Working in Clark County: Ben Moore, videographer

Working in Clark County, a brief profile of interesting Clark County business owners or a worker in the public, private, or nonprofit sector. Send ideas to Mary Ricks: mary.ricks@columbian.com; fax 360-735-4598; phone 360-735-4550.

When Ben Moore graduated from high school, there weren’t a lot of classes in video production. He studied electronics in college and worked in the industry for the next 15 years. He filmed his first wedding in 2004.

Name: Ben Moore

Job/employer: Owns DreamCapture Media, 5620 N.E. Gher Road, Suite M, Vancouver.

Age: 38.

Web: www.dreamcapturemedia.com

Education/professional background: I grew up in the Columbia River Gorge. I have been into video since junior high. I moved to Vancouver after high school. And in 1994, there were not a lot of classes in video production, so I studied electronics at Clark College. At the end of my program, I went to work for a semiconductor company in Hillsboro, Ore. I worked at the semiconductor company for about 15 years and, as a side job, I did video production.

In 2004, I shot my first wedding. I started my company and did a few more weddings. I also got into stage show work, such as the Miss Clark County pageant, several dance companies and local yearly recitals. In 2008, I turned the company into an LLC using some contractors and working for more businesses.

My big break was around 2011 when I got connected with two large companies and got good contracts. I was able to quit the semiconductor job about a year ago and work full time in video. I opened an office at the beginning of 2014 and hired one person. I focus on helping local businesses grow and help them get their message out by creating website videos and commercials.

Residence: North Hazel Dell.

Most rewarding part of job: The most rewarding part of my job is when my customer tells me the video is exactly what they wanted.

Most challenging part of job: It is challenging to work with businesses with smaller budgets. I pride myself on creating content for the smaller business, but commercial production is usually very expensive. However, with newer software and technology, it has become more affordable in the last 10 years. It costs significantly less than it did 10 years ago.

Personal/business philosophy: As I work with customers, I try to be open to new ideas and new ways to do things. I try to connect with my customers and help them achieve what they want.

Something you would like to do over: I would have developed a business plan early on and worked with that. I winged it for awhile when I first started. If I did it over, I would structure things differently.

Best feature of my Vancouver/Clark County community: Over the past year I have found the community is very genuine. I find small-business owners are nice people, easy to talk to and have a different atmosphere than in a bigger city like Portland.

Favorite restaurant/pub/coffee shop/store: Latte Da Coffeehouse and Wine Bar.

Hobbies: I got into dirt-bike riding, trail and track, when I was little. I liked to shoot videos of rides and biking events through my high school years. I never made money with the videos, but it was a blast to put a year’s worth of videos together and then watch with friends.

Volunteer activities: I have volunteered at Couvapalooza and other music programs.

Favorite travel destination: Hawaii.

Most interesting book in last 12 months: “Three Feet from Gold: Turn Your Obstacles in Opportunities” by Sharon L. Lechter.

One thing you want to do this year: In the next year I would like to add another employee.

Something you want to do within five years: Nothing specific, it’s a work in progress.

Person you’d most like to meet: Devin Graham, who started making YouTube videos and is now a successful videographer doing extreme sports.