Ron Storer decided to put the age-old theory to the test. Turns out the theory was right:
Once you learn to ride a bike, you never forget.
“I’ve gained quite a bit of weight. So I just changed out some wheels and said, ‘I’m going to start riding again,’” said Auburn native Storer, who made a name for himself at the national level during the 1980s by riding a bike better than most everyone else in the country. “I haven’t been on one in a couple years.
“So (a couple Sundays ago), I got on the bike – and it was the weirdest thing. As soon as I got on, it was like, ‘Why did I stop?’”
A lingering leg injury was a big part of the answer. Getting older. Raising a family.
And picking up a camera.
Today, Storer, who’s now 46, is still happy to reminisce about his award-winning days as a world-caliber cyclist. But now, he’s making another name for himself as an award-winning, world-caliber photographer – specifically when it comes to wedding photography.
Earlier this year, Storer placed 14th in one of the worldwide quarterly contests sponsored by the Wedding Photojournalists Association. And to hear him talk reminisce about that, you’d think he had just pedaled his way to a gold medal.
“Last year, I started adding up points, and I was just hoping to be in the top 50. And I was 14th,” Storer said. “It’s a small group – people who are really, really good at their craft.
“I used to do (photography) in high school, but I didn’t think I was that good. My mom would complement me and say, ‘Ron, you’re really good. You have a good eye.’ But I blew it off and thought she was just being really nice.”
It was as a high schooler in Auburn that Storer took his first try at competing with a camera – in a newspaper photo contest.
He sent in a photo of a rose. The judges gave it honorable mention. Storer was far from thrilled.
“I was like, ‘Oh, crumb – I didn’t win,” Storer recalled.
He put his camera down. Soon, however, he was winning elsewhere – wherever his bike took him.
Storer earned a spot on the U.S. national team. He won a Pan Am Games gold medal in team pursuit in 1987, and was on the second-place team in the 1988 U.S. Olympic trials (although only the winning team got to go to Seoul).
Storer continued to compete on a high level, hoping for another shot at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. That didn’t work out. Then, after suffering a broken leg early in the 1993 Inaugural Day windstorm – he got hit by a 32-foot I-beam, suffering a compound fracture that eventually required surgery and a bone graft – his competitive career essentially was done.
It was in ’96 that Storer started shooting pictures again, and got really serious about it a couple years later. He did some international relief photography while on some mission work in Guadalajara, Mexico. There were other photographic opportunities with relief agencies in Africa and Asia.
“I kind of cut my (photography) teeth with non-profits,” Storer said. “It has been real rewarding.”
But the question lingered:
Where to from here for Ron Storer and his camera?
“The last several years, I started doing more and more high school seniors and weddings,” Storer said. “I was trying to find, ‘What is our signature? What am I going to really identify with?’ ”
Discovering his niche
Storer found his answer in wedding photography. But not just the formal photos that are part of almost every wedding album.
It’s the spontaneous stuff. The instances when people completely forget there’s someone with a keen eye – and a fast shutter finger – floating nearby.
“I can do formal. But that isn’t what people hire me for,” Storer said. “They want moments, something unique.
“This last year, I was trying to understand who I was as a photographer,” he added. “Now, I think I understand more who I am.”
Matter of fact, the closest thing Storer has to a regret is that there wasn’t someone like him around with a camera when he and wife Denise got married more than 20 years ago. So he makes sure to pour everything he has into the photos he now takes of other couples’ weddings and engagements.
“I was recently doing a shoot, and I knew I was supposed to do this – to be the best, to put in the hours it would take,” Storer said. “When I was doing that shoot, I knew right now that this is exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
His love for the camera is exceeded only by that for his family. He and Denise have two sons – Grant, a high school senior, and Torey, a sophomore. Both are homeschooled, but compete in sports (football and track) at Auburn Riverside. Grant, 18, and Torey, 15, recently finished 1-2, respectively, in a state powerlifting competition.
Neither of them, Storer said, has expressed an interest in bicycle racing, and he’s fine with that. (Torey, however, often assists Ron at weddings.) And though his own racing days are gone, they’re definitely not forgotten.
“I could have easily put in all that effort and not gotten anything,” Storer said. “I’m so fortunate – most people don’t ever get to have that. I have so many incredible, great memories, and the community really supported me through the years.”
Now, in his own way, Storer is giving back – with his keen eye and fast shutter finger.
“I love being passionate about my work,” he said. “It’s not unusual for me to smile or tear up when I’m taking pictures.
“I have a tremendous passion. And I want to give that as a gift.”
More information about Ron Storer Photography is available by calling (253) 939-4425 or 1-888-836-2248, or online at www.ronstorer.com.
