Born in the Central Valley of California, raised partially on the coast of South Africa and finding a long term home on the Central Coast of California Ryan's upbringing was anything but "normal". Shortly after graduating college from CalPoly San Luis Obispo Ryan found himself employed full time with adventure photographer Chris Burkard as his photo editor, 1st assistant, and then studio manager. Over the last 3 years Ryan has worked beside Burkard on shoots for Coors Light, AirBnB, The North Face, Prana, FitBit, Travel Lodge, The Surfers Journal, & Cliff Bar.