Jason Phillips - They say that home is where our heart is…I grew up on the shores of Southern California, San Diego to be more specific. Yes, I was that stereotypical, blonde-haired, blue-eyed skater/surfer kid who also had a passion for photography. Most people go to college to learn or to fine-tune their craft, but not me. I started out by working at one of the two major "pro labs" in town, where all of the commercial advertising photographers dropped off their film for processing. Soon thereafter, I moved to the other side of the counter, working for the same guys whose film I once developed. As a freelance photo assistant, I had the opportunity to work for some really great shooters. My experiences included everything from working in a studio for Hewlett Packer to working on location for fashion shoots for Eddie Bauer. I did this for about eight years before photographing my first wedding, and that was amazing! It gave me a completely new and fresh look into creatively documenting real stories as they unfolded in front of me. But I have to tell you, what made it the most exciting and moving for me personally was knowing that the images I shot had potential to be passed down for generations – that my artwork would be carried on for lifetimes! This new discovery truly changed me forever. Over the next four years, I took everything I knew about fashion photography and poured it into my wedding pictures.
I have been working with Roman over the last four years. You may be wondering: why in the world would I ever leave my comfortable, San Diego beach lifestyle for the D.C. metro area? My six-year-old daughter came out here with her mom five years ago to be closer with her family. I had visited her for about a year and a half, before realizing that this wasn't going to work for me. Soon thereafter, I relocated to Northern Virginia and started working with Roman. Home truly is where the heart is!
