Regina Rodriguez
I was always more on the creative side of things but I learned early on that being an “artist” isn’t something you can really make a living off of. You see, I needed to make a living off something. I grew up poor by a single mother and I had to make something of myself.. at least I saw it that way. I didn’t want to be a statistic and I knew I had the ability to hustle. Read More>>
Daniel Nguyen
I started photography in Highschool. At first, it was just a class that filled my art prerequisite before I can graduate, I later joined yearbook in my last year then I joined the school newspaper in Cal Poly Pomona. I honestly wasn’t expecting to be a full-time photographer, it just happened to peak my interest the more I experimented with my friends with creative shoots. My mentor taught me about work ethics on set and there was more to photography than just taking “sexy” photos and simple portraits. Read More>>
Tammie Valer
Undecided on my career path, I explored many options until I realized photography has always been a huge interest to me. I would always create different scenarios in my head. I always wanted to capture the beauty of the people around me as well as my surroundings. I grabbed my mother’s Kodak and started capturing my stories. It’s been about 6-7 years since I decided to pursue Photography as a career. Read More>>
Maggie Cathey
I started doing makeup when I was in high school. I went to a lot of dances and was always getting my makeup done and it didn’t take long for me to figure out that I liked the way that I did it better than when I went somewhere else. Senior year I did a lot of people’s makeup for dances and dance shows. When I went to college for Theater, I was friends with a lot of film majors and started working on their student films and eventually started on weddings. Read More>>
Terral Altom
I was raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma and have a bachelor’s degree in Communication and Film from the University of Tulsa. My passion for photography started with Black & White film classes in college. Developed a passion for capturing images of people and nature. Read More>>
Christopher Beyer
I was 21 and desperately in need of direction in my life and on a bit of a spiritual search as well. I was making some much-needed changes and decisions on what I wanted to do with my life and oddly enough I chose photography because of its seeming simplicity. Very soon after making the decision to pursue photography and without a plan, I crossed paths with a gentleman who was on a similar spiritual search. Read More>>
Jim Cushinery
I started life as a full-time musician in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Relocating to Los Angeles opened up numerous opportunities in the music business, and unexpectedly, the film industry as well. As a director, I always focused on the actors and let my cinematographer handle the visuals. Ultimately, I took up photography to better communicate with my crew. As it turns out, I have a knack for portraiture, and work to create images unique to each client – bespoke portraits. I’ve also branched out to fashion, editorial, architectural, celebrity, fitness, and head shots. Read More>>
Brianna Gonzales
When I was younger I loved “playing” with makeup. I loved trying to create new looks on both myself and my siblings. As I got older I realized how much I wanted to go to school to get certified, and with the help of my family, I was able to do that. Read More>>
Esteban Allard-Valdivieso
Even though I had always loved taking pictures as a kid and teenager in LA, I had never really thought of becoming a photographer until 2006 after assisting another photographer friend (Troy Bayless) work on some shoots in the Bay Area, where I was living at the time. His encouragement was really the impetus; he even sold me my first DSLR, a Nikon D80. Read More>>
Jeremy Lee
I am originally from the Bay Area in Northern California. I discovered my passion for photography, video, and music in my junior year of high school. I started doing photoshoots with my friends and recording music covers with them. At first, I did it just as a hobby. But the more I did it, the more passionate I became with it. Read More>>
Araya Diaz
My photography life began when I was gifted an antique Brownie camera. Looking down the barrel of the viewfinder and aligning the backwards, upside down image was really fun and challenging to make it look interesting. Read More>>
Katie Ferguson
All throughout grade school, I was rarely without a camera: starting with a disposable film camera and eventually making my way up to a simple point-and-shoot digital. At the time, it was never my intention to create art or refine a craft, it was simply to capture moments with friends and family so that they could be looked back upon regularly and vividly. At the time I didn’t know it would become such a passion. In fact, at the time, my dream was to continue studying music. Read More>>
Nelson Blanton
I started in 1995. I’ve always been into photography since I was a kid but decided to focus on it as a career. learned as much as I could, assisted a few great photographers, including celebrity photographer Randee St. Nicholas. My first shoot with her was with Prince in 1995. I just stayed at it no matter what. In 2002 I started shooting for Playboy. Dreams come true! Read More>>
Casey Lewis
I always liked the idea of taking pictures but I never acted on it until later in life. I first got the bug working as a recording engineer in a major Los Angeles studio. After working with famed recording engineer, Eddie Kramer (Zeppelin, Hendrix, Rolling Stones) and seeing his photographs documenting recording sessions, it inspired me to do the same with the bands I was working with. Read More>>
Evan Kaufmann
My path to photography began with filmmaking. I was directing commercials early on in my career and realized I didn’t have the proper photography expertise to articulate my ideas and visions with my clients and crew. Shortly after this realization, I bought a SLR and began trail and error photography. I never took any classes but I spent numerous hours experimenting with different lenses, exposures, shutter speeds, framing, lighting setups, etc… This ultimately leads to a love of photography for me and a better understanding of the entire process for both still photography and filmmaking. Read More>>
Byron Motley
Photography started off as a hobby for me many moons ago. It was not something I looked at as a profession until I was invited to exhibit some of my photos at a huge photography event in Croatia in 2005! I thought then, ‘well my stuff must be pretty good’! Since then, I’ve taken my photographic work more seriously and have delved into it whole-heartedly. Very proud to have had a book of my photos from Cuba recently published in a coffee-table book entitled “Embracing Cuba”! My strengths as a photographer are photographing models, actors, and travel-related photography. Read More>>
Brynne Zaniboni
Like most photographers, I picked up cameras early–often the plastic disposable ones with the rare exception of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle camera that left a turtle imprint in the upper left corner of each of my prints, which I thought was the coolest. Regardless of the gift, my mother hated printing my photos because without fail most of the images would be poorly-timed candids, blown-out clouds, street signs, etc. The kind of images that a 9-year-old may find deep meaning in, but they were unexceptional and mostly a waste of developer fluid. Little did we know, that camera play would lend a hand in developing my artistic eye down the road. Read More>>
Eric Charles
In 2005, my then-girlfriend came out of her yoga class and handed me a brochure for a local photography class. “You should be a photographer” she said. “I bet you’d like it.” Read More>>
Jarrah Gurrie
I’m Australian, I grew up on the south coast near Melbourne. At University, I started making experimental short films with my friends which lead me to grad film school at NYU. I’ve worked as a Production Designer, Photographer, Director, and Editor. I relocated to LA in 2012. Met with challenges producing the film work I wanted to, I returned my interest to Photography as it’s an art form I have more control over. Read More>>
Natasha Wilson
In 2011, I graduated from photography school feeling pretty lost. I understood that I loved photography and had a passion for it, but I didn’t understand how to jump from student to a high fashion photographer like I thought I wanted to be. I traveled around for a while, immersed myself in different cultures and climates, and eventually moved to Los Angeles in January of this year. Read More>>
Alexis Evelyn
Since I can remember I always found a way to get my hands on a camera. Being a child the most amazing people in your lives are your parents. You look up to them. My Father always pushing me to do my best and My mother being a photographer made me appreciate art from day one. And of course, through genetics, I got her creative mind and his determination. Being only 26 and having had the chance to capture and develop with film in our “in-house darkroom” is sadly unheard of today. But being in that dark room and having to use all your senses to create art pushed me to love photography even more. Though I don’t shoot on film anymore I carry that love with me. Read More>>
Michael Dunker
I’ve always been creative. When I was a kid, I drew and painted, but it was never something my family focused on. When I made the decision to move to Los Angeles, I found an ad on Craigslist to work on an independent film. I had no clue, but work was work. During the second week of shooting, the producer asked if I ever shot stills on a movie. Read More>>
Stephanie Romero
I started photography when I was sixteen years hold. I had already been intrigued by photos and I decided to take a black and white 35mm photography class. It wasn’t available at my high school, so I would go to night school at the local community college to take the photography class. In that class, I met an amazing teacher, Misty Cervantes, who really pushed me artistically. Read More>>
