When I was but a young lad, I explored nearly every type of art that existed.  Water colors, oil paints, sculpting, poetry, music, performance.  You name it, I wanted to try it. So when I came upon the photography class that was offered in high school, I was eager to try my hand at that. The problem was that it was a very popular course and would fill up each year.  I had to devise a plan that would allow […]

Many years ago, I learned a lesson about photography that has stayed with me ever since.Sometimes the best place to capture a subject is the last place you would ever think to look. Back then, a photographer could actually make a respectable living selling stock images. Better yet, it was an excellent side hustle for someone already working professionally behind the camera. Even after long assignments, I still loved shooting simply for the joy of it. Today, anyone can download […]

This isn’t a story about photography, my career, or the recognizable people I’ve met. It’s a story about life, relationships, enduring friendships, and the quiet strength of family. I was fortunate in my childhood. I grew up in a neighborhood that felt less like a collection of houses and more like a true community. Families knew one another. They trusted one another. They shared values with strong foundations upon which lasting bonds could be built. It was a time when […]

Once I relocated my studio from Palo Alto to San Francisco, the nature and scope of the projects I was given began to evolve. From local assignments for nearby companies,  to opportunities with national and even international clients. The shift was both exciting and affirming, One particularly assignment involved photographing portraits for the New York Opera. As it happened, one of their principal singers was residing in San Francisco at the time, which made the collaboration especially convenient. The shots […]

No one believed me. Not a single soul. Every attempt to share my experiences fell on deaf ears, and I have no reason to expect anyone will believe me now. The only person who eventually came to accept it, on her own terms, and certainly not because of anything I said, was my sister, Julie. Even she was skeptical at first. That changed after one dark evening when she found herself alone in the studio. It was then she witnessed […]

The make-up artist couldn’t help but laugh at my nerves. We had worked together on countless shoots over the years. Capturing everyone from top executives to actors and celebrities. She knew me well, knew my rhythm, my calm. So when she paused, looked at me, and said, “I’ve never seen you nervous before,” it caught even me off guard and put me in my place. Why was I nervous? It didn’t make sense. I had worked with notable figures before. […]

The entire Art Center experience was a three-year journey of personal growth, shaped within an intense system designed to mirror military training for the arts. In all honesty, that was one of the very reasons I chose the school. It had a reputation as a demanding yet deeply rewarding place to improve artistic skills, where only the most dedicated could succeed amid fierce competition.  Even so, I was hardly prepared for what I would encounter on my first day among […]

Many people are familiar with PINK, the pop/rock artist. Most have heard her number one hit, “Don’t Let Me Get Me”. But if she had listened to me that song might never have reached the ears of the world. We were working together on a shoot in the desert just outside of Vegas. The landscape was mystical. An endless canvas of muted tones, cool rock formations and endless sky. In person, PINK was genuine, thoughtful, and refreshingly down-to-earth. However, it […]

The Palo Alto studio was the largest space I ever operated. 7,200 square feet, It was an easy walk to Stanford University. The main shooting area measured over 2,100 square feet, providing ample room for large productions, multiple sets and complex lighting setups. Because of its size I regularly hosted meetings there for the professional photography groups. At one of those meetings, while people were milling about and chatting as they waited for the evening’s speakers to begin, I met […]

I got a call from an ad agency asking if I could photograph a live shark. This was long before AI, and Adobe Photoshop was still in its infancy. Computer processing power was a fraction of what it is today.you could start a simple Gaussian blur and have enough time to leave the room for coffee and a snack while the machine churned through its task. The assignment sounded simple enough. Capture a clean image of a shark against a […]