Meet Christopher Jackson of Ohio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christopher Jackson.

Hi Christopher, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
It all started back when I was real young, I didn’t think I would fall in love with photography. My dad was in the navy and when he use to come back from his tour of duty, he would come back with these photos taken from this slim black camera with a little built-in flash. He saw how interested I was in his black camera he bought own little green one that I carried around everywhere. I took pictures until the roll was empty and when I didn’t even have any in it I would just roll and snap just because I love the sound.

As I got older moved around lost my things in storage and started making more friends while getting into other hobbies I lost interest in photography. Until one day I had an opportunity to do something for someone because they had fell into a messed up situation, I wanted to help out and invest into his dream. That person was my younger brother. He went to school for film and digital media arts, so I bought him a bunch of camera stuff not realizing that my old feelings for photography was coming in to play.

Once I saw he was losing more interest in that field, I took the equipment and started using it. Since I didn’t know much about the digital camera I had to learn. So I went to YouTube University and started learning. Learning from the likes of Peter McKinnon, Matty, Chris Hau, and loving the work of Peter Lik (seeing his work in Vegas).

Then I started doing street photography and landscape just to really learn how to operate my camera which was a canon t6i. As I got familiar with my settings I wanted to do more and become better so I started doing portraits and off camera flash, learning too much too fast and crashed. I didn’t really take the time to really study the craft and realized my work was trash. So stopped for a little bit and had to see if this was really my passion and why I doing this. It was for the candid moments and the things other people didn’t see.

Once I recalibrate my thinking on photography I focused on the things I really like. Which was Cars, Street Photography, Candid Moments (like in weddings and parties/ events) and Studio Portraits. I love the reaction people have when they see the photograph I’ve taken of them or their things from an angle nobody thought of.

So from time to time I just gift the world or should I my city Toledo/ Detroit my work for free just to see the smile or the reaction just by seeing my work. I use to photograph random cars and leave the picture on their windshield or I would photograph random people and send them the photos later on social media. I like making people feel good through photography.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, it has not been a smooth road at all. It’s so many distractions and so much self-doubt that will have you second guessing everything you are doing.

I’ve had my gear stolen before, I’ve had files crash on me, I’ve struggled with learning Adobe, and other little things along the way.

Dealing with a demanding 9 to 5, well more so afternoon shift, and a family. It leaves you no time really to do all the things you want to do. Photography has become so saturated and technology is moving so fast it’s hard to keep up. So I’ve struggled with that for a little bit. Then more life things were happening that took my focus away and went to therapy and found out the real reason I was struggling with my work and self-doubt, he told me I had Imposter Syndrome. So til this day I consistently tell myself that I’m worth it and my art is worth it.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I have been in the auto industry for about 15 years and spent 11 of those years at Ford Motor Company. I’ve spent most of my time being a Team Leader. I enjoyed learning and helping people on the job.

Since my time being at my job I haven’t specialized in anything foreal only because I’ve jumped from plant to plant. Just at Ford alone I’ve been to 4 different plants.

I rally took pride in being a team leader. I stood out in the role and I took the good and the bad when it came to that role. I was there for my team and made them feel like an equal the best way I could. I was known for going above and beyond when the company didn’t. I would treat my team out of my pocket just to show them they were appreciated for their hard work.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
My persistence and my eagerness to learn

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/c112_autophotography_llc
• Youtube: @DroneCityview