SEBRING, FLORIDA

SEBRING FLORIDA

By Duncan 

Let me think about how and why this stop is important. 

If you have been following along, you know I have been on a road trip that started in Indianapolis, including London, North Carolina, Jacksonville, Hollywood, North Fort Myers, and Cape Coral. I'm headed to Sebring, Florida, for my next adventure. 

My first marriage ended in the late 1980s. The details might be interesting to some, but what would finger-pointing solve? All the fingers would point at me, and my actions were why I found myself single again. 

I decided to give marriage another try. It's interesting wading through the needs, wants, and desires of a woman who wants her marriage ceremony to be special. I have to ask myself, isn’t that true for all women? 

We were married. One afternoon, I returned to our apartment and found my blushing bride on the floor with the wedding proofs from the photographer on the living room floor. She was crying, and she was very unhappy with the pictures. 

I tried consoling her by saying, "Honey, they are good, fine, great." 

She was having none of it. "You take better pictures than this guy." 

I was an amateur photographer with a black-and-white dark room. Yes, I was using film back then. Digital cameras did not exist at that point. I would take pictures, head to the dark room, and give my black-and-white prints away as a gift. It was my hobby. 

It didn't dawn on me that she was serious until she came home one afternoon and said, 

"We're in the wedding photography business. I've been talking to a girl at work who needs a photographer. I told her we could photograph her wedding."  

This was a huge surprise to me. I had no idea how to photograph a wedding, what to charge, or what camera equipment I would need. The day came, and I was a nervous wreck. 

After the ceremony, I took my film to the drugstore and waited for the results. I was not impressed with my work. I slipped the photographs into an inexpensive wedding album and presented them to the bride. 

The bride loved them, Mom was happy, and everyone was delighted—except me. I couldn’t believe they all liked the pictures. I needed help; I had another wedding to shoot. 

I searched for information about Professional Photographers. I noticed a group called The Professional Photographers of Indianapolis meeting monthly at a nearby hotel. I decided to attend the meeting, even though I would likely not be allowed to participate.  

I walked down the hotel corridor and found a convention room full of people standing around talking with drinks in their hands. I stood in the doorway, frozen in fear. 

A woman in the middle of the room looked up and noticed me at the double doors. She walked to me and asked, 

"Can I help you? What are you looking for?" 

"I was looking for the Professional Photographers meeting." 

"You would be in the right place. Are you a professional photographer?" 

"No, I'm an amateur and need help photographing weddings." 

"Have you photographed a wedding?" 

"Yes, just one."

"Did you get paid?" 

"Yes."

"Then you are a professional. What is your name?"

This woman grabbed my arm. "My name is Nancy Bailey; come sit next to me. We need to talk." 

Everything I know about "professional wedding photography" has come from Nancy over the last thirty years. She is considered a total professional throughout Indiana and the United States. She judges contests and speaks to groups all the time. I'm honored to call her my friend. 

Nancy Bailey - Professional Photographer

So, when Nancy found out I was going to be in Florida, she said, "You are stopping by Sebring and having lunch with me, right?" 

And how could I refuse a request like that? 

As expected, the trip from Cape Coral took a little over two hours. I arrived in Sebring, which is in the middle of Florida. I pulled into Haammock Estates, looking for her home. 

I needed some clarification about the housing addition. They spell the Retirement Village two different ways: HAAMMOCK and HAMMOCK. Everything in town is spelled Hammock. Hammock Park, Hammock Street. So, I can only assume the sign company  “Larry, Larry, and Darryl Sign Company” installed the sign. I can only imagine the questions at the HOA monthly meeting.  

I found the entrance to the addition and drove down the street to find the address. Nancy was outside waiting for me to arrive. The first thing she did was introduce me to her neighbors.

Next-door neighbor Phil. 

Next-door neighbor Carolyn, 

Alan, and Nancy Bailey-Pratt. 

On the front porch of Phil and Carolyn’s home. 

A quick tour of the Baily-Pratt home gave me a little look at their lifestyle. 

The kitchen at the Pratt home. 

Then, it was time for lunch. Nancy decided to take me to what is considered the historic section of Sebring. Sebring was founded by George Sebring, an Ohio industrialist, in 1912.  

Archival records indicate that George Sebring’s “Circle Plan” for the downtown area was based on the design of Heliopolis, an ancient Egyptian city. George’s idea was that all roads should radiate from the center of the community. 

Which has the same street layout as Washington D.C., and Indianapolis. So, it was off to the downtown area of Sebring. The population of Sebring is about 12,000 people. That small-town feel makes you slow down and enjoy life. 

We ended up at Dee’s Place, which has been in business for more than 22 years. It’s a small breakfast restaurant that serves breakfast and lunch and closes at 2:00 PM.

Dee Andrew - owner Dee’s Place - Sebring, Florida

Lacey was our waitress. 

Lacey told us that Dee Andrews keeps a low profile. I asked how it all started. Lacey said when Dee was 14 years old, she worked for a woman named Paige Brooker. 

“I guess she saw something in me and taught me all the important things about the restaurant business.” 

Dee managed the restaurant when she was a high school senior. Then, when Dee stopped working for Paige Brooker, she worked at another restaurant. In 1992, Dee decided she could run her restaurant and opened Dee’s Place. 

Dee Andress 

When asked what she likes about running a restaurant, Dee quickly says, “I like the people. You know, you have good days and bad days, but the people are what makes it work.” 

Dee said, “If you are called to do it, do it. Give it a try because you’ll never know if it was meant to be if you don’t try.”  

NANCY BAILEY-PRATT, DUNCAN - Lunch, Dee’s Place, Sebring. 

This is an interesting story, much like my own with Nancy. If I had not shot that first wedding with blind faith, I could have pulled it off, and then, knowing I needed help, I would have never attended a professional photographer's meeting and met Nancy. 

When I think of the people who have given me a boost and shared information and knowledge, I would not be the guy I am today. Let’s call it the circle of life. If you have been there and done that and are asked to mentor, do it! 

You end up with some great friends.

TAYLOR’S PUB - PENDLETON

TAYLOR’S PUB - PENDLETON 

By Duncan 

You would think I’m going to talk about the quality, taste, and presentation of the food at this restaurant. And you might be right. But the important part of the story is the person I’m going to meet. 

This story starts in 1990. I was getting ready to sacrifice myself for the institution of marriage again. This seemed like a good idea at the time; looking back, well, let’s not get ahead of the story.  

I married, and it had all the trappings: the dress, cake, flowers, friends, and professional photographs. One afternoon, I came home, and my new bride had all the photographs from the professional photographer on the floor in front of her, and she was crying. 

It seemed she was not at all happy with the quality of the photographs. I tried to assure her they were fine; they looked great. But she was having nothing of it. This conversation became a sticking point in her crawl. She was extremely disappointed.

She made the suggestion that I was as good as or way better than the photographer that “we” hired to take our pictures. “We” should go into the wedding photography business. At that point in my life, I was what might be called an avid amateur photographer. I had my own dark room, and I developed my own film and printed my black and white stuff in my dark room. In her eyes, I was a “professional.” 

That is where the mistakes started. She had already found a woman at work who was looking for a wedding photographer. She told the woman at work that “we” were in the wedding photography business. 

I tried to tell my blushing bride that I knew nothing about taking wedding pictures. She told me we were already scheduled to take this “Gal at Work” wedding picture. I, of course, tried to figure out what I would need to do to pull this off. I was scared to death. As it turns out, I did take the wedding pictures and got through the process. But I knew, looking at the product we provided, it needed a lot of help. Brides back then were still expecting their pictures in an album. This was the film days, and digital photography was not anywhere on the horizon. 

My first wedding 

As it turned out, I had another wedding to photograph about 3 months down the line. I needed help. I was way out of my league. I looked in the newspaper and noticed a group called Professional Photographers of America, or something like that, that was meeting at a hotel on the northeast side of Indianapolis. I decided to go over to the meeting and see what I could learn, if anything. 

I arrived at the hotel with mixed emotions. I was simply a novice, a rube, a nobody, and I was walking into a group of professionals? How dare I think that I would be accepted. I knew I would not be laughed out of the room. 

I assumed the evening would go like this. We are professional photographers; we are not here to teach anyone about anything, so you need to move along. What we know, we keep to ourselves. It's a secret.  

I stood in the doorway of a very large room. People were milling around the room. Some had a cocktail in their hands, and others were involved in conversation. I was frozen in time. I didn’t enter or back out of the open double doors. I happen to notice a woman looking at me from across the room. She excused herself and came walking up to me. 

“May I help you?” 

“I was looking for a meeting with a Professional Photographers Group.”

“Well, you have found us. Are you a professional photographer?”

“No, I have only shot one wedding, and it was not very good, so I thought I would seek advice and help.” 

“Excuse me, did you say you have photographed one wedding? Did you get paid to photograph the wedding?” 

“Yes, yes, I was paid. Do you need to know how much?”  

She laughed out loud. My heart sank to my knees; this is where I was going to get tossed out of the building. 

“My name is Nancy. If you got paid to take a wedding, you sir, are a professional photographer. I want you to come and sit by me at this meeting. We need to get to know more about you.” 

I didn’t realize it that night, but the woman who introduced herself to me was one of the best-known wedding photographers in Indiana. She would normally take about 70 weddings a year, 300 high school graduation pictures, and other personal photographs in her studio in Anderson, Indiana. She was a “Force.” 

She and others at the table asked how I found my first wedding. They seemed more interested in my “marketing skills” than my photography skills. 

I was told to stop using the local drugstore to have my color film processed. There were professional labs all over the United States. I was given several to consider. That was my first mistake. My second mistake was I needed to buy a film by the brick. So that the bride's dress will be the same “white” in every picture. A brick of film means that a pack of ten rolls of film was made and processed at the same time. Buy film by the brick.

After shooting my first wedding using their suggestions, I placed my photographs on the dining room table. I could not believe the difference in the quality. It was overwhelming. I lost control of my emotions. I realized I was a much better photographer than I ever imagined I would or could be. I just could not believe the difference. My pictures were better than the guy we hired for our wedding. 

Over the years, I got to know Nancy Bailey much better. She is a force of her own. You pick up little clues from her and the group that make you a better photographer. I photographed weddings for about 10 years. 

Our “we” became a “me,” and I found myself photographing weddings without the same “zest” that I once had. Wedding photography and marriage for “me” had become a solo business. I stood in the back of the church with my camera on a tripod to capture the first kiss of the wedding. Before the kiss were the “words” that all brides said.  

“I’ll love you till the day I die.” It was like a knife that went through me every time I heard the words. I had to stop doing these weddings.

My last professional wedding was also fraught with digital cameras. Everyone with a digital cell phone or camera became a “photographer.” I was competing with Grandma at the wedding for that perfect shot. It was time for me to pull out of the wedding photography business. I didn’t have the temperament for it anymore. 

 

George R. Duncan (My Father) elbows on a card table in my basement. 

I had given him a red hat. He would only pose for me IF he could wear the red hat.   

For the last 33 years, Nancy and I have remained friends. Of course, we don’t have the same interests now. She has sold her studio in Anderson and purchased a home in Fishers, Indiana, and Florida. I stop by and have lunch with her when I’m in Florida. But we never seemed to be able to get together when she was in Indiana for the summer. I pressed her on that, and finally, this busy woman agreed to have lunch with me. 

NANCY BAILEY 

Amazingly, a “professional photographer" doesn't want their picture taken. I’m sure she will call the lighting terrible and the background atrocious. And all the other little things that could make the picture better. But I’m sitting across from her in a booth at Taylor’s Pub with a cell phone; what you see is what you get. 

Nancy and her husband, Allen, spend half their time in Florida and half in Indiana. Nancy is as busy taking photographs in Florida as she is here in Indiana. 

We covered her business, and she decided to end the wedding photography side of the business, too. She is taking pictures of all the people in her HOA in Florida. And, of course, she knows everyone in addition. 

We had a great visit for about three hours. Victoria, our waitress, kept asking if we were ready to order. I had eaten at Taylor’s Pub before and liked their cup of French onion soup very much. I asked Victoria what was the most ordered item on the menu. She had to think, and it was either pizza or the chicken wrap. I went with the wrap, and Nancy ordered a salad. 

I promised that I would be a food critic today. Here is my opinion. Even Victoria, our waitress, wanted to know how everything was. I asked her if she wanted me to grade the meal on a scale of 1-5 or 1-10. After thinking for a few seconds, she said, “Okay, 1-10.”

The French onion soup was cool, not hot, and had little flavor. I give the soup a score of “3.” The wrap was “acceptable.” I give it a score of “6.” I asked Victoria not to go to the kitchen and give my review. I’m only telling “her” my opinion. I’m sure it's tough in today's work environment to get people to work, and the cooks can have their challenging days, too. In the past, the French onion has been excellent. 

 

Photo credit:  Victoria, our waitress.  DUNCAN - NANCY BAILEY