About TrueLight Digital

Victor Osaka

When I started my career in photography, it was not a digital world—it was an analog world.

I am fortunate to have learned photography in those early days. Back then, film development and printing were chemical processes. One of my first jobs in the industry was at Tom’s Chromalab, a premiere Hollywood photolab. As their master film duplicator, I learned the art of retouching and printing the old fashioned way.

The digital world has opened up a vista of creative possibilities in photography. On every front, options are now virtually limitless. The incredible ability of modern digital sensors to handle a wide gamut of color and exposure has expanded my artistic expression. Nowadays, I can shoot variations that cover every conceivable angle and lighting condition.

When I was initiated into the art and process of photography by Don Battle at Santa Monica College, nothing was instant but for the image in my mind’s eye. In the 4x5 photography that began my commercial career, I had to “see” that perfect shot and be confident that I could capture it in three to four exposures. Unlike today’s immediate digital feedback, it could take as much as three days to see results. Because of that, I had to carefully contemplate the ramifications of each creative choice. It was all about the planning and the experience of knowing what to do to get to the end result—all about my knowledge of setup, lighting, exposure, and the capabilities of film and paper.

Today, I am firmly in the digital workflow and quite grateful to be here. Because I no longer have to change rolls of film, I can confidently capture fleeting moments such as the connection in the eyes of a mother and infant lovingly gazing at one another. In a single day, I can edit dozens of images that would have taken weeks in the analog world. The techniques I learned as an analog photographer continue to inform my work—but now I have the opportunity to create beautiful, powerful images that were never before possible.

Aline LaPierre

I am an artist, psychotherapist, and author living in Los Angeles.

I was trained in France at L’Ecole des Arts Décoratifs (school of fine arts) and, from there, started on my professional journey as a painter. My favorite teacher was an alchemist who taught the metaphysical properties of flow, shape and color. Today, as a photographer, I still look at the world with a painterly eye.

Along the way, my desire to understand the deeper meaning of art attracted me to the work of psychologist Carl Jung. I attended Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara and became a psychotherapist. Currently, I am active in the field of body-centered psychology and mind-body healing. My intention is to support healing and personal growth by increasing the mind’s capacity to be present to bodily experience.

For me, photography is an active meditation, one that calls on me to be fully engaged in the present moment and to grow my appreciation for the beauty that surrounds me. It is fantastic to see nature come into focus in the viewfinder of my camera knowing that, with a click of the shutter, I can forever capture the incredible moment. In this way, the moment becomes available for contemplation.

I use photography to create healing experiences that support our capacity to be present to ourselves, to each other, and to the world around us.