Picture Perfect

Picture Perfect

Pooch and Cindy McClanahan in front of the camera, for a change.

Photo by Jodi Nash Bridget

By Jodi Nash

Modest. Humble. Hard-working. Resilient.

That would describe Robert “Pooch” McClanahan, who originally opened his business—McClanahan Camera, of course—in 1961 as a photography studio in Old Town Warrenton. Born and raised in Fauquier County, as an eighth grader, he was fascinated when he Photo by Jodi Nash Bridget, Pooch and Cindy McClanahan in front of the camera, for a change. watched a fellow student develop a roll of film in photo club. Growing up on a horse farm, equine events (races, point to points, hunts) were his earliest subjects.

Shooting with a box camera and eventually graduating to a Speed Graphic, he apprenticed during high school with legendary Warrenton photographer Marshall Hawkins, who specialized in horse events. Hawkins once photographed First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy’s head-first tumble over a fence while fox hunting, selling it to Life Magazine as a cover shot.

In 1958, Pooch obtained an Associate’s degree in photography from RPI (now Virginia Commonwealth University), intending to come home and open shop. Concerned that a fledgling business might be interrupted by the draft, he volunteered and served three years in the Marines, completing U.S. Navy Photo School in Pensacola, Florida.

After duty stations in Japan and Okinawa attached to a photo squadron, Pooch came home and opened his studio. “I’m fortunate,” he said. “I knew what I wanted to do.”

The nickname? His dad gave it to him to avoid being confused with a neighbor also named Robert. So Pooch it’s been ever since.

In 1962, along came Bridget Macgregor, an English girl from Kent, working at a local horse farm. After two years of dating, they married in 1964. Bridget had no prior interest in photography, but she learned.

“He taught me everything I know,” she said. Together they photographed portraits, weddings, horses and equestrian events. They did commercial work, and newspaper photography for the Fauquier Democrat. These were fun, adventurous years, working side by side, often with Bridget as “a second camera.”

Because film, equipment, paper, and chemicals were hard to get, necessitating long trips to D.C., the studio gradually started carrying cameras, lenses and photography supplies.

In 1970 they moved to their current location at 306 Lee Highway and still maintain a dark room. They had two daughters, Cindy born in 1969, and Wendy, in 1972.

The pace inevitably quickened and they kept earning and learning, often bringing the girls to the store. Their inventory increased, and they slowly shifted from studio photography into a retail camera store.

Then came the digital age, and a fundamental shift from analog film to digital imaging. From a niche commercial market in the mid-90s to the mainstream consumer market in 2007, digital ruled. The advent of the iPhone, with a camera so good it changed the industry forever, suddenly created a snap-happy culture.

With Cindy on board by then, the business evolved, selling a variety of interchangeable lens cameras, camera protectors, and cell phone accessories.

Bridget trained in scanning and printing on large format printers. Pooch immersed himself in learning digital photography. He forced himself to leave his film behind when he went to photograph the Albuquerque Balloon Festival in 2006. It was an arduous transition, but they did it.

These days, Cindy is at the heart and soul of it all. McClanahan’s offers photo preservation and restoration, video and photo transfer to CDs and DVDs, custom mat and framing, private photography classes, and cell phone use instruction.

Cindy has an informative photo blog, and teaches digital photography at libraries, Scout meetings, real estate offices, and in small private groups. McClanahan’s also offers an array of personalized photo gift items, and they still have a darkroom.

McClanahan’s is the oldest self-owned business in Warrenton, and Pooch and Bridget have been married 57 years, working for many years with Cindy, and, in a pinch, Wendy.

The tough part of the business: when things get slow, the hours get longer. Pooch is 83, Bridget 79. It can be demanding. Their planned escape to England postponed by the pandemic, they long for rest and relaxation.

“Photography’s been my life,” Pooch said, his arm around Bridget. Both are smiling. “It’s been a good run. I’m ready for a slow walk.”