Doyle Yoder depicts Amish lifestyle one pixel at a time

If a picture paints a thousand words, then Doyle Yoder has written tomes and volumes that could fill 1,000 libraries.

Renowned photographer Doyle Yoder didn’t grow up Amish, but he did grow up in an Amish community where he and many Amish friends would build snowmen, play softball and enjoy endless summer days.

His other passion when he was a young boy growing up in the heart of Ohio’s Amish Country near New Bedford was photography.

Since long before digital cameras were even a thing, Yoder was using his old camera that used film, taking picture after picture until finally his parents told him to stop because having the film developed was far too expensive.

That didn’t stop the blossoming photographer from pursuing his passion.

“There were many times when I’d take my camera with no film in it and imagine I was taking pictures,” Yoder said of his early childhood days. “I’d see something that I found interesting, and I’d frame it up and act like I was taking pictures.”

Because he grew up in Amish Country, both the Amish countryside and the Amish people became popular photographic opportunities for Yoder.

A longtime handyman who can seemingly do whatever he puts his mind to, Yoder was making hickory rockers for several years as a young man before the camera bug caught up to him and made photography a permanent part of his life, and he is grateful he is able to capture the Amish faith and its people and countryside in vivid colors.

“I’m the type of person who sees something, sees an opportunity, and I’ll go for it,” Yoder said. “This opportunity came along, and I’ve been fortunate. I’ve got so many ideas rattling around in my head, pictures in my mind, that I could have 10 lifetimes and I probably couldn’t do them all.”

Yoder said he has developed a strong enough reputation among the Amish community that he hears stories from people that often include his name.

“One time we had this huge ice storm, and it left this amazing layer of ice all around Berlin,” Yoder said. “One of the girls that works at a local collar shop told me that she and some others saw this glorious, icy picture of this farm. She said they were out milking, and they saw the sun come out, and they came out of the barn to take it all in.”

She then said she muttered words Yoder has heard plenty of times before, such is his reputation among the Amish.

“She said she told her friends, ‘Doyle Yoder ought to be here to capture this,’ and she started laughing. She said they walked back around the barn, and there I was taking pictures. That’s happened a lot over the years,” Yoder said.

Now Yoder has become well-known as the guy who photographs the Amish. In doing so, he has gained the trust of the Amish community, a people who are generally very private and don’t necessarily like having their pictures taken.

Yoder said being respectful to their wishes is paramount, and because he has basically become one of the community, there is a mutual respect between both parties that has allowed him to get inside the Amish community in a personal way that showcases the charm, solitude, and elegant and oftentimes humorous look into the Amish culture.

“People would be surprised to realize what great sense of humor many of the Amish people have,” Yoder said. “You have to get to know them, but there is plenty of humor to be found once you do.”

His pictures have graced the covers of national magazines, can be found in yearly calendars and his unique perpetual calendars with 365 different statements to live by, and the countless puzzles that have been generated featuring his award-winning photographs.

While there are times when someone contacts him and tells him about a photo opportunity, be it an Amish barn-raising, a 10-team plowing session in a local field or some church gathering, many of his photos come naturally, a product of Yoder keeping an eye out for the unusual, the beautiful and those once-in-a-lifetime chances he said God seems to throw out there in front of him from time to time.

While the ideas and vision are there, some of the photos don’t materialize in a heartbeat.

One thing many people can’t fathom about Yoder’s eye for a fantastic shot is sometimes it takes not a whole day or even a week, but months and years for an idea for a photograph to present itself.

Getting that visionary shot of a buggy traveling along a dusty road while in the background a train rolls by during a sunset might seem simple enough, but it takes time — lots of time — to finally have the ideal picture come into focus.

“There are times when I have an idea for a photo and it never does come along,” Yoder said.

Photography has always been a big part of Yoder’s life. That he has gotten to share in the lives of the Amish people all around the Midwest and especially in his stomping grounds of Holmes County is something he continues to count as a huge blessing.

For more information on Yoder, visit his website at www.dypinc.com.