Hey there, I am a professional photographer and painter in Los Angeles, California. I grew up in a small town in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, called Park Falls. The day after High School Graduation I moved to Missouri and applied to the University of Missouri-Columbia's famed School of Journalism. I receiving my Bachelors Degree in Journalism: emphasis in Photojournalism, with the hopes of emulating the rugged journalists I met...telling stories and traveling the world, something I had yet to do. With a strong desire to see more, and dreading another long post-college Kansas City winter, I packed my Jetta and headed westward through a Kansas blizzard, toward sunny Southern California like so many had done before.
After a while of couch surfing, depleted fund and some photo assisting, I grabbed my first "real" photo job as a fashion photographer for a major department store chain, taking photos for catalogs and newspaper advertisements. After a few years, I left "the best job I needed to get out of" and went back to being a photo assistant, where I became a modern day apprentice... lighting and aiding in the creation of celebrity portraits, ad campaigns, and travel assignments with many great photographers around the world. Today I use these skills when I shoot my editorial and advertising work...Each project is an opportunity to improve and push myself and my idea of what makes a good photograph. Along the way, I have captured some of my favorite shots and have shared them here with you.
And because I needed another hobby :) I now, am also a painter...people have described my work as having a pseudo-realist yet impressionistic style of the subjects I like to paint...which seems to currently be an Americana inspired collection of signage and marquees that I find romantic, and are an homage to the past and the art that once graced the highways and hotels. I love the patina and markers of the modern history in this country. I hope you enjoy the work, and Thanks for Playing.