My full name is Jordan DeLauer. While I’m originally from Southern Arizona, I currently live in Northwest Pennsylvania. My work has been featured in galleries in Erie, shared by the Presque Isle Partnership, and I won Penn State’s Fall 2024 Photo Contest.

I bought my first camera on August 22, 2023, and the rest of my journey can best be described as a loving obsession with the art. I’ve always been a bit of a STEM kid, so learning the technical aspects of cameras and photography came easily—but that’s not what made me fall in love with the practice. In an age where meaningful connection to the world often feels fleeting, my work—creating and sharing images—has brought people closer to each other and to nature. I love sharing how I create my final pieces, whether that means telling the story of how I captured the photo or explaining how I transformed the raw image into the finished work.

Fun fact about me: I love chess! My team and I won Top College team at the Carnegie Mellon Classic Swiss and the PA Team Championship!

My typical go-to place for photography is Presque Isle. The first time I brought a camera there—just a day after I bought it—I was able to capture a green heron and a great blue heron in flight. In retrospect, the photos aren’t amazing by my own standards today, but they’re what truly ignited my passion. That green heron, because of this encounter, became my spark bird—the bird that started my birding journey. In that photo, you can see the bird’s absurdly long neck and the mohawk of feathers sticking up on its head. I had never realized that such fascinating animals lived so close to my home.

I love cooking. My favorite dish to make for myself is teriyaki stir fry with fried rice!

I’m no stranger to getting dirty for a good photo. I’ve gone waist-deep in the creek at Wintergreen Gorge for the perfect engagement photo, waded into freezing water in Asbury Woods during the winter to get a tighter shot of my subject, sat in tall grass on Presque Isle during a blizzard for an entire day while patiently waiting for the perfect moment when a snowy owl takes flight, and lain in the mud to capture eye-level photos of shorebirds digging in the sand.