Meet Chad Michael Brooks

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chad Brooks.

Chad, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My interest in photography started from my sister buying an old film camera when I was about 14 years old. I always wanted to shoot with it but didn’t know anything about photography. The following year I took a photo class at school and started learning how to develop film and print. I was very into skateboarding at that age so I would take pictures of friends skateboarding and the skate spots we were at. That led into filming skateboarding as well. Shortly after that, I got my first digital camera and started shooting as much as I could. It was mostly landscapes, and buildings, abandoned properties, and friends.

After spending much time doing that and getting more practice with shooting, a year or two later I got on set for my first time to intern with Ithyle Griffiths and Angela Kohler for a fashion shoot. I didn’t know anything about strobes at that point so they started teaching me. I got on to set a couple times with them but got so busy with work and college so I had to take a break to focus on school and paying my bills but as soon as I graduated, I started contacting photographers every day to see if I could intern with them. 6 months later, Patrick Hoelck brought me on interning as a video editor to start out.

From my skateboarding background, filming and editing gave me a jump on the process so after doing some video work for him, he started bringing me on set for photo/video shoots. I put 100% of my effort into learning everything I could do both and was able to quit my day job and start freelancing full time. I spent a few years working with many different photographers and directors. After doing lighting for a couple years then I moved into digital teching as well, to learn that side of the workflow. I wanted to be able to know every part of the process from lighting, to shooting, to editing and retouching.

After being on set for about 3 years, I started contacting model agencies to test with their models. After doing a few tests I started submitting photo stories to editorials to get my name out there as a shooter. That helped get my work seen by more people and also helped build my book.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Absolutely not. There are so many ups and downs, but that’s just how the freelance life goes in this industry. It’s a constant hustle and it takes over the majority of your life. You’re constantly on call for work. I’ll spend 12 and 14 hour days on set and then get home and have to finish an edit by the deadline on the next day or respond to all the missed work emails from being so busy on set all day.

Then there’s the slow times where some months get really bad and it makes you wonder if it’s ever going to pick up again. While it’s like that, you still have to try and hustle for work and also take advantage of that time to test and build your portfolio. That may seem good but then you’ll end up putting a whole shoot together and just a day or two before that, someone will contact you to work on that same day and then you have to take it because who knows when the next job is going to come your way.

Then you have to cancel or postpone that shoot that you put so much time into putting together. And then other months you’re so burnt out from working so much that you just want a break. It gets to be difficult as well if you’re trying to transition into new positions. Making the switch from photo assisting to digital teching meant that I had to go through the whole intern process again to learn with digitechs, even after already spending so much time interning before that to get into photo assisting and video editing. Then comes the process of getting paid.

Not everyone pays on time. I’ve had paychecks come a year late. You really have to fight to get those paychecks at times. But then there are other times where you’ll get paid the day of the photo shoot. There’s just so many ups and downs, I could go on all day. That’s why you really have to want it, to be in this industry. You really have to stay motivated and keep pushing yourself.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Chad Michael Brooks – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I basically have two parts to my work life. I market myself as a photographer which I try to keep separate from my other areas of work. My other areas of work have been video editing, camera op and assistant camera, lighting, digital teching, and even a little bit production assisting.

Currently, though it’s just digital teching and video when I’m not shooting. I think what has set me apart from some of the others would be versatility. I always wanted to learn many different jobs so that I had more opportunities to get work. I never really like the idea of having all my eggs in one basket.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
My plan for my work in the future is to get signed on with an agency as a photographer.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.chadmichaelbrooks.com
• Email: info@chadmichaelbrooks.com
• Instagram: @chadmichaelbrooks

Image Credit:
Quin Saunders, Laurence Geguzis, Scarlett Leithold, Akino, Clementine George, Shae Pulver, Dillon Couchois

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