chris_buck

Despite her moniker, Grumpy Cat was friendly and cooperative, and even posed for pictures with much of the crew at the end of the session. A true star!

As a portrait photographer I don't really think about a subject being photogenic. I'm less interested in the ideal and more in the quirkiness and vulnerabilities of the subject.

Beauty and grace do make a picture better, but that can be found in "unphotogenic" sitters pretty easily if you have an eye for it.

This is a great question.

I usually have at least one personal project on the go that I can turn to when not on assignment. Some of the projects turn into books, others become a section on my website, and the rest are abandoned (with perhaps one or two pictures from the series surviving to be shown).

But just as important as having a finesse and easy with the technically aspects on set is keeping the creative muscle in good shape, and that can come through writing down ideas, or even brainstorming large projects.

For clarity sake, the four Presidents I did sittings with are G.H.W. Bush (41), George W. Bush (43), Barack Obama (44), and Donald Trump (45).

Presidents generally have more influence than strictly cultural figures. Only the future can tell, but my guess is that Trump will be the most historically relevant figure of these subjects of mine.

Obama is important as the first Black President, but Trump is so outside the box of who ends up in the White House, this could be a marker what the presidency looks like going forward.

I'm just realizing now that this was probably a joke question.

If you're going to work as a freelancer then I'll have to find a workaround and become better self promoter.

When I was starting out and I had to call magazines to show my portfolio I would (in my mind) take on another persona so that I had the courage to pick up the phone and make the call.

There are a lot of photographers out there and you need to be proactive in getting your work (and yourself) seen. You can be super talented, but it won't matter if few people see hour work.