NAME: Dustin Soper
WHAT DO YOU DO: Social Media/Marketing for Hotels
WHERE DO YOU LIVE: Nashville, Tennessee USA
WEBSITE: shootwithdustin.com
INSTAGRAM: @shootwithdustin
FACEBOOK: @shootwithdustin
TELL US YOUR STORY:
This is a tough thing for me because I’m usually behind the scenes, behind the camera, behind the voice… and not normally front-and-center. I prefer it that way.
I grew up in a very very small town (imagine about 12,572 people) with not really that much to do. Some folks can handle being in a small town, but for me, it can be a bit claustrophobic. I want to be able to go do something (other than get drunk) after 9:00 PM and in a small town that can be tough to do.
Most folks know what they want to do with their life when they’re in High School but I had no idea. I wanted to be a teacher but I think that requires a lot more work than I was willing to put in. I wanted to be an artist, but I sucked at painting, drawing, and pottery making. I knew that I had some creative part of my life but I wasn’t sure what to do about that.
When I started in college, I thought about computer programming. I liked computers, but I didn’t know about all this code that I needed to remember. Web Design seemed like a better idea, but I didn’t want to take the Statistics course that came in the fourth semester. What the heck, I’ll figure that out when the time comes. (Thankfully by the fourth semester they removed that from my program. whew!)
Web Design took me places I never thought I would ever go. I’ll never forget the day I got a phone call from the office of country superstar/actress Reba McEntire saying “your Reba fan site (that’s another story entirely) is “kicking our asses” and we want to hire you!” That changed my life forever and I would not be where I am today if it weren’t for that experience.
Photography is something that I’ve always wanted to try and tackle and I feel like I’m pretty good at photographing inanimate objects, so photographing people seemed like the logical next step…. and that’s where Jordan, Ben and Kapow come in.
WHAT’S SOMETHING BRAVE OR WILD YOU’VE DONE IN YOUR LIFE?
I feel like the bravest step I’ve taken so far is packing up all of my stuff and moving to a big city where I didn’t know many people and didn’t know how I was going to make it. Through my work with Reba McEntire, extremely hard work and perseverance my road has taken me to Shania Twain, Grindr, DoubleTree Hotels and lots of other incredible stops in between.
WHAT MAKES YOU UNIQUE?
I’m not sure if this makes me unique – but I do feel like it’s a lost art. Treat people the way you want to be treated. I mean, if you want to be treated like absolute dog shit then by all means, but no one wants to be treated badly, or like an outsider, or anything like that. If you treat people the way you want to be treated, you’ll get a lot further in life.
One thing that I will say that makes me unique is my eye for things. Just visit my personal Instagram profile for starters (@dustinsoper) and you’ll see that I have a different way of viewing the world, a different way of noticing things. I love just taking my camera or my phone and exploring a different area that I’ve never been before. You never know what you might find and it’s so neat to be able to capture that on film. It can also help out big time when I’m looking for photoshoot locations! I’m constantly being asked about my photoshoot locations – and it’s all due to just taking the time for exploration.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE?
My style is “comfortable”. While at work I have to wear a shirt/tie/jacket but while I’m not at work it’s Jeans and a T-Shirt or Shorts. Comfort is KING! I also love “distressed” jeans. I love checking out vintage or thrift stores – I’ve found a lot of great comfortable “lounge” type clothes there – and you just never know what you’re going to find!
TELL US ABOUT ONE OF YOUR FAVOURITE THINGS AND WHY YOU VALUE IT?
My favorite things are my friends and my relationships with them. They mean everything to me!
FAVOURITE QUOTE OR MOTTO:
My favorite quote has to be “Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You” – the golden rule. Treat people the way you want to be treated! Is there any other way?
WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PAIR OF KAPOW MEGGINGS?
Anything shiny! I love shooting guys in the Silver Bullet Meggings – I love how they POP! - but my favorite personally are the Starlord Meggings. I love the mesh of colors. I also love the Poseidon Meggings – if you ever saw my room at my house, you’d see that these are MY favorite color of all time!
Check out some of Dustin’s amazing shoots for Kapow Meggings:
