👋🏼 from the Bay Area, CA
I’m a photographer & videographer with a passion for capturing the rugged beauty and diverse places of the western United States. Primarily using Leica cameras (as well Hasselblad and Rolleiflex), I try to create captivating and scroll-stopping visuals in both film and digital formats. I love blending the timelessness of film with the efficiency of modern sensors.
While much of my work centers around adventure photography, I am well versed in capturing people, lifestyle, editorial, commercial, and other genres of photography as well. My unrelenting eye for detail and my creative approach to storytelling has led me to work with nationally recognized brands, delivering compelling visual creative that resonates with diverse audience.
My love for photography and videography is not just a career but my lifestyle, reflected in my YouTube channel where I share insights, tutorials, and authentic creative philosophy. I also founded Very Good Presets, where I help empower photographers with highly detailed color grades for their photos.
Most importantly, I’m a family man, finding inspiration in the balance of my professional pursuits with his personal life. Whether I’m exploring the vastness of the American West or working on commercial projects, I try to brings passion, experience, and a unique perspective to everything I do. This is why I always have my heart, mind, and hands engaged in creating something every day.
A Little More…
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I am a solid middle-aged, elder-millennial, born and raised in North Carolina. I lived in twenty-two homes growing up, ended up graduating High School in Germany, and then back to NC for college. Since then I’ve lived in Virginia, Colorado, Minnesota, Arizona, and currently in California. I’ve got a family I’m trying hard to steer in the right direction - my wife Amanda, and our two awesome kids. We also have a Jenn. Our extended family is a mixture of some of our relatives and close friends.
We try to live our life by cultural standards, most importantly, the culture of generosity. I think it’s really important to live your life with purpose, aiming for a target. For me, that target looks like a life that honors and respects all people, elevates the oppressed, and is defined by generosity.
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First, let me say that I believe everything in life requires faith. In faith we believe that our day will go as planned, that Abraham Lincoln was in-fact a real person, and that the digital money in our bank accounts isn’t going to magically disappear. The only way to live without faith is to live with certainty, and our tiny minds can only witness and experience so much certainty. Most of life is uncertainty. Enter faith.
Since that’s our reality, we get to choose the recipients of our faith. I choose to put my faith in Jesus. That doesn’t mean I have all of the answers, but I am certain in my uncertainty. I spent twenty years working in creative and arts within the mainstream church. Let me also be clear that I am a "love your neighbor" Christian, not a "storm the Capitol" Christian. I am an enemy of Christian Nationalism, systematic oppression, and mainline evangelical theology.
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I’ve always loved the arts. Over time, those passions have taken on various forms of life. In my younger years, I was a jazz musician. I even planned to go to college for jazz studies. I dreamed of being a band director. When I started college, I shifted more towards rock and ended up playing guitar and singing in a fairly successful hip-hop band. When that ended, I started doing the singer/songwriter thing. I still kind of do that.
While music has always been a major part of my life, I’ve also had a camera in my hand for most of my adult life as well. I had a Canon point-and-shoot in High School that I use to load up with cheap film and take pics all the time with. Then it was a Pentax SLR with a 50mm. Eventually I went digital with a Nikon, moved to Canon for a few years, and eventually landed with Sony for video work and Leica for photography. Can't beat a Leica M. Period.
Photography became a larger and larger part of my life because of my family. It just became harder and harder to be a family man and a musician. With photography, my family can be with me most of the time, and I can edit and work on projects sitting on the couch with the kids playing in the same room. This is a big deal for the season I’m in.
At the end of the day, I’m an artist and my passions are in the realms of art. It’s music. It’s photography. It’s videography. It’s design. It’s typography. It’s writing. It’s creative.
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So what am I up to these days? I’ve got a few things in the works.
I'm hyper-focused on my Youtube channel, cranking out two videos a week about photography. I hope it's helping people on their journey.
I'm working on a project about the northern plains of America. Some of my most meaningful and challenging work yet.
Idk...100 other things any given month.
My Gear
Leica Family
Leica M11 + M6 || Leica 28mm Summicron || Leica 35mm Summilux || Leica 50mm Summilux || Leica 90mm Summarit
Sony Family
Sony A7SIII || Sony A7RV || Sony 16-35GM || Sony 50GM || Sony 135GM
Other
Rolleiflex 2.8F || Hasselblad 500cm || Mamiya RB67 || DJI Mavic 2 Pro || DJI P3 || Other film cameras