DSC4797-X2

Shiny new shoes

An interesting story is behind this entire shoot and since I have the time right now I will try and be as in depth as possible for all of the readers here.

Danielle and I met at the first local 815 shooters, not my choice for a name btw as it sounds like a gang with an arsenal of handguns and semi auto’s, with a lot of interesting tension and drama. Side note, we have a shit ton of amazing photographers out here and I hope they continue to rock the world with their cameras and it was awesome meeting the multitude of them. I was chatting away with Max Gersh I believe and all of a sudden this tiny little lady walks right up to me and exclaims, “why don’t you like me?” Stunned, puzzled and completely taken back by this, must have been the Boone’s Farm and PBR kicking in, I used my usual response to this situation, “how can I dislike you if I don’t know who you are.” We chatted for a bit, she huffed off and I was left in shock, some awe, a beer in my hand and brain filled with curiosity.

The rest of the evening went awesomely fun with plenty of fire, photography and chatting. I truly don’t remember much about the rest of the evening, but I do feel like I left without saying another word to Miss Danielle.

Shiny new shoes

Days passed and all of a sudden I realized I was chatting with Danielle and even after her boisterous approach we could hold a conversation without any more accusations. Through our conversations a reasoning behind the interesting introduction we had a few nights past came in to light. It’s a trap!!! LOL, thank you Star Wars.

In this small town of Rockford Illinois there is a large assortment of photographers spanning a multitude of backgrounds, styles and skills. What I’ve noticed is that as my career grew the number of peers looking at me with some sort of diabolical mad scientist stare also grew and somewhat proportionally as a matter of fact. Rumors grew, tensions rose and a few occurrences of photographers going completely nuts and accusing me of things that I had never done but had built some fictional factual information that processed in their heads spurred a separation where I began to be annexed from the local photography world. I had built a lot of friendships locally so it still doesn’t phase me to this day, but its really sad watching from my fictional giant chair high above them on some mountain and realizing that they have become the sheep to some massive anti Chris movement.

While these ladies and gentlemen sit back in their DOOM mothership in some swamp planning their next fictional rumor about me I continue to run around grabbing amazing imagery because my mind is focused on my goals and my work. Just to air it out I have never said anything bad about these folks, to them or behind their backs (sadly they believe I have), I do have a couple people I dislike heavily because they threaten my very career with lies about me and what I do. I’ve never “slept” with my models, I have dated a model and yes we did have sex, but everyone knew and umm, we were dating, duh! Ask any of the 50+ models I’ve photographed and I’m in their top 3 of photographers to work with because I am nice, I’m caring and treat them like humans and not pieces of meat plus I fucking rock with a camera. Then there is one or two folk(s) that won’t shoot with some of the models I’ve worked with for some unexplainable reason… You know what you say about me comes back to me right? They still end up working with me and I still continue to grow and become a better photographer while you look like complete fools and lose the grasp at what being a photographer is. Beat your competition with amazing work, not lies or your fancy rumors. I appreciate the fuel to my fire and if it means there is a fan club of haters then let’s have it cause I’m totally digging the free advertising, but I sadly am not a fan of watching you stumble as I’d rather see you succeed.

If you spend all your time worrying about what I’m doing you could spend it getting better… just saying.

Now that I have all the names I need I’ll make sure you all get coal in your stockings this Christmas! LMAO

Back to the shoot now

Cold?

Danielle had mentioned in conversation that she wanted to shoot with me. Odd question in the fact that as a photographer of models I figured she meant for me to photograph her. After asking her about wardrobe she shyly mentioned that her intention was to shoot alongside me. This completely blew my mind!!!! I chuckled and stated we are shooting and I’m taking her pictures and to bring a camera to take some shots while you’re there. If you haven’t noticed I don’t really shoot places nor do I have the passion to do so.

The big day finally arrived and I picked up Danielle and brought her to the studio so I could snag my gear and also look at her wardrobe. We picked out two outfits, but sadly her taste in shoes sucked so we had to make a quick pitstop. Two pairs of shoes later we were on our way to a new location to shoot in. Got to love the fresh new caves to work with and couldn’t have been happier to stretch out in this massive location. Tons of great spots and hopefully one day the 360 panorama script works again so you can view the location without issues.

We didn’t stay too long, but the non-model rocked it out and I had a blast exploring a new place and spending time with the awesome Danielle.

Can’t wait to hang again and of course we will shoot again. I might actually be persuaded to take interior shots or landscapes… yay!