In 2009 he was named NPPAs Best of Photojournalism Photographer of the Year for smaller markets while at the Arizona Daily Star, and was Arizona Photographer of the Year in 2008 and 2009. In 2010, James started working with video in addition to still photography, he is a 5-time regional Emmy award recipient. Additionally, 2012 brought two awards for multimedia from Pictures of the Year International and one for NPPA's Best of Photojournalism.He is bilingual, majoring in Spanish and Latin American Studies at the University of Kansas, and has lived in Ecuador and Costa Rica.