I've spent my whole life turning ideas into things you can put your hands on. Houses. Sets. Photographs. For a long time those lived in separate worlds. Now they live under one roof. The full site is still in the shop, but the doors are open and I'm ready to get back to work.
People · Progress · Possibilities.
Pardon the sawdust. More coming soon.
Where it all started, and still the backbone.
I was five years old the first time I rode along on one of my dad's house-painting jobs. I've owned and run remodeling outfits since 1993, first Better Home Maintenance, then Sawdust. Sawdust is now part of DPE, and so is every repair and remodel. The name changed. The work didn't. You get honest estimates, pulled permits, clean job sites, and carpentry done by a guy who's been swinging a hammer for forty years.
Different customers, different projects, one standard. Every one of these started with somebody who needed something built right. Alongside the remodeling work DPE handles directly, here are the four ventures under the roof. Each one is getting its own full site, so consider this the walkthrough before the drywall goes up.
Telling the story one image at a time.
Taking photos is easy. Telling the story is the job. I've shot concerts, events, sports, architecture, and finished interiors for clients that include Live Nation, major regional arts organizations, public officials, and international diplomats. I show up, I stay out of the way, I do what I'm supposed to do, and I deliver images you can actually use.
We build the bones. You create the world.
Lots of people are willing to paint the scenery. Building it is the hard part. Theater Basics builds durable, reusable walls, doors, windows, and columns, covered in muslin and primed, so your crew or volunteers can take it from there. When the show closes, take it apart, store it, and make it something new next season. Within about 100 miles of Norfolk, I'll deliver it myself and spend up to two hours showing your team how to set it, brace it, and strike it safely.
For the ones who pour out the most.
A handcrafted wooden room with a comfortable chair, a soft lamp, and a fan. That's it, and that's the point. Ten quiet minutes for the nurse, the teacher, the ministry volunteer, the parent who hasn't been alone in weeks, the son or daughter taking care of Mom and Dad. It isn't fancy. It's space. Because the ones who carry the load deserve a place to set it down.
The newest branch on the tree.
Photo Forrest is its own animal, with its own look and its own reason for being. I'm not going to spoil it before it's ready. Check back soon.
Builder. Scenic carpenter. Photographer. Problem solver.
My education started at the ripe old age of five, tagging along on my father's house-painting jobs. I didn't just learn how things get built. I learned why you build them right, how to make do with what's on the truck, and what it means to put your name on a job.
That turned into a career as a remodeling contractor. Remodeling led me to a local theater company, where I ended up onstage and building the scenery behind it. That led to professional scenic work for television and film, and eventually to running scenic construction and special events. I took projects from the first sketch through fabrication, finishes, shipping, install, and strike, here at home and overseas. I stayed a hands-on carpenter the whole time.
Somewhere in there I picked up a camera. Working in a professional studio in the early '90s taught me the rest, and it grew into a second career shooting concerts, events, and places.
For years those felt like separate lives. Construction. Scenery. Photography. Fabrication. Turns out they were always the same work: take a good idea and make it real.
After a season of change, I'm bringing all of it under one roof. This isn't just a rebrand. It's the next chapter.
— David
This page is the foundation. Here's what's getting framed up next. I'll be sharing projects as they go from an idea on paper to something real, so check back.
Each venture gets its own home, with its own personality and the same DPE backbone.
Concert, event, and architectural galleries for Freelance, plus the first look at Photo Forrest.
Builds from start to finish. The sketch, the shop, the install, the result.
Channels for DPE and every venture, so you can follow along between visits.
Got a room to remodel, a show to build, an event to shoot, or just a good idea that needs building? Pick up the phone. I'm looking forward to your call.