I hate reading my own press....
...It's just a little weird.
So this is my bio in my own words I kind of failed to grow up in Ojai, California in the late 70's. The idea of becoming a photographer had never crossed my mind. I was thinking Rock Star or Professional Surfer. My first camera was a Kodak Instamatic I think I was about 6 when I got it, but the story really starts in 1980 at the beach in Ventura, California. My friends all wanted to become pro surfers and live on the beach in Hawaii surfing the Banzai Pipeline the first step (but obviously dude) was to get their picture in the surfing magazines. My mother was an artist and my dad was an aerospace engineer and I generally stayed sober enough to understand what I read so I was the logical choice for camera man. Money was scraped up and a Canon F1 was purchased along with a few used lenses and I became our official Surfing Photographer.
No, really... I'm The Photographer...
"...What do you mean I look like I'm 12!!"
I was 16 and had no idea how to submit photo's to a magazine so I stuffed an envelope with prints and a cover letter to one of the surf rags. About a month latter I received a letter that said they weren't hiring but would accept freelance work. Lucky for me they also sent forms that had information about submitting images and stories and multiple copies of copyright release contracts. My first shot was published in the spring of 1980 and I got a check for $50.
By 1982 it started to get serious, and the reality of it was... I didn't actually know what I was doing. I had friends that attended the Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara so I began to sneak into their classes and borrow their books. I took a few photography classes at Ventura College. By this time I was getting by as a Hollywood and Los Angeles Band Photographer and Freelance Photojournalist. I started doing Headshots for aspiring actors, models, dancers and other entertainers about this same time.
On to Wedding Photography
I really look good in a tux...Not enough pockets though.
Someone suggested that I photograph this wedding (I think it was about 1984) I couldn't see my self as a wedding photographer I didn't think I had the personality, but I agreed to do it anyway after some arm twisting.
The whole thing was going terrible in my opinion, I tried to pose everyone like in all the wedding shots I'd ever seen and knew it wasn't coming off, So like the photojournalist I am, I just started shooting what was going on, and late in the evening in an attempt to salvage the day I grabbed up the bride and groom and did what I knew best, Dramatic Hollywood Headshot style images of the couple and I photographed them candidly taking a walk down Hollywood's Sunset Strip...
...By 1991 I had photographed about 50 weddings, go figure. Apparently the world was ready for a new slant on wedding photography: "Wedding Reportage" as it was known in the UK
Photojournalistic Wedding Photography (I also worked very hard to learn the techniques of Classic Wedding Photography).
I have worked as a professional photographer now for 27 years.
Gee... Am I really that old?
Photography has become a passion as much as a profession. I really love what I do.
The awards and pats on the back I have received are great, but the biggest kick I get is going through the images I've taken and remembering the moments ..."that was a great wedding, they were really fun... I wonder what she thinks about that portrait now that she's 20... and even, I wonder how I lived through that one?
I LOVE THIS STORY ;)
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