A photoblog by independent photographer, Jerome Nakagawa You can email me
Emily and I had a three-day weekend, so we drove four hours north to Reno, Nevada for a mini-vacation. We had an amazing time! The weekend was off to a promising start on Saturday afternoon when we played in the snow on Donner Summit. It got even better when we checked into Sands Regency Hotel, played penny slots at Silver Legacy and won a giant stuffed tiger on the camel race game at Circus Circus. The highlight of the weekend was sitting in a Grand Sierra Resort bar while watching the San Francisco 49ers punch their ticket to Superbowl XLVII by defeating the Atlanta Falcons. I took the above photo on Sunday morning. Even though it was the weekend, I was so accustomed to waking up early for work that my eyes opened at 6:30 a.m. I took the elevator to the top floor of the hotel to take sunrise shots of the skyline.

Emily and I had a three-day weekend, so we drove four hours north to Reno, Nevada for a mini-vacation. We had an amazing time! The weekend was off to a promising start on Saturday afternoon when we played in the snow on Donner Summit. It got even better when we checked into Sands Regency Hotel, played penny slots at Silver Legacy and won a giant stuffed tiger on the camel race game at Circus Circus. The highlight of the weekend was sitting in a Grand Sierra Resort bar while watching the San Francisco 49ers punch their ticket to Superbowl XLVII by defeating the Atlanta Falcons. I took the above photo on Sunday morning. Even though it was the weekend, I was so accustomed to waking up early for work that my eyes opened at 6:30 a.m. I took the elevator to the top floor of the hotel to take sunrise shots of the skyline.

I had the pleasure of meeting Brother Joseph a few years back when I was a photojournalist with the News-Leader in Springfield, Missouri. Our newspaper featured him for his tremendous work as co-founder of the Healing Quilt Project of the Ozarks. Their mission is to facilitate the process of healing for those who have lost loved ones to various illnesses. Participants of the project learn the craft of quiltmaking, and they honor their loved ones by creating a panel in their memory. I was the fortunate photographer who was selected by my editor to take his portrait. After a few minutes of conversation, I learned that we had the shared experience of living in the San Francisco Bay Area. We instantly became friends, and some of my fondest Springfield memories were spent in Brother Joseph’s company. I am so grateful that he shared his incredible story with me. An entire novel could be written about his life, which has been so full of love, loss and courage. My only regret, now that I have moved away to California, is that I was not equal to the challenge of sharing his inspirational story. I hope it comforts him to know that I think of him often when contemplating how one person can make a world of difference to those in need.

I had the pleasure of meeting Brother Joseph a few years back when I was a photojournalist with the News-Leader in Springfield, Missouri. Our newspaper featured him for his tremendous work as co-founder of the Healing Quilt Project of the Ozarks. Their mission is to facilitate the process of healing for those who have lost loved ones to various illnesses. Participants of the project learn the craft of quiltmaking, and they honor their loved ones by creating a panel in their memory. I was the fortunate photographer who was selected by my editor to take his portrait. After a few minutes of conversation, I learned that we had the shared experience of living in the San Francisco Bay Area. We instantly became friends, and some of my fondest Springfield memories were spent in Brother Joseph’s company. I am so grateful that he shared his incredible story with me. An entire novel could be written about his life, which has been so full of love, loss and courage. My only regret, now that I have moved away to California, is that I was not equal to the challenge of sharing his inspirational story. I hope it comforts him to know that I think of him often when contemplating how one person can make a world of difference to those in need.

A few months ago, I read, “Light Science and Magic” by Fil Hunter, Paul Fuqua and Steven Biver. I remember reading it cover to cover in less than two days; I could not put it down. When the final page was read, I felt more inspired than I had in years. I have a photojournalism background, and though it brought me a great deal of fulfillment, “Light Science and Magic” opened my eyes to the possibility of expanding my horizons by taking photos in a studio with artificial light and modifiers. It made me want to learn by photographing every reflective object in my home. More importantly, it encouraged me to experience the joy, and challenge, of analyzing the behavior of light. Sometimes it really does seem like magic.

A few months ago, I read, “Light Science and Magic” by Fil Hunter, Paul Fuqua and Steven Biver. I remember reading it cover to cover in less than two days; I could not put it down. When the final page was read, I felt more inspired than I had in years. I have a photojournalism background, and though it brought me a great deal of fulfillment, “Light Science and Magic” opened my eyes to the possibility of expanding my horizons by taking photos in a studio with artificial light and modifiers. It made me want to learn by photographing every reflective object in my home. More importantly, it encouraged me to experience the joy, and challenge, of analyzing the behavior of light. Sometimes it really does seem like magic.

This is, without question, my favorite photograph of 2012. I don’t know if it was my finest of the year in terms of quality, but it brings a smile to my face every time I remember how much fun it was to create. Faustino is one of my closest friends, and we grew up together throughout high school and college. After graduation from Cal, we moved away from the Bay Area to different towns in pursuit of our own career paths. He went to law school before becoming a successful corporate attorney, and I went into photojournalism. We kept in touch periodically throughout the following ten years, but because I was living mostly in the Midwest, the geographic distance caused us to drift slowly apart. I remember being in places like Ohio or Missouri and dreaming of someday returning to my home state so I could enjoy being with family and childhood friends again. I thought about how pleasant it would be to do what other friends sometimes take for granted, like catching a ballgame together, grilling in the backyard or even watching a buddy get married. In the fall of 2010, I finally returned home. One of my biggest sources of joy, throughout the past two years, was reconnecting with friends like Faustino and picking up where we left off more than a decade ago.

This is, without question, my favorite photograph of 2012. I don’t know if it was my finest of the year in terms of quality, but it brings a smile to my face every time I remember how much fun it was to create. Faustino is one of my closest friends, and we grew up together throughout high school and college. After graduation from Cal, we moved away from the Bay Area to different towns in pursuit of our own career paths. He went to law school before becoming a successful corporate attorney, and I went into photojournalism. We kept in touch periodically throughout the following ten years, but because I was living mostly in the Midwest, the geographic distance caused us to drift slowly apart. I remember being in places like Ohio or Missouri and dreaming of someday returning to my home state so I could enjoy being with family and childhood friends again. I thought about how pleasant it would be to do what other friends sometimes take for granted, like catching a ballgame together, grilling in the backyard or even watching a buddy get married. In the fall of 2010, I finally returned home. One of my biggest sources of joy, throughout the past two years, was reconnecting with friends like Faustino and picking up where we left off more than a decade ago.

I rediscovered this photograph when I was doing some archiving a couple nights ago. It was taken back in 2006 when my friend, Kevin took me along on a visit to his beautiful home state of Kentucky. We were fellow VisCom students at the time, and we had an assignment to take photographs describing the effect of money on society. What an amazing experience it was waking up hours before sunrise, and completing work at a variety of memorable settings ranging from a horse racing farm, to a chocolate factory, to even the prestigious Woodford Reserve distillery. It was one of the most exciting road trips of my life and Kevin, and his wonderful family, were the perfect hosts. This image was taken during one of the more quiet moments of the adventure, at the Clay Farm just moments after sunrise.

I rediscovered this photograph when I was doing some archiving a couple nights ago. It was taken back in 2006 when my friend, Kevin took me along on a visit to his beautiful home state of Kentucky. We were fellow VisCom students at the time, and we had an assignment to take photographs describing the effect of money on society. What an amazing experience it was waking up hours before sunrise, and completing work at a variety of memorable settings ranging from a horse racing farm, to a chocolate factory, to even the prestigious Woodford Reserve distillery. It was one of the most exciting road trips of my life and Kevin, and his wonderful family, were the perfect hosts. This image was taken during one of the more quiet moments of the adventure, at the Clay Farm just moments after sunrise.