Dave’s interest in photography began in his early teens. From a tiny darkroom built into the corner of his parent’s garage, he learned the basics of film processing and black-and-white printing. In 1969, he did his first “professional” photo job at only 16 years old.

In 1970, while a senior at Bowie High School, he began experimenting with color printing and film processing and soon offered hand-crafted printing services to local photographers. Realizing he needed a broader photographic experience, in March 1973, Dave joined the staff at Bara Photographic, a commercial photographic lab in Hyattsville, Maryland. During his nearly four-year full-time employment at Bara, he gained precious “hands-on” experience working in various departments of the photo lab and dealing with commercial clients.

In April 1977, Dave and his friend, Jim McCue, started a small custom professional photo lab called Color Unlimited. Dave took over the business later that year, moved it into a converted laundromat, and expanded the lab a few times over the next fourteen years, until closing in April 1992.

Eager to work in the lab business again, Dave, his wife Fran, and their friend Robin Wright formed United Photo in October 1992. In the spring of 1993, the team moved the growing operation into the retail shopping center in Beltsville, Maryland, where this group of friends operated their professional photo lab and rental studio operation until mid-2016.

Huge changes to the photo lab business model drove their decision to downsize and relocate the business to a new, non-retail building at its current Beltsville location. Dave marked his 50th year working in photography in 2019.

Phone: 301-937-5510 EXT 1