Dade City photographer shares unique collages of scenes, locales in Tampa Bay area

TAMPA, Fla. - For as long as he can remember, Greg Presson has had a camera in his hands. 

"Photos just capture the instantaneous," Presson said. "Right when you see that moment, you can capture it, which is awesome."

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Like many photographers, he shares his work, but the Dade City man does it with a twist. He creates collages. 

Not an ordinary collage of 5-10 photos, but instead he uses hundreds to create his art. 

"It has the capabilities to have a little bit of 3D dimension in it with the collage aspect of it," he said. 

To start his craft, Presson stands in one spot and takes hundreds of photos of one landmark or piece of nature. He prints them out, and then the creative process begins. 

"The beginning you're finally looking at some of these pictures, and you're putting them together without gluing anything just as a puzzle, and you're trying to make actually this new image come alive," he explained. 

Presson layers by putting different photos on top and underneath other ones. The process time varies, depending on the number of photos or scope of the subject. 

He said some pieces can take 30 minutes, and one took as long as 40 hours. 

"The challenge is missing a shot," he said. "If you're taking a picture of a building, and you forget that one window section, that’s tough to go back and reproduce with lighting and everything like that."

Completing the collage is the best part for Presson. 

"I love seeing the final image and kind of walking around it for the next week and just enjoying it in my house," he said. 

Presson highlights nature throughout Tampa Bay with his work. He’s a particular fan of trees. He also shoots landmarks of the Bay area. One of his most popular pieces is a Sepia collage of the University of Tampa. 

Whatever he’s shooting or showcasing, Presson hopes his work gets people off their feet. 

"I hope they go out and experience the world man. We live in this incredible area, Tampa Bay," he said. "Half of my pictures are from the area. Go out and see that."

To view some of his work, including a collage of the FOX 13 Skytower, click here.