Environmental Portrait: DuPont Pioneer President Paul Schickler

DuPont Pioneer President Paul Schickler poses for a portrait in Chicago, February 22, 2013. REUTERS/John Gress (UNITED STATES)

Sometimes life throws you a curve ball. You never know when its coming and you never know if it will be a good thing or a bad thing. Today, when photographing Dupont Pioneer President Paul Schickler for an environmental portrait to match an interview, I started looking around the office building where the interview would take place for a backdrop. I was in luck they had this really cool curvy retro chair in the lobby.

Chicago B&W Fashion Photography: Royce & Unique

Chicago B&W Fashion Photography by Photographer John Gress

I recently purchases a metallic lined Profoto Magnum Reflector which creates harsh shadows and brilliant highlights. For its debut shoot I decided to go with monochromatic styling against a white wall to create contrast in addition to the contrast created by the reflector.

Chicago Headshot & Fashion Photography: Brooke T

As a photographer, you can come up with as many ideas and lighting concepts as you want, but they will all fall short unless you have a good model. Brooke T is not just a good model, she is stunning.

One of life’s lessons: Chicago’s violent legacy gets personal

Ronnie Chambers Jr. looks down towards his collapsed mother Tahitah Myles during a funeral for the boys father Ronnie Chambers on February 4, 2013 in Chicago. Shirley Chambers of Chicago had four children - three boys and a girl. Now they're all gone. Her son, Ronnie Chambers. was the last of the single mother's children ' all victims of gun violence in Chicago over a period of 18 years.s. REUTERS/John Gress

Its not every day that an assignment teaches you something about your own childhood. When I was 7 years old my father, who shared my name, passed away and when I looked down today, I saw a boy, Ronnie Chambers Jr., who is about he same age as I was back then, sitting at my feet with RIP carved in the back of his hair. He was there mourning the loss of his father, who also shared the same name.