about me

A Passion for Analog Aesthetics & Digital Tech

I am a natural and studio light photographer based in the Fox Valley area who has been particularly interested in “making things look cool” all my life.

I have been drawing and designing things as long as I can remember, which eventually led me to obtain degrees in illustration and design. My interest in film photography was reignited a number of years ago when I found out how interesting and advanced high-end digital equipment had become. To me this was great news, because it allowed me to mix another love of mine (messing around with expensive electronics and computers) with the aesthetic challenge of making something that was visually enthralling.

The Process

I’m fortunate to work full time in a field I truly love, and I’m able to employ the method I believe delivers the best possible product: I finish every single photograph I provide to my clients from the ground up. This means hand applying everything from saturation, contrast, sharpness, etc. to every indvidual photograph in a way that is most ideal. This process of course includes all necessary airbrushing.

In post-production I ‘complete’ the photograph, but it does start with capturing high quality images to work with. I use the best equipment available for the job. For some events (especially weddings), low lighting can cause fits for many cameras. I take very seriously being asked to shoot anything at all, let alone something that is only going to happen once like a wedding, and I make sure that every avenue is available to me to photograph it properly!

Your Big Day

Getting out and meeting new people and capturing very important days and times in their lives has been extremely rewarding in itself, and it’s why I look forward to every shoot. Especially with families and kids, my goal is to make every session as fun and interesting as possible for them.

I can’t speak for other photographers, but I’ve found that some of MY best shots come from allowing them to simply do what they will in between what is asked of them. It also helps that most children (starting with my own) seem to naturally giggle at me!

With weddings, I love interacting with the wedding party and putting everyone at ease so as to best capture the genuine emotions and fun taking place. My biggest thing for weddings is that I try to never stop shooting. Like everything else I photograph, I’ve found that some of the shots my clients and I have liked best have come from the times that are in-between the ‘planned events to shoot’, and often end up becoming the stars of the show. Candid shots often better capture the true emotion expressed by the bride & groom, wedding party, and guests. That makes them, in my opinion, some of the most compelling shots.

What’s in the Bag?

I have invested in some of the best equipment available to ensure I have everything I need at my disposal to capture your once-in-a-lifetime moments! Here is a current list of my equipment that travels with me to my assignments:

Camera Bodies:

Nikon Z9, D6, D5, & D800

Lenses:

Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 VR Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII Nikon 105mm f/2.8 macro Nikon 85mm f/1.4 Nikon 50mm f/1.8 Sigma 35mm f/1.4 Nikon 20mm f/2.8 Nikon 16mm fisheye f/2.8

Portable Lighting:

Flashpoint Programmable Speedlights (x4) Paul C. Buff White Lightning 3200 Monolight Paul C. Buff White Lightning 1600 Monolight PocketWizard Flex TT5 wireless Transceiver (x4) Nikon SB-600 Speedlight

Contact

If you have any questions or would like to discuss a project please contact me here.