Asher Pavel to cover Sharon, Kent, sports

LAKEVILLE — Camera in hand, Asher Pavel conducted The Lakeville Journal’s Salisbury reporter, Patrick Sullivan, backward a few steps.“The light’s better here,” Pavel said. Sullivan grudgingly stood where he was told while Pavel took his picture (which he will use for a press pass). And then Sullivan returned the favor, taking a quick snapshot of Pavel for this article.A retired professional photographer and now a West Cornwall resident, Pavel will join The Lakeville Journal staff for this summer, covering Kent, Sharon and sports.Originally from Philadelphia and a former resident of New York City, Pavel made the move to West Cornwall in 1992 with his wife, Priscilla Miller, a Realtor with Bain Real Estate.Pavel’s lifelong love of photography started when he got his first camera, a Kodak Brownie, when he was 10 years old. His professional photography experience has included weddings, portraiture, fine art, travel and work for commercial clients. But he said his favorite is portraits.“It’s more fun taking pictures of people than a box of cereal,” he said.Pavel is a world traveler. Ask him where he’s been, and he’ll lean back in his chair and think a moment.“Well, let’s start at the Pacific Rim,” he said. The list is long: Japan, New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, France and a few more places along the way.“Someday I’d like to get to Africa,” Pavel said. “That’s on our travel list.”Although he’s retired from professional photography, Pavel takes digital house portraits and turns them into drawings through computer software. He donates these to different charity auctions, most recently for the Cornwall Child Center auction.After writing many letters to the editor and doing some freelance photography for The Lakeville Journal, Pavel will now bring his talents and experience to the paper full-time.And if you want some advice from a good eye, one that can capture a moment through a lens, Pavel had this to say:“Study and learn. Study, learn and keep shooting.”