Valley verve: Richard Slover working on ‘getting out there’

Richard Slover stands safely and confidently behind his camera capturing bits and pieces of the world. He is content to stand in the shadows and observe life through his tool of expression.

Slover, 47, has hundreds of photographs in boxes in his Valleyford home. He began photographing his surroundings in high school. “It was an assignment in my consumer education class that actually got me into photography,” he said. “My teacher gave us an assignment to fictitiously go out and buy an item that was worth over $250. The idea being that we were to research the different products and compare prices and values.”

Slover picked 35 mm cameras as his project. “That started the photography era for me,” he said. As a teen, he would take his camera when he went hiking with his youth group, and it went on from there. The camera became his door to the world around him, enabling him to capture moments that might have otherwise been missed.

He enjoys being caught up in the moment and photographing landscapes, flowers, people and wildlife. He likes looking at things from different perspectives and he is constantly trying to improve by talking with other photographers and reading through magazines. He is quick to snap family photos for vacationers and give photographing tips.

Nostalgia also motivates Slover. “Surroundings change sometimes quickly and other times without notice,” he said, “You drive past a field for years, and then one day a street is put in and the landscape has changed.”

Slover holds several day jobs including doing fieldwork for local farmers and freelance photography for the North Palouse Journal. He admits that he is a little shy and that he has to step out of his comfort zone when, after photographing people at sporting events or festivals, he has to get information from his subjects for the Journal.

He also has stepped out of his comfort zone by showing his photographs for the first time in a public setting. Two weeks ago, he hung his work at On Sacred Grounds coffee shop in Valleyford, which will be displayed through Sept. 3.

Today from 5 to 8 p.m., a reception will be held for Slover. The show is called “What Are You Doing Tonight?” and highlights his night-photography talent. Included in the collection are night scenes of downtown Spokane, its bridges, the clocktower lit from behind by fireworks, as well as farm scenes.

He calls his photography business Shepherd Photos and he hopes to step even farther out of his comfort zone by “getting out there and being seen.” He is taking it in stride, one step at a time. Slover is a quiet man but his work speaks volumes and gives voice to the world around him.