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Machina Labs builds robotic manufacturing systems in Los Angeles, and when they asked for team headshots, the obvious backdrop was the factory floor. Orange robotic arms, soft and out of focus behind every person, and one consistent look across the whole team. Team headshot on the Machina Labs factory floor in Los Angeles, November 2022. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Machina Labs) The same setup, the same light, a different face. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Machina Labs) This is the approach I recommend to any company with a distinctive workspace: skip the gray seamless and shoot where the work happens. The portable lighting does the same job it does in a studio, and the background tells the company’s story without a word of copy. A technician photographed in front of the robotics line. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Machina Labs) Consistent framing across the team. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Machina Labs) Engineering and shop-floor staff in the same series. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Machina Labs) One of the final frames from the Los Angeles headshot day. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Machina Labs) I flew down from the Bay Area with an assistant, set up once, and photographed the whole team in a single day. Los Angeles is a same-day trip for me, which makes an LA headshot day as simple to book as one in San Francisco. Planning something similar? See Los Angeles corporate headshots, or get in touch for a quote. Half days from $2,000, full days from $3,500. When needed, travel is billed at cost.

D23 Expo, Anaheim, September 2022. Amazon hired me to cover its activation at the Disney fan convention, which meant three days of characters, cosplay and a booth that never emptied. The Amazon booth at D23 Expo in Anaheim, September 2022. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Amazon) Cosplay by the fountains outside the Anaheim Convention Center. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Amazon) Brand activations at a fan convention are a different animal from a corporate keynote. The subject is the attendee, the light is whatever the hall gives you, and the best frames happen fast. My editorial background is built for exactly that. A group of cosplayers in front of the D23 Expo signage. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Amazon) A costumed guest at the Amazon activation. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Amazon) Inside the expo hall at D23. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Amazon) A guest outside the convention center in Anaheim. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Amazon) Anaheim is a same-day trip from the Bay Area, and Southern California brand activations, product launches and conferences are work I take on regularly for clients who want one photographer across their West Coast events. Planning something similar? See Los Angeles corporate and 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.

Amazon re:MARS in Las Vegas, June 2022. Machine learning, automation, robotics and space, on one of the biggest keynote stages I have photographed, with the kind of lighting design that makes a stage photographer’s week. The re:MARS keynote hall in Las Vegas, June 2022. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Amazon) Keynote conversation on the re:MARS stage. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Amazon) Keynote coverage at this scale is about anticipation. The graphics change, the speaker moves, and the moment where the slide and the gesture line up lasts about a second. The job is to be in the right seat, with the right lens, before that second arrives. A speaker on the re:MARS stage in Las Vegas. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Amazon) Keynote detail at re:MARS. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Amazon) A presenter against the re:MARS stage graphics. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Amazon) A wide frame of the keynote stage. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Amazon) Las Vegas is a short flight from San Francisco, which is why it has become one of the conference cities I photograph most. re:MARS was one of several Amazon and AWS assignments, and it is the reference I point to when a client asks what keynote coverage at convention scale looks like. Planning something similar? See Las Vegas conference 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 cities in six weeks, one look across all of them. Axonius took its Adapt25 road show to New York, Boston, Atlanta and Chicago in the spring of 2025, and I photographed every stop. This is what a multi-city corporate program looks like when one photographer carries it end to end. Keynote at Axonius Adapt25 in New York City, April 8, 2025. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Axonius) New York, April 8. The series opened in Manhattan with a full day of sessions, partner booths and a packed reception. The brief was the same one every event team gives: speakers who look like leaders, an audience that looks engaged, and sponsors who can see their logo in the frame. A full room for the opening session in New York. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Axonius) Partner conversations between sessions in New York. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Axonius) Boston, April 10. Two days later, a historic hall in Boston with balconies, wood floors and a drumline to open the day. High ceilings and mixed stage light are exactly the conditions a photojournalism background is for. The Boston stop of the Axonius Adapt25 road show, April 10, 2025. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Axonius) A speaker on the Adapt25 stage in Boston. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Axonius) Audience reaction during a session in Boston. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Axonius) Atlanta, April 16. Atlanta added a football theme, complete with a field goal zone that attendees put to full use between sessions. The candid frames from that afternoon are the ones the team shared most. A field goal attempt at the Atlanta stop of Adapt25. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Axonius) Partner conversations at Adapt25 in Atlanta, April 16, 2025. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Axonius) A speaker on stage in Atlanta. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Axonius) Chicago, May 20. The series closed in Chicago with another drumline, a warm wood-and-blue venue, and the same shot list I had carried since New York. By the fourth city the team and I were finishing each other’s sentences. The drumline opens Adapt25 in Chicago, May 20, 2025. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Axonius) A keynote speaker at the Chicago stop. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Axonius) Applause in the Chicago audience. (Photo by Josh Edelson for Axonius) Why one photographer for a road show. Every city gets the same stage angles, the same reception coverage and the same edit, so the marketing team has a consistent library instead of four styles to reconcile. I fly in the evening before, work from the same shot list at every stop, and deliver a matching set from each city. Planning something similar? See multi-city 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.

When 4D Molecular Therapeutics, a late-stage biotech developing genetic medicines, needed new portraits for its C-suite, the brief was the one I hear most often: the whole leadership team needs consistent, current images, and the CEO needs more than a headshot. 4DMT co-founder, President and CEO David Kirn at the company's headquarters. (Photo by Josh Edelson for 4DMT) The setup: simple, fast, flattering For the leadership team, I chose an outdoor location directly outside their offices. Open shade, greenery falling away into a soft blur, and one professional light shaped through an umbrella for each subject. That single-light outdoor recipe does three things at once: it flatters every face, it keeps each session to minutes per person so executives get back to work, and it produces a set where every portrait matches, which is what makes a leadership page look intentional instead of assembled. Executive portrait session for 4DMT leadership, photographed outdoors with a single umbrella-softened light. (Photo by Josh Edelson for 4DMT) Executive portrait for 4DMT leadership. (Photo by Josh Edelson for 4DMT) Why the CEO gets a bigger session For President and CEO David Kirn, we built out five distinct scenes instead of one. That is deliberate, and it is something I recommend to almost every company I photograph: a CEO’s images simply work harder. They appear on conference stages, in investor materials, in press coverage, in annual reports. One look gets stale fast when the same photo runs everywhere. Five scenes means the communications team can match the image to the moment for the next couple of years. Executive portrait for 4DMT leadership. (Photo by Josh Edelson for 4DMT) How a session like this works If your team needs this, here is the shape of it. We pick a date and I come to your office, anywhere in the Bay Area or nationwide. I scout a spot on site, indoors or out, and bring all lighting and backdrops. Each person takes five to ten minutes; a leadership team of ten is comfortably done in a half day, and I have photographed up to 100 people in a single day. Executives who need the fuller treatment get multiple scenes, like the five we built for 4DMT’s CEO. Selects arrive in a private online gallery within a few business days, professionally retouched. I have been a professional photographer for more than 15 years, shooting for AFP and Getty Images on the editorial side and for companies including Google, Amazon, Meta, and Salesforce on the corporate side. Biotech and life sciences teams are a regular part of that work. About executive portrait sessions Companies searching for an executive headshot photographer in San Francisco or planning corporate team headshots can see more of this work throughout the site. For budget planning, see what professional headshots cost in San Francisco. Half-day team sessions start from $2,000 and full days from $3,500; executive portrait sessions with multiple scenes are quoted to scope. Need headshots or executive portraits for your team? Reach out for a quote. Tell me your headcount and timeline and I will send a straightforward estimate the same day.

I was given 15 minutes with David Byrne. The former Talking Heads frontman was backstage at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley before a show on his Who Is The Sky? tour, and the Los Angeles Times sent me to make portraits for its feature by pop music critic Mikael Wood. Read the story on the LA Times. An in-camera triple exposure of David Byrne, photographed backstage at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley. (Josh Edelson / LA Times) Fifteen minutes is its own kind of brief. You walk in with a plan, light it fast, and if things are moving, you leave room for exactly one experiment. Mine was the frame above: an in-camera triple exposure, one straight look and two lit profiles, red and blue, built in the camera rather than in Photoshop. Would I have pushed further creatively with an hour? Absolutely. But constraints have a way of sharpening choices. David Byrne photographed backstage at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley before a performance on his Who Is The Sky? tour. (Josh Edelson / LA Times) David Byrne photographed backstage at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley before a performance on his Who Is The Sky? tour. (Josh Edelson / LA Times) David Byrne photographed backstage at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley before a performance on his Who Is The Sky? tour. (Josh Edelson / LA Times) Byrne himself made it easy. Super nice guy in person, game for direction, and genuinely fun to work with. At one point he picked up my camera and started shooting back. David Byrne photographed backstage at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley before a performance on his Who Is The Sky? tour. (Josh Edelson / LA Times) David Byrne photographed backstage at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley before a performance on his Who Is The Sky? tour. (Josh Edelson / LA Times) David Byrne photographed backstage at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley before a performance on his Who Is The Sky? tour. (Josh Edelson / LA Times) David Byrne photographed backstage at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley before a performance on his Who Is The Sky? tour. (Josh Edelson / LA Times) David Byrne turns the tables with the photographer's camera backstage at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley. (Josh Edelson / LA Times) Tight windows are the job Backstage celebrity portraits and executive portraits have more in common than people think. In both cases the subject is busy, the clock is running, and the photographs still have to carry a story. The same playbook that produced these frames, scouting fast, pre-lighting, and directing efficiently, is what I bring to executive portrait sessions and corporate headshot days: if your CEO has 15 minutes between meetings, that is enough time to make something worth using. More of my editorial work for AFP, Getty Images, and the LA Times is on the press page. Reach out if your team needs portraits that look like more than 15 minutes went into them.

See the full set: my complete Hawk Fire take on Getty Images. Update, August 26: one of these photographs, the statue of two figures embracing in the ashes, is the lead image on the front page of today’s Los Angeles Times, anchoring their story on Reno’s wildland-urban growth. The Los Angeles Times, August 26, 2026. Photo credit: Josh Edelson, AFP via Getty Images. Nine hours of driving for four hours of shooting. That is the math of covering the Hawk Fire in Reno on assignment for AFP this weekend, and it was worth every mile. The fire has burned through more than 15,000 acres northwest of the city, destroyed 32 homes so far, and pushed 42,000 people out at the height of the evacuations. Investigators say it was human caused. I got access into one of the neighborhoods where homes burned, and I was there as residents came back to see what was left. That return is the hardest part of any fire to photograph and the most important. Statistics do not move people. A person standing in front of the place they lived does. Resident Sydney Opperman weeps while viewing her burned home during the Hawk Fire in Reno, Nevada, August 24, 2026. (Josh Edelson / AFP) Resident Luke Opperman views his burned work truck as his home smolders during the Hawk Fire in Reno, Nevada, August 24, 2026. (Josh Edelson / AFP) Residents view their burned home during the Hawk Fire in Reno, Nevada, August 24, 2026. (Josh Edelson / AFP) Then, a few doors down, the strangest scene of the day. A house that survived, surrounded on every side by burned properties, and in the backyard three guys swimming in their pool. One of them was doing backflips into the water with torched cars and black hillsides in the frame behind him. Fires hand you heartbreak and absurdity in the same afternoon, and the job is to photograph both honestly. Surrounded by burned homes, Dylan Atkinson does a backflip into a backyard pool at a home that survived the Hawk Fire in Reno, Nevada, August 24, 2026. (Josh Edelson / AFP) The details are what stay with you. A statue of two people embracing, still standing in the ash of a home. A collection of vehicles painted like the characters from the movie Cars, scorched where they sat. A house still smoldering a full day after the front moved through. A statue of two people embracing remains at a burned home during the Hawk Fire in Reno, Nevada, August 24, 2026. (Josh Edelson / AFP) Vehicles themed after the movie Cars sit damaged by fire during the Hawk Fire in Reno, Nevada, August 24, 2026. (Josh Edelson / AFP) A burned home smolders during the Hawk Fire in Reno, Nevada, August 24, 2026. (Josh Edelson / AFP) I photograph corporate and editorial assignments, and wildfires are one of the subjects I cover regularly. My archive from more than 100 fires across the West is in my wildfire gallery, and comparable outtakes from my fire coverage are available to license directly for editorial and educational use. If you are covering the Nevada fires and need context imagery, reach out.

See the full set: my World’s Ugliest Dog Competition take on Getty Images. For nearly a decade, one of my favorite assignments of the year has been the World’s Ugliest Dog Competition, which I photograph for AFP. This year it ran in Santa Rosa on August 14, and the winner was Jinny Lu, a rescue pug who took home first place, a $5,000 award, and a trip to New York. Jinny Lu, a pug rescue, wins first place during the World's Ugliest Dog Competition in Santa Rosa, California on August 14, 2026. (Josh Edelson / AFP) Sometimes cute, sometimes ugly, all of them happy People assume this event is mean-spirited until they attend. It is the opposite. Most of the contestants are rescues, many with the kind of medical histories that would have ended their stories anywhere else, and the whole competition is a celebration of the dogs that got a second chance. Some are genuinely adorable. Some have faces only a wire service could love. Every single one of them is having the best day of its life, and the crowd is having it right along with them. Otto, a chihuahua mix with a severe double cleft lip and cleft palate, took third place at the World's Ugliest Dog Competition in Santa Rosa, California on August 14, 2026. (Josh Edelson / AFP) This year’s breakout was Otto, a chihuahua mix with a severe double cleft lip and cleft palate, who took third place and stole every camera in the room. You do not point a lens at Otto so much as surrender to him. Otto, a chihuahua mix, is shown on stage during the World's Ugliest Dog Competition in Santa Rosa, California on August 14, 2026. (Josh Edelson / AFP) Pinky, an albino Pomeranian chihuahua, takes second place during the World's Ugliest Dog Competition in Santa Rosa, California on August 14, 2026. (Josh Edelson / AFP) Why I keep coming back After a decade, I know this event the way I know a fire line or a keynote stage: where the light falls, when the judges lean in, which handlers will hold their dog up like a trophy at exactly the right moment. Shooting it well is the same craft as any assignment, get close, wait for the real expression, and let the subject be entirely itself. The subjects here are just better at that than most executives. Little Prince Wonder, a Chinese crested, walks the stage during the World's Ugliest Dog Competition in Santa Rosa, California on August 14, 2026. (Josh Edelson / AFP) Otto on stage during the World's Ugliest Dog Competition in Santa Rosa, California on August 14, 2026. (Josh Edelson / AFP) Otto, third-place finisher at the World's Ugliest Dog Competition in Santa Rosa, California on August 14, 2026. (Josh Edelson / AFP) These photographs moved on the AFP wire and are distributed by AFP and Getty Images. I retain copyright on comparable outtakes and license those directly for editorial and educational use. If you are covering the competition, tell me the moment you need and I will send a matching selection.