Occupy Seattle for The New York Times

I recently shot the Occupy Seattle protests for the New York Times. Although they weren't nearly as wild as the protests going on in Oakland the same day, they were visually interesting. A couple of images made it in to the slideshow. You can view them and others from the occupy protests throughout the country.

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Salmon Anemia for The New York Times

I had a quick assignment to go down to Fishermen's Terminal in Ballard and talk with some of the salmon fishermen. Unfortunately, the salmon season is pretty much winding down, but I was able to find some guys who were fishing for chum as well as an older gentlemen who was working on his boat. I'd never been down to the terminal before, but I am excited to do more work down there once there is more action with the next season.
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Occupy Seattle

Mr. Buzzard for The Seattle Weekly

Last week I was asked to photograph Mr. Buzzard for The Seattle Weekly cover story. Mr. Buzzard, a former gang member, now does outreach work with young people throughout Seattle. The challenge with this shoot was that I had about an hour at the Seattle Weekly offices to create an interesting portrait. I decided to set up a backdrop in one of the offices with a couple of lights, a beauty dish, and a ten degree grid. I hadn't shot a portrait like this in awhile, so it was good to play with studio lighting again. After several lighting setups and poses, I settled on a one light setup far enough away to the background to give it an interesting look. Here is what I came up with. In addition to shooting digital, I decided to shoot some black and white film through my hasselblad as well.

The Importance of Personal Work

It's been over a year now that I have been full time freelance. When I first started my photographic education nearly 6 years ago, I thought that being a freelance photographer would be the life! I was correct in thinking that, but little did I know, it would be quite a struggle as well. Last year, after a pretty busy summer of assignments my phone stopped ringing for nearly 5 months. Luckily, one day it started ringing again and hasn't stopped. Throughout the slow periods I was so worried about getting work I stopped taking pictures for me. Lately, I've been getting back to what I love to do. In between assignments I have started a myriad of different projects, some that will last for years, others, maybe only a couple of months.

Two months ago I started teaching at Luminous Works and The Photographic Center Northwest. It has been an eye opening experience. Throughout these classes, one of the main questions I am asked is whether I do personal work or if I shoot everything through assignments. Well as nice as the latter would be, most of the work that I am most proud of has come through a personal dedication of time, money, and motivation to focus on projects I feel are important or would just be fun to photograph. I am currently diving into a story in the Pacific Northwest that focuses on the remnants of the logging industry. I have decided to shoot it all on film, which I haven't done in ages, so bear with me as I post images and explore a new medium and visual style throughout this project.

Recent Tearsheets

This last month or two has been a whirlwind of assignments with The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, AARP Bulletin, Seattle Business, and the Seattle Weekly to name a few. The assignments have pushed me to think about things outside of the box and explore the city that I now call home. Here are a couple of tearsheets from the past months.

Smokejumpers for The New York Times

I recently got a last minute assignment from The New York Times to photograph a veteran smokejumper in Winthrop, Washington, who was retiring after 896 jumps for the US Forest Service. It was great fun to watch these men prepare for a practice jump that afternoon. Although I wasn't allowed up in the plane, the visual variety of the paraloft held infinite possibilities.

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