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Love it when a long-time client’s name shows up in the inbox again. Such was the case recently when my good friends at Kitchen & Bath Design Studio reached out for some fresh photos. They had a rebranding project that required some updated images for their website. So we scheduled my arrival to coincide with a weekly staff meeting, allowing me to capture them in a photojournalistic style, recording their business in action. See our post from a few years ago with the same flavor, Financial Faith. That’s what a potential customer surfing the web likes to see — people at work who are actually working! We’re excited to be shooting K&BDS’s latest kitchen and bath installations next. Special thanks to Tonya and her team for trusting my approach.

Here is the client’s review of my services on Houzz…

As a small business owner I am responsible for marketing of Kitchen & Bath Design Studio and showcasing the work of our professional Designers. In the past, I have hired Chris Davis Photography to produce a television spot and to photograph some of our projects. When I needed to update our company images due to a company rebranding, I knew exactly who would be the best photographer to capture those images. As expected, Chris nailed it (again)! Chris Davis is amazingly creative and he is very detailed oriented; a combination that consistently yields great, high-quality results. I feel like Chris is my “secret weapon”, but I know that I have to share – I can confidently recommend Chris Davis Photography for any photo or video project. – Tonya Nesselroade

Back in December, I had the opportunity to travel to Brillion, Wisconsin — population 3,186. Coming from  a small town myself, I had a pretty good picture of what I was going into. What I wasn’t familiar with was the weather there. In Brillion, just south of Green Bay, it got down-right cold. Like negative-degree-wind-chill cold. Mercifully, the assignment for Ariens Company had us working inside their comfortable factory. Ariens is famous for their snowblowers and lawnmowers. They are a lean manufacturing company, which means they make the majority of the components themselves. You can follow a flat piece of steel all the way through the factory and see it in its final state. My job was to capture the lifeblood of Ariens, their workforce, in action. I was super impressed with the process, the warmth of the people and the pride in their work. And on a December day in Brillion, a little warmth goes a long way.

A neighborhood friend was attending a charity silent auction and learned that I had donated a kid’s photo shoot. She won the bid, and I suggested one of my favorite locations — the Arboretum. I gave her the standard wardrobe instructions: no black, no white, no logos, etc. I always suggest bringing options. Well, this mom got it right. Really right. Wardrobe is a huge part of any portrait shoot. It needs to be comfortable, but more importantly it needs to work within a color palette. In this case, I love the mix of prints and solids among the kids’ outfits. Repeating the blue in small doses looked great. Do kids care what they’re wearing? Not really. Do they get dirty while we are shooting? Sometimes. Does it make or break the shoot? It can.

Is your kid’s school worth fighting for? The parents (and staff) of Westbrook High think so. Their fictional story begins with a devoted dad who moves heaven and earth so his daughter can attend the best school in town, only find out that it’s in jeopardy of being shut down. Their struggle, along with a superb cast including Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Esai Morales and Coby Ryan McLaughlin, makes for a great family-friendly film. I was tasked with shooting the poster art, unit and behind-the-scenes photos. Saving Westbrook High was shot on location in Davidson, NC (north of Charlotte) and was directed by Gary Wheeler.

With over 250 feature-film and TV placements including Dawson’s Creek, One Tree Hill and MTV’s The Real World, songwriter Lee Hester has found his groove. Working with a wide range of Wilmington’s finest musicians keeps him very busy, along with regular trips to Nashville and LA. Lee’s passion for his craft is obvious to everyone who meets him and I’m honored to call him a friend. Check out his work on iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/lee-hester/id137292075 and follow him at https://www.facebook.com/leehestermusic

The phone rang and on the other end was Swirl Films’s executive producer – Eric Tomosunas. And within hours I was being introduced to another Eric, veteran actor Eric Roberts. He was in town working on the locally produced family-friendly flick called The Perfect Summer. It’s a story of a single mom, who along with her teenage son, has to move back in with her dad until she can get back on her feet. He lives in a little shack right on the beach. A young surfer girl enters the picture, stalked by her over-bearing old boyfriend. Dad decides to teach his grandson how to surf in order to blend in, and catch her eye. Throw in some awesome sun-rise surfing scenes and just like that, you have all the ingredients for a fun movie. So if you’re landlocked, but need your beach fix, check out this movie on the UP network. No sunscreen necessary!

 

One of my photographer friends (and clients) asked me to photograph his family the other day. And even after doing this for so many years, I still got a little nervous about saying yes. Whenever I shoot for other shooters the pressure to come through is definitely ramped up a bit. Thankfully, they’re really laid back and we scored a gorgeous afternoon before the heat of summer set in. Plus their little boy is a model in the making. He’s obviously the apple of their eyes. Here are a few of my favorites from the selects folder. Thanks for a great shoot, guys!