Sound Shooters: introducing a new column on photography

Joel Dames

We welcome professional photographers Joel and Hitomi Dames, who will be writing a regular column for the Shoreline Area News.

By Joel Dames

Hitomi and I are Shoreline photographers, shooting all kinds of events: weddings, bar/bat mitzvah, auctions, portraits, commercial /real estate, and photo booths for most of these. We would like to share some of the things we learned over the years with other Shoreline area photographers.

Hitomi Dames

I think my first assignment was for “East Magazine.” I travelled to the mountainous hot springs of Niigata, Japan in lovely snowy winter to capture Snow Country of Yasurnari Kawabata’s novel by that name. This was back in 1970 and I was super surprised when the lodge I stayed at put me in a bunk bed with a room full of giggling high school girls.

For about ten years I published feature photo articles for The Japan Times (national daily English-language newspaper). Then I published in newspapers and magazines, including “WAC Magazine”, (Washington Athletic Club), “Islands Magazine”, and an award for best series in “Linking Ring - International Brotherhood of Magicians.”

Hitomi joined me in 2006 and started displaying her work in galleries and winning awards from the get go, nine in all. 

This is our third year capturing events for City of Shoreline including parks, events, housing documentary and Monster Dash Photo Booth.

Now we want to share techniques we have learned over the years that anyone can use for better images.

Joel Dames Photography 

Photo Booth - Not Just a Tiny (Open with huge background), Portraits, Events, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Weddings, Albums