Byron Dazey

Not everyone knows me, but everyone who does probably also knew my dad, Byron. The same can be said for my siblings. In addition to the tens of thousands he photographed over the past years, he maintained connections with people from every walk of life, in multiple states and countries. This came to an unanticipated end on the 19th of October, and we are now in the unfortunate position of trying to piece everything together. This GoFundMe is an attempt to help us pay for current and anticipated fees as a result of his passing.

There is a lot we don't know about the situation, but I DO know my dad.

He worked at Boeing straight out of college, back when part of the interview was calculus on a chalkboard, and soldering a telephone back together. In fact, he never actually finished college, he just figured he might know enough to start working, and so he did. Following Boeing, he had a long career at Microsoft, where he worked as a developer and led some of the first teams to create Microsoft Windows. He had an insane work ethic; out the door at 8am and back later than our bedtime. We rarely saw him, but occasionally one of us would get to go with him to work. Following his time at Microsoft, he developed some of the first modern software used in automotive and sales.

What he accomplished during his time as a software developer was impressive, but he found his true love in photography, where he devoted the last 18 years of his life. He particular passion was photographing cultural events and Ren Faire. He made hundreds of friends in this world, and his photos bring to life the people and personalities rarely seen in everyday life. He photographed couples before they were couples, marriages before they happened, and everything besides. I can't speak enough to his love for the Ren Faire, and the joy that the people there brought him. He missed it this year, the first time in almost two decades.

His life's work is located on this website; https://www.creativeflashes.com/. I have removed the lock on freely copying/downloading images, all of the fees have also been removed. I have over 150,000 photos to work through over the next few years, and it would bring me a huge amount of joy to connect people to their photos. For now, simply click on the image you want, open it in a full screen browser, and right click/save. He never liked charging for photos, and barely made enough to get by most of the time. Myself and our family would love for these to be enjoyed freely, and we only ask that they not be resold or otherwise monetized.

There are a few people my dad was particularly close to, and I have some items to pass along in the coming months. At this stage, we are working through the costs and confusion of services, so there is no memorial or service date as of yet. If and when this changes, I will update the post here, and create an event. I imagine that he would most enjoy a huge party at the Faire, we will see.

Feel free to reach out to me with questions; I will be slow to respond, but taking some time off specifically for this purpose.

Sincerely,

Joel, Tiff, Jaeden, Megan, Ben, Mark, and Pam