Today we’d like to introduce you to Keith Chernek.
Hi Keith, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I first got interested in photography as a kid. I was fascinated by this simple little Kodak camera we had and the camcorder my grandpa had, but my first real creative outlet was playing drums. I toured the country playing while going to college for engineering at the same time. Once I became a full-time engineer, I shifted to teaching music on the weekends, but eventually I decided to cold turkey stop and pick up something new.
A friend I used to play with had recently gotten into photography as a hobby, and I figured it’d be a fun thing to try too. I got obsessed with the technical side of it and went deep on astrophotography. When I moved to DFW for work I quickly realized that if I wanted to take good astro photos, I’d have to drive 3 hours away from the city, but I wanted to keep diving into photography. I’m naturally pretty introverted and shy, so I was super nervous about it, but I decided to start going to local portrait meetups as a social outlet and a way to keep getting better. I started taking it more and more seriously, and somewhere in there I realized I’m actually not that bad at it.
The more I shot, the more I wanted to dive into the nuances of it. I took a bunch of lighting workshops, I worked with a few mentors, and started traveling for shoots. As I’ve gotten reps in, I started to notice that I really liked the idea of close-up detail shots that can both feel commercial and artistic. Learning under mentors like commercial fashion photographer Josh Ryan reinforced that idea, and now it feels like part of my style.
These days I’m mostly focused on styled brand shoots and helping aspiring models in the Dallas Fort Worth area build their portfolios (digitals, comp cards, and test shoots), plus pushing into all kinds of new directions.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I think everything has felt pretty natural. A lot of what I’ve gone through feels like “canon events” for photographers — we all hit burnout and frustration, we all work with people who don’t feel like they’re on the same page as us, and we all get those moments where an image, video, reel, or post is really popping off and we think “dang, I’m getting pretty good at this.” Those moments don’t come all the time, sometimes we have to earn them, but that’s just part of the natural order of things.
Sometimes the weekend warrior aspect of it can feel like a struggle, or comparing yourself to others can bum you out, but in the end it just comes back to how you frame it and I tend to think there’s always room to grow from those moments.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a commercial/lifestyle/fashion photographer in the Dallas Fort Worth area, working to build portfolios and have fun doing it. Detail oriented, candid vibes.
I can’t help but have a plan for everything. I tend to over-prepare for every photoshoot. Whether it’s a test shoot, lifestyle shoot, or brand work I have a plan. That might mean moodboards, a lighting diagram, or just a shot list making sure we get close-up detail shots, wides, behind the scenes, and candid moments. I want whoever I work with to walk away feeling like it was a fun shoot and confident we got it done. I try to balance that mindset with a collaborative relaxed vibe while we shoot. I like to chat with our team throughout the shoot and make sure whatever we’re doing feels right to them. I like to find ways for us to interact with the set or environment, find actions, and direct things more like a scene than a super specific posed moment. A lot of my work tends to feel candid because of it, but in an editorial kind of way. We always walk away with a variety of moments, and that’s one of my favorite aspects of my work. What I’m most proud of is that people walk away from a shoot feeling good about themselves and excited about the images.
How do you think about happiness?
Growth and authenticity. I think growing up playing music I was always auditioning, always chasing perfection, and i always had this next level of achievement to go after. My favorite people to work with on shoots are the ones who are all in on their craft in that same kind of way. You can tell when someone genuinely cares and really wants something to be great, and that’s really cool to me.
At home – it’s my dog (he’s the best) and all my plants (I have tons, i love growth).
I also really appreciate helping people and having a sense of community. I know the importance of mentoring and being around like minded people. I host local photographer meetups from time to time where we can build our portfolios and network at the same time. If that sounds like your thing, I’d love to see new faces come check one out: https://www.meetup.com/dfw-photo-walks/
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kchernek.com/
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/kchernek
