The Early Years
As a 10 year-old boy, I was first introduced to photography when I visited my mother’s community college, “helping” her print her photo assignments in the darkroom not knowing then that it would lead me to a career in the wedding photography industry. I was instantly fascinated by the pure magic of watching a black and white photographic print materialize on paper.
By the age of 16, I was fully immersing myself into photography and printing my own black and white negatives in my high school’s dark room, (often until the early morning hours, when the janitors would kick me out so they could lock the building and go home).
I continued to do photography throughout high school working on the student newspaper as both the Chief Photographer and the Photo Editor, as well as being a contributing photographer for the student yearbook. In addition I was photographing multiple productions by the schools drama theater department during both my junior and senior years. I enjoyed this “extracurricular” activity until my high school principal found out about my late night escapades, attempted to ban me from the darkroom after hours, and told me to get a “real career”. Undaunted by this less then sage advice, (and with the blind eye and blessing of several members of the schools staff) I continued with my love of photography. I had by this time discovered my passion and my life’s work.
Professional photographic training
I was accepted to Hallmark Institute of Photography, and after high school graduation became a member of the class of 1996. Hallmark Institute’s program provided me with the fundamentals of photography, visual arts, studio and location lighting, as well as subject posing. Further studies involved color theory, hand retouching, and an introduction to the use of digital technologies. I studied portrait photography, commercial advertising photography, table top photography, editorial photography, architectural photography, photojournalism, arial photography, event and wedding photography.
Getting my start
In the late nineties, I moved to the San Francisco Bay area and soon found myself working for Rygh Publishing which owned and operated Real Estate Magazine and produced the three monthly publications of Real Estate in the Wine Country, Real Estate San Francisco, and Real Estate Marin, serving Sonoma County, Marin County, Napa County, San Francisco, Contra Costa County, and Alameda County in the San Francisco Bay Area. I worked as Chief Photographer doing both interior and exterior architectural and commercial advertising photography during the late nineties San Francisco Bay Area real estate boom.
Reinvention into wedding photography
In 1999 I started to transition into wedding photography, photographing both my own wedding photography clients as well as working as an independent wedding photography contractor for a major San Francisco Bay Area wedding photography and event photography company.
The wedding photography industry shifts
In approximately 2005, the wedding photography industry began to undergo a major paradigm shift as digital photography technology improved and started to overtake film as the preferred choice for wedding photography. Like many other professional wedding photographers at the time, I reinvented myself again to stay current with technology. Because of this shift in wedding photography technology, I did some photographic consulting for the studio I contracted for; helping to transition it from wedding photography on film to digital wedding photography which was invaluable to its future in the wedding photography industry.
My approach to wedding photography
As a wedding photographer in the San Francisco Bay area for nearly the last 13 years, I have photographed hundreds of weddings. I work with all types of people from all walks of life and comfort levels from professional fashion models who are regularly in front of the camera to everyday people celebrating the special events of their lives. I approach wedding photography with an unwavering dedication to quality and high attention to detail. I strive to make my client’s wedding photography experience fun, comfortable, and stress free.
I’m heavily influenced by the commercial and couture fashion industry, and my individual style is a amalgamation of portraiture, fine art, photojournalism, commercial art and haute couture with the passion and emotion of the moment. This allows me to capture the defining moments of my clients lives, and create treasured memories that last a life time. My goal is to capture my clients special day creatively in my portrait photography and wedding photography so they can forever hold the treasure of those moments in time.
