A little about me...

My name is Harry Baran and I am teacher, photographer, designer and globetrotter. I spend most of my days teaching students graphic design and technology while staying glued to some device – cell phone, camera, iPad or Mac (no not a PC). I spend most of my evenings enjoying the company of my wonderful wife, Stephanie, and our two dogs, Bailey and Pluto and our two cats, Molly and Tyler. I enjoy taking pictures, volunteering with the American Diabetes Association, cheering for the Syracuse Orange and traveling. Having weekends, vacations and summers off has given me time to do all four, which makes for a happy life!

My story begins with my father, who was an avid photographer who captured every moment of my childhood on film. He was my hero and best friend. He was also the first person to introduce me to photography. At a young age, I learned to take pictures with his camera but never took it seriously. As I grew older, I put the camera down and picked up a word processor and studied journalism at Utica College of Syracuse University. At the start of my senior year, my father suffered a heart attack and died. I was a wreck but managed to graduate on time and with two degrees, a Bachelor of Arts in Social Studies and a Bachelor of Science in Journalism. I then attended SUNY Institute of Technology and earned a masters degree in Information, Design & Technology and for over 14 years have taught middle school social studies and high school computer technology electives; and no this has nothing to do with photography but I will get to that now.

In 2009, I met my wife, Stephanie, when the school hired a high school social studies teacher after Mr. A. retired. In May of 2011, I purchased my first DSLR camera, a few months later, Stephanie and I were married, and a few days after that, I was photographing in Paris and London on our honeymoon, and I have been hooked on photography and my wife since.

For the next year, I would teach myself photography and start a business. I first started capturing my pets lives, friends and family's moments and my wife's pretty face. I photographed my first wedding in 2013, and I then knew I wanted to be a photographer. It was a blast and I had so much fun.

For my business logo, I chose the mammoth because I love elephants, which symbolize honor, patience, reliability, strength, pride and happiness; qualities that I want to convey as a photographer and designer. As a growing photographer and designer with a small studio from home who loves culture, places, ideas, community, design and collaboration; I will work monumentally for my clients to make your special moments and designs mammoth, and that is what Baran Mammoth Photography & Design Studio is all about.

Please browse through my blog, photos and designs to get a sense of my style which can be best described as a mix of photo-journalistic, creative and traditional. I enjoy capturing candid moments along with slowing down to focus on meaningful details and natural looking portraits. I hope for your photos to show you exactly how beautiful and special you, your life, and your relationship is right now and hope that they will help you to remember how that feels in the future. And that is why photography is so important to me, that is what inspires me.

If you like what you see, I encourage you to contact me to set up a consultation. You can email me at baranmammoth@gmail.com or fill out my contact form. I look forward to capturing your cherished moments in beautiful imagery and creating your designs to tell your story and to share your life.