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I never really planned to become a photographer. It was just a hobby, a way for me to see and share the people, places and feelings around me. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked ...
They say not to put dad jokes on your about page, but I'm saving you time right now by inserting a joke this early. If you don't want to have fun on a shoot, you can stop reading right now because it's part of the process. If you're having fun, it shows in your photos.
... It wasn't the Fire Nation. It was the feedback from people who loved my photography and wanted to see me do more of it.
and I feel everything around me. I've tried, but I can't turn it off. It's my curse and a blessing. But it's what makes me an amazing photographer that I notice all the little things around me. The tension in a hand, the very start of a smile before it bursts across a face, the loving look from the parent as their kid gets married. I feel it all.
Every photo is a story, and I can tell yours. A life time ago, I had a career in journalism. PLOT TWIST: I wasn't working as a photographer then. I made maps and infographics; which was the craft of finding and telling the compelling story buried in the spreadsheet. If I can make numbers beautiful. I can bring out your best side too.
Speaking stories, when we get together, remind me to tell you the story about how I walked away from a job with the New York Times to move to Michigan.
I know you don't really care about which tools I use, just that I can tell your amazing story. But I'm so very excited about these tools that I needed to share. Like I said, I've been doing this for 20 years and I've got a lot of tricks in my bag. I understand the different flavors light comes in, and I bring along my own handheld sun or suns.
My wife Nicole is the most amazing person on Earth. She lives with an artist and provides a whole family's worth of sanity. We have a wonderful teenage daughter who is the reason I elevated my photography to capture her childhood.
I was born in a small village in Sierra Leone. My American parents were former Peace Corps Volunteers who had stayed overseas building schools as part of work with other NGOs. They gave me a popular local name that has no other direct cultural connection. I lived in Sierra Leone and Liberia before moving to New Jersey while in elementary school. This is where my compassion and dedication to doing work that matters was hatched. It's also where I first learned to see differences.
Thats me in a nutshell. I have fun. I feel things.
I create images that tell stories, and I look forward to telling yours.