Photographer Jamie Soja is in the business of capturing moments, a demanding job when your subjects are fast-moving politicians, celebrities, and rock stars. He might have only three songs to capture the raw energy of The Rolling Stones, a fraction of a second to shoot Air Force One landing, or a brief appointment to take a portrait of Sir Ian McKellen. For Jamie, storytelling through a lens requires two essential tools: flexibility and creativity.

Jamie first learned the difference between a simple picture and a compelling photograph courtesy of a head of cabbage. In college, he was interested in photography but struggled with the technical complexities. That changed during a trip to a local market, where he spotted a cabbage sliced clean in half. Intrigued by its unexpected, intricate swirls, he found his spark. For his final project, Jamie shot a series of abstract vegetable close-ups, finding and capturing the extraordinary within the mundane. While technical elements like composition, depth of field, sharpness, and brightness exist in every picture, a great shot requires something more. “It has to make you feel engaged by the subject,” Jamie says, “as if you are really experiencing the moment yourself.”

Jamie’s professional photography career took off in San Francisco when he was hired as a contributor to JamBase, an online music publication. He cut his teeth interviewing and photographing major artists like Bob Weir, Phish, and Ani DiFranco. As his portfolio grew, his work caught the eye of editors at larger publications, leading to featured work in SF Weekly, The Washington Post, East Bay Express, and The Huffington Post. Some of his favorite assignments came from the now-defunct SF Weekly. Among his most notable projects for the paper was photographing President Obama more than a dozen times, a journey that took him to the White House to capture the President alongside San Francisco Giants legend Willie Mays. 

Jamie has to be highly flexible in his approach to each shoot. “Elton John lets people shoot from the very front, and he’s incredibly engaging, looking right into your camera and smiling,” Jamie says. “In contrast, for Lady Gaga, you have to be very far back.” Photographers are at the mercy of protective publicists, crowded access areas, and tight time constraints. Concert photography, in particular, operates on a razor-thin timeline. Photographers are typically allowed to shoot for only the first three songs - sometimes just ten minutes - making the pressure intense. “There are a lot of other photographers in the pit,” Jamie says. “Sometimes you see that the perfect angle is ten feet away, and you have to rush over there to grab the position while still being respectful of everyone else.” 

Sometimes, even the most meticulous planning goes out the window, and Jamie has to think on his feet. This was exactly the case when he was sent to interview and photograph Sir Ian McKellen. The shoot was taking place at the Hobart Shakespeareans, a renowned children’s theater company that McKellen supports. But when Jamie arrived at the venue, the theater director was nowhere to be found, and Sir Ian was fast asleep. Even though Jamie was scheduled to drive to a wedding that evening, he chose to stay flexible. When the team suggested waiting until after that night’s performance to do the shoot and interview, he knew it was the right move. It paid off instantly. Sir Ian added Jamie as his plus-one to that evening’s final performance of No Man’s Land starring McKellen and Patrick Stewart. The interview finally took place after the curtains closed. “It ended up being much better because he was in a really good mood,” Jamie says. “I got to take pictures of the wrap party with the kids from the Hobart Shakespeareans, and then I was able to get some portraits in his dressing room because I had established a rapport with him.”

For all the great shots Jamie has captured, a few painful misses still sting. Having read Kitchen Confidential and watched No Reservations, Jamie was a massive fan of Anthony Bourdain, eventually pitching the idea of photographing him to one of his editors. He finally got his chance at a food and wine festival in Lake Tahoe, but he was given only a few fleeting seconds to take the shot. When Jamie reviewed the images later, his heart sank: Bourdain’s eyes were slightly out of focus. “It’s pretty rare that a photo without the eyes in focus is going to be good,” Jamie recalls ruefully. Luckily, his chance at redemption came four years later. The Huffington Post assigned Jamie to interview and photograph Bourdain alongside chef Eric Ripert at a San Francisco speaking event, just as Bourdain’s new show, Parts Unknown, was launching. This time, Jamie nailed the shot. “These were much better portraits. He was posed and wearing a really nice suit, which was cool,” Jamie says. Then, with a laugh, he adds the most important detail: “And they were perfectly sharp and in focus.”