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Two Mays in a row, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission sent me to downtown Napa for Bike to Work Day, renamed Bike to Wherever Days in 2026. Energizer stations, commuters, kids, a tall bike and one very fast recumbent, all before most people had finished their coffee. A commuter rides past the Uptown Theatre in Napa on Bike to Work Day, May 15, 2025. (Photo by Josh Edelson for MTC) Families ride together on Bike to Work Day 2025. (Photo by Josh Edelson for MTC) The brief from a public agency is different from a corporate one: real people, real streets, and images that read as the community rather than a campaign. That means getting low, shooting into the morning light, and letting the town be the backdrop. A tall bike on the move. (Photo by Josh Edelson for MTC) Riders at the Napa County energizer station, 2025. (Photo by Josh Edelson for MTC) Bike to Wherever Days 2026 in downtown Napa, May 14, 2026. (Photo by Josh Edelson for MTC) The 2026 Bike to Wherever Days tote. (Photo by Josh Edelson for MTC) Coming back for a second year is the best kind of brief: the agency knows the pictures work, and I know where the light falls at 7:30 in the morning on First Street. The energizer station at the Napa County Administration Building, 2026. (Photo by Josh Edelson for MTC) A vintage trike joins the ride, 2026. (Photo by Josh Edelson for MTC) Planning a community or agency event? See event photography, or get in touch for a quote. Half days from $2,000, full days from $3,500.

Aigen builds solar-powered robots that weed crop rows without chemicals, and the place to photograph one is in the dirt. This field day in the Salinas Valley put the robot in front of growers, partners and press, working an actual row while everyone watched. The Aigen robot at work during a Salinas Valley field day. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Aigen) Visitors follow the robot down the row. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Aigen) Ag tech is a genre where the environment does the talking. Bright sun, flat light and a lot of dust, so the job is to find the frames that show the machine, the crop and the people in the same picture, and to make a founder crouching in a row look like the story it is. Checking the row after the robot passes. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Aigen) Growers and the Aigen team inspect the results. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Aigen) Company field days, product demos and site visits are a big part of the corporate work I do outside the city: the images have to work for a press release, an investor deck and the website, all from one afternoon. The team with the robot in a Salinas Valley field. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Aigen) One of the final frames from the field day. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Aigen) Planning a product demo or site visit? See office and industrial lifestyle photography, or get in touch for a quote. Half days from $2,000, full days from $3,500.

On June 15, 2023, Xavier Becerra, then the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and now a candidate for governor of California, toured Samuel Merritt University in Oakland. The university asked me to photograph the visit: the simulation center, the nursing students, and the conversations in between. Secretary Becerra tours Samuel Merritt University in Oakland, June 15, 2023. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Samuel Merritt University) With nursing students in the simulation center. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Samuel Merritt University) A cabinet secretary’s visit runs on a tight clock. There is no posing and no second take, so the work is the same as covering a news assignment: know the route, be in position before the moment, and get the frame the first time. Students and faculty gather in the simulation lab. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Samuel Merritt University) Greeting students during the tour. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Samuel Merritt University) The university wanted two things from the day: press-ready images that could go out the same afternoon, and a set for its own communications that showed students at the center of the visit. Both come from the same instinct, which is to photograph the people the visitor came to see, not just the visitor. Arriving at the campus. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Samuel Merritt University) A handshake in the simulation center. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Samuel Merritt University) Samuel Merritt University is a long-time client, from commencement and pinning ceremonies to campus events. Visits like this one are where a background in news photography pays off for a university communications team. Planning a campus visit or VIP event? See Oakland corporate and event photography, or get in touch for a quote. Half days from $2,000, full days from $3,500.

The Irvine Company held a kickoff event at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, and I covered it: the arrivals, the stadium tour, and a lot of 49ers jerseys. Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara. (Photo by Josh Edelson for The Irvine Company) The kickoff entrance. (Photo by Josh Edelson for The Irvine Company) Company events in a stadium give you two kinds of pictures: the big architecture and the small reunions. The second kind is what the team actually shares afterward. Colleagues greet each other on the concourse. (Photo by Josh Edelson for The Irvine Company) A selfie with the field behind. (Photo by Josh Edelson for The Irvine Company) Arrivals at the stadium. (Photo by Josh Edelson for The Irvine Company) Jerseys everywhere. (Photo by Josh Edelson for The Irvine Company) Levi’s Stadium, the Santa Clara Convention Center and the South Bay campuses are all core territory for me; a company event in Silicon Valley is a short drive, not a trip. Planning something similar? See San Jose and Silicon Valley corporate event photography, or get in touch for a quote. Half days from $2,000, full days from $3,500. When needed, travel is billed at cost.

Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon, April 2025. A hospitality assignment photographing the hotel’s public spaces, its staff and its art collection, one of the finest in any European hotel. The lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon. (Photo by Josh Edelson) The doorman at the hotel entrance. (Photo by Josh Edelson) Hotel photography is about pace and people. Empty rooms read as cold, so I let staff and guests move through the frame, using slow shutter speeds to keep the architecture sharp and the people alive. A tapestry in the lounge. (Photo by Josh Edelson) The restaurant at breakfast. (Photo by Josh Edelson) A bellman on the move. (Photo by Josh Edelson) The lounge and its art. (Photo by Josh Edelson) I take on international assignments for multi-day programs: conferences, hospitality and corporate work where one photographer across the whole project matters more than a local hire. Planning something similar? See international conference and corporate photography, or get in touch for a quote. Half days from $2,000, full days from $3,500. When needed, travel is billed at cost.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center brought its Mobile Museum of Tolerance to the California State Capitol in Sacramento on January 27, 2025, and I photographed the day: the exhibit bus on the Capitol grounds, legislators and staff touring the interior, and portraits inside the Capitol itself. The Mobile Museum of Tolerance parked at the California State Capitol, January 27, 2025. (Photo by Josh Edelson for the Simon Wiesenthal Center) Inside the exhibit. (Photo by Josh Edelson for the Simon Wiesenthal Center) Advocacy events at the Capitol move quickly. Visitors arrive between votes, tours last minutes, and the strongest frames are the unposed ones: a conversation on the bus, a handshake at the steps, a portrait in the rotunda light. A conversation inside the Mobile Museum of Tolerance. (Photo by Josh Edelson for the Simon Wiesenthal Center) A portrait inside the California State Capitol. (Photo by Josh Edelson for the Simon Wiesenthal Center) Greetings at the bus steps. (Photo by Josh Edelson for the Simon Wiesenthal Center) A moment inside the Capitol. (Photo by Josh Edelson for the Simon Wiesenthal Center) Sacramento is a ninety-minute drive from the Bay Area, and Capitol events, advocacy days and association meetings there are work I take on regularly. Planning something similar? See Sacramento event photography, or get in touch for a quote. Half days from $2,000, full days from $3,500. When needed, travel is billed at cost.

Salesforce asked for coverage of a Tableau DataFam community event in Seattle in August 2026 on a date I was already booked in San Francisco. Rather than turn it down, I staffed the day with a Seattle photographer I hired, briefed and directed, then handled the edit myself so the delivered set matches the work I do in person. Group photo at the Tableau DataFam event in Seattle, August 2026. (Photo for Salesforce, directed and edited by Josh Edelson) Community members at the Seattle event. (Photo for Salesforce, directed and edited by Josh Edelson) This is how I cover conflicts for repeat clients. The shot list, the direction and the edit are mine; the client gets one point of contact and one consistent library, whichever city the event lands in. Attendees in DataFam jerseys. (Photo for Salesforce, directed and edited by Josh Edelson) A working session during the event. (Photo for Salesforce, directed and edited by Josh Edelson) A speaker addresses the room. (Photo for Salesforce, directed and edited by Josh Edelson) Candid moments in the courtyard. (Photo for Salesforce, directed and edited by Josh Edelson) Salesforce has been a client since 2014, from Dreamforce to intern days to executive portraits. Seattle is also where I photographed Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman at AWS headquarters. Planning something similar? See Seattle corporate photography, or get in touch for a quote. Half days from $2,000, full days from $3,500. When needed, travel is billed at cost.

Lumafield team headshots in Nashville, September 2024. One magenta backdrop, one lighting setup, and a whole team photographed in a single day so every profile on the website and LinkedIn matches. Team headshot for Lumafield in Nashville, September 2024. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Lumafield) The same setup across the team. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Lumafield) A colored backdrop is a good choice for a company with a strong brand palette. It photographs cleanly, it separates the team from stock-looking gray headshots, and it stays consistent when new hires are added later. Consistent framing and light from the first frame to the last. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Lumafield) A headshot from the Nashville session. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Lumafield) Team portrait from the same day. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Lumafield) One of the final frames from the Lumafield headshot day. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Lumafield) I travel with a full portable studio, so a headshot day in Nashville looks exactly like one in San Francisco: 10 to 15 minutes per person, everyone back at their desk quickly, and a matching set delivered. Planning something similar? See Nashville corporate photography, or get in touch for a quote. Half days from $2,000, full days from $3,500. When needed, travel is billed at cost.

DFIN’s Activate event at Convene on Fifth Avenue in New York, November 19, 2025. A full day of panels, a ceremony, and a cocktail reception, with a purple unicorn mascot that ended up in more frames than any executive. Presenters open the DFIN Activate event in New York, November 19, 2025. (Photo by Josh Edelson for DFIN) A panel discussion at Activate. (Photo by Josh Edelson for DFIN) DFIN brought me in for both stills and video on this one. The priorities from the client were clear: the ceremony and the reception mattered most, and the images needed to work for LinkedIn the same week. A speaker at the podium at Convene, 530 Fifth Avenue. (Photo by Josh Edelson for DFIN) Reception moments at Activate. (Photo by Josh Edelson for DFIN) The DFIN unicorn made an appearance. (Photo by Josh Edelson for DFIN) Cocktail reception at the end of the day. (Photo by Josh Edelson for DFIN) This was my second event for DFIN, after their San Francisco program the year before. New York is one of the cities I photograph in most often outside the Bay Area, for clients who want the same photographer on both coasts. Planning something similar? See New York corporate event photography, or get in touch for a quote. Half days from $2,000, full days from $3,500. When needed, travel is billed at cost.

Wurl Summit 2024 at the Catamaran Resort in San Diego, photographed for AppLovin. A two-day industry summit with sessions, panels and the kind of engaged audience that makes candid coverage easy. A speaker at Wurl Summit 2024 in San Diego, January 31, 2024. (Photo by Josh Edelson for AppLovin) Audience reaction during a session. (Photo by Josh Edelson for AppLovin) AppLovin is a client I have photographed many times in the Bay Area, so when the summit moved to San Diego, bringing the same photographer was the simplest way to keep the event library consistent from year to year. A full room at the summit. (Photo by Josh Edelson for AppLovin) A presenter at the podium. (Photo by Josh Edelson for AppLovin) Between sessions at the Catamaran Resort. (Photo by Josh Edelson for AppLovin) Closing session at Wurl Summit 2024. (Photo by Josh Edelson for AppLovin) San Diego is a ninety-minute flight from San Francisco, and I fly out and back the same day for single-day events or stay through for multi-day programs like this one. Planning something similar? See San Diego corporate event photography, or get in touch for a quote. Half days from $2,000, full days from $3,500. When needed, travel is billed at cost.