Last weekend, we met our friend TJ at the Normandale Japanese Garden for a “badass” portrait session.We know TJ from the days of old when we all were students of Toyama Ryu Batto Jutsu.

TJ had mentioned that he and the camera just did not get along and he did not like how he looked in pictures. We were going to change that!  We threw some ideas around and thought it would be fun to do a shoot of him in his training gear at the Normandale Japanese Garden, doing what he loved.  He’s spent many years training and honing his skill in the art. We wanted to convey that in our shoot and give him some pictures he could be proud of.

It was a beautiful day at the garden. We couldn’t have asked for a better day. TJ was fun to work with and did an amazing job at holding some rather difficult poses.

Here is a video sample of some of the photos. Enjoy!