John's career, in fact, is due to thinking ahead—way ahead. He describes himself as "one of those fortunate people who, at a young age, decided what I wanted to do." And what he wanted to do was photography.

"At 16 I took a photo class, and it was like in the movies, that magic moment when you see the picture start to develop in the tray. I saw that, and I knew right away.

"I got tremendous support from my mother. She was a little worried because a lot of photographers don't make much money, but she told me she'd provide matching funds—for every dollar I earned for photo equipment, she'd put up a dollar." Soon John had his first camera—"an F3 with a motor drive"—and started putting together a portfolio. Then, still 16 years old, he took the portfolio around, cold calling to every studio "from Sherman Oaks to Woodland Hills—any studio, it didn't matter if it was wedding, industrial, commercial photography. And I got hired by the right guy."

The man who hired John was a wedding photographer with an upscale clientele, and although John didn't do any shooting, he learned about the business and made the right connections. "I was 16 years old and we were doing 450-person weddings at the Beverly Hills Hotel, wearing tuxedos. It was incredible." After two years the photographer left the business, and John went to work for the chief competitor. "That's when I started to actually shoot pictures at the weddings."

Eventually John went on his own. "Because of that first job, I got to live in that world of photographers and their clients from a very early age, and when I went into business for myself, I was an accepted part of that group. When I give talks and presentations, I'm often asked, 'How do you get that kind of clientele?' but I don't have an answer. There's no one way to do it. For me it was just about being in the right place at the right time."

Which is pretty much the way he approaches his work. "It's not something I study or plan. It's just being there and observing." What he's looking for are the pure moments when things happen, and when the key people at the wedding react to what's happening.

John has said that often the most important moments occur before the wedding, when he first meets the clients. "That meeting is not so much about photography as it is about chemistry. It's when we see how we get along." But sometimes he's booked by the wedding coordinator and doesn't meet the couple until the day of the wedding. "In those cases, I get there extra early. There's a quick sizing up, and then I try to spend as much time with them as possible to take the stress off. After that, I just roll with the day."

To see more of John’s photography visit his website at http://www.imagemakr.com/gallery.

John Solano has been an NPS member since 2000.