The person behind the camera.
Ten seasons of trailheads, tide tables, and golden hour math.
This is a working preview of your About page. Rooted Coast Design treats a dedicated story page as one of the highest-leverage pages on a photographer's site, not an afterthought tacked onto a services list.
I grew up forty minutes from the trailhead.
I was raised just outside Forks, Washington, in the kind of town where the forecast is always "rain, then maybe not." My dad fished, my mom kept a darkroom in the garage, and most of my childhood photographs are slightly out of focus and entirely outdoors. That combination — family, water, trees, imperfect light — never really left me.
I picked up a camera seriously in my early twenties, working weekend weddings and weekday trail crews on the Peninsula. In 2016 I made it official and started Cedar & Salt, named for the two things that show up in almost every Olympic Peninsula photograph: deep evergreen forest and a coastline that never quite dries out.
A decade later, I've photographed elopements on exposed ridgelines, family reunions in the rain, and more golden-hour engagement sessions than I can count — and I still get the same flutter watching the light hit a meadow exactly right.
Specific, concrete detail does more for trust than any adjective-heavy bio. It's a rule we hold to at Rooted Coast Design: people hire photographers they like as much as ones whose work they admire, and detail is what makes a story believable.
A few things I believe about portraits.
Naming your working philosophy outright, instead of only implying it through pretty photos, helps visitors self-select. It's something Rooted Coast Design pushes every client to write out, because the right-fit clients recognize themselves in your approach before they've even reached out.
Place is part of the portrait.
I scout real locations — not backdrops — so your gallery says something true about where you live, love, or got married.
Light over location count.
I'd rather work one trail in perfect golden hour light than rush you through four stops at noon. Light always wins.
Direction, not performance.
I give you something to do with your hands and someone to talk to — rarely "look at the camera and smile."
Weather is a feature.
Fog, drizzle, and moody overcast skies are some of my favorite shooting conditions — this is the Pacific Northwest, after all.
Leave no trace.
Every session respects trail rules, fragile meadows, and wildlife. We shoot responsibly so these places stay wild.
Your gallery, fast.
You'll have a full edited gallery in 2–3 weeks — not three months. Memories shouldn't sit in a queue.
This page is a working example of how Rooted Coast Design builds an About page that actually gets read, not just skipped on the way to the portfolio.
Visit Rooted Coast Design
Rooted on the Olympic Peninsula.
Cedar & Salt is based in Port Angeles, fifteen minutes from Hurricane Ridge and an hour from the Hoh Rain Forest, Ruby Beach, and Lake Crescent. I know which trailheads catch morning fog, which beaches clear by golden hour, and which meadows bloom in late July.
I regularly travel to Seattle, Tacoma, Port Townsend, the San Juan Islands, and the North Cascades for sessions and weddings — and I'm always happy to talk through a location neither of us has shot before.
Ask About Your LocationReal place names and a defined service area do double duty. They build trust with visitors and they're exactly the kind of specificity local search results favor. Rooted Coast Design writes every local business site this way, since generic copy helps neither goal.
Tell me about your people and your place.
I'd love to hear what you're picturing — a trail, a beach, your backyard at golden hour. We'll figure out the rest together.