Most people would cringe at being called image-obsessed, but it means something else to New York-based photographer Ryan Brenizer. An expert on a wide range of photographic techniques, he shares his tricks with readers at Amazon.com, who has made him their first independent columnist in any subject area.

Ryan mixes technical expertise with award-winning composition skills, tenacity, and a joy for his work. His photographic career took off in 2000 when he won a statewide photojournalism award for coverage of President Clinton and the First Family. In 2008, the prestigious Wedding Photojournalist Association named him one of the Top 20 wedding photojournalists in the world. His subjects have varied from 110-year-old women to three U.S. presidents, and his images have appeared in international magazines such as PDN, JPG, and What Digital Camera, as well as many newspapers, including the New York Times, Post, and Daily News. He was recently featured as a wedding photographer to watch by The Wedding Party.

For four years, Ryan served as photographer and writer for publications at Columbia University's Teacher's College, with work ranging from documentary photography in post-Katrina New Orleans to academic symposiums. He has also served as Artist-in-Residence at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories, with a solo gallery showing of winners of the top prizes in science, including the Novel Prize. Recently, his photos of Smokey Robinson were selected by the Kennedy Center to be used as part of the ceremony honoring Robinson's lifetime achievement. He is a recurring contributor to Wired.com.