Web Developer
As long as I can remember I’ve been playing building computers and web sites. But it wasn’t until the summer of 2017 that I started doing web development full time. I can do many things but for the most part I work with WordPress. I build out and extend sites with custom themes and plugins. I’ve been working with WordPress since 2014. That’s about the time I joined the Sacramento WordPress Meetup community.
I gave a talk on the WordPress Customizer at WordCamp Sacramento 2016. In 2017 I joined the organizing committee and was the primary photographer. In 2018 I’m volunteering as a photographer and look forward to spending a little more time enjoying the talks.
Web Development is always evolving and I do my best to keep up with new skills, technologies, and techniques. Many of my blog posts are about small snippets that I’ve learned along the way. Partly the help others, but also to serve as a place for me to remember problems I’ve already solved.
Photographer
After graduating from college in 2006 I wanted a way to continue my creative education. I bought my first DSLR and began to learn all about photography. I also enjoyed taking some black and white film classes to gain an appreciation for the origins of the art. I remember learning a lot from Strobist and used what I learned during my first 365Days project. I continued working on portraiture with local friends and modals in the area.
My wife graduated with a degree in Photography from UCSC. When we started dating we bonded over photography. After moving to Sacramento we did our own 365Days project as a couple. Soon after we started our own photography business. We started with families and senior portraits, and built up to doing weddings. We even built our own photo booth that we included in our wedding services.
Now that we both have full time jobs we decided to retire our Photography Business. Now we take pictures for fun.
TV Professional
I graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in Television Production. I went in thinking I would be a video editor. After experiencing the control room and running the production switcher for live events I knew I found my passion. After graduation I got a job at KSBW in Salinas. I started as a Production Assistant; running the cameras and floor directing. But an opportunity arose to move up to master control and train as a technical director. I worked the graveyard shift on the weekends and TD’d the morning newscasts.
I did that for three years before transferring to our sister station KCRA in Sacramento. There I continued technical directing for the morning news, as well as audio, cameras, and master control. Later I became a Crew Chief, assigning crew positions and running the Tech Center. This is were we dial in our remote unites to get them on live television. It meant less time TD’ing but was one of the few growth opportunities so I took it. Around the same time I started using all my free time to work on Web Development. I learned as much as I could and was able to get enough work to move on from the station. I’m glad for my time there, but 4am shifts and every working every weekend gets old after 10 years.
About six months after leaving had the opportunity to start working for the Sacramento Kings NBA broadcasts. They needed a Technical Director and I was a perfect candidate. It’s face paced, and stressful, but very worth it and I’m so glad for the opportunity. I’ve always had a lot of different skills and never knew which to try and pursue as my sole job.
Right now I’m at a great balancing point between all my interests.