what inspires you?

Exploration is what inspires me. For most of my life, I chased “the final frontier”. What could be more exciting than exploring outer space?! I had a knack for building things, so I became an aerospace engineer and landed a job at SpaceX after collage.

It was every thing I dreamed it would be. State of the art technology, world class coworkers, high profile projects. I was working for one of the most well known billionaires in the world, the real life Iron Man.

But there was something missing. Something big.

I wasn’t exploring, I was grinding. Day in, day out, weekends, holidays, birthdays. My life was consumed by work, I always had to be within cell service for emergency calls. I was living the life all my classmates back in college dreamed of, but I felt imprisoned.

So, I left

After leaving SpaceX, I spent every moment of free-time I had exploring the nature around California. This was the exploration I craved. Mountains, beaches, deserts, rivers, cityscapes. Exploring nature was my sanctuary. I wanted to share my experiences with everyone, so I saved up to buy a small camera. I was blown away with the kinds of emotions and memories I could invoke in others with just a picture.

I spent the last few years exploring the startup scene in the Bay Area, anything from developing long endurance drones to delivering blood to rural communities in Africa with autonomous aircraft. I was using my skills in engineering to save lives… but I again found myself spending the majority of my time in a windowless warehouse grinding my life away.

Then the pandemic hit

The pandemic changed everything. I began working mostly from home and a lot fewer hours. I couldn’t go out exploring because of the lockdowns, but I needed something to fill my time, so I decided to do something crazy and chase a dream I always had: Van Life.

Within 3 months of making that decision, I had put all my stuff to storage and moved into my self converted camper van. This van was the key to my passion of exploring the world around me. The city and surrounding landscapes was now my home. No rent, no commutes, no boring suburbs.

Freedom Opens your eyes

Moving into a van and living the nomad lifestyle during the pandemic made me reexamine my life. I realized what was important to my happiness and what I really wanted to pursue and accomplish with this life. I was tired of being stuck inside, using my knowledge to help some rich guy up top who doesn’t even know my name make even more money.

I want to work people, not for a person

After nearly 5 years in the aerospace business, I decided it was time give this dream of being a photographer and sharing the thrill of exploring the world around us a shot. So I packed up my desk and tucked my degree away in storage with all my other belongings.

I’ve spent every day since working to build out this business and taking pictures of beautiful people, couples, and families all around the bay area. I love learning about who they are and helping them share their love and passions.

I have no doubt I could be more financially secure and have a more “stable” life as an aerospace engineer, but what is the point if I’m not happy.