I’m a great believer in the narrative aspect of photography.

As a Director-Writer-Shooter-Editor in film and video production, I have always been fundamentally concerned with ensuring that the story is served. My years as head of my own production company, Triplane Film + Video, gave me a chance to exercise that sensibility on a wide variety of projects from features to TV to corporate, educational, docs and music videos.

From my early days in animation, I found great delight in incorporating stills in my work. “Montage” style means just that – you pull from what you have as long as it moves the story forward. This principle also applies to my work in still photography. For a picture to work its way under my skin, I have to find and convey the story – whether it comes from the place or subject, or the colors and juxtaposition of elements. Without that, I think an audience struggles to appreciate what you are doing. It doesn’t always work, but when it does, it’s magic.

Photography gives me a chance to explore a place, a theme, colors and textures.  Street Photography has become more and more my passion, but not far behind is the natural world: mountains, desert, ocean and urban parks. Just as my professional work has involved people, streets, architecture, transportation, I take my cameras and lenses to city, towns  and highways on the west coast or east coast USA or in-between - in search of compelling moments and details. Wherever people congregate and engage with surroundings. My camera tags along with me on backpacking trips to the Sierra Nevada and gives me something to do on a train or waiting at a traffic stop. It’s with me on trips downtown or in the deserts and mountains on  hike or on a journey over hills blackened after a fire to document recovery.  

Aside from the chills and thrills that I have out in the field shooting, I take an equal measure of  joy in post processing. As a kid a learned to fuss with photograms and darkroom work along with printmaking, painting and etching. This art background gave me a foundational understanding and appreciation for the craft and techniques. While  a photo can be great SOOC (especially with Fujifilm) , I prefer to apply my own finishing touches; this penchant also may come from years of color correction in editing studios. But I attribute this part of producing a picture to be essential to immersing yourself in the moment, the place, the feel so that what emerges truly conveys what you saw with all your senses.  

Cameras since 2016:

Fujifilm X series. Now  XT-3. Favorite lenses: 16-55; 56 1.2; 23 1.2; 33mm and the 50-140 zoom. Street and travel camera is the X-E4 and the 27mm MkII - low profile and nifty. Photo Editing work is in Lightroom and Photoshop. I develop all my "recipes" and enjoy experimenting to create a mood and a feeling that helps convey the image's story as I see it.

A Few Past Video Production Clients:

LA County Metro / KPCC / kbda / A&E Biography / Natural History Museum of LAC / Karten Design and many more. 

Way back: Music Videos for Chaka Khan / Concrete Blonde / Thelonious Monster / E.L.O. / Patti LaBelle / Michel’le /  Enrique Iglesias and many more.