According to Panoramic owner Jeff Wakeen, the company was created merely after years of watching promising businesses open — often only to watch them close. A veteran of the radio industry, Wakeen spent much of his professional life in radio management, and it was during that time that he became familiar with the complicated relationship that exists between businesses and advertising. “A lot of companies really don’t understand how to take the next direction,” he says, speaking of the sometimes overlooked necessity of long-term planning and advertising, adding that, in the past, numerous companies have told him that they, “didn’t have a business plan” — facts that Wakeen couldn’t begin to understand. With those thoughts tucked securely away in the back of his mind, Wakeen remained in the broadcasting world until fall of 1998 when he decided that, like the many entrepreneurs he had met throughout his career, he would take the leap and begin a business of his own.

“I just felt there was a need for businesses … for a company that can come in and strategically give them a business and marketing plan, so strategically they can have a path for their business and strategically they can have a path of how they’re going to market their business to grow it,” Wakeen explains, commenting on the impetus of his establishment. In fact, the company’s name in and of itself speaks volumes about his business’ dedication to the future of their clients. Panoramic Visions was named as such on the basis that it prides itself in “giving small businesses a broad view, helping them see the big picture,” says Wakeen, echoing the concepts of well-rounded business planning and advertising that are the obvious foundations upon which the company is based.

Founded in the basement of his home, Panoramic Visions has found its home in a cozy office space off of Market Street in Camp Hill. And while Wakeen maintains that he had nothing but faith in the future of the company, he admits that it has grown more rapidly than even he had imagined. “We grew very, very quickly,” he notes, recounting the early beginnings of his company, “When we moved in here in March,” Wakeen stated, referring to the company’s move to the office, “I originally said that this space was too big for us. It’s now August, and we’re outgrowing it.” What was once just an observation on the state of the business world is now a full-time corporation that is run by Wakeen and a staff of eight. Capable of handling the business planning, public relations, advertising, and media buying under one roof, Panoramic Visions has quickly become a one-stop shop for many local businesses … and it’s less than a year old.

“Our primary client is the client who needs us, the client who knows they have a need for business planning and strategic marketing and knows how to do it within a budget that makes good business sense for an advertiser,” Wakeen notes, adding that, as a result of his career in radio sales, he is aware of the importance of the various mediums that are available in the local market. Also, as time passes, Wakeen assures that the company will continue to expand to meet the ever-changing needs of the clientele. “I see us doing what we’re doing on just a larger level,” he predicts, noting that the realization of branch offices in his hometown of Hartford, Connecticut, and other North Eastern locations is not that far out of reach.

Founded in 1977 by Norman Rose, the Studio currently sits nestled into a New Cumberland hillside surrounded by lush gardens and fountains that serve as their on-site, outdoor studio. Built nearly four years ago, the studio replaced their previous building on the Carlisle Pike and serves as the current headquarters of the family-run business. Originally run by Norman and his wife Dee, in recent years the studio has become a joint venture between the couple and their son, Jeffrey, an accomplished and renowned photographer.

While Norman — highly specialized and trained in the photography of high school senior portraits — has been hard at work in the photographic industry for many years, Jeff has only been in the business for a marginally small amount of time. A graduate from Penn State with a degree in engineering, Jeff was busy developing cranes when it occurred to him that instead of spending his time at a drafting table, he’d rather follow in his father’s footsteps ... so, he put away his pencils and started in his father’s lab. And a career was underway.

According to Nancy Hutton, marketing director of Norman Rose Studio, Jeff’s extreme success in the field — with master’s degrees from institutions like the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International and The British Institute of Professional Photography — is as much a result of fate as it is hard work. “He just has a gift for it,” she says, adding that, in contrast to what many might think, with fundamentals such as lighting and posing, there is much more to photography “than just putting a camera out there.” In fact, according to Hutton, it is a goal of both Norman and Jeff to express their belief that photography “really is a true art form.” For his part, Jeff has spent much of his career proving that theory as, along with his specialization as a wedding photographer, he has entered — and won — nearly ever photographic competition possible, including such prestigious awards as the Kodak Gallery Elite Award and the Fuji Masterpiece Award, honors given to only a selection of accomplished photographers.

Intent on producing a “quality product as opposed to volume,” Jeff prides himself on the fact that weddings are his specialty. Noting that nothing is better to photograph than a “beautiful and elegant” bride on her wedding day, Jeff makes use of a variety local backdrops to help capture the emotion of the big event. “We’re very lucky that we’re in the Central Pennsylvania area,” says Hutton, “there are so many places that we can shoot.” Among them sites ranging from the Hershey Resort to local churches to the Capitol Building … all of which add an extra touch to the beauty of the finished product.

While the amount of work — in front of and behind the camera — that is involved in wedding and competitive photography is clearly enough to keep Jeff busy, he feels the thrill of being a photographer is a double-edged sword — it’s exciting because it happens so quickly, while in the same sense, it’s over because it happens so quickly. “There’s so little time when you’re going ‘click’ and getting that high compared to everything else … there’s planning and preparation … actually going ‘click’ is almost a rarity and that’s what you love. But, all the other stuff needs to be done, too.”