Avid traveler, climber, outdoor nut. Loves smoothies, hates mushrooms. Caffeine intolerant espresso nerd. Has a well-used crepe pan. Knows a few card tricks and bad jokes. Once won a palm tree climbing contest in Thailand. Fell out of a boat on 7/4/00 and was lost at sea for a half hour (It was 4th of July and I watched a fireworks show; there wasn't much else to do. Ask me over beers).

On the to-do list: climb in Patagonia, ride a bike around Nova Scotia, visit the Galapagos. On the to-do-again list: write another list of cool things to do.

You are madly in love, you're a little cheesy, you laugh a lot, you're real, you're adventurous, and most importantly, at least as far as photography goes, you trust me. When you trust me, you open up a little more. When you open up, you let me just that much more into your world. And that's when I can use the camera to capture the magic.

Besides the nice ring, dreamtime is a concept in Aboriginal mythology that basically means "the beginning of everything." I think that's a fitting name for a wedding studio. And for the climbers out there, Dreamtime, one of the world's most cutting edge, aesthetic, and famous boulder problems, is a gold standard. It's on a beautiful rock in the woods of Switzerland.

I hate to label my style with a trend or a buzzword. The only reasonable assessment of my style is the feeling you get in your gut when you see my pictures. I'll say that I love to shoot truth and honesty, whatever that means. I will be unobtrusive, but I don't believe in being a fly on the wall all the time. Often there's an emotional disconnect if a photographer is always far away. Sometimes a photographer needs to be close, shooting with an intimate, wider lens, and you need to be so comfortable that you don't notice his or her presence. Sometimes a photographer needs to be far away, shooting with a longer lens, because for whatever reason, that moment is too special to share.

Please fill the contact form to receive a list of packages via email. Associate packages are available on select dates at lower rates.

We have two Associate Photographers, Bernd and Chris, working with the studio. They are exceptional photographers who are passionate about their craft.

Click here to see their portfolios.

Dreamtime Associates are available at reduced rates on select dates. Please note on your inquiry form if you're interested in an Associate Package.

Absolutely. Dreamtime's typical wedding schedule includes destination weddings throughout the US and abroad. Please enquire for details. You'll find images in the portfolio from weddings in the Bahamas, Aruba, Belize, the Virgin Islands, Tulum, Cozumel, Huatulco, the Florida Keys, Santa Barbara, Montana, Norway, and many other beautiful and enchanting places.

We offer fine, handmade coffee table books from Pictobooks, Finao, Couturebook and Willowbooks.

When time, space and venue allow, Dreamtime weddings can include a photobooth -- it's proven to be an utterly ridiculous, memorable and hilarious addition to a wedding. Check out a 'best of' in the portfolio section if you haven't already.

I decided to start providing a photobooth when I grew tired of shooting table shots. Every time I'd head to a new table, I'd find half eaten meals, a messy table, and a few empty seats from guests who were socializing. Half the people didn't know each other at the table anyway, so the photos weren't very authentic.

I set up the first photobooth in a wedding at the Convict Lake Resort near Mammoth Lakes. The guests loved it and the images were so real because I felt like the guests were interacting directly with the couple. It took me out of the equation entirely.

I can often provide a photo booth for local weddings if there is space to put it and time for me to set it up. Destination weddings are more challenging, but still possible in many countries (though customs regulations in a few countries prevent me from bringing enough cameras for a photo booth).

Be forewarned! Lots of nerd talk to follow! The short answer is: lots of pro gear, with lots of redundancy.

The Bag

I shoot a lot of weddings that require airplane travel, and I can stuff an astonishing amount of gear into Think Tank's Addicted carry-on backpack. When I'm actually running around shooting, I use a Think Tank Speed Belt equipped with two Lens Changer 50s, a Lens Charger 75, a Speed Changer, and a Pixel Pocket Rocket to hold my memory cards. If I'm rocking a fisheye I will add a Lens Drop pouch to the system -- it's got a soft felt liner so it accomodates a fisheye without a lens cap.

The Bodies

Canon 5d Mark III - I shoot with a pair of these slung around my neck, one with a long lens and one with a wide lens. It's a fantastic camera with great low light performance, dual card slots for redundancy, and terrific autofocus. I switched back to Canon from Nikon because of this camera.
Canon 5d Mark II - This is the backup body. It's a very capable camera and a worthy third body.
Canon Digital Rebel - This is what I use for the Photo Booth.

Lenses

I shoot with L-series Canon primes when I'm doing an in-state wedding, and a mix of L-series primes and zooms when I travel, often because destination wedding coverage includes activities like golfing or boat trips and it's nice to be able to zoom in and out when you can't walk back and forth.

The prime collection includes a 24mm f/1.4L Mark II, a 35mm f/1.4L, a 50mm f/1.2L, an 85mm f/1.2L Mark II, and a 135mm f/2 L. I also bring along a 100mm f/2.8L IS macro for ring shots, and a Canon fisheye if the dance floor gets super crowded and rowdy. When I categorize my images by focal length, I find I use the 35mm the most often. Then in order of popularity, it’s the 85mm, the 135mm, the 50mm, the 24mm, the fisheye, and last, the macro.

When I shoot destination weddings, I bring a 24-70mm f/2.8 II, a 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II, the 35mm f/1.4L, and the 85mm f/1.2L Mark II. Sometimes I'll replace the 70-200 f/2.8 with the lighter 70-200mm f/4L IS version, and sometimes I'll replace the 24-70 with the lighter and longer 24-105mm f/4L IS. It really depends on what pre-wedding-day activities are going on, when the wedding is, and what kind of low light capabilities I will need from my gear. I bring my two most used primes because I use them exclusively once the lights go out and becase I want to have a backup in case a zoom goes kaput.

The Lights

For a long time I used Pocket Wizard PLUS units, and then I switched to Radio Popper PX transmitters and receivers, but now I rely on Canon's 600EX RT speedlights, which have integrated radio communication. They are awesome. No more fooling around with extra batteries and chargers, no more fiddly little parts that break all the time. These things rule. They really have no competition. I tend to run an on camera flash in eTTL, bouncing off ceilings or walls, and a pair of off camera flashes running in manual power. I have four of these units and they kick ass. I also have four CP-E4 battery packs, which pack a punch and recycle my strobes super fast. This is especially helpful when I'm shooting couples portraits outside and need to overpower the sun. For light stands, I have three homemade Justin clamps (read lighter/faster/stronger) so I can attach my strobes almost anywhere, and I also have a couple Strobist light kits. These consist of the Nano stand, a swivel adapter, and a collapsible umbrella.

The Gadgets

I use a TC80N3 remote for long exposures, and it also comes in handy becuase the intervalometer allows me to do astrophotography. I also use the off camera shoe cord for ring shots. Next, I always have a Lens Pen in my bag to clean my lenses. I use a Rocket Blaster and a Visible Dust swab kit to clean my sensors.

The Cards & Readers

I shoot RAW to both cards in my slots, so each camera has a Sandisk Extreme SD and Compact Flash card inside. I kinda wish I'd bought 128 gig cards so I can shoot an entire wedding weekend without ever having to download, but I wound up with 64 gig cards and they are fine. I used to have Firewire 800 equipped computers, but these days, USB3 is king -- so I use a Transcend USB3 Compact Flash card reader.

The Computers

My Mac Pro exploded in 2013 after 5 years of service, and I wound up with a pimped out Mac Mini. With 16 gigs of RAM and an SSD drive for apps and my Lightroom catalog, it absolutely screams. It's actually an unbelievable little machine. It's connected to a Cinema Display. I also have a Macbook Pro, though mine is the older and now-discontinued 17" model, which I wish Apple would ressurect. In 2013, my backup strategy changed from RAIDs to a bunch of monsterous 4 terrabyte external drives. I have 2 on site and 2 off site, and I keep them mirrored with Carbon Copy Cloner. I'd rather have lots disks everywhere than lots of disks in only a few places.