About Me

My name is Wesley.  I am a full time seminary student at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California.  Aside from theology and people, my greatest passion is photography; it is through my photography that I most readily see the Divine.

I was given my first SLR camera at the age of 12, have had my own dark room since 16, went fully digital in 2008, and have been experimenting with off-camera strobe lighting since then. If you have any interest in developing skills with off-camera speedlights, I strongly encourage you to check out the Strobist community.

I have been fortunate to travel extensively through out my life, both in the U.S. and abroad.  In my travels and in my daily life, I always have a camera at hand.  I have found few things more spiritual than the gift of capturing the perfection of a moment in time.  It only takes a few unfortunate missed opportunities, not having a camera at that perfect moment, to recognize that the best camera you have is the camera you have with you.

I am an avid backpacker.  Moving to California has been one of the biggest boons to my exploration of nature.  Though graduate school isn’t very conducive to camping, when I have time, I grab my gear, my camera, and disappear into the woods for a few hours or a few days. Only since going digital and working with off-camera lighting have I begun doing any portraiture work.

My photography is, in the end, about me.  Even when I’m taking photos of other people, the point of my work is to capture the world as I see it.  As I’ve described it many times, photography is about three moments: the moment as it actually happens, the moment that the photographer sees, and the moment that is captured—experienced by the viewer.  You can shape a moment say many things; manipulate or twist it beyond what actually occurred.  I love to curve life, to transform moments from what was “real” to what I want to experience of reality, what I want others to experience.  The best photographs—those that are true works of art—force us as viewers to see not what we want to see, or what occurred, but what the photographer wants us to see.

Because of my philosophy on photography, I do not accept clients, nor do I accept payment for my work. My work, in the end, remains about and for me. But, as I continue to develop my own portfolio, if you happen across this blog and are interested in working with me to develop your portfolio (and my own), I am, however, willing to do TFD/P work with models/aspiring models. Just send me a note to discuss it!

A note on copyright: all files, photographs, images, words, associated with this website are under copyright by me, and I reserve all rights. If you wish to license any material, please contact me.