the studio est. 2014

Twelve years,
mostly outdoors.

A one-person studio working out of Nassau and, more often, out of a boat somewhere between here and Long Island.

    John Gomezthe studio · august 2026

    I started in 2014 with a borrowed body, one 50mm lens, and a Junkanoo parade I had absolutely no business trying to photograph. I underexposed nearly all of it. One frame survived — a drummer, mid-step, badly lit — and it still hangs in a hallway in Fox Hill, which tells you most of what I think about photography.

    The kit has changed since. The approach hasn't. I don't run a shot list, I don't stack people into rows, and I don't ask anyone to do a thing twice. I get there early, I work out where the light is going to be in an hour, and then I stay out of the way until something happens. It always does — usually about ninety seconds after everyone has decided the moment is over.

    The work splits about eight ways now — events, culture, people, fine art, entertainment, nature, travel and sport — but it is all the same job. Turn up early, find the light, and wait. Most of it happens on the out islands, which means tides, weather, mail boats and a great deal of standing around in the sun waiting for a race to start. I have come to like that part.

    George Town, Exuma  ·  35mm · f/4 · 1/1600

    how it goes three steps

    Booked, shot,
    delivered.

    The same three steps whether it's an hour of portraits or four days of racing. Nothing about it is a surprise on the day.

    1. 01

      Before

      One proper conversation — where, when, who's there, and what you actually want out of it. I'll tell you the honest best hour of the day for the light, even when it is inconvenient. Then a deposit holds the date and I stop worrying about it.

    2. 02

      On the day

      I arrive early, walk the place, and shoot two cards at once so a failure is never a disaster. You will mostly forget I'm there. If you want the posed one with everybody in it, say so and we'll do it in four minutes, near the start, while people still look tidy.

    3. 03

      After

      A handful of frames within two days so you have something to show people. The full set, graded by hand, in a private gallery within fourteen. Prints and albums are made here in Nassau on cotton rag, and I keep your files backed up for five years.

    what it's shot on the kit

    Boring gear,
    looked after.

    Asked often enough that it may as well live here. None of it matters as much as knowing where to stand.

    Bodies
    Nikon Z8, and a Z6 II that has never been needed and always comes
    Lenses
    24mm f/1.8 · 35mm f/1.8 · 50mm f/1.2 · 85mm f/1.2 · 70–200mm f/2.8
    Film
    Portra 400 and HP5, for personal work and the occasional stubborn client
    Light
    Whatever the room has. One speedlight, for rooms that have nothing
    Backup
    Two cards in camera, two drives before I sleep, off-island within the week
    Insured
    Public liability, and yes I'll send the certificate to your venue
    I'd rather come home with forty frames you would hang than four hundred you would scroll past.

    so far a short list

    The long way round.

    1. 2014First paid job. Underexposed nearly all of it. Kept going.
    2. 2016Bought the 85mm. Stopped shooting everything at 50.
    3. 2017Moved to working the out islands full time.
    4. 2019First Family Island Regatta with press accreditation.
    5. 2021Started the salt flat series. Still not finished with it.
    6. 2022A room on Bay Street with a door that locks.
    7. 20261,240 sessions, 14 islands, one very tired 70–200.

    That's the studio.

    The work says it better than this page does.

    See the work Get new frames