Microsoft’s 2007 “Photographer of The Year,” Paul D. Van Hoy II has been acclaimed as one of the top 20 wedding photographers in the world.

Van Hoy began his business at the age of sixteen in his Midwestern hometown of Evansville, Indiana. A native Hoosier, he relocated his business to Western, NY in 2005, after being accepted into the prestigious graduate program at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where, in 2007, he earned his MFA in Fine Art Photography.

His award winning wedding photojournalism has been featured in popular magazines such as Brides and Bridal Magazine, Wedding Style, In Style Wedding, Modern Bride, and Martha Stewart Weddings.

His poignant and compelling fine art photography has been widely published in the US and abroad; PDN, Digital Photo Pro, After Capture, Professional Photographer, CMYK, Camera Arts, and Communication Arts.

Van Hoy takes a very delicate and personal approach to apprehending decisive moments when documenting weddings, and describes his style as a mixture of disciplines that combine formalism and fine art aesthetics with an inborn photojournalistic intuition.

“Interaction with strangers through an image capture device changes the dynamic of an already ambivalent relationship. It is crucial that the photographer be improvisational not only on a technical level, but his or her spontaneity should also extend to the persuasions necessary to gain the momentary trust of a desired subject.”

Presently, Van Hoy resides in Rochester, NY where his destination wedding photography business, Fotoimpressions, is located. He documents approximately 30-40 weddings throughout the US annually and shoots advertising, stock, and travel photography during his off-season.

Some of his former and current clients include Forbes, Health and Wellness Magazine, Men’s Health Magazine, Food & Wine Magazine, Better Homes and Gardens, Country Living, Adidas, Barilla, DKNY, Jones New York and Fossil Inc., among others.

Van Hoy is currently writing his first book on wedding photography, “Wedding Photography | The Business of Aesthetics” which is being published my Amherst Media in May of 2011. His work is represented by AGE Fotostock in Barcelona Spain.