I'm Tom Kubik, a director and photographer based in Los Angeles. I shoot advertising and lifestyle work for brands like Adidas, Airbnb, Microsoft, and Citibank, and I've picked up some shiny things along the way from Comm Arts, IPA, and the Lucie Awards.

Here's the things I actually care about: I'm not trying to direct anyone into a good photo. The objective of my direction is for talent to forget I'm there long enough to stop performing. That half-second after someone drops the face they walked in with, that's the whole job.

I came to this sideways, Air Force aircraft mechanic, then a Vegas poker dealer, before I picked up a camera seriously in my thirties. Three months shooting in East Africa for Mama Hope is where the way I shoot now actually clicked into place.

I bring all that with me in some way through discipline, customer service, and reading people even when they aren't talking or doing much of anything.

When I'm not on set, I pass out food on Skid Row, host a podcast about death and dying called On Death (yes, really), and swim long distances in open water, which is the closest thing I have to meditation inside dad life.