About Derek

Born and raised in Sparta, WI. Thought I would be a medical researcher growing up. Saw a cadaver. Into a bucket went those plans. Graduated from Sparta High and entered the Air National Guard where I thought I might make a career working for the government. Lost almost sixty pounds in six weeks. Learned I had type-1 diabetes. Lost that career in the national guard along with my ability to eat Skittles at will. Entered college life at the University of Wisconsin. Thought I might be a web designer and earn a computer science degree. Learned that would involve a lot of math. I hate math. A lot. Enter journalism. Realized that included little math, chasing stories around the globe and you sometimes get free grilled chicken (low carbs) before football games. Awesome. Graduated from the UW and moved to Duluth, MN to work at the Duluth News Tribune. Thought I'd be in that job for a very long time. Lost that job in the economic downturn of 2009 and the decline of the newspaper industry. Really sad. Realized I loved photography too much to give it up. Enter Derek Montgomery Photography.

That's the story of my life up to this point. I'm a Duluth, Minnesota-based photographer specializing in commercial, event, wedding and documentary photojournalism. My background is in photojournalism, but I love shooting everything from the deep woods of northern Minnesota to the icy landscape of Antarctica and everything in between. I feel at home shooting a basketball game as much as I do a wedding ceremony. When my camera is not attached to my face, you can find me running through Lester Park, watching sports, training for triathlons, surfing the Internet or hanging with my girlfriend Kristin and her two-year old son Evan.