Dear SOMW,
To answer some of the questions you've asked. I knew I wanted to be a photographer since I was about 8 years old. Growing up in Fayetteville Arkansas, my first influence was my grandmother, Billie Joe Reynolds.
She was a designer, specializing in fashion advertising and owned her own graphic design agency. My mother was another big influence for me Deborah Hartwell, a feature writer and photographer for many local publications in arkansas.
Also my Father Gordon Reynolds is a structural engineer out of Bentonville Ar. I was constantly surrounded by my fathers blueprints and drawings, my grandmothers designs and my mothers photography and writing. So the creativity is in my blood. Probably my biggest influence in my career choice was my mothers dear Friend Don House.
Don is a brilliant photographer based out of northwest arkansas. Don specializes in black and white film portraits. (http://www.donhousephotoworks.com) Growing up in fayetteville, Don photographed me and my family as often as possible.
He was by far my biggest inspiration. I have been living in New york since 2007, and I have been working as a full time photographer for the past 13 months. My goal now, is to keep doing what I am doing and push forward. From what Ive been told, I have achieved something very hard.
Working in the field I love, for myself.. and surviving only on that, is a nearly impossible task in New York. So, this alone inspires me daily to keep going.
To sum up what I envision in my work is nothing but "a legacy." I am not trying to be one of those groundbreaking photographers. I started off taking portraits, and thats what I do. I photograph people. Moving to New york has just given me the opportunity to shoot more beautiful people. Working in the fashion industry has definitely made me realize where I need to be. I honestly stumbled upon it. Back in 2008 I discovered model and my best friend Keith Browning. Keith has been signed to ReQuest models since late 2008. Since shooting him I have fallen in love with this world we call "fashion". Before then I was shooting mostly Artistic portraits, Families and bands. Finding what you love to do can only take one moment. My life is defined by those moments.
My three tips for models to prepare for a big shoot are... Number one: GET SLEEP! Rest is always important. It is never fun so have a model show up to a shoot that looks like they have been run over my a truck. Number two: Be well groomed. Models... especially you boys. We provide hair and makeup... we dont provide showers! No one likes a smelly dirty model. Yeah, you cant smell a picture... But we can smell you while we are taking them. Number three: Show up on time... Im tired of my interns making bets on whos going to be late to the shoot. 1, new models or foreign models... always over prepare.. they will be early or on time. Experienced models (aka: the cocky ones) always late. As much as I hate to say it.... they are right. Quit living up to your stereotypes! oh and PS... If I have to tell another model to spit out their gum. Im gonna scream! I like nice breath... but dont chew it infront of my camera! :)
