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By K. Reka Badger

Jose Villa runs his photography business from his Solvang home but shoots entirely on location. Villa grew up in the Santa Ynez Valley and graduated from SYVUHS.

From amateur shutterbugs to professional lensmen, photographers help us document the fleeting stuff of everyday life. While some point and click and others arrange formal poses, a few dare to push the envelope of the medium's artistic potential.

In a bid to catch the transcendent shots that his colleagues often miss, local photographer Jose Villa believes in taking risks. Armed with an array of cameras and using available light, he shoots at oblique angles with a variety of lenses to create atmospheric studies and intimate glimpses of his subjects in action.

"I don't do traditional stuff," Villa admits. "I'm about capturing the moment, being in the right place at the right time without being intrusive. I don't put down the camera just because the subject is walking away.

"I'm more than just a photographer," he adds. "I'm more of an artist and I have my own niche. People fall in love with me doing less formal shots and not just saying "one-two-three-smile.' "

Whether photographing a wedding, baby or clients in a casual setting, Villa regards each assignment as a mandate to create fine art.

His portfolio of nuptial images includes tender glances, swirling veils, twirling dancers and bridal footwear, while his portraits of children reveal the mischief, motion and wide-eyed wonder of kids caught being themselves.

In the five short years since graduating from Brooks Institute of Photography, Villa has built a thriving career that takes him across the country and beyond. With his calendar booked six months in advance,Villa reigns as one of the most popular photographers in the Santa Ynez Valley.

"When I first got out of school," he remembers, "people would say, 'Move to L.A., move to a big city,' because what I do is so cutting edge. But I told them, 'No way. I'm really comfortable here, I grew up here, my family is here.'"

Born in a small town near Guadalajara, Mexico, Villa came north with his parents at the age of five. The family, which eventually included five children, settled at Flag Is Up Farms, where Villa's father worked as maintenance manager.

"We grew up in the most amazing environment," Villa smiles. "All those horses, and we got to play all over, in the creek and the fields. It was a great, safe place to grow up."

While in high school,Villa signed up for an elective class and discovered the passion that would shape the rest of his life.

"I took a photography course," he says, "and from there I kind of fell in love with it. I was interested in flowers, rolling hills, clouds, trees, that kind of stuff. I didn't explore different types of photography until I got to Brooks where I found I loved photographing kids, weddings, babies."

Jose Villa captures top award

One of Jose Villa's prize-winning entries.

Before his photography career even began, Jose Villa showed signs of a great future. He was selected to take part in a 2001 competition between seniors at Brooks Institute of Photography and Rochester Institute of Technology that had each college pitting their three best senior class photographers against each other in a Nikon camera/Fuji film competition designed for graduating photography majors. Jose Villa first won a coveted finalist position.

Each of the finalists was then given the exact same assignmentÑto shoot six named subjects in their own style. They had ten days to complete and turn in their six entries to contest officials.

Villa won first place and received $2000 in cash, a top-of-the-line Nikon camera and the honor of having one of his winning photographs published in American Photo magazine.

Now five years later Villa has been given a new accolade by American Photo magazine: a lead on the June 2006 cover says "Jose Villa - a 25-year-old phenom, on the move."

Villa graduated from Santa Ynez Valley Union High School in 1998 and promptly enrolled at Brooks, a decision not entirely embraced by his parents.

"I don't think they were too pleased when I told them I wanted to be a photographer," he laughs. "They said, 'You should be a doctor, a teacher, an attorney.' As Hispanics," he continues, "they didn't see photography as an art. All my relatives don't see it as art. To them it's just a job."

College posed plenty of challenges for Villa, who lived with his parents and worked full time while attending classes.

"I worked at the Rite Aid pharmacy," he says. "I'd get up really early, go to Brooks, go back to Rite Aid at noon, work 'till six, go back to Brooks and work until midnight. Sometimes I'd drive to Brooks twice a day just to get my class work done."

Villa shoots almost entirely on location and runs his business from his home in Solvang. He owns a second house in Los Alamos, a rental property purchased with disciplined talent and hard work. "Not having a house growing up really inspired me to get one," Villa explains. "It inspired me to keep working and trying."

"In school they said, 'Don't expect to graduate and make more than $20,000 a year in the first five years,' but I was able to buy my first house in two years. It's been tough but good," he adds. "It's all about what you put into it."

Fresh out of college, Villa spent two months in San Francisco working as an intern with fashion photographer Marcy Malloy. Dazzled by his work, she offered him a job as studio manager, a plum assignment that Villa quickly turned down. "It just wasn't for me," he says. "I'm really not a studio photographer. My work is all about beautiful, natural light.

"While I was up there," he says with satisfaction, "I pictured myself booking my own jobs, setting my own hours and doing exactly what I'm doing now."

Jose Villa's photographic works of art are available for perusal online at www.josevillaphoto.com.