FAQs
- What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
I have taken and plan to continue taking art and photography classes, as well as attend conferences and events. I spend much of my "free" time going through and editing photos, as well as taking photos, and looking at a wide variety of other photographers' work for inspiration. In this business you're always improving your skills and developing new ones, finding new and better ways to arrive at the desired outcome.
- How did you get started doing this type of work?
It had been a long time since I'd picked up a camera (my old Kodak Elektra and my Polaroid from when I was a kid) when I inherited my brother's 1.3MP digital camera in 2000. Making good use of his camera felt like I was honoring his memory somehow, creating and capturing new memories with something that he left behind. The world of digital photography grew and changed rapidly, and his camera (which I still have!) was so well used that it developed some problems and I was forced to upgrade. Since then I've upgraded quite a few times and over the years I've become more passionate about photography as an art, and not just a method of recording memories. Recording the memory will always be of the utmost importance to me, so I won't throw out the ONE photo of something (yes, even if it's bad - I'm that sentimental) if it means throwing away that photographic memory. However, if you can, why not try to capture all your memories with style? My first DSLR (digital single lens reflex camera) came to me rather suddenly, and it took me a while before I decided to learn how to use it inside and out. At that point I realized I had this itch to use all these skills that I had, but I needed some place to use them. I am so happy that my life has led me to this profession, and I hope to continue at it for many years to come.
- Describe a recent project you are fond of. How long did it take?
I had a fantastic time photographing a family with two little girls at Stanford Campus recently. They were moving back to Japan in a month and they wanted photographs of their family to remember their time in California. Their three year old daughter loved running away, but I made the best of it. Shortly over a month after their move to Japan I received these kind notes in an email from the mother, "[the photos] I love most now decorate the walls and shelves all over our house" "My favorite [photo] is the backscene of the 2 girls running down the hallway with pillars, Midori extending her hand to Aoi. I printed this picture on canvas. Another favorite is the 3 of us walking toward the clock tower, hand in hand."