Hey,

I'm Andrey.


Since I get to be part of some of the most emotional and intimate moments in your life, it's only fair that you know a little about me. Here's the rundown:


I'm a born and raised Clevelander. I met my wife, Emily, on Zoom during the pandemic. I met my cat, Juniper, on the roof of a Thai restaurant. I love coffee, mountains, and hot sauce. My favorite food is chicken wings and everyone mispronounces my name.


My life has always been a revolving door of hobbies and interests (reading, snowboarding, video games, rock climbing, motorcycles, etc) but the one constant has always been my camera.


Photography has helped me remember moments despite my less than ideal memory, and it's a beautiful thing when a picture brings back a rush of feelings and helps relive the past. I've been shooting professionally for over 8 years now and I truly love what I do.

A portrait of a beautiful woman sitting on a stone wall while travelling in the Dominican Republic on vacation.

Emily, my very patient wife

A portrait of a tabby cat wearing a pink bow while sitting in a chair, lit with professional studio lighting.

Juniper, my very fluffy cat

A self portrait of Andrey Boltyansky, owner of Swanky Bolt Studios, shot from a couch while looking into a mirror.

Me!

Sic Parvis Magna

My father was a photographer in the USSR - he shot on a Kiev 19 35mm film camera and developed the film in his bathtub. While in college, he traded one of his professors a family photo session in exchange for a passing grade in a class he was failing. While he never made photography his career, my father always had a camera around. When I was young, he bought me a small point-and-shoot that started my own journey. When I graduated from high school, he gifted me a Canon Rebel SL1 and that little camera kicked off my career as a freelance photographer.


At first, I just shot with friends. I took my SL1 everywhere with me and that poor camera got soaked, frozen, and battered all over the continent. I practiced my techniques shooting everything that came my way and worked for clients ranging from small businesses to international corporations.


Now, I can proudly say this is what I do and I owe it to my friends for practicing with me, my wife for supporting me, and my dad for sharing his passion.

A snowboarder hiking up a mountain in knee deep snow while carrying his gear at the Revelstoke Ski Resort in Banff Canada.

Alright, one last thing - everyone asks about where my business name came from. When I was in high school, I went through a phase where I discovered leather jackets, scarves, and those train conductor caps you see your grandpa wearing in old photos. I even scavenged a beat up watch, convinced that all of these assorted accessories looked good together. They didn't.


People used to call me "Bolt", short for Boltyansky. A friend jokingly said I looked swanky with my new look and suddenly more people called me Swanky Bolt than my actual name. I lost the hat but couldn't lose the nickname. I figured I may as well embrace it, not even remotely thinking that years down the line I'd be explaining this exact thing to clients while doing my best to look professional.

Swanky Bolt Studios?

A lone weather vane on the Colorado plains at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, with the mountain peaks visible in the distance.
A closeup of the base of Snoqualmie Falls where the falling water hits the river and throws mist and fog in a turbulent storm.
An Ansel Adams inspired shot of a mountain peak between Jasper National Park and Banff, shot in black and white.
A lighthouse outside of Miami, partially obscured by palm trees on a bright sunny day.
Distant mountain slopes in the background tower over pine trees in the foreground while fog and snow obscure the peaks.
Pine trees, rolling hills, and snowy mountain peaks compressed into a single frame, shot from a great distance on a telephoto lens.
Snoqualmie Falls in Washington during the winter time, dumping tons of water over the cliff.
An empty forgotten highway deep in the Texas hill country, with wooden telephone poles leading off into the distance.
A villa on top of a mountain in the Dominican Republic, overlooking a valley and river, shot in black and white.
A view of Big Sure and the Pacific Ocean, shot from a mountain peak off of the highway in California.
A night sky photograph of the Milky Way, shot on in the upper peninsula of Michigan.
A heavy snowfall in the Cleveland metroparks, in the forest, with a creek and fallen tree in the foreground and a dense forest in the back.
The Arecibo lighthouse in Puerto Rico, overlooking the cliffs with storms in the background.
A closeup of moss growing in the forest near Snoqualmie Falls and Seattle Washington.
A mountaintop overlook of a city in Mexico, not far from Cuernavaca.
The aurora borealis dancing over Lake Erie in Cleveland at night.
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For the mountains and the oceans...


...and in honor of what made me pick up a camera in the first place, here's a small collection of my favorite landscapes. I just wanted to share them with you.