The Andy Aupperlee Explosion 5000

Recently I had the opportunity to photograph my good friend Chris Young in his military dress blues. Chris is seeking a promotion to officer and needed to have a fresh headshot to include with his application. Having known Chris since I moved to Seattle in 2007, I’ve grown to admire and respect his dedication to service in the Oregon Air National Guard. He’s told me some fascinating stories about being in Iraq and the intense war games his unit competes in to sharpen their skills. Since I’m more accustomed to seeing Chris on a snowboard or grabbing a Miller Lite, I was stoked to have the opportunity to photograph him in uniform. This shoot also served as the perfect kick-off for my Explosion 5000 In Ur Face project (details on Facebook).

Chris and his lovely girlfriend Kate came by the 806 on Wednesday night to do the shoot. I setup a few lights and a blue background in the garage, er studio, and streamed some tunes through the surround sound system (the new Lightspeed Champion, if you’re wondering). I exclusively used my new Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8. My first task was to get a few military grade portraits in the bag. I stood on a chair up against the garage door with the lens extended to top end of the zoom range of 70mm. Once I knew I had something that would work, I asked Chris if I could experiment with some other light modifiers and angles. I took the image above by getting really close and dialing the lens back to 24mm. The three of us (Kate, Chris and I) were also joking around talking the whole shoot, which gave me the opportunity to get some nice candid shots that reflect Chris’s upbeat and enthusiastic personality.

Since I always forget the exact branch and rank he serves in, I asked Chris if he could send me a few notes on what he does. He emailed me with an excellent breakdown of how the Army, Air Force, Air Force Reserves and Air National Guard work. I’ve included a paraphrased version here:

Each state has an Army and Air Force guard component, respectively. Guard units differ from federal military branches in that they are state-run. Air Force Reserves get called to active duty by the President; and the Oregon Air National Guard gets called to active duty by either the President or Governor of Oregon. It is common for the Guard components to assist in state disasters, while the federal military branches are seldom called in for this type of work (except for the Army Corp of Engineers).

To recap, the structure breaks down like this:

Army
Army active duty
Army Reserves (federal)
Army National Guard (state)

Air Force
Air Force active duty
Air Force Reserves (federal)
Air National Guard (state)

The uniform Chris is wearing is his Class A service dress. This kind of uniform, commonly referred to as “blues,” is only worn for formal events such as promotions, interviews and ceremonies. His rank of Staff Sergeant is indicated by the four stripes on his sleeves. As recognition for his service in Iraq, Chris received the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, which is among the items on his ribbon rack. The ribbon rack is a collection of awards and achievements. The specific placement of each award is determined by its prestige, bottom row to top row.

Doing this shoot with Chris was a lot of fun, and I am really glad he agreed to let me use the pictures here as apart of the Explosion 5000 In Ur Face project. The charter of the project is to create images of my friends doing things that make them who they are. I really like how Chris’s charisma and personality come through, even in uniform. Below are a few more shots from the night, one of which Chris will submit with his application.