Kevin Neilson Photography
Corporate and family photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area
Healoha Is Waiting
Posted on June 11, 2019
Meet Brigitte Mouchet.
She’s a wellness entrepreneur in the Bay Area.
She’s the founder and CEO of Healoha, a marketplace for wellness services that helps both clients and practitioners. Healoha is available in the U.S. and French-speaking countries in Europe.
Inspired by waves and ocean air, Brigitte hired me for a day of corporate photography on the coast in Half Moon Bay, one of her favorite places in the world.
We captured images for use on the company’s digital and social media channels, images ranging from corporate headshots like these two images…
…to environmental portraits like this…
…and this…
…to social and active shots like these…
…and even to landscape photography, which required a jaunt to Santa Cruz, where the mist lifted at last and Walton Lighthouse winked at the purpling sky.
I hope you enjoyed your visit. Thank you.
Contact me for kids, teens, family, and corporate photography in the Bay Area.
Smart Start
Posted on June 4, 2019
Let’s get one thing straight: Teachers are the best.
In the back-asswards Hierarchy of the Underappreciated, they’re perched on a mountaintop of nurses and EMTs, janitors and sanitation workers, freelance writers, line cooks, and UN interpreters.
So when Smart Start preschool hired me for staff photography, I jumped at the opportunity and threw myself into the assignment as though it were Teacher Appreciation Day.
Actually, days. I hope my effort shows.
Day 1—Newark, CA
Day 2—Livermore, CA
To the staff at Smart Start—and teachers everywhere—thank you. Thank you.
Contact me for kids, teens, family, and corporate photography in the Bay Area.
Simply Catherine
Posted on May 28, 2019
I have an idea for a new project: Being Human.
Its premise is straightforward.
Business professionals are people, generally speaking.
They may have titles, roles, and responsibilities.
But who they are goes way beyond workplace ephemera.
And it’s not a carefully guarded secret, either.
You just have to ask the right questions.
So, meet Catherine, a communications professional.
A writer, musician, and, well, read on…
When you grow up, what kind of person do you want to be?
I want to be that 80-year old or 90-year old who’s still riding her bicycle or running along the shoreline or hiking through redwoods as she gets older. She’s full of zest for life. She surrounds herself with people who love and inspire her. She’s radiant, humble, wise, and present — deeply present — to the hum and flow of each moment. She loves the world, in all its brokenness and heartache and still sees its glory shine through.
What is one question you would ask a fortune teller?
Am I going to be alright? Am I going to make it to 70 or 80 or 90 years old and still have my body parts working well and be cared for and surrounded in love? Am I going to be happy? Will I have done all or most of what was on my “bucket list?” Will I die a peaceful death and leave this place at least a little better than when I came in? Imagine how life could be lived if we knew that we were going to be alright no matter what. Nothing could stop us from pursuing our dreams.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Sitting in sunshine on a warm day, surrounded by giant trees or the ocean or some magical outdoor setting. The sun on my skin. The smell of the salt air or eucalyptus or thick earth surrounding me. Listening to ethereal music. Sipping a phenomenal cappuccino. And eating the most heavenly slice of pie. Mixed berry pie, with billowy whipped cream. There must be pie for it to be perfect happiness.
Contact me for kids, teens, family, and corporate photography in the Bay Area.
Mountain Living
Posted on May 22, 2019
Last fall, I ran family photography mini sessions in the woods above the valley. What joy! What fun! Amazing, really.
Family #1
I admire a man who carries his son like a sack of flour. That, and dresses in pajamas to please his wife who has a vision, come what come may…
…and makes googly eyes at his boy just because.
Here older brother is doing what every kiddo wants to do, always: play, play, play.
Younger kiddo doesn’t know it yet, but this allegory of brotherhood in three frames will set the tone for the rest of his days. When in doubt, shout. Or listen, as the case may be.
Wrinkles the canine keeps the family together like a good herd dog.
Mother and daughter square up for a shot as golden hour paints the landscape in magical tones.
Only thing better than having a brother is hanging out with a brother on a fence.
Rim light transfigures everyone it touches.
Family #3
With scenes like these, every family deserves at least one…
…OK, maybe two family portraits.
Of course, where would Family be without Grandma? She lights up the scene!
Contact me for kids, teens, family, and corporate photography in the Bay Area.
Yes, She Said
Posted on April 30, 2019
Fellas are curious by nature.
Ray asked a question.
Ashley said yes.
Now a new phase of their journey begins.
I helped Ashley and Ray commemorate the moment at Santa Clara University.
Here are my top five favorite photos from their engagement session.
Thank you for visiting.
Hope you enjoyed.
Contact me for kids, teens, family, engagement, and corporate photography in the Bay Area.
The Old Ways
Posted on April 22, 2019
For the avid reader in search of a great book, I highly recommend The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot by Robert Macfarlane.
The Old Ways explores the role of walking—or wayfaring—in seeing the world aright.
That is, in realizing a straight path is never only linear.
But before you can earn such insight, you’ve got to log some trail miles first.
So without further ado, I’d like to share some of my favorite quotes—and Neilson landscape photographs—from The Old Ways in the hopes of piquing your interest.
“The eye is enticed by a path, and the mind’s eye also. The imagination cannot help but pursue a line in the land—onwards in space, but also backwards in time to the histories of a route and its previous followers.”
“Humans are animals and like all animals we leave tracks as we walk: signs of passage made in snow, sand, mud, grass, dew, earth or moss…. Most of our journeys now occur on asphalt and concrete—and these are substances not easily impressed.”
“Paths are the habits of landscapes. They are acts of consensual making. It’s hard to create a footpath on your own.”
“An hour later I went for a walk with a flask of whisky to keep me warm.” Now that’s a gorgeous landscape photo!
“For pilgrims walking the Camino, every footfall is doubled, landing at once on the actual road and also on the path of faith.”
“Old paths are mediums in two senses: means of communion as well as means of motion.”
“Paths need walking.”
“Footpaths are mundane in the best sense of that word: “wordly,” open to all. As rights of way determined and sustained by use, they constitute a labyrinth of liberty, a slender network of common land that still threads through our aggressively privatized world of barbed wires and gates….”
“The compact between writing and walking is almost as old as a literature—a walk is only a step away from a story, and every path tells.”
“Paths run through people as surely as they run through places.”
Contact me for kids, teens, family, and corporate staff and event photography in the Bay Area.
Of Time and the River
Posted on April 15, 2019
In the heart of Los Padres National Forest, the Big Sur River is carving steep gorges and sharp-crested ridges. Sykes campground—where I captured the image above—is a 10-mile hike through untamed canyon wilderness. It was a challenging destination to reach even when there was an established trail. But now in the wake of fires, road closures, and erosion damage, this lovely little spot is next to impossible to reach.
Contact me for kids, teens, family, and corporate photography in the Bay Area.
