The decision making muscle is one of the most important things in photography and the business of. Over the years, I’ve learned that making decisions faster in everything, especially in business, can be more efficient and profitable…even if you make the wrong decision. Sometimes making the wrong decision and making a mistake is better than not making a decision at all. At the very least you’ve learned something. Making decisions in business takes you another step further from where you are.
More of what I wanted to parlay this into is the decision making muscle of shooting. This directly correlates with my ABS theory, in that you should always be shooting. The decision making muscle is the muscle that is exercised every time you push that button. This is the element of photography that assisting will never ever teach you – because until you’re looking through that camera deciding wether the light is right, the composition is right, the model is in the right position, the wardrobe is spot on, the hair and make up are perfect, everything is lined up right, and everything else that you have to think about in creating a picture is to your liking, etc. – you’ll never be actually logging those learned pieces of information into your brain. Making decisions of every element in your photograph is like exercising a muscle, and you learn more with every shot you take. That’s why it needs to be exercised, so that each time you shoot you are making better and better images.
What ingredients to add to a photograph: locations, clothes, models, hair and makeup, lighting, etc. These decisions all add up to create your vision which is portrayed through your portfolio. Learning to make better decisions makes your imagery better, and in the end that’s what sells you.
All these little decisions that you learn along the way get amplified when you’re running a bigger set. When you have a 15-20 person crew to steer, you’re learning how to direct not only your subject, but also your team. You are the leader, and that’s what leaders do.
The decision making muscle is one of the most important things in photography and the business of. Over the years, I’ve learned that making decisions faster in everything, especially in business, can be more efficient and profitable…even if you make the wrong decision. Sometimes making the wrong decision and making a mistake is better than not making a decision at all. At the very least you’ve learned something. Making decisions in business takes you another step further from where you are.
More of what I wanted to parlay this into is the decision making muscle of shooting. This directly correlates with my ABS theory, in that you should always be shooting. The decision making muscle is the muscle that is exercised every time you push that button. This is the element of photography that assisting will never ever teach you – because until you’re looking through that camera deciding wether the light is right, the composition is right, the model is in the right position, the wardrobe is spot on, the hair and make up are perfect, everything is lined up right, and everything else that you have to think about in creating a picture is to your liking, etc. – you’ll never be actually logging those learned pieces of information into your brain. Making decisions of every element in your photograph is like exercising a muscle, and you learn more with every shot you take. That’s why it needs to be exercised, so that each time you shoot you are making better and better images.
What ingredients to add to a photograph: locations, clothes, models, hair and makeup, lighting, etc. These decisions all add up to create your vision which is portrayed through your portfolio. Learning to make better decisions makes your imagery better, and in the end that’s what sells you.
All these little decisions that you learn along the way get amplified when you’re running a bigger set. When you have a 15-20 person crew to steer, you’re learning how to direct not only your subject, but also your team. You are the leader, and that’s what leaders do.







The decision making muscle is one of the most important things in photography and the business of. Over the years, I’ve learned that making decisions faster in everything, especially in business, can be more efficient and profitable…even if you make the wrong decision. Sometimes making the wrong decision and making a mistake is better than not making a decision at all. At the very least you’ve learned something. Making decisions in business takes you another step further from where you are.
More of what I wanted to parlay this into is the decision making muscle of shooting. This directly correlates with my ABS theory, in that you should always be shooting. The decision making muscle is the muscle that is exercised every time you push that button. This is the element of photography that assisting will never ever teach you – because until you’re looking through that camera deciding wether the light is right, the composition is right, the model is in the right position, the wardrobe is spot on, the hair and make up are perfect, everything is lined up right, and everything else that you have to think about in creating a picture is to your liking, etc. – you’ll never be actually logging those learned pieces of information into your brain. Making decisions of every element in your photograph is like exercising a muscle, and you learn more with every shot you take. That’s why it needs to be exercised, so that each time you shoot you are making better and better images.
What ingredients to add to a photograph: locations, clothes, models, hair and makeup, lighting, etc. These decisions all add up to create your vision which is portrayed through your portfolio. Learning to make better decisions makes your imagery better, and in the end that’s what sells you.
All these little decisions that you learn along the way get amplified when you’re running a bigger set. When you have a 15-20 person crew to steer, you’re learning how to direct not only your subject, but also your team. You are the leader, and that’s what leaders do.

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Emanate is a creative-direction-led photography experience for entrepreneurs, speakers, and thought leaders in a moment of expansion. This isn’t about better photos. It’s about aligning how you’re seen with who you’ve become. For seasons of rebrand, visibility, and next-level leadership.
Magnetic Authority is a self-guided container for people who feel visible, but not fully anchored.
If your message keeps shifting, your brand feels inconsistent, or your presence doesn’t match your capability yet. This is where you build the foundation before you scale.
For founders, creatives, and leaders who want a trusted long-term partner. This isn’t coaching or traditional consulting.
It’s an ongoing creative partnership focused on bringing your personal brand identity to life.
Your brand. Your website. Your visuals.
All shaped as a direct extension of who you are. The work also includes a bespoke process of identifying and aligning the right experts when needed, so nothing gets built out of sync with your core.
Quiet. Precise. Highly Selective.

Brand guidelines are static rules for the surface. A Brand Brain is a living codification of identity a team or an AI can generate from. The difference, defined.

We trained six styles of kung fu in one month. Sampling that widely taught me how a creative actually finds the practice worth years: breadth first, the pull as data, then depth.

Travel makes you more creative because unfamiliar places wake up your perception. Why the effect works, and how to bring the sharpened eye home with you.

Your brand photos lag behind you because you kept evolving and the images stayed frozen. Why the gap opens, how to spot it, and what closes it.

The kung fu school had rules: locked-in weekdays, dawn starts, push-ups for lateness. A month inside taught me that constraints you choose are what make depth possible.

A daily creative practice is making one real thing every day, however small, to stay in a proactive state. A working definition, and how to build one that lasts.

AI describes your brand by averaging your public record. How to codify one identity, repeat it everywhere, and get the machines to echo you back accurately.

I’ve photographed Justin Bieber several times and seen fame up close. His stripped-down Coachella set showed the thing I keep relearning about creative work: production amplifies, and only artistry carries.

You recover from creative burnout by treating it as a nervous system state: build real down-cycles, read your own signals, and return to the work you love.

A magnetic personal brand comes from coherence and one clear through-line. Here is how entrepreneurs build one, in order, and the trap that keeps most brands scattered.

I spent a month training kung fu in Wudang at 47, the oldest and slowest learner in the room. What being a beginner again in midlife taught me about pace, comparison, and starting anyway.

You develop taste through thousands of reps of looking closely and deciding what works. A photographer’s honest answer on how taste gets built.
I was born in a low middle class conservative religious family in the suburbs of Seattle. Art was and always has been my passion, and more than that a way of life. Starting as a graphic designer, I taught myself photography, built a commercial/editorial business shooting for the worlds biggest brands like Nike, Coca-Cola, Adidas and more. I've also had the opportunity to photograph the world's biggest celebrities like Justin Bieber, Usher, Jessica Alba and more. I've curated a lifestyle around creativity and have learned a lot along the way which I get to share here.
I was born in a low middle class conservative religious family in the suburbs of Seattle. Art was and always has been my passion, and more than that a way of life. Starting as a graphic designer, I taught myself photography, built a commercial/editorial business shooting for the worlds biggest brands like Nike, Coca-Cola, Adidas and more. I've also had the opportunity to photograph the world's biggest celebrities like Justin Bieber, Usher, Jessica Alba and more. I've curated a lifestyle around creativity and have learned a lot along the way which I get to share here.