Ryan and Alyssa have been happily married since October 2013.  Prior to dating and as best friends in college they could have never foreseen the journey ahead of them.  After college Ryan pursued a career as a professional distance runner and dabbled with capturing his running journeys with a go pro and his phone.  

In 2020 after purchasing his first drone Ryan befriended a professional photographer of 30 yrs.  Ryan and his new friend and mentor shared a similar passion for the outdoors and very quickly after meeting his friend discovered a new found passion for videography and photography and how to "properly" capture a subject (at the time was mainly landscapes).  

From here the rest is history as Ryan spent a large portion of his time and energy getting a youtube education and practicing his new found art form and mastering his craft.  In late 2020 Ryan launched Up Close Drones (formerly known as WNC Dronography) as a licensed drone photographer | videographer and quickly mastered that skill and art and furthered his passion by developing as a cinematographer, photographer and editor.  

As Ryan developed he began to bring his wife Alyssa on his journey and began to teach and mentor her and help develop her as a skilled photographer and videographer.  After 2 years of running a drone video|photo business focused on social media content and short commercials; Ryan launched Up Close Productions (formerly Up Close Images) in 2022.

After 2 years of running a drone video|photo business focused on social media content and short commercials; Ryan launched Up Close Productions (formerly Up Close Images) in 2022.  

Quickly business started to grow and Ryan need help on the small sets he was filming and photographing for corporate businesses, documentaries and weddings.  Alyssa started to get more involved and not long after Ryan met one of his future best friends and business partner Casey Bell...