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HUGHESVILLE -- Robert Lesko's career in photography started with a broken stereo.
It was in the early 1970s when Lesko was in high school in Old Bridge, New Jersey when he bought a stereo system that was not working and instead turned it in for a camera.
From that moment on young Robert began to be fascinated.
"Scenics, animals ... I took courses," he said.
His skills blossomed and he read books by experts about photography.
Lesko attended school at Miami Dade Community College where he added business courses to his education.
In 1978, as disco was in full swing, Lesko was hired in Miami by Ackerley Communications, a leading billboard company that dominated the south Florida market.
He sought locations for advertisers and shot for them as well.
He became proficient in color and black and white printing and established a lab on the premises.
Jumping north to Long Island, New York, in 1983, Lesko took his talents to a portrait studio.
"I gained expertise in portrait posing, lighting and the business of running a studio," he said.
Eventually making his way to Williamsport, in 1986, Lesko arrived with billboard experience so he got a job with Penn Advertising in sales.
In 1987, he established a commercial studio for Brodart to photograph their extensive supply catalog and provide photography for their future division.
That gave him an opportunity to gain knowledge and expertise in the commercial aspect of the profession.
In 1992, Lesko ventured out on his own, establishing a studio on Main Street in Hughesville where he did mostly portrait work. His photographs are all over the East Lycoming School District buildings. He continued there for four years before moving in 1996 to the Silk Mill Complex on Railroad Street.
"The studio gave me the ability to create large furniture sets for several of my clients," he said.
A diverse customer base could receive full color and black and white dark room service. He also was engaged in family and children's portraits, especially high school seniors, team and special events and business portraits along with weddings.
At the start of the millennium, Lesko purchased a property at 96 N. Main St., where he began the transition to digital photography.
That included all of the mentioned photography, but using digital technology, which was widely accepted over film for speed purposes.
From 2005 to present Lesko moved the studio to just outside Hughesville at 43 Pine Run Road. It is a quaint home-studio that provides outdoor sets for portraits and a large shooting space indoors.
Lesko said he has grown his child care photography business to the point that he is able to do most of my business in the fall and spring and work with selected clients the other times of the year.
Today, he is doing a limited amount of regular portrait work and continues to love technology such as light painting, which he described as unique and complex.
"It is basically long exposure to create a stunning, one-of-a-kind image that cannot be created with traditional photography," he said.
Virtually, anything three dimensional qualifies to be light painted, he noted.
"It is a stunning piece of art that will be appreciated for generations to come," he said.