07/07/2026
The long wait is over. We’ve enjoyed three and a half years at Benton Homestead Japan, building our business, renovating an abandoned ‘akiya’ into Benton Guesthouse, restoring abandoned land into our honeybee farm, and navigating challenging immigration requirements. I’m finally going to start offering portrait sessions again!
It always catches me off-guard when folks are surprised to learn I was a photographer for most of my adult life. For 15 years, photography was a huge part of my identity, a deeply engrained part of my self.
Photography found me in 2007, while I was studying Visual Communications in college. I was working at a graphic design studio at the time. In 2009, I opened my own business, and was a self-employed freelance photographer until 2022, in Oregon, Louisiana, and Mexico.
I’ve received a small handful of photography awards, operated my own studio, taught classes and workshops, and was twice published in the Photographer’s Forum hardcover book ‘Best of College Photography’.
My clients are individuals, couples, and families, for weddings, engagements, maternity, family portraits, and high school portraits. I also enjoy working with businesses for marketing materials, headshots, large events, and conferences. I’m comfortable shooting everything from natural light to complex studio setups.
I’ve photographed fast-paced New Orleans wedding marching band parades, while running backwards along uneven pothole-filled streets, in the dark of night. And I’ve hidden in bushes to catch the perfect surprise proposal. My experience has been wildly diverse, fun, and challenging.
I'm happy to announce that I'll begin offering Shimanami Kaido portrait sessions, here on Ōmishima island in Japan! I want to ease back into photography slowly. So I'll start by offering sessions at two set locations:
🏖🍦 Tatara Bridge and beach area
⛵🏮 Miyaura's Sando Street area
I'll share more details in the coming weeks, but please feel free to ask if you have any questions 📸
