Diana and her Dancers - Roppongi, Tokyo

I was recently hired by Diana Tsuruda and her troupe of dancers, to photograph them both individually and as a group. Since their dance studio is in Roppongi, and they wanted a big-city feeling, we chose to shoot outside. I used a small flash with a little diffusion, and kept the depth of field shallow, so that the city backdrop wouldn't distract. Everything went well until a security guard stomped over, and angrily asked what we were doing. Ideally, for shoots like these, permits would be gained, and all the paperwork would be sorted out before doing the shoot. But realistically, it's often too complicated, and easier to 'live by your wits' and just shoot. The question that guards in Japan usually ask is, 'Commercial or sightseeing?' As long as you say, 'Sightseeing,' there's usually no problem (even with lots of flashes, tripods, reflector discs, camera bags, and other photo gear lying around).

Simply You

I was assigned by Simply You, a New Zealand lifestyle magazine, to photograph various places and things around Tokyo. We mostly focused on the hotspots of Harajuku and Ginza, and also made a trip to Tsukiji. For the last shoot, we visited the Shiseido Parlour restaurant, where I photographed the food - and then ate it. The food on photo shoots is usually nothing to write home about, but this was another story... One of their dishes was curry rice, a very common food in Tokyo, but they prepared it in just the right way, elevating it to a gourmet food.

Shichi-Go-San

In Japan, there is a festival called 'Shichi-Go-San,' which literally means 'Seven-Five-Three.' This celebration is for three and seven year-old girls, as well as five year-old boys. It's a rite of passage where they dress up in kimonos and visit the local temple. I was hired to photograph the daughters of a Tokyo couple for this event, and must say I was impressed by the kimono design - so bright and colorful, like visual candy. The girls were a lot of fun to work with, although I didn't anticipate all the strangers trying to take photographs of them while I was at work - I had to firmly reprimand several people who were snapping away close by.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

Today I went to a talk given by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, and took some photographs as well. I went there out of fascination: with someone who has been through such an amazing struggle, and who seems to emanate spirituality. The Dalai Lama does indeed have a strong spiritual aura - he seems very relaxed, confident, and in tune with both himself and the world around him. What I wasn't expecting was the wit and humor of the man: he made many jokes, saying at one point, 'China expects me to be a trouble-maker, so my job is to make trouble!' The third photo also shows some of his humor - pretending to have horns sprouting from his head. In his talk, he emphasized the need for compassion, for tolerance of all religions, and also the importance of scrutinizing the media.

Tsukiji Fish Salesman

The Tsukiji fish market - the biggest outdoor market in the world - is famous for its many vendors, and for its atmosphere of hustle and bustle. While on assignment for Simply You magazine recently, I noticed how many amazing characters there were at Tsukiji - faces that had seen a lot of life. So I returned, and started a series of portraits. In this one, an elderly fish salesman poses proudly in his impeccably clean outfit.

Bluetooth SIGnature Magazine

Bluetooth's SIGnature magazine has just been published, with some of my portraits inside. The portraits were shot for the 'Man on the Street' story, in which they interview business professionals about Bluetooth. My challenge for these portraits was to keep them simple and natural, and ensure that the models felt comfortable, relaxed and self-confident.

Something We Like

I was recently contacted by 'Something We Like,' a blog on all things artistic, to write a short piece on 'what I wished I had known at the beginning of my career.' Great question, and I was happy to provide an answer. Check out the whole thing here:

http://www.somethingwelike.com/inspirational/clarifying-scope-of-work