Jim Ross

nasafoto1@gmail.com

Jim Ross was born and raised in Montana. His interest in photography came when he was seven years old and was given a Kodak Brownie camera from his grandfather, John B. Saxman.

Ross attended Montana State University and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Film & Television production in 1987. He also has a Master of Arts degree from California State University – Dominguez Hills which he received in 2004.

Ross began his aviation photography career in 1989 when he joined the photography staff at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, now known as NASA Armstrong. He became the Photo Lead in 1997 and currently holds that title today.

Ross has a Class A rating with NASA enabling him to fly in all NASA Armstrong aircraft. In his 30

 years of flying he has flown over 1000 sorties and has approximately 1200 flight hours in many different aircraft including T-33, T-34, T-38, F-15, F-16, F-18, KC-10, KC-135, C-12, C-20A, Boeing 747-SP and various helicopters.

Ross has been recognized by NASA on many occasions for his work and has received both the Public Service Medal and the Exceptional Public Achievement Medal. NASA also made a photo book of his work titled, “NASA Photo One” which highlights one hundred photos of his career. He also won the Best of the Best award from the Aviation Week & Space Technology photo contest in 2001 and NASA Photographer of the Year in the "People" category in 2023.

His work has appeared in many different publications including Aviation Week & Space Technology, National Geographic and Air & Space Smithsonian.

Ross currently works for Rothe Development Inc and prior to working at NASA Armstrong, he worked for Hecht Custom Photo in Hollywood, CA and was a free-lance photographer for NBC and 20th Century Fox.

Ross lives in Lancaster, CA with his wife Angela and has four children, Nicholas, Chelsea, Trenton and Brittney, four grandchildren, Elliot, Scarlett, Finley and Luke and  3 dogs, Pepper, Bella and Jasper. When not shooting photos for NASA, Ross enjoys traveling and photographing San Francisco 49ers games. He also travels the world with his wife where they enjoy exploring and having fun.