Laid-off manager finds new career in photography

CAREERS

Aas far as Doug Otto of Massapequa is concerned, three strikes and you're not out.

Otto, 51, lost three jobs in the manufacturing industry on Long Island in the past 15 years or so, the last at the former Symbol Technologies Inc. of Bohemia, where he was a production manager overseeing 50 people. He tried different industries, including sales, but none of them suited him.

Otto said he could have become morose, but instead, he kept looking and in 2006, found it - photography. Otto and his wife, Kathy Otto, 51, started Simple Smiles Photography Inc., which they run out of their home, and which focuses on taking photos of school groups, from high school graduation pictures to photos of kids at day care centers.

The Ottos have invested about $100,000 in the business, and Otto said it is profitable.

Not without some surprises along the way. Otto said he found he had to buy props and backgrounds for some school pictures, and that having an extra camera on hand is a help if one stops working for any reason. And he works long hours - sometimes 80 a week or more. But, Otto said, he finds all of it rewarding.

He and his wife, he said, enjoy working with the children. "This is such a nice change of life from corporate America," Otto said.