 18 years in 3M Audio-Visual, I had the pleasure of working with marketing/communications people, engineers, PR specialists, sales managers, and executives, as well as writers, designers, and editors both internally and outside the company. Thanks to my great clients, along with repeat requests for my talent, I became the top-grossing photographer in the department for the last seven years of its existence.

On January 1, 1997, I opened McLean Photography in Oakdale, MN, because I saw the need for an industrial/commercial studio in the east metro area - one that would be as close as possible to 3M for the clients I have continued to work with there, and one that would also serve the incredible commercial growth the area is experiencing.

Now in my tenth year of business in this location, I look forward to maintaining the many clients I have enjoyed working with for so many years and to meeting new clients and the challenges their photographic needs may present. I also look forward to continue looking beyond ordinary objects or situations and transferring visual concepts to reality... these are the things I do for my clients every day. And I couldn't love it more.