See the picture above? That’s an extremely rare Instagram picture you’ll find of Frankie Hildebrand. So rare in fact that we had to go searching on his friend @davidbenrice‘s IG feed in order to find it. Because, while Frankie’s account features a very attractive line-up of guys and gals he calls friends or associates – it’s slim pickings when it comes to shots of Frankie himself. Which is kind of refreshing in a time where the selfie is sacred…
Letting his work speak for itself, this talented photographer has built up an impressive feed featuring lifestyle images with the likes of influencers such as Cassie Brown, Paige Jimenez, and Bean McLean. Here, we chat to him to find out about everything from how he got into photography, choosing which models to work with, and why he’s all about “full-time life”.
Missed the last articles in the 50 Questions series? Click the links to read interviews with Xkflyaway‘s Xavier & Katie Ritzi, O’Brien And Olive’s Jack & Allison Marie O’Brien, and The Grey Layers’ Jeanne Grey.
1. Best grooming product of all time? The Pacific Ocean
2. Hair “done” or messy? In between – more of a young DiCaprio thing going on these days
3. Favourite scent? Breakfast
4. Favourite item of clothing? Any Psychic Hearts tees
5. Favourite fashion brand? I really like what Visvim has been up to
6. Sneakers or loafers? Sneakers
7. Gym junkie or exercising outdoors? Both – San Francisco has so many great hikes
8. Healthy eating or treating yourself? Healthy, I usually only get 5 hours of sleep, so if I don’t eat healthily – I’ll get really run down and usually sick
9. Can you cook? Yes, mostly just breakfast burritos and pasta
10. Favourite food? Greek food
11. Favourite drink? Coffee
12. Best place to eat out? Driver’s Market, Sausalito CA
13. Happiest moment? Recently went to Puerto Rico – that was a happy moment
14. Saddest moment? Seeing Hurricane Harvey aftermath was pretty unsettling
15. Instagram or Snapchat? Instagram, but I want to use Snapchat more & more
16. Blog or YouTube? YouTube & a blog & an Instagram & a Snapchat & a website… spread yourself out!
17. Iphone or camera? Whatever gets the job done
18. Type of camera? Canon
19. VSCO cam or Snapseed? VSCO
20. Photoshop or Lightroom? Lightroom
21. Favourite way to edit pics? As fast as I can usually
22. Favourite filter? I just make my own in Lightroom typically and it usually changes after each shoot
23. 9-5 job or full-time influencer? Just full-time life. I’m a firm believer in life by design, meaning you can control where you’re going and design the lifestyle you want to live – I would explode in a 9-5 setting
24. How did you first get your start as a photographer? I took the summer and told myself I’d shoot every day or as close to that as I could get with work/school going on at the time. I did that for 2 months and quit my day job last August
25. How much time goes into a normal picture found on your Instagram account? It really depends, there’s a lot of time that goes into photos that I take on trips, even if it’s just LA for the weekend. Usually, I like to let things happen pretty organically and I don’t stress it… I like to have a more natural laid back look to my images anyway
26. How do you choose who to photograph? Typically we have mutual friends that connect us or it just happens by chance that we meet
27. Do you approach them or do they approach you? It goes both ways. If I really want to shoot with someone, I’ll usually ask around my friends and see if anyone knows them and can give me the intro
28. What’s your top Instagram tip? Create a brand for yourself and have something to say
29. Career highlight since being an influencer? Getting to travel
30. Career lowlight since being an influencer? Technically I dropped out of college, but that was more of a highlight haha
31. Best campaign you’ve ever worked on? Urban Outfitters was pretty fun
32. The best gift you’ve ever received as an influencer? Usually people will draw my photos and send them to me – I’m always stoked on that. It’s cool to see people get inspired
33. Last thing you googled? JetBlue flights to LAX
34. Favourite film? ‘The Social Network’
35. Favourite book? ‘The Alchemist’
36. Favourite song? ‘Pink Skies’ – Lany
37. Favourite band? Lany or Brock Hampton for sure
38. Living in the city or living by the beach? Preferably the beach… ironically I spend most of my time in LA and SF, which are cities by the beach lol
39. Favourite travel destination? There’s this private resort called Playa Viva located in Juluchuca, Mexico. It’s a dream world for sure
40. Going out clubbing or quiet dinner with friends? I love dinners with friends or just relatively small groups of great people. I’m a big advocate of campfires on the beach
41. Partner or single? Good question… not exactly sure to be honest! We’re both young & busier than ever, we’re not stressing on what to call it
42. Siblings? I have an older sister named Gina who’s arguably the biggest influence for me growing up. We’ve always been really close
43. What city are you currently living in? San Francisco
44. Celebrity girl crush? I’ll have an Angelina Jolie crush for a lifetime
45. Celebrity boy crush? Paul Jason Klien
46. Pets? 2 dogs, 2 cats, & a bunch of cows at my families house in Placerville, CA
47. Top five Instagram accounts to follow? @wolfcubwolfcub // @dvourakis // @lifeof_riley // @depuma // @kookslams
48. Favourite quote you live by? “If you’re not making someone else’s life better, than you are wasting your time. Your life will become better by making other people’s lives better” – Will Smith
49. Top career tip? Do what you can’t
50. Where are you in five year’s time? I can’t think about 5 years. I try to just focus on what’s in front of me. I think this time next year I’m in Los Angles permanently, working on perfecting a product. The ultimate goal is to be able to create something that affects people in their day-to-day lives. I don’t actually consider myself a “photographer”. Photography has been my gateway to a whole new world of people & I don’t plan on taking that for granted. As passionate about photography as I am – building a brand and telling a story through it is what I really see myself doing in the next year or so.
Main image: @davidbenrice and @frankiehildebrand
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