Biography

Paul Trapier Palmer, Jr. was born in Columbia, South Carolina and has lived there most of his life. He went to public and private school in Columbia until high school. Then Paul went to Woodward Academy, College Park, Georgia. Later he returned to his home state to go to the University of South Carolina. There he earned a B.A. majoring in Psychology, and a Master of Criminal Justice. In June, 2002, he retired from the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services.

Paul received art instruction at the Columbia Museum of Art, Heathwood Hall School, and Crayton School. His friends and college roommates Bill Dowis and Grover Corwin involved Paul with various art and media projects at U.S.C. Like may people Paul enjoyed taking pictures on vacation travels. There he honed his skills as an amateur photographer. During his career with the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services, he applied some of his training in composition and light to photography and various types of media presentations with his work as a Probation and Parole Agent. Before he retired he began doing some web design starting probation and parole and later working for his cousin, Jim Palmer. Paul enjoyed doing such projects. When he retired from probation and parole, he decided that he would continue to cultivate his gifts at doing photography and graphic design. Another source of inspiration for Paul has been photographer Robin Smith. They are longtime friends from church. Paul always enjoys studying Robin's photography on display all over Kanuga Conference Center near Hendersonville, N.C.

During his employment with the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services, Paul learned to use Corel Photopaint, Illustrator, and Presentations, as well as Microsoft FrontPage. In late 2003, he began to transition to Adobe Photoshop and Image Ready applications. Paul has intermediate/advanced expertise in these applications with an emphasis on digital photographic editing and to a lesser extent editing graphics for the web. Paul has experience with Olympus film cameras. Paul currently uses Canon EOS D40 and D20 digital camera and a bag of Canon lenses. Paul continues his education photography going to workshops. He also participates in Photoshop tutorials on the web for several hours each month. He occasionally uses a Canon Digital Elph SD600 camera on bicycle rides and long distance endurance events. It's good for snapshots, lighter on the bike, and easier to replace in a crash.

When Paul is not taking pictures or messing with his computer at home, you might find him at St. Martin's-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church at worship, work, or group study. He participates in a small Benedictine community there. It is a group that is committed to daily prayer. Twice each week they meet together for a reading of the Benedictine Rule, Morning Prayer, and study. The Benedictine rule calls for balance in each day between work, study, prayer, worship, and recreation.  Another place to find Paul is out on the road out from Columbia, SC on his bicycle. This year you may see him in many southern states riding from one town to another, stopping in places like Gruetli-Laager, Tennessee, or Eastover, South Carolina, Brevard, North Carolina. or Gainesville, Florida for something cold to drink.

May God's peace be with you today.

This page was last updated on 02/16/2008.

Copyright © 2007, Paul T. Palmer, Jr. all rights reserved. No images or content may be used without written consent.