Hi and welcome to my blog. First of all, a little about myself…

I have been doing photography since my dad gave me my first camera when I was 9 years old. Since then, my love for this boundless visual art has just grown. By the time I was in my early 20’s, I had already established quite a portfolio of intriguing images from my numerous visits to Israel, including the haunting and beautiful faces of Palestinian men, women and children.

I met my wife, Shira, in 1982 and, needing to take a more serious approach to our finances, took my first real photography job at a commercial photo studio in L.A. Over the years, my skills in various areas of professional photography and graphic arts improved, including the original “cutting and pasting” called “film stripping”. I assisted several of the studio’s photographers, the most critical and demanding of whom was an incredibly talented photographer by the name of Avi Roth. With his guidance, critiques, and eventual mentoring, I continued to hone my talents as a professional commercial photographer.

While I still loved creating my art photography by going out on my own in the still of night or on a particularly spectacular road trip, commercial product photography was also providing interesting challenges and learning opportunities — and it also helped pay the bills!

In 1987, one of my coworkers and I went into partnership and opened our own studio. We separated our business interests in 1992, which is when I branched out on my own and established Public Works Productions, Inc. with my wife Shira, our first commercial photography and design studio in Pasadena, California.

Shortly afterwards, I became intrigued with the new digital technologies emerging in camera manufacturing and their potential impact on the professional photography world. I contacted Mamiya America Corporation, makers of my professional camera brand of choice, to inquire about their interest in stepping into this new market. Though hesitant at first, our talks developed into a friendly professional relationship, and within a couple of years, I was a beta-tester and demonstrator for their new ventures into the digital photography realm. Public Works Productions had become one of the first digital commercial photo studios in the country.

While growing my business, I was also invited by Mamiya, Leaf America (manufacturers of the digital camera back,) and then Sinar (Bron) Lighting, to represent their products at trade shows around the world, including the prestigious bi-annual Photokina photography show in Koln, Germany. The ten years I collaborated with those companies and their wonderful and gracious staff, helped give me the leverage and confidence to bring to my own fledgling company.