My name is Josh and as you might have guessed I’m a photographer. I was born, raised and still live in Santa Rosa, California. The locals know this beautiful area as home and everyone else knows it as wine country. The down and dirty: I’m married, have no children (yet) and do photography as both a hobby and a job. The long version is as follows. Read on if you dare. :-)

I studied photography when I was in high school and have never really put my camera down since. I may have taken a “creative break” from time to time, but my wheels have always been spinning. In high school I learned the fundamentals of photography. The ins and outs of exposure, lighting, developing and display. I didn’t really get the sense of what photography really was until I started taking photos for myself and not as an assignment. Although you may have an idea for an assignment in school, the creativity is always pointed in the direction of the one handing out the assignment. So the idea never really was mine. When I purchased my first digital camera in the summer of 2001, I began producing images in the way that I saw them.

I started my journey into the business world in 2003 when I began taking photos for a dance studio. I put together a photo shoot, ironically in an old photography studio, and took the portraits of all of the dancers in that year’s program. From there I started doing more and more portrait sessions for friends and family and covered many sporting events. With a background in firefighting, which I’ll get into later, I also was very involved in taking action photos of fire scenes. This led to many opportunities and connections in both the photography world and the Fire/EMS world.

One day in February of 2004, a photographer friend of mine approached me to say that she had heard of a job opportunity. She had met a man who ran a photography business in the North Bay and he was looking for an assistant. Knowing that I was full of enthusiasm to learn as much as I could, she took down his number to give to me. So I called. When I did I found out that the man was not looking for an assistant but instead another photographer. I got nervous! I had done some fun portrait sessions, shoots for family and friends, but never anything “professionally”. But I scheduled an interview anyways. The very next day I showed up in my suit and tie to the business of Woody Hunt Photography.

The owner and his wife were kind of surprised to see a young man poised as I was and eager to learn. I brought with me a small portfolio of my work. After a few questions in Woody’s living room (that’s where he shows off all of his wonderful portrait work), I showed him some of my work. He seemed to like some of the work that I had but I could tell he wasn’t quite sure about me. In talking to him later I found out that he wasn’t sure if I was going to cut it. He saw this young kid with very little experience and barely knew how to handle film camera (or so he thought). But after the interview he asked me if I’d like to go on a shoot with him to see what it was like. So the very next day I went with him to a basketball shoot. I fell in love. Within a few more days of following him around, it became clear to Woody that I was a good fit for the company. Within two weeks I had taken all the information that was given to me by Woody and began shooting for him by myself. I worked for Woody for nearly eight years. In that time I had taken tens of thousands of photos, ranging from the average single athlete portrait to class photos with its number of student in the hundreds.

As my life in the photography world continued on, I also had another pursuit in life. I strived to stay on course with my original career goal of being a firefighter. In 2000, just before graduating high school, I became a First Responder. In 2001 I became an EMT and began working for the California Department of Forestry as a Seasonal Firefighter. I continued working during the summers as a firefighter until 2007 when I started the Paramedic Academy at Santa Rosa Junior College. During this time I was unable to work as this was a full time academy. So setting the firefighting and photography aside I finished my academy and successfully graduated in the early fall of 2008. Needing work right away, I asked Woody if he had need for my talents...to which he replied “You’re hired!” So I began working for Woody again for a short time while maintaining a foot in the EMS world working on an ambulance at the same time.

Today I work as a paramedic for a local fire department part time and I work full time in the healthcare field in a clinical setting. I do my own portrait work on the side to keep myself happy and sane. :-) If you have any questions about the services that I offer or would like to schedule your own portrait session, please send me a message using the Contact Me page. Thank you for taking the time to read this page. Please enjoy the rest of the site and I look forward to hearing from you.

1. -Josh