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Work with me

Food, brands, gardens and video, in good light.

Most people know me for Avila Beach sunrises. I also photograph and film for businesses across San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties: food, products, spaces, people, events and more.

I've also run Sleepless Interactive, my web design company, for about 20 years, so every photo and video I deliver is planned for where it's going: your website, your ads and your social feeds.

Start a project See my work
Red bowls of pozole with radishes, cabbage and lime, shot for a Central Coast restaurant.Food Rider on an electric jet surfboard skimming across the water off Avila Beach.Brands Sunflowers backlit by the rising sun.Gardens Jay Olson filming in the surf by Avila Pier on a foggy morning.Video
Food

Food and products that look as good as they are

Dark, moody tables and soft side light. I take the same slow approach I take on the beach: wait for the light, then make the shot. The pozole here was shot on location for a Central Coast restaurant.

  • Restaurant and menu photos

    Your dishes, shot on location, for your menu, website and delivery apps.

  • Product photos

    Clean, on-brand images of what you sell, ready for your store and ads.

  • Social media batches

    A set of on-brand images shot in one session, sized for mobile feeds and ready to post.

Ask about a food or product shoot
Layered cheese torte topped with tomatoes and basil on a dark plate.Red bowls of pozole with radishes, cabbage and lime.Shrimp cocktail with lemon and greens.Sliced sourdough loaves with herb butter.Spaghetti and meatballs with basil and parmesan, with a loaf of bread behind.Corn chowder with bacon and cornbread.Lavender cheese with honeycomb on a wood slice.A pile of fresh red rock crabs.Jalapeno cheddar loaves in burlap-lined crates on a deck above farm fields.
Rider on an electric jet surfboard skimming across the water off Avila Beach.Action
Gray SUV parked above Avila Beach with the pier and town behind it.Automotive
Bright living room with a vaulted beamed ceiling and tall windows over green hills.Real estate
Sand sculptor kneeling beside his sculptures on Avila Beach by the pier.People
Avila Beach pier and beachfront from above on a sparkling day.Tourism
Glass and bottle of Sangiovese on a railing above Avila Beach.Products
Rider carving a jet ski through spray off the Central Coast.Rentals
A farm box packed with tomatoes, mandarins, blueberries, kiwi, cauliflower, carrots and lettuce in late sun.Farms
Brands & business

Your business, out where it happens

Nothing undercuts a great website faster than stock photos. I come to you and shoot your space, your team at work and what you do. Sometimes that means standing in the surf off Avila to catch a jet surfboard at full speed.

  • Business and website photos

    Hero images framed with room for your headline, plus team and behind-the-scenes shots.

  • Real estate

    Homes and estates in early-morning and golden-hour light.

  • Travel and tourism

    Central Coast places for tourism boards, hotels and hospitality campaigns.

  • Events

    Documentary-style coverage of corporate events, local festivals and private celebrations.

Ask about a business shoot
Gardens

Gardens and farm fields at first light

Sunflowers lit from behind, bean rows at dawn, a tractor in an Arroyo Grande field. Gardens get the same early-morning treatment as my sunrises.

Ask about a garden shoot
Sunflowers backlit by the rising sun with a sunstar.Rows of flowering bean plants in a garden at sunrise.A sunflower floating in a stone birdbath at sunset.Garden path with sunflowers, cosmos and a rainbow pinwheel.Old orange tractor in a farm field in Arroyo Grande at sunrise.
Video

Video, from plan to final cut

I plan it, shoot it on location and edit it, then color-grade and format it for the web, phones and social. Press play for one minute of Avila mornings.

Jay Olson filming in the surf by Avila Pier on a foggy morning.Editing an Avila Beach sunrise video in Premiere Pro on a wide monitor, with sunrise clips in the timeline.

Shot in the surf, edited and color-graded at my desk.

See more videos YouTube channel
Filming an online cooking class for Grandma Ingrid's: two cooks canning tomatoes in a farmhouse kitchen, with lights and cameras set up.

Video production

Brand stories, facility walkthroughs and short social clips.

  • Commercial and promotional videos for ads and landing pages
  • Event and corporate coverage
  • Color-graded files for web, mobile and social
Phone on a tripod on the pier railing streaming the sunrise live, with viewer comments on screen.

Live streaming

Your event, live, to wherever your audience is.

  • Multi-camera switching with live audio
  • Stream to your website, YouTube, Facebook or a webinar platform
  • A stable network setup from start to finish
Jay Olson checking a camera with a shotgun mic on the pier railing under a red sky.

Time-lapse and hyperlapse

Weeks of change in a few seconds.

  • Construction and seasonal change, captured over time
  • Hyperlapse movement for campaigns
  • Fast-motion B-roll for commercial projects
Every project includes

Made for your website, not a hard drive

You own every file

No licensing fees or usage limits. Use them on your website, social, print and ads.

Web-ready files

Compressed and formatted to load fast without losing quality.

On location

I come to you, anywhere in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.

Website, too

I also design websites at Sleepless Interactive, so the photos fit the page they're made for.

Start a project

Let's make something together

Tell me a little about what you have in mind. There's no wrong answer to "what do you need?"

Need a website, too?

I build them at Sleepless Interactive. Visit Sleepless Interactive

Shoots outside San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties are quoted separately.

Thanks! I'll get back to you soon.
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