PALM DESERT (Calif.) -- In nearly two and a half decades of snapping some estimate one million photographs, photographer Ned Redway has captured stunning portraits of newsmakers, presidents, celebrities, corporate CEOs, community leaders like the late Sonny Bono and just plain folks that have appeared in dozens of magazines, newspapers and business publications worldwide.

“I just sort of fell into photography and it turned out to be so much fun – and a successful business,” said Redway, who is celebrating his 24th year as owner of the Palm Desert-based Ned Redway Photography with his partner and wife, Patti, and daughter, Chloe.

Redway Photography is a full-service photographic agency for everything from exclusive weddings to charity events to business conventions and professional sporting events complete with a state-of-the-art studio for intimate portraits or business “head shots.”

Redway’s odyssey of photographing eight Presidents, state funerals for President Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, and Richard Nixon, celebrities like Brad Pitt and Eva Longoria-Parker at the Emmys, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Jay Leno, Barbara Streisand, Oprah Winfrey, the Academy Awards and business giants like IBM and Intel, started with a chance opportunity to photograph the dedication of the Gerald Ford Elementary School in Indian Wells, California – to photograph former President Ford.

“The pictures came out pretty good and a local business asked me to shoot something for them. I did. It worked. I never looked back,” recalled Redway, who is a self-taught photographer. “I have a fabulous career and a chance to see the world.”

Armed with an artist’s eye, dozens of photography books, a ready smile and the moxie to ask other photographers to share their techniques, Redway launched a successful business. While he quickly learned old-school photography of using 35mm film, Redway now primarily shoots digital photos for crisp results that are demanded by his clients, especially corporations and convention business planners.

Redway’s artistry with a camera is so much in demand that he is commissioned to locales from Hawaii to Paris to Hong Kong on assignment. Redway has established a solid reputation by shooting a variety of assignments, from golf and tournaments to family portraits to national news organizations like Globe Photos in New York.

Word-of-mouth praise about Redway’s photographs and work ethic is what motivated clients such as The Palm Springs International Film Festival, The McCallum Theatre for the Performing Arts, The Palm Springs Follies and several Indian casinos to hire him.

Redway is also the official photographer for Congresswoman Mary Bono, R-Palm Springs, a plum assignment that started when the late Congressman and former Palm Springs Mayor Sonny Bono selected him. Redway is proud to have recorded Mary Bono’s subsequent marriage to businessman Glenn Baxley that was published in People magazine.

Redway likes shooting news, especially America’s Presidents “because it really puts you on the cutting edge of what’s going on in the world today.” His portfolio includes official photos of former President Ford, former Vice President Al Gore, Vice President Dick Cheney, Bob Hope embracing George Bush Sr., Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Air Force One and, of course, White House photos of Barack Obama.

Redway’s work have appeared in magazines such as Newsweek, Time, US, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Parade, Allure and In Style, among others.