Kevin Neilson Photography
Corporate and family photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area
2020 Vision
Posted on January 14, 2020
The title is misleading. It’s more a retrospective.
Every image except one was shot in 2019. Good lord, it was a damn fine year. I’m lucky to observe people. Bearing witness is powerful stuff. I’m constantly amazed by it.
Lately, I’ve been building portraits around eyes. I really dial the eyes in first. They’re my secret subject. Always.
I pay close attention to irises and pupils. I finesse catch light. Only then do I compose a shot. Eyes first, then everything else follows: Hair, nose, mouth, and hoodie. Toque, tie, vest, or jewelry.
Whatever it may be. I don’t care. It doesn’t matter. It’s secondary.
“Eyes so transparent that through them the soul is seen.” —Theophile Gautier
“You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.”
—Mark Twain
“Now I wash the gum from your eyes, / You must habit yourself to the dazzle of the light and of every moment of your life.”
—Walt Whitman
“You have to be an optimist to open your eyes when you awake in the morning.”
—Carl Sandburg
“Love is blind; friendship closes its eyes.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche
“Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards.”
—Benjamin Franklin
“The hardest thing to see is what is in front of your eyes.”
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.”
—Jawaharlai Nehru
“Keep your eyes open to your mercies.”
—Robert Louis Stevenson
“A gentleman has eyes on all those present….”
—Lawrence G. Lovasik
“The eyes are more exact witnesses than the ears.”
—Heraclitus
“Our eyes of flesh only see night.”
—Victor Hugo
“A man’s feet should be planted in his country, but his eyes should survey the world.”
—George Santayana
“The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart.”
—St. Jerome
“Of my face, I like the eyebrows and eyes.”
—Frida Kahlo
“For I dipped into the future, far as the human eye could see, / Saw the vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be.”
—Alfred Lord Tennyson
“The eye is the jewel of the body.”
—Henry David Thoreau
Contact me for kids, teens, couples, family, and corporate photography in the Bay Area. Subscribe to my newsletter for updates, offers, and inspiration.
Him to Her
Posted on August 13, 2019
WINTER, SUMMER—I traveled up and down the San Francisco peninsula photographing corporate business professionals. I’d like to share a few of them.
Adobe
The only thing better than a corporate shoot at Adobe is a corporate shoot at Adobe on a balcony overlooking the City. With a cityscape like that, your eyes would pop, too.
CyCognito
Members of the CyCognito leadership team needed new headshots to match an existing look and feel. Although it departs from my customary style and aesthetic, I thoroughly enjoyed working with a white background and two off-camera strobes.
Procurant
When you provide solutions for the global food supply chain, it’s smart branding to photograph your leaders outdoors where trees and hedgerows provide a splash of color.
Fenwick & West marketing pro
This aspiring marketing leader at a legendary law firm wanted to blend the venerability of law with the approachability of marketing. Done and done.
Oh, did I say Adobe?
If so, no harm in repetition 🙂
Contact me for kids, teens, family, and corporate photography in the 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.
It’s Chime for a Change
Posted on May 7, 2019
A change in banking, that is.
Last March, during a break from the rain,
I photographed the Chime leadership team in the City.
When you’re doing corporate photography on Maiden Lane,
It’s best to put the street to good use.
Here are a few headshots from the day.
Scroll, peruse, enjoy.
Thank you.
Contact me for kids, teens, family, and corporate staff and event photography in the Bay Area.
A Team Called Trōv
Posted on February 6, 2019
People love their toys.
You know, cameras, lenses, and laptops.
Headphones, snowboards, and music equipment.
People also love the convenience that comes with 24/7 mobility.
In downtown Danville, there’s a small startup called Trōv with a big ambition.
They’re reinventing the way digital natives insure the toys they love.
Recently, I had an opportunity to meet the team at Trōv and photograph them.
I’m thrilled with the results and am delighted my client is too.
Please scroll or swipe, and enjoy!
Contact me for kids, teens, family, and corporate photography in the Bay Area.
Of Smiles and Steel
Posted on January 29, 2019
If you have a business partner, you’d better enjoy that person a lot.
As this dynamic duo clearly does.
Laughter is fine and well.
But selling homes often requires a Lady of Steel…
…or a light’s out smile…
…or a willingness to stop traffic, come what come may.
But more than anything, connecting with customers—in real estate or photography—requires candor…
…and sincerity.
And nothing is more candid and sincere than Mom when she drops by for a visit. My favorite kind of photobombing!
Contact me for kids, teens, family, and corporate photography in the Bay Area.
