Al Nomura Photography

12/16/2025

Thank you to everyone who made it out (last minute to boot) to our studio holiday party! We met so many new friends in the photography community and were tickled to see so many familiar faces! What an incredible end (beginnning) to a bigger photography community! We are excited to see you all in 2026!

12/05/2025

Would you like to celebrate with us?

04/16/2025

JOIN US! May 10! Please comment or DM with your interest and we will email you a formal invitation to rsvp.
We're excited to see you.

WORKING VIDEO - WIP

08/19/2024

A meetup for photography professionals (all levels) to network and learn. Our last meeting included photographing each other in the studio (two different setups). Please message us for questions and to RSVP for our next meeting!

08/19/2024

We're meeting again once a month! Photography professionals (all levels) welcome!
Sneak a peek at our last meeting where we photographed each other in the studio (two different set ups).
Message us for questions and for an rsvp to our next one! They're FREE!

03/08/2023

SPRING CLEANING MY PHOTOGRAPHY CLOSET

I am clearing out my closet of some of my photography gear. Message me if you are interested in any of the gear. I will answer any questions you may have. Following is a description of some of the equipment: CANON-5D, 5D Mk II, 5D Mk IV, EOS 3 film camera (all cameras have Vertical Grips and original manuals), 2 – 580 EX Speedlights with manuals, Canon lenses, 24-105 ƒ4 L IS, 70-200 ƒ2.8 L IS, 100 ƒ2.8 Macro (original), 135 ƒ2 L, Sigma 35 ƒ1.4 ART, 50 ƒ1.4 ART, Toyo A 4x5 view camera with 4 lenses (90 Super Angulon, 120 Angulon, 150 Fujinon, 210 Rodenstock Sironar). All 4x5 lenses mounted on recessed and flat lens boards, Toyo bag bellows, 50+ Riteway film holders, Tripod with three way head, Sirui ball head and more……Everything in good working condition. I just don’t need all this equipment . Message me for more stuff, info and prices. Build your own kit or add to what you already have.

07/07/2022

SO YOU WANT TO BECOME A BETTER PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER? (Part 2)

You as the photographer have a great responsibility. When photographing someone, you are in control. Your subject probably knows little about the technicalities of exposure and lighting and cares even less. Your subject is entrusting you with their most personal and private possession – their identity, their individuality, their uniqueness. A successful portrait session should be a collaboration of your subject’s character and personality with the style, skill and expression of the photographer.

Good photographers of people elevate their subjects. They don’t just create a mirror of the subject before the camera, they create an image of the exchange occurring between the photographer and the subject. The photographer must respect that interaction and the camera simply records that moment. That magic moment occurs when the communication, energy, trust, and vulnerability takes place on both sides of the camera. The actual time spent photographing during a portrait session is quite short. The most time should be spent developing trust, affinity, engagement, ease and vulnerability.

“What makes you vulnerable makes you beautiful.” Brené Brown. Vulnerability from the subject is a gift not many are willing or comfortable to give.

“No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” Theodore Roosevelt. Affinity and respect for your subject is the only way to evoke vulnerability.

“Style has no formula, but it has a secret key. It is the extension of your personality.” Ernst Haas. You must be yourself. A genuine style in any art form comes out of your personality; out of who you are. You must be yourself – everyone else is already taken.

As I mentioned in my previous post (Part 1): “I truly like the people I photograph; therefore, I only photograph people I like.” Conversely, “I only photograph people I like; therefore, I truly like the people I photograph.”

SO YOU WANT TO BECOME A BETTER PHOTOGRAPHER OF PEOPLE??? ME TOO! Sayonara, Al

06/15/2022

SO YOU WANT TO BECOME A BETTER PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER? (Part 1)

I will let you in on a little secret that I always feel when photographing people. “I truly like the people I photograph; therefore, I only photograph people I like”. And that works both ways. “I only photograph people I like; therefore, I truly like the people I photograph”.

When the photographer’s affinity for the subject and the subject’s trust of the photographer is felt, this collaboration is what MAKES the portrait, not the camera. If you are careful and caring with your subject, they will feel safe to offer you a real part of themselves. Strive to genuinely know your subject as the world sees them, not how they see themselves. That is a wonderful, intangible realization that makes them beautiful. Everyone is beautiful. Treat them and photograph them as such. You as the photographer must have respect and an affinity for your subject in order to create a portrait that truly honors them.

Remember, the camera is simply an observer that records the exchange of energy when both parties become lost in the engagement of the session. This is the flow that creates the magic.

SO YOU WANT TO BECOME A BETTER PHOTOGRAPHER OF PEOPLE??? ME TOO! Sayonara, Al