Clay McLachlan profile

I was drawn to the photographic medium as a thirteen year-old growing up in San Francisco. My university studies led me directly to philosophy and photography. By the time I completed university I understood that I must follow my passion, photography.

My experience as a professional photographer during the past fifteen years has included sports, journalism, food, wine, travel and design. My photographs are documentation of a unique moment in time, nothing more and nothing less whether I am on assignment or making photographs for myself.

I am a photojournalist based in Paris and San Francisco, committed to creating a unique and vibrant perspective in every photograph I compose. My passion for food, wine, and traveling allows me to have a deep understanding of my subjects.

Ten years ago I began photographing the Wine Country with the same intensity that kept me racing along the sidelines during the middle of a snowstorm at a football game or riding in a helicopter with government leaders. I am drawn to the light, soil, changing seasons, and incredibly passionate personalities I meet in the Wine Country.

Seven years as a sports and news photographer provided a critical foundation in shaping my ability to pinpoint the climactic moment in any given situation. Instead of immediately focusing my attention on one particular object or scene, when I photograph, I take in as much as I can and allow my eye to draw me in to the heart of each situation.

My work has led me to travel to more than 30 countries on assignment. My images have been published in such magazines as Gourmet, Food and Wine, Departures, Town and Country,Wine Spectator, Time, People, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Decanter, Sunset, Wine Enthusiast, Wine Country Living, Wine and Spirits, Saveur, Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, Washington Post, and the New York Times, as well as numerous books.

You can see more at my site, ClayMcLachlan.com