feben
Lifestyle photo story featuring Feben Teffera, founder of FabyCo and founding partner of Ebony Ethiopian restaurant.
Feben Teffera | Founder: FabyCo
Feben is a badass. We’ve met three times before this photoshoot, once for coffee at her favorite Field Day Coffee in SLO, once for a remote interview (to be released at a future date) and now in-person at her home in San Luis Obispo. By now I’ve had time to do some research and listen to Feben’s interview with local journalist Jaime Lewis on her CONSUMED Podcast where they discuss Feben’s role in establishing the pop-up Ethiopian restaurant Ebony. But Feben and I are meeting to focus on and document Feben’s other passion and entrepreneurial project: FabyCo.
FabyCo is Feben’s first business and is going through the growing pains of a solopreneur business. After searching for a while she’s found a co-working space that will serve as her workshop for all of her crafted leather products. Before now (and during our photoshoot) she’s been using her home as a workshop. Leather scraps still litter the floor in boxes and shelves. The beauty and chaos of a creative space in transition.
Feben loves her coffee, if you follow her instagram, you’ll see. Her daily ritual of an espresso is a deep joy that she always makes time for. We start our photo session with this ritual that for Feben is a spritual and grounding way to start every day.
We spend the morning chatting as I find my flow, snapping photos of Feben and the small moments around her beautifully decorated home.
After Feben’s morning ritual of coffee and reading in her home, she packs up her FabyCo bag and locks up her door. We take a short walk down to her co-working studio where she has set up leather-working production.
She tours me around, relieved and excited to be finding new inspiration and space to grow her business. Feben is currently the only maker at FabyCo, she designs and produces every single product piece along with running the business. On top of this she runs her pop-up restaurant with a team and works to prioritize time with her son.
Like I said, Feben is a badass.
If you are a photo producer, art director, magazine editor, or a creative individual looking for a professional photographer, I would love to collaborate with you to create images that capture the emotion and magic of everyday moments.
Please reach out today to introduce yourself [here’s my contact info], I’m looking forward to meeting you and hearing your story.
jayson
Lifestyle photo story and interview featuring Jayson Maulé an Artist and Actor practicing his craft on the central coast of California
Jayson Maulé | Artist + Actor
I met Jayson on Instagram: “Hey Jayson, hope you’re doing well. I love your work man, I think it’s stellar and honest. I am working to profile central coast artists and I was curious if you’d be open to a photo shoot and interview?”.
After a few weeks we found time for a photoshoot documenting Jayson’s painting practice in his garage/studio.
The planned approach was to capture photos and followup after with a sit down interview, but it became clear ten minutes into meeting Jayson that the conversation of value was the one we were having while I snapped photos, so I quickly pivoted to recording our conversation as we both practiced our art together.
During our conversation we unearthed some insights that are worth highlighting. These insights relate directly to the creative process but could be applied more broadly:
Striving to create balance between passions is a learning curve. Maintaining a growth mindset and willingness to work hard and be flexible between various priorities is imperative.
Being kind to oneself is the only way to stay productive, healthy and happy.
Just showing up is half the battle. Making time for and committing to craft even without something to work on will allow for creativity to flow.
The antithesis of playing it safe. Being an artist today is risky, but accepting a career path that is not fulfilling can feel even more threatening to ones sense of self.
Stepping into the creative process is not therapy, but it is therapeutic.
Once inspiration is found and the process is allowed to flow, the results can feel like magic.
Nature has a way of pulling us into the present in a way that few other environments or processes can.
Not only are Jayson’s paintings honest, they stand out for their tenacity and texture, the depth and use of color that he implements. They feel simultaneously dramatic, heavy, and delicate infused with emotion and charged with energy, sometimes static, sometimes dynamic.
Meeting Jayson, getting to talk to him about his painting and how he seeks to balance his various passions was a deep and sincere joy of mine.
You can contact Jayson and find out more about him via the following links:
If you are a photo producer, art director, magazine editor, or a creative individual looking for a professional photographer, I would love to collaborate with you to create images that capture the emotion and magic of everyday moments.
Please reach out today to introduce yourself [here’s my contact info], I’m looking forward to meeting you and hearing your story.
family
Lifestyle family photos of Bryan + Lauren commemorating the purchase of their first home.
Family photo session | Bryan, Lauren, Fry + Frankie
Bryan + Lauren had recently purchased their first home and were immeasurably proud. I loved getting a peek inside their lives and the opportunity to co-create these images with them and their two furry babies Fry and Frankie.
I am lucky to know these two humans and their adorable four-legged children. I was delighted that they were able to relax into the photo-session and get silly with me, showing off their passions for motorcycles, star wars, and video games.
No family photo session is complete without a few formal portraits.
If you are a photo producer, art director, magazine editor, or a creative family looking for a professional photographer in the Central Coast of California, I would love to collaborate with you to create beautiful images that capture the emotion and magic of everyday moments. Please reach out today to introduce yourself [here’s my contact info], I’m looking forward to meeting you and hearing your story.
place
Photo story backpacking to Sykes Hot Springs in Big Sur, California. During this trek I interviewed several backpackers, capturing their passion and wisdom for the pastime.
Big Sur | Backpacking Sykes Hot Springs
In autumn, I loaded up my pack, Maeve jumped into the trunk of the 4Runner and we set out on a backpacking trip to Sykes Hot Springs in Big Sur. The 20-mile round trip hike into the mountains of Big Sur was my first time exploring that land. Starting my drive early in the morning I was reminded of how important adventure and solitude are to my mental, spiritual and physical well-being.
To document the trip I brought along my Pentax ME film camera which has been my photo companion since High School and a few rolls of Kodak Portra 400. In addition I had recently purchased a Shure MV88+ video kit and was excited to test it out, but wasn’t sure what subject matter I might find. I decided to bring it along despite the extra weight, trusting that I would find worthwhile video subjects along the way.
The Big Sur Coast Highway, the portion of Highway 1 that my pup and I took north to arrive at Big Sur Station, is considered one of the most beautiful drives in the United States. We set out early in the morning to ensure we weren’t hiking under the midday heat. Most of the views along the route were shrouded in mist, adding a layer of mystery and anticipation to already present pre-hike excitement.
Starting a long hike with a loaded pack is both easy and hard. Easy because you’re excited and fresh, charging up that first incline with adrenalized ease. And hard because on that second incline you realize how heavy your pack actually is and how far you will need to go before you can set it down.
Luckily I had actually been physically training for this hike (unlike past adventures) and having an excited dog plodding uphill with you is a wonderful encouragement.
During the trek inland there were several groups of people that I encountered on their way in to camp at Sykes or Barlow Flats. It’s an unexpected joy to befriend strangers on the trail. There’s an instant camaraderie born from the difficulty of the task that you are sharing in, and the serendipity of both being ‘out here’ at the same time.
It was these interactions that led me to the idea of asking a few folks to sit for informal interviews, asking them each about their experience backpacking, why they enjoy it, and if they had any advice to offer. I found a use for my new video kit, and more importantly I got to meet some cool people who had a wealth of life to share.
When isolated and close to nature, if you’re willing to tune in, there is a great vitality that ignites within, stirred from the dirt, running water and living things all around. Soaking in natural hot springs 10 miles away from the closest car or paved road is a sharp reminder of our primal heritage. In those pools in the clear and quiet morning I felt my nervous system release the stress of my everyday life.
Maeve and I meandered our way back out the way we came in. Both our packs a little lighter from the food we ate, but also because they felt less foreign on our bodies. Maybe my pack also felt lighter because I was so grateful for the gift it had given me. Things like freedom, solitude, unexpected friends, connection to nature and contentment with the space and time I get to occupy within it.
If you are a photo producer, art director, magazine editor, or a creative family looking for a professional photographer in the Central Coast of California, I would love to collaborate with you to create beautiful images that capture the emotion and magic of everyday moments. Please reach out today to introduce yourself [here’s my contact info], I’m looking forward to meeting you and hearing your story.