IN Search of light
Taka Taira-Kaplan is a photographer/videographer/cinematographer/media company owner based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Born near Kobe and raised in Tokyo, Taka earned his Master's Degree in Architectural Engineering from Penn State University before moving to California. His lifelong passion is exploring the world with his eyes and cameras. He has a broad range of expertise in photography and videography, including architectural, interior, real estate, landscape, aerial, travel, portraits, events, commercial, lifestyle, and food/restaurants. Taka has also worked in the architectural lighting industry for over fifteen years, and his keen sense of space and light is reflected in his photography and videography. In his spare time, Taka loves to spend time with his wife and son, cooking, hiking, traveling, and capturing more photos and videos of them!
Taka is also serving drone photography and videography for a wide range of clients, from developers, construction management firms, local housing authorities, builders, commercial building marketing firms, etc. Taka joined City College of San Francisco’s Photography Department in the fall 2024 semester to teach his expertise in drone photography and videography.
For any gigs, licensing, or anything else, contact him by either emailing taka@takasphoto.com or a phone call to (415) 881.TAKA (or 8252) - if it goes to voicemail, feel free to text to the same number; he will respond to you fast!
Affiliation: Member of Professional Photographers of America (PPA). Zillow Certified Photographer
License: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 107, Remote Pilot Certification, commonly known as “Drone License”.
Client List (in Alphabetical Order in Each Section, Updated October 2025)
Real Estate:
Achievers Real Estate Services https://www.achieversrealestateservices.com/
Active Realty https://www.activerealty.com
Century 21 Real Estate https://www.century21.com
Clearpoint https://clearpointcre.com
Compass https://www.compass.com
eXp Realty of California https://www.exprealty.com
Homes by Rowena https://www.homesbyrowena.com
Homestead Real Estate https://homesteadreca.com/
HomeTown Realtors https://www.seehometown.com/
Kai Real Estate https://kairealestate.com
Keys & Home Real Estate
Kim Cole Real Estate https://www.kimcolerealestate.com
Nova Real Estate https://novabayarea.com
QPW Management Corp
Real Estate Source, Inc https://www.realestatesourceinc.com
SB Realty Group, Inc https://smithburgoon.com
Trinity Realty, Inc.
Food/Restaurants (Often Not All Photos or Videos on Their Sites Are by Us)
Agave Uptown | Oakland | https://www.agaveuptown.com
Almond & Oak | Oakland |
Applebee’s Grill + Bar https://restaurants.applebees.com/
Barcote Ethiopian Restaurant | Berkeley | https://barcote.com
Blisspops | Hayward | https://www.blisspops.com
Cafe Eritrea D’Afrique https://cafeeritreadafrique.com
Califas Greens | Berkeley |
Casa Barotti | Berkeley | https://casabarotti.com
Craftsman & Wolves | San Francisco | https://craftsman-wolves.com
Dale Vino | Pittsburg | https://dalevino.com
El Mono | El Cerrito | https://elmonofresh.com
ESF | Tokyo | https://www.esf.jp/
Everest Kitchen | Albany | https://www.everestkitchenalbany.com
Falafel, etc.| Fremont | https://www.falafeletc.com
First Street Alehouse | Livermore | https://firststreetalehouse.com
Hanamaruki | https://www.hanamaruki.co.jp
Hang Ten Boiler | Alameda | https://hangtenboiler.com
Hobnob | Alameda | https://hobnobalameda.com
Hot Pot Nation | Richmond |
Il Davide | San Rafael | https://ildavide.net
Korean Superette | Berkeley | https://korean-superette.com
Kyle Connaughton of SingleThread | https://singlethreadfarms.com/team/
Longport Fish Company | Concord | https://longportfc.com
Los Yaquis | San Francisco | https://losyaquis.menufy.com
Lounge Chinatown | Oakland | https://www.loungechinatown.com
Lumpia Company, the | Oakland | https://www.thelumpiacompany.com
Mother Tongue Cafe & Bar | Oakland | https://mothertongue.coffee
Palette Tea House | San Francisco | https://paletteteahouse.com
Peacock Pansy | San Francisco | https://peacockpansy.com
Pintoh Thai | Oakland | https://pintohthai.com
Rico Rico Tacos | Oakland | https://www.ricoricotaco.com
Rico Rico Vegano | Oakland
Roderick’s BBQ | Oakland | https://rodericksbbq.com
Saffron Kitchen | Oakland | https://saffronk.com
Shubham Hall’s | Sunnyvale | https://www.shubhamhalls.com
Smokin’ Woods BBQ | Oakland | https://smokinwoodsbbq.com
Sweet Fingers | Oakland | https://sweetfingersrestaurant.com
Tada Ramen | Oakland | https://tadaramenandyakitori.com
Townhouse | Emeryville | https://townhouseemeryville.com
Tzunun | Pleasant Hill | https://tzununrestaurant.com
Xica | San Francisco | https://xicasf.com
Commercial Real Estate:
47Hundred Telegraph Ave https://www.liveat47hundred.com
Century 21 Allstars Commercial Division https://allstarsrealtygroup.com
Greystar https://www.greystar.com
Launch Alameda https://www.launchalameda.com
Retail Net Real Estate https://www.retailnetrealestate.com
Shorenstein Realty Services https://shorenstein.com
Government / Public:
Campbell City Council https://www.campbellca.gov/
Housing Authority of the City of Alameda https://www.alamedahsg.org
Island City Development https://www.islandcitydevelopment.org
Architects / Interior Designers / Lighting Designers:
Artezia European Cabinetry | Design Studio https://www.artezia.com
Artwork Studio https://www.artworkstudioinc.com
Baird + Driskell Planning
Community Planning Collaborative https://www.planningcollaborative.com
Cynthia Lananh https://www.cynthialananh.com
Electrolight https://electrolight.com
Jasani Studio https://www.jasanistudio.com
Korth Sunseri Hagey Architects https://www.ksha.com
Wayfair https://www.wayfair.com
Engineers:
Sixteen5hundred https://16500.com
Traxon | ecue https://www.traxon-ecue.com
Triumvirate Environmental https://www.triumvirate.com
TY Lin Group North America https://www.tylin.com/people/our-people/tylin-group
Ventura Energy https://www.ventura.energy
Contractors / Builders:
Argent Development https://www.argentdevco.com
Blokstudio https://blokstudio.com
Coast Construction https://coastconstruction.net
Goodfellow Bros https://goodfellowbros.com/
Helix Electric https://www.helixelectric.com
Pacific Development https://pacificdevelopment.com
Panoramic Interests https://www.panoramic.com
SG Construction https://sgconstruction.org
SKB (Scanlan Kemper Bard Companies) https://skbcos.com
Artists:
Brian Appleton
Philip Dow https://www.philipdow.com/
Yoshikawa Wright Fine Art https://www.yoshikawastonesculpture.com
News:
Bay Area News Group
East Bay Times
The Galt Herald https://www.galtherald.com
The Mercury News https://www.mercurynews.com
Law Offices:
Law Office of Kevin M. Crabtree, PC https://www.sfgreencard.com
Open Immigration Legal Services https://www.openimm.org
The Law Office of Julianna Rivera
Other Industries:
Aegon https://www.aegon.com/
Heat and Control https://www.heatandcontrol.com
Montessori School of San Leandro https://www.montessorischoolofsanleandro.com
Rakuten https://www.rakuten.com
Tong Enterprise / Gemini Food Corporation https://geminifoodcorp.com
TransAmerica https://www.transamerica.com
Walgreens https://www.walgreens.com
