As a photographer in Las Vegas, its astonishing to see all the little events that happen in the community in my town. Being that I am also a Karate instructor I really value capturing moments like these. There is a photo I never forgot and I really wish I knew who took the photo. But I was about 18 years old and I just just got my black belt in Shotokan Karate under Hiroshi Allen. Its a really cool photo of me fighting and I still cherish it to this day. Just like this it was at a small little gym tournament and it really inspired me to take photos of my students as they progress so they would have memories of their training over the years. In this photo I was fighting at the Nikkei Games around 2003 about 20 years ago against guy named Jason Hedrick.
We often forget how time flies so its always important to preserve them no matter little they may seem. As I am mostly a wedding photographer I do enjoy doing other projects so I can explore different forms of photography and art itself. As a professional photographer I love photographing my students and how the y progress because i know eventually they will replace us.
Eventually my students will grow up and see these photos and my hope in my life when i am old and they are the next generations. As a continue to build my portfolio on my website I like posting things I am interested in and that make not only good photos but valuable ones tat my clients will cherish no matter what point in their lives they are in.
When one of my Sensei’s (Karate teachers) passed away his name was Dan Sawyer of Mahato Karate. He was like a father figure to me, always feeding me and buying me sushi and training me and making me always be good at being a better person. There is a photo I cherish that only I can ever value and no one can take that time back. Its a valuable photo to me and its made me realize how much photography really changed my life even through the martial arts.
As the years pass I want my students to appreciate what they’ve done, the people they have met and the time they have spent with family. This is why i do photography, and though I am coming from a martial arts background, I really do enjoy this medium as an art.
As really proud of each of my students that day as Noelle and Zane got gold medals. I just asked them about 2 days before to compete and they actually won the whole tournament. i guess that’s makes me a great Sensei am I right?
Here are some pictures of them gold medal and I was super proud of them, even though its a very small tournament. It was nice to have a change of scenery being outside the dojo and the photography studio finally.
Here are more shots of them competing for their martial arts photography collection.
If you ever need a professional photographer for your event or just a simple event I am happy to help. When i am not teaching martial arts, I love capturing art and creating memories for people around Las Vegas. Contact me and i will do my best to give you the best photo collections possible.