2018 Special Olympics USA Games

This was by far one of the best experiences of my career. I got to photograph athletes at the Special Olympics, which took place on the University of Washington campus. Here are some of my favorite shots. And here's the article.

I was assisted by Ken Yu and Olli Tumelius.

Professors with projectors

What's more teacher-y than a slide projector? For this year's winners of the Distinguished Teaching Award, the highest honor a University of Washington professor can receive, I concepted a projector photoshoot with Columns Magazine art director Ken Shafer. He designed some amazing slides that tapped into the subject matter of each teacher. We were assisted by Ken Yu.   

The full article, which I also wrote, is here. It imagines a day in the life of a student who has all of these teachers in their class schedule at the same time (Ken Shafer's idea). 

Special thanks to photographer Jeremy Cowart who answered my technical questions via email.

Suzie Pun, Bioengineering

Karam Dana, Middle East Politics/Foreign Policy

Ekin Yasin, Communication

Alexes Harris, Sociology

Megan Ming Francis, Political Science

Chelsea Wood, Aquatic Sciences

Danica Miller, Native American Literature

Jane van Galen, Digital Communication

Portrait shoot: Retired NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly for Columns Magazine

This week, I photographed NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, whose 340-day trip to the International Space Station was the longest space visit in American history. Kelly was promoting his new book, "Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery."

The photoshoot took place in the chapel of University Temple United Methodist Church in Seattle, where Kelly was speaking that night. I designed two setups, one on a white background and one on a black background. The first (white) would show the astronaut floating, isolated, with no sense of spatial anchoring. The second (black) would show him emerging from darkness.

I was given five minutes for the shoot, but finished in two or three. Thanks to photographer Daniel Berman for the assist.

Setup #1

Setup #2

Read about Kelly's visit in Columns Magazine.

Portrait shoot: Actress and podcaster Anna Faris for Columns Magazine

If you're looking for a new podcast, Anna Faris has you covered. Her relationship advice show, "Unqualified," is super entertaining and at times pretty profound. 

You know Faris from a long string of IMDB credits, from "Scary Movie" to "The House Bunny" to "Keanu" (when she played herself in a hilarious cameo). I got to spend a few minutes photographing her on the Ave in U District, where she used to hang out as a college student at the University of Washington. 

Here's a look at my two setups. The first was a vintage radio host setup. I was returning something at Guitar Center in South Lake Union and saw this microphone in behind the glass.  I thought it would go great with her hair and a burgundy backdrop. So I asked about renting the mic — it only cost $25! — and then headed to Glazer's for the backdrop. As for the wood: It's a piece of plywood that I covered with a colonial maple stain from Home Depot. 

The second setup was a white backdrop with a throwback UW sweater, which Anna loved and wore to the event she was speaking at later in the night. Her new book, by the way, is called "Unqualified." Check it out!

Setup #1

Setup #2

Anna was also nice enough to pose with some very excited fans:

Here's a look at a picture in print, for Columns Magazine of the University of Washington:

In print

Columns Magazine, December 2017