Trent Sherill (See MORE of his work by scrolling down)
- A little Q & A with Trent
- Is this your primary job?
- Producing / Photography is my 2nd Career, I’m head of the Estimating Department For Construction Solutions Inc. Basically I’m a Nationwide Retail General Contractor, when im not putting together these shoots, im putting together million dollar projects (I HAVE GREY HAIRS BECAUSE OF IT)
- What do you enjoy doing outside of photographing beautiful women?
- when i actually have free time, i love to just get in any hot rod with friends family and just take a cruz, there’ nothing like the feelin’ of your back in the good o’ days of where all the dudes slicked backed there hair & the ladies AND CARS had curves!
- How did you get your start?
- well i started doing producing. since my 19th bday i had my first organized shoot as a producer, but i didnt do my first photo shoot, when i was the actual photographer.. until dec 6th, 2008. ( i shot brandi pierce with a mercury that ended up that day to be on the cover of a hot rod magazine, pretty kewl for my 1s time) i never went to school for photographer, i learned everything from experience. the only reason why i started dong my own photography because i didn’t believe some of the people i hired were into cars like i am, and if you have no passion for your topic of shoots, it’ll show in the pics
- Most people don’t dream of growing up to be photographers, what was your original dream as a kid?
- i played baseball since i could remember & went to college for it. i always had people saying they couldn’t wait to see me jump into the crowd catching a ball on TV (i was a outfielder) but during school my coach staff got in trouble for embezzlement so i left school since the baseball program was under investigation.
- You’re very much into hot rods, in fact you were originally known as “Sherrill Hot Rods”, so was it more than photography before?
- S.H.A Was a group of guys that we all liked to work on cars, some worked at shops, and we shot cars, it was almost a group of guys that followed me around doing car stuff, almost like media / journalist group all bout cars and the lifestyle. i wanted shirts and stickers to be everywhere around the world. where if they saw “Sherrill Hot Rods” they knew that person was involved in the family. its complicated haha
- I may not know much about hot rods, but when I was younger, I loved going up to Reno every summer for Hot August Nights. Ever been?
- No, actually I’ve never been out there, i know a few models from Reno that have told me to go out there, but if i go to shows, i dont shoot modelsthere, it seems cheesy to me i guess, unless your scheduled to shot it for a magazine, when i go to cars shows, that would be like hot august nights, it would be more of a “meet and greet”
- What made you go back in time or pin-up style for shoots done with you?
- I’ve been around the vintage lifestyle since i was small. my dad had cars when he was alive, he always took me to the Famoso Drags in Bakersfield, so i grew up every year see’n old cars race and showing off at the shows. + i do it. i get respected by the older generation that’s why im “classy never trashy” and my father use to tell me “Son, you represent your last name, every time you step out in the world” so i always wanted SHERRILL to be looked at. in respectable way
- You’re already in high demand and you’re only 21, whereas a lot of photographers are a lot older, so what is it that you hope to be able to do in the next 4 years?
- By 25, i wanna be “THAT GUY” that people can say “yep, finished my car, maybe i can have that Trent guy get a pin up and shoot it” i love to network, and bring worlds together, im involved with MMA, and other pro sports, and everything you think of.. i am and planning to network and be involved + world wide. I started this for the love of it all. not the money and fame. the fame and money now is just a frosty on the cake i’ll say.
- What is your most prized piece of equipment for photography?
- well, i guess my camera haha, cuz if i didnt hav it. i wouldnt be doing photography, but in my head my equipment is my topic while i shoot. my prized piece of photography is the cars i shot. with out them, im nothing
- What is most painstaking about your job?
- i would say making sure everything is flowing right for each shoot, cuz i love to shoot out doors, i think indoor shoots are too boring for me, thats why i was never got into doing studio shoots, cuz i like to be around buildings or out in nature with cars, i like to roll around and get dirty. but overall the painstaking thing it makin sure i get “that one picture” that looks WOW and is timeless .. i have high expectations for myself, cuz “your good as your last shoot” so its mentally and physical painful to be stubborn like me really. and being so young, i have to stand out, its like lebron james, the questions come up, is he good as Jordan„,Kobe.. i think others are saying is trent going to be good as the succesfull photographs we’ve seen over the years.
- What is the most daring or experimental shoot that you’ve ever done that turned out great in your eyes?
- the most recent daring shoot, was during a road shoot, i got pretty crazy, because some people take pics out of a window of a car for road pictures but i tied my legs to a selt belt and had a buddy hold on to my legs. so i can lean out of a car on the main highway. to get the lowest shot possible (yes iv scrapped by hands on the road numerous times) that day while leaning out of a side cart of motorcycle, i was hit in the temple with a rock that a car kicked up. and it rang my bell pretty good, i didn’t CRY though! haha and during ALLLL of this daring shoot. i got great video and shots of my Buddie David Cassel’s 39 ford that we did for a issue for Traditional Speed & Kustom.
- Who is the one model you enjoy working with most, and why?
- WOW! This question.. is gunna make / break me. this question would still be hard if you sayid who’s your top 10 models, but to pick one! cuz i know alot of my models will see this, each model has a special spot in my “heart” we’ll say rt now cuz all my models i feel they are family to me. i could “name drop” all day and paragraphs of names, i recently shot jessica lynn hinton + jamillete gaxiola in vegas and one of them would take the cake, but then Crissy Hilton came along, rt now she is the model im really excited to work with again, i did a few shoots with her already and she is 1 of a kind, she was a model i met while shooting Brooke Banx, so Brooke! darlin’ i owe you one. but i shot Crissy with a car that no one has seen and may be one of my best shoots, but again no one has seen cuz its for a magazine and is pending, but i think with her personlity, body, and her beautiful looks i can get the shot i need no matter what circumstances, plus she’s a dream girl.. can you blame me?
- For most people, being a photographer affords you the opportunity to be very close to models, any encounters/experiences you mind sharing with us that would never have happened if not for this type of networking?
- well iv dated a few models over the years for starters, which isnt the best thing to do sometimes because you mix personal life with business, but that’s all really that sticks out for that experience. what I’ll share is iv gotten he chance to shoot beautiful glamor /playboys / porn stars all that jazz and my main experience that i get from this is i get to “go old school” with them, this opportunity to work with and get to know these women/models that a avg guy would KILL just to be around or even talk on the phone with. Here i am shooting them with cars, cracking jokes, singing to them on occasion. im so thankful, you have no idea how all of these is such a dream to me. I’d take a good guess and say my future wife is gunna be 1 of these model haha
- Does this line of work afford you the lifestyle you often depict?
- well again, i have 2 careers. so it goes hand and hand on both job providing me things iv always wanted, i have a brand new truck, im able to pay bills in the economy that we all have experienced, but it does. im blown away of the offers i get and when i get booked and after i put down my phone i say “wow. these people really love my work.. i just got offered big money, too crazy”
- Whose work do you enjoy outside of your own?
- well there’s alot of great photographers out there, and photographers from in the past that are un-sung heroes. example some people in this time may not know andy southerland that did the hot rod and kustoms book back in the day,now someone who iv seen in this generation is Shannon Brooke, talk about WOW. I was just in the Magazine Deadbeat from austalia and we both had shoots in there, and i was again in WOW of the shoot she did, i look at photography as a passion, its never a competition to me, so im always hapy to give a thumbs up to another photographer.
- Why should models choose you for a shoot?
- i provide that atmosphere where everything is comfortable and legit, i like to show models that they are more than “tits and ass” - “T&A” cuz iv never gone to a model and asked for a nude /implied shoot. i alway allow escorts, i just had a model bring her mom, dad, boyfriend, grandpa, grandma, and surprised thy didnt bring the house dog, and with my shoot style . my shoots you can show to anyone . family or friend.
- Who lately has been the biggest help of your success in the industry you are in?
- I’d have to say one of my best friends / pretty much a big brother to me, Skratch from ?Skratchs Garage? if it wasn?t for him, I wouldn?t be doing the shoots iv been able to put under my belt. He taught me about ?period correct? cars and what cars goes with what, basically my do?s and don?t when dealing with cars and shoots. I came out in a time where EVERYONE and their mothers was a photographer and all wanted to shoot cars and girls. But the knowledge he gave me, helped me stand out. im still learning from him and you’ll see in the future why i set up the shoots i do.
- If you had one wish for someone to notice your work or your success who would it be?
- I would have to say, I wish my dad could see all the success iv had, he was a hot rod guy through in and through out, and if he saw the cars iv shot and what iv become in the industry he would be very very very proud, as im sure he is now looking down on me
