About

Hi there. Thanks for checking out my work and for taking a few minutes to read about me. I promise to keep it short.

Quite simply, I love being a photographer. Aside from a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer or a Thanksgiving turkey roasted to juicy perfection, I can think of few things as fulfilling as making a photo that touches someone’s heart.  This is one of the most rewarding jobs anyone could ever have. I’m a lucky guy.

My history behind the lens goes back 25 years, when in high school (Uh…did I just let my age out of the bag?!) I simultaneously got an after-school job as a photographer’s assistant, and got my first SLR, a fully manual film camera – remember, this was long before the digital revolution, and auto-focus was brand new cutting edge technology.  A Christmas present from my Mom, given with a mother’s love and hope that I’d fulfill my dream of becoming a journalist, that camera was my treasured possession and it served me well as I learned the craft of photography in my part-time job and cut my teeth working on the high school newspaper and yearbook staff, winning several awards for my work along the way. Thanks, Mom, for all your encouragement.

Fast forward to the present. For the past eight years or so, the preponderance of my work has focused on weddings and engagements, lifestyle and environmental portraiture. Probably owing to my formative years spent documenting student life with my camera, my photography style blends a distinctive story-telling core seasoned with a touch of Madison Avenue flair. My subjects are people, and I strive to create photos that project the individual character of each person, especially during some of the most important times of their lives. My goals: Intensity. Emotion. Power.

I offer complete wedding photojournalism and environmental portraiture photography for a range of clients.  I am bilingual in English and Japanese, and specialize in weddings for international couples primarily in the Kobe-Osaka area of Japan and in the San Francisco Bay Area, with ability to travel for destination events.

I split my time between my hometown San Francisco and my current home in Kobe, Japan. So if you are in or near either wonderful city (or plan to be), and you recently got engaged, have a wedding planned, or are interested in unique environmental portraits of yourself, your colleagues or your loved ones, please drop me a line. Destination photo sessions are also possible. I’d love to talk with you about your ideas.

Thanks!
Jim