Awards

Jason Receives Paul Harris Fellow Recognition from Pacific Grove Rotary Club

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Jason Receives Paul Harris Fellow Recognition from Pacific Grove Rotary Club

A Surprise Honor from the PG Rotary Club

I could not have been more surprised to learn I was to receive the Paul Harris Fellow recognition from the Pacific Grove Rotary Club. The award, named after Rotary founder Paul Harris, recognizes service and contributions supporting Rotary’s mission of “Service Above Self.” I am very grateful to be part of such a welcoming and community-minded group of people here in Pacific Grove and am very humbled by it. I have not previously felt this desire to serve a community like I have since purposefully moving to Pacific Grove a couple of years ago. I will do what I can for as long as I can for PG.

Thank you to President Dr. Sarah Frahm and the other board members, and to Tracy for wielding my camera for me so I could be in these photos.

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Making Waves 2026 Event Photography at Kimpton Mirador Pacific Grove

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Making Waves 2026 Event Photography at Kimpton Mirador Pacific Grove

A Hospitality Community Celebration in the Heart of Pacific Grove

Thanks to a recommendation from Alex Marin of Asilomar Conference Grounds, I was connected with Paige Viren, an executive director for a hospitality program at CSUMB to photograph the big Wave Makers fundraiser event!

The Making Waves 10-Year Celebration brought together leaders, students, alumni, faculty, chefs, hospitality professionals, and community supporters for an evening at Kimpton Mirador in Pacific Grove. The event celebrated ten years of the Sustainable Hospitality & Tourism Management program at Cal State Monterey Bay, with a courtyard full of conversation, local food, music, awards, auction items, hugs, laughter, and the unmistakable feeling of a community that genuinely supports one another. I photographed the evening as a participating local creative partner. It was a privilege to contribute professional event photography to a gathering that highlighted so much of what makes hospitality on the Monterey Peninsula feel personal, connected, and deeply local.

Thank you Alex for the recommendation and to Paige for choosing me as the photographer for this great fundraising event!

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Pacific Grove Volunteer Appreciation Lunch and Awards Ceremony 2026

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Pacific Grove Volunteer Appreciation Lunch and Awards Ceremony 2026

Honored to Be There, and Glad to Contribute

This was my first time to be invited to the Volunteer Appreciation Lunch & Awards Ceremony for the City of Pacific Grove because I just became a commissioner on the Traffic Safety Committee earlier this year. So the invitation came as a very nice surprise! It was an honor to be included in an event recognizing people who give their time and energy to the city. As always, I brought my camera even though I was just attending as a guest. Deputy City Manager, Joyce Halabi, is someone I often see at various city events getting photos too, so I asked her if it was ok to get some shots of the awards ceremony. She said yes, and helped coordinate the photo ops as well. Thank you to the whole team at City Hall that helped put this together for the volunteers. Being there as both a volunteer and a photographer felt especially meaningful, and I was glad to help document a small part of what makes Pacific Grove such a special community.

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PG P.R.I.D.E. The Great Taste of PG 2026 | Event Photography Pacific Grove

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PG P.R.I.D.E. The Great Taste of PG 2026 | Event Photography Pacific Grove

An Evening That Brought the Community Together

This was my first time photographing an event for PG P.R.I.D.E. and also my first time photographing this large of a silent auction that ran the entire length of the event and was the main feature of the event itself. This brought about an energy and level of activity I had not experienced before in all my years of photographing events! Some time before the big day I met with Crystal and Brandy and other organizers here at my photo studio in downtown Pacific Grove to go over the shotlist and the photography plan for the evening. All this preparation on their part helped me get a wide variety of photos from the vendors, to guest portraits, to candid moments, to the full PG P.R.I.D.E. board members in a group photo!

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Asilomar Conference Grounds Corporate Awards Event | Aramark Destinations 2026

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Asilomar Conference Grounds Corporate Awards Event | Aramark Destinations 2026

Corporate Awards Event Photography at Asilomar Conference Grounds

It was a pleasure returning to Asilomar Conference Grounds this February to photograph another corporate event for Aramark Destinations. Last year’s multi-day assignment (see day: one, two, three) focused heavily on showcasing the event spaces and themed décor throughout the property. This time, the spotlight was on the people — the leaders, teams, and award recipients whose work earned recognition across multiple Aramark venues. As a valued repeat client, Asilomar continues to trust me to document both the energy of their conferences and the professionalism of their corporate gatherings. It is always rewarding to work again with organizations that understand the long-term value of strong visual storytelling. Thank you to Alex, Crystal, and the rest of the team at Asilomar for continuing to choose me as your photographer!

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Albuquerque Conference Keynote Speaker Photography with Ronald Angelo Johnson

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Albuquerque Conference Keynote Speaker Photography with Ronald Angelo Johnson

Ronald Angelo Johnson speaks passionately in Albuquerque Alpha Chi 2023

One of the things I like best about photographing national conferences, is getting to hear keynote speakers I otherwise never would. Such was the case with a very passionate keynote address by Ronald Angelo Johnson at the Alpha Chi National College Honor Society event in Albuquerque in March and April 2023. Mr. Johnson was an A+ speaker to photograph. Why? Because he was always looking up and out at the audience in all directions. He is an animated speaker with has hands and expressions. He moved around even out from behind the podium. Plus, even from these silent still photos, you can hear the inspiring story he shared with the audience. It was a privilege to get to hear him speak that morning at the conference.

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Professional Event Photography at Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa for PayneWest 2022

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Professional Event Photography at Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa for PayneWest 2022

Professional event photography at an awards event at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya

Event photography is really starting to return in 2022 as I went to the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa for a multi-day conference for employees of PayneWest. I actually made 30 headshots to start out the event, then returned the next day to photograph the awards ceremony seen here. While I still have reservations about being in a room full of hundreds of people who just flew in from all over the country, and I still wore my N95 mask during the entire event, it was also nice to feel the energy of a live event with everyone extra excited to see each other after a long time apart. Thank you to the team at PayneWest for choosing me as both your event and headshot photographer!

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