Who's in the Crew? - Spotlight on Mike Nakamura

NAME: Mike Nakamura - https://www.mikenakamuraphotography.com/

WHERE DO YOU LIVE? Fall City, Washington in the foothills of the Cascades Mountains about 21 miles East of Seattle. We live on Lake Alice and go on dock rides whenever the weather allows. Our dog Stella relaxes on them as we sip beverages.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SHOOTING HEADSHOTS? 6 years.

WHAT ELSE DO YOU LIKE TO SHOOT? Concerts, however, I don't shoot them often. Besides headshots, corporate event photography is a significant part of my business. I've been expanding into portraits more in the past year.

WHAT IS YOUR LIGHTING SETUP FOR HEADSHOTS? In the studio, I use 4 Einstein's and 1 DigiBee. Legacy Hurley 3 strip box setup with two lights on the background. On location, I use 4 Einstein's allowing one for the background.

WHEN DID YOU FIRST DISCOVER PH AND THE HSC? In 2014

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE TO JOIN THE CREW AFTER YOU FOUND IT? I found Peter before the Headshot Crew branding; while it was PH2 (or something like that). I immediately bought "The Art Behind the Headshot" followed by "Illuminating the Face" and attended a NYC Intensive in the fall of 2014, so I was signed up right away. Of course, I own "Perfecting the Headshot" now and have attended a second intensive in 2016.

WHAT IS ONE THING PEOPLE WOULD NEVER GUESS ABOUT YOU? I've skied Corbet's Couloir eight times. As I only drop in during good snow, I do not ski it every time I'm in Jackson or necessarily multiple times during a single trip.

WHAT'S ONE THING YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOU? I am usually just kidding, so don't take what I say too seriously.

WHAT'S UP WITH THE HEADSHOT? Kim Dalton took this photo of me at Headshotmania in 2018 and we won the silliest headshot contest with it.