If you sat and talked to Paul Camp, you wouldn’t guess this mild-mannered, soft-spoken Savannah insurance broker thrives on speed and competition. In fact, according to Camp, it’s only fun when the competition is tough and fast.
After years of riding motorcycles, competing in weightlifting competitions and Hobie Cat sailboat racing, he’s found a new speed challenge at 10 frames a second.
This weekend, he’ll be working to get the best pictures he can of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and the Budweiser Clydesdales as they make their way along the route. The parade committee and Budweiser both have hired him as their official parade photographer.
“I’ve got Savannah River water in my veins,” said Camp, who grew up in Augusta, attended Richmond Academy and graduated from Augusta College with a degree in biology.
Without a goal in mind, his parents steered him into biology, heading toward a career as a dentist.
“I wasn’t a good enough student for that,” Camp said. “So that didn’t work out.”
What he really liked was riding motorcycles.
In 1976, Camp rode his Kawasaki 750 across the country to California and back with a couple of friends.
“It was June, and we took the northern route back from San Francisco. It was so cold riding over the mountains, I had socks on my hands, holding on to the exhaust pipes to keep my hands warm,” he said. “I felt like 100 years old when I finally got off that bike — like rigor mortis was setting in.”
At the same time, he and some college friends formed a weightlifting team, and for three years, he competed in power lifting.
“I got hurt a lot and found out my joints are not weightlifting competition grade,” Camp said.
When he was still in college, he joined the Catholic church. “I was Methodist before that,” he said.
After graduating from college in 1976, he took a job with the Mid-South Container Co. as a sales rep and joined the Knights of Columbus. There, he met the Knights’ insurance salesman and changed careers.
“I had never thought about selling insurance, but I didn’t like working in the box plant,” he said.
Now, Camp operates Insurance Services of Savannah.
Just before taking his first insurance job, Camp married Cecilia Spinks. They moved to Savannah in 1978 and have three daughters, a son and two grandchildren.
He always had an interest in sailing, so they bought a 16-foot catamaran and spent the next 30 years sailing and racing off Tybee Island and in Florida. He went to the national championships about six times.
“Being in a motorboat is like driving a car,” he said. “In sailing, you have to think about where you want to go, if you have enough wind and if someone could block your wind. It’s a chess game.”
In 2003, Cecilia bought him a simple digital camera.
“I had never thought about taking pictures before — ever,” he said. “Then, this digital age came along. It was the right time, so I started taking lots of pictures and enjoyed it.”
He soon saw his equipment’s limitations and started upgrading it, ultimately buying a sophisticated Nikon.
He doesn’t have any formal education in photography.
“I would say I work hard at it, and I try things that I think will work and improve my photography. Then I work trying to develop the eye for finding interesting shots.”
Mentors have helped, such as Michael Johnson, editor of the Southern Cross, Hunter McRae, formerly of the Savannah Morning News, and Richard Burkhart of the Savannah Morning News.
“I wanted to improve,” he said. “I guess I’m competitive and just like to beat myself, beat what I did before.”
Then he volunteered to take pictures at an ordination at The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.
“I really volunteered because I knew Father Clark, who was editor of the Southern Cross,” he said. “He didn’t select any of my pictures, but I kept volunteering and I finally had my first picture published in the Southern Cross. That spurred me on to get better and better results.”
People started asking him to shoot weddings and other events, and his business, phc Photos, was born. Since 2008, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee has hired him to take the official parade photos. In 2012, Budweiser called the committee and was referred to Camp.
“It just fell in my lap,” Camp said. “They told me what they were looking for, and if they liked the photos, they might put them in the calendar.”
He decided on Bull and Bay streets as the best spot for a picture of the Clydesdales. In December, Budweiser said his photo would be used for the month of March in the 2013 calendar and hired him for this year’s parade.
Between insurance and photography, he works every day of the week.
“When you know you have to get that shot, that’s the thing that excites me,” Camp said. “The pressure is on, and I like the pressure. I’m never satisfied. I look at a picture and see how I could have improved it. I don’t know if I want to see that perfect picture. Then the fun is over. Then, there is nowhere to go.”