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DCBIKINCREW Instagram: www.instagram.com/dcbikinicrew
DCBIKINICREW website (in development): www.dcbikinicrew.com
- Winston-Salem, North Carolina
- North Forsyth High School, Community College of the Air Force (CCAF), University of Maryland University College (UMUC)
- First interest in photography was during my career in the United States Air Force (USAF) and my travels around the world both for work and pleasure. So far, I’ve visited the following major locations around the world:
Most major cities in the USA: Hawaiian islands, California, Arizona, Washington state, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Louisiana, Minnesota, Illinois, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts
Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec and British Columbia, Canada
Melbourne & Sydney, Australia
London, Manchester, Cambridge, Harrogate, York, Liverpool, Oxford, United Kingdom (UK)
Edinburgh, Scotland
Dublin, Ireland
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Frankfurt & Munich, Germany
Innsbruck, Austria
Trento and Venice, Italy
The Bahamas
Cayman Islands
Jamaica
Haiti
Dominican Republic
Turks and Caicos Islands
Belize
Cancun & Quintana Roo, Mexico
Costa Rica
Saint Martin (Dutch and French sides) - Professional photographic journey began recently in 2016. First subjects were action shots and lifestyle/product shots at premium events across Washington DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia area. I was shooting video for live music performances for Cloud 9 Adventures (JAMCRUISE.COM) on week long cruises across the Caribbean before adding more photography to my services.
- High end photography for products, fashion, pageants, luxury lifestyle shoots and exotic cars are my areas of interest. I am open to other markets as the opportunity presents itself through networking.
- Fashion incorporates the skill of a lot of artisans. Going beyond the “magic” that happens during the acquisition phase of “getting the shot”, photographers can add value to the final image by shaping how emotion is triggered and received by the audience viewing the final product. Just like working on feature films (I’ve worked on at least one yielding two Internet Movie Database (IMDB) credits), working on images is like what feature film editors do with the raw materials (still/moving pictures), shaping how the audience interacts and responses to the final work. That is the most gratifying thing to see with social media, is the engagement and reaction of your work in near real time with the worldwide audience.
- After my first exposure to the 2nd running of DC Swim Week in 2016, I said to myself that we could be better and operate like they do in Los Angeles, New York and Miami. If we were able to get sponsors such that the pipeline for supporting creatives like photographers, Make Up Artists, Lighting Specialist, etc could be properly compensated, we might have a chance in the region. So I brought in two other regional photographers (Reggie Bell and Ben Huynh), to form the DC Bikini Crew (#DCBIKINICREW, @DCBIKINICREW). I was instrumental in securing our spot out of 10 photographic teams chosen to shoot the 2017 Miss Bikini Universe (#missbikinius, @missbikinius) and the visionary for sustaining our presence (both online and on set) and creating upcoming products across the 3 national and regional pageants (Miss Bikini Universe, Miss Globe US and Miss Latina World). This opened the door for us to work with Miami Swim Week in July shooting with major teams of photographers from around the world. This presented opportunities for shooting the 2017 finalists for Sports Illustrated (SI), Miss Viscaya Swimwear and other well-known brands across the market. Networking was an integral piece of the puzzle to shooting premium events and as fate would have it, model Athena Arscott and I celebrated the last hours of the Miami trip at the same restaurant that JLo and A-Rod was celebrating her 48th birthday at Prime112! Timing is everything!
- The models and designers are typically chosen by the organizing event producers. Models tend to be chosen to highlight or compliment the product being displayed. In this case, it is to highlight the swim wear or other wearable artwork of a given designer. When the DCBIKINICREW shoots these types of events we are also looking to create looks through our imagery that sell the product.
- The Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia (DMV) market for fashion is growing and brand recognition is gaining momentum outside of the DMV. Now is the time to organize all of the supporting teams of professionals (pro photographers, makeup artists, hair stylists, designers, etc.) to work together to bring paid work to the DMV in a much equitable way than it is today. When you build an environment that is healthy for its creative participants, it becomes a win – win scenario for all involved. As the old adage goes; “Rising tide floats all boats”. Otherwise, the truly talented will go elsewhere.
- My future in photography will be determined by how well I connect to sources of employment, the impact my photography has on delivering on the impact the customer desires for the work. Having an environment of paid/compensated work allows the creative photographer to keep advancing the state of the art in tools, educating and incorporating, improved ways of creating art through photography in all its forms: aerial, DSLR, 3D/360, etc.
DCBIKINICREW impact on social media reinforced my belief that we have something special when 1.5 million Instagram (IG) users commented/reacted and reposted our images from our Miss Bikini US project! As of the writing of this article, I just completed shooting a premium networking event featuring former successful Redskins and NY Giants players, radio personalities and one of the founding members of the legendary founders of rap music from the “Sugar hill Gang”! Life is good! - Follow me on social media to stay current on what I am doing and to network together!
Instagram: www.instagram.com/netguru247365
DCBIKINCREW Instagram: www.instagram.com/dcbikinicrew
DCBIKINICREW website (in development): www.dcbikinicrew.com