What if your company had an awesome new service, but no way to show it to the world?

Bob Rogers Travel specializes in travel packages for large high-school bands. After purchasing a similar company in Europe, BRT needed images of the first wave of their overseas customers.

In my last post, I shared about our whirlwind European tour, with a focus on London…this time, it’s Paris.

There, students performed at the Jardin d’Acclimatation, toured Montmartre and took a boat ride on the Seine, complete with an Eiffel Tower backdrop. If you look up “photo op” in the dictionary, this is one of the definitions.

The students’ expressions went from wonder to joy to contentment and back again. So did mine!

I help brands build beautiful image libraries. And I work with travel-related companies that want to share where they go and what they do.

See more images from this series on our website.

Client: Bob Rogers Travel
Producers: Hannah Wright, Patrick Smith
Agency: Dboy Creative
Location: Paris, France

Sometimes happiness lingers, but the happiness I capture lasts forever.

On this assignment, I followed a group of music students from Iowa. The smart folks at Bob Rogers Travel designed an unforgettable trip to Tennessee, with stops in Memphis and Nashville. 

Touring famous music sites like Graceland and The Grand Ole Opry House, the students also got to perform and even recorded a song at the iconic RCA Studios. They were pretty happy!

I’m always looking for travel-related clients who are also in the “wonder and delight” business. Brands who need someone they can trust to seize those moments brimming with emotion so their company can share them and grow, creating even more good cheer for others. 

Gleeful moments can be fleeting, but beautiful photos keep the joy bus going indefinitely. Let’s collaborate on capturing and spreading some happiness in 2024! See more joy on Instagram >>> @shootwithchris

If you watched college football this season on ESPN, you likely saw the spot.

The clever head coaches at Squiers LLC, Current Motion, and Lighthouse Films teamed up again for another Twisted Tea drop, and I was thrilled to be on the roster.

If you’re unfamiliar with the game plan, a large yellow crate filled with swag and spiked tea gets “dropped” and the party ensues. The sea of yellow and blue rivals any LA Rams or Chargers game!

This campaign is playoff bound because it’s got great legs. One of the many fun parts is seeing where the big yellow box will show up next. 

Twisted Tea recruits real “super fans” for a few days of filming, creating a target-rich environment for my camera. Those fortunate folks end up being teammates for life in a hall-of-fame-like group.

Looking for a veteran player for your next championship run? As a free agent in 2024, I’ve got some pretty good stats.

Is America trending toward drinking less?

@Sèchey, an alcohol-alternative bottle shop in Charleston, promotes “Zero Proof Living” with booze-free beverages, including brands from Katy Perry and Bella Hadid.

And now they’re available at Target!

To prepare for her pitch to the national chain, Sèchey owner @Emily Heintz invested in fresh visual content. Port City Films produced the festive two-day video shoot, and hired me to create stills for the presentation.

It paid off. Congrats to Emily and Sèchey for this huge retail score!

See the Instagram photo series unfold with sparkling Sèchey images >>> @shootwithchris.

Creative | @feastmade @amberguyton
Production | @portcityfilms
Talent | @chris.tine.bean @iamjrichardson@tru1p
@_thepamelarenee @katenotcate@tikifunfun07
HMU | @whowhatoui @lisajeanwalsh
Style | @andreaserranocurates

Boy, was I wrong. After photographing the Rose Parade in Pasadena in 2019, I figured I had peaked in the parade department. Nope!

The California weather was nice, but it’s hard to beat the atmosphere and excitement of being in New York last year for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I was assigned to cover the Lincoln-Way HS band, whose brilliantly conceived costume change charmed viewers.

With this prestigious event, the nationally televised part happens at the end (unlike Pasadena). So in order for the marching bands to hit that mark on time, several folks are tasked with managing the pace of the parade. And it moves fast.

Planning out my shots in advance was key, because this train doesn’t slow down for anyone.

On the plane to NYC with my client, I described my vision for the wide-angle shot from behind the horn section (scroll down to 7th image). It was very satisfying to deliver that, along with several other images.

Here are a few of my favorite photos from an assignment that I’ll certainly never forget.

Lighthouse Films: “Up for another Twisted Tea drop in Miami?” From the frigid mountains to the warm sandy beaches we go! This client really brings the party. A floating DJ booth, customized vehicles and a huge inflatable waterslide all made for a wet and wild shoot. It’s a twisted blend of product, swag and hand-picked “super fans”. Shooting on a production company’s set can be challenging. They have a strict agenda. You have to be somewhat stealth. You have to make really quick and creative decisions. You have to know when to wait, and when to run. Literally run. Where will the next Twisted Tea drop be? Stay tuned…

KSA Events is one of the country’s largest hosts for high school sporting events. And on this shoot in Florida with Dboy, baseball was on our agenda. Every sport has its own challenges when it comes to photography. With baseball, it’s the distance between the players and the crowd. But with a little coaxing (and an all-access pass) I was graciously allowed on the field during the game. Dangerous? Maybe. Worth it? You bet! Knowing the game, and where to be when, was key. Armed with everything from 14 to 400mm lenses, I was able to capture the passionate players in their element. Right where I love to be. Here are a few favorite photos from the field.

Winter is a distant memory, but I wanted to share a few images from one of my favorite shoots from 2021. Wilmington’s own Lighthouse Films reached out about capturing stills for an interesting new client: Twisted Tea, a spiked beverage company. Their current TV campaign has these “tea drops” where a huge yellow container of product and merchandise gets “dropped” at various fan-requested locations. This drop happened to be in the snow at 10,000 feet in California. Sledding, a dunk tank and snow ball fights were just part of the fun. The DJ party complete with snowboarder flyover was sick! Definitely one of my coolest AND coldest shoots ever. Thanks to Brad, Kurt and the team for letting me play on your snowy set! Stay tuned for more twisted photos.

I had been lobbying the Marketing Director to go on location for quite some time. Then I got the call for a shoot at the healthcare company’s Las Vegas lab. Perfect. One twist with this assignment was they wanted to bring in talent vs. photographing their own employees. Normally I get to chime in on the model selection, but this time I didn’t — and was honestly a little nervous. Well, the marketing director nailed it. Fresh faces and plenty of diversity. The two-day shoot flew by and I didn’t lose money on the slots. You’ve heard “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” Fortunately, that’s not true for the folks this company helps through clinical trials. See more images >>> http://cdphoto.com/galleries/healthcare/