Courtesy of Michael Busada Michael Busada of Lothian took photos for the ABC television show, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” during its time rebuilding the Tripp residence in Hyattsville and The Fishing School in Washington, D.C. Here, show host Ty Pennington and his crew are at the building site. Hundreds of volunteers came from around the Metropolitan area, including Busada, who donated his services.
Lothian resident Michael Busada has a good eye. For 16 years, he had a good eye for numbers - working as an accountant for a car dealership. But two years ago, he decided to make a go of being a full-time photographer. Turns out that Busada has a good eye for photography, too.
Prior to the career change, Busada had been working for a couple of years as a hobby photographer. By 2007, he was doing mostly glamour photography - "model portfolios, boudoir, that sort of thing," Busada said.
So he rented a commercial space to use as a studio, hung up his pocket protector and began the life of a struggling artist.
But his strong background in finance gave him an advantage over other artists who strike out on their own.
"Understanding the money side of things is a huge advantage," he said.
This past summer, Busada was selected to provide art for a remodeling project in Washington, D.C., for the ABC TV show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."
Not bad for a guy who wasn't sure his mid-life career change would work out.
For Busada's work on "Extreme Makeover," he documented the demolition and rebuilding of the Tripp family home in Hyattsville. He also provided large 36-inch by 36-inch mounted black and white photographs of the children at The Fishing School in Washington, D.C. - a supplementary project of the "Extreme Makeover" team, during their time in the D.C. area.
The Fishing School was demolished on Aug. 23, and rebuilt over the course of the next five days.
Busada had only four days' access to the children at the facility. The Fishing School is an after-school program run by Tom Lewis, a retired D.C. police officer who opened the facility so that kids would have a safe place to go after school, and a place to get guidance and help with schoolwork.
Busada shot for four days and then rushed the digital photos to Miller Print Studio in Kansas to have the large images printed and mounted. Busada donated his time and the printing fee of $600. But Miller donated the rush fee so that the images could be hanging on the walls at the big reveal on Aug. 29.
Outside of this project, Busada keeps busy with weddings and commercial assignments. He was hired to help document President Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration, hiring and supervising a staff to photograph the incoming president on the steps of the Capitol as well as at the luncheons and official balls.
The Maryland Professional Photographers Association named him the Portrait Photographer of the Year - twice.
Busada said that the reason he did the project for "Extreme Makeover," and the reason he loves to do portraiture and weddings is quite simple: "I love helping people whenever I can, and I love documenting human emotion.''
Mitchelle Stephenson is a freelance writer living in Edgewater.
No comments:
Post a Comment