He established the thriving commercial photography studio: Schäf Photo in 1987 in downtown Ventura California, and has been producing images for books, magazines, architectural portfolios, annual reports and documentary surveys. Mr. Schäfer's client list includes Architect Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, the LA Times, Traditional Building Magazine, Disney, McDonalds, SCE, PG&E, 3M, Procter & Gamble, Technicolor, Historic Resources Group, Applied Earthworks, Galvin Preservation Associates, San Buenaventura Research Associates, Circa Historic Property Development, the City of LA, the Port of Long Beach, Culver City Redevelopment Agency, and numerous cities, agencies and consultants.

Mr. Schäfer is an expert in architectural photography with a practiced understanding of historic structures. Schäf Photo has completed documentary building inventories and surveys for redevelopment agencies, architectural conservancies and cities. His documentary photographs have been used to nominate sites to the National Register of Historic Places and as CEQA mitigation measures for developers and cities. He specializes in large format 5x7 and 4x5 film photography adhering to National Park Service standards for architectural and engineering documentation. These photo-documents become photographic artifacts in the Library of Congress Historic American Building Survey (HABS) and Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) collections. His photography has taken him through 20 countries worldwide, and to most of the United States, and he also regularly documents the changing local neighborhoods and buildings in his hometown of Ventura, California.

In addition to his commercial success, Mr. Schäfer has been honored with awards from The American Advertising Federation (AAF), the Association of Multi-Media International (AMI), Applied Arts Magazine and The Professional Photographers of California (PPC). He is a member of ASMP, current president of the San Buenaventura Conservancy, a past City of Ventura Public Art Commissioner, and past board member of the Ventura & Santa Barbara Advertising Clubs. He teaches technical lighting and infrared photography workshops at the Julia Dean Photo Workshops in Venice. He has been the Artist in Residence for the Museum of Ventura County since 2008, and the Artist in Residence with the New West Symphony since 2007. Schäf Photo is located in historic downtown Ventura, California, and specializes in architectural and documentary photography in California and nationwide.

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