Everyday Encounter: A photographer’s second act after leaving TV behind

Arthur Drooker, 71, pauses during a bike ride at Shoreline Park in Tiburon Sept. 17. The Mill Valley resident is a former Los Angeles TV writer and producer who transitioned to fine-art photography at age 50 and regularly bikes through Tiburon to photograph scenes along the bay. (Tyler Callister / The Ark)

At 50, Arthur Drooker’s life took a dramatic turn. His father had recently died, and his three-decade career as a Los Angeles TV writer and producer was getting stale. He longed for something deeper.

Dooker says his next choice was the best decision he ever made.

“I realized if there’s anything I really want to do with my life, I’ve got to do it now,” says Drooker, who stopped to chat Sept. 17 while on a bike ride at Shoreline Park. “And I was always a very self-motivated guy, but I was even more motivated now. And that’s when I decided, ‘What makes me happy?’”

For Drooker, now 71, the answer was photography.

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