Meet Christopher Wheeler | Certified Professional Freelance Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Christopher Wheeler and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christopher, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I fell in love with photography at around 7-8(1987-88) I used to buy 110 cameras all the time and have the film developed. I had always dreamed of owning a 35mm camera.

In 2010 I bought a $300 point & shoot and took a trip to NYC, where I fell back in love with photography. People loved my work so much my wife let me buy my first DSLR in 2013. This led to me going to school and buying my first full frame in 2014.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I can start with the fact that I spent 20 years in retail sales and customer service; 80% of the time in the cell phone industry.

This knowledge is what shaped my photography and approach very early. I have taken a lot of training on how to work with people and how to understand what people want.

So I focused on that and moved my photography towards real estate. It was something I loved. I knew how to deal with real estate agents (they are salesmen like me) and I got hired with Tour Factory.

Shortly after I began real estate photography, I was contacted and hired by Weedmaps to photograph the top dispensaries in the Inland Empire; photographing cannabis products for the menu on the Weedmaps website and App.  As a Weedmaps photographer, many doors were opened for my career.  I was asked to photograph Emerald Cup for 3 years in a row and have been a freelance photographer for other festivals like Highlife Music Festival, Chalice Festival and HighTimes Cannabis Cup.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Wing King Las Vegas: they have been on travel channel 2-3 times. Rated best wings in the state of Nevada. Has had celebrities eat there. They do a hell wing challenge 9k Scoville units

Papaz potions is a 20+ year pastry chef, he makes infused cakes, pizza and my favorite infused syrup of all time.

I live 2 hours from San Diego, hour and half to 3 hours depending on traffic from LA, an hour from Palm Springs and three and half hours from Las Vegas.

We can go anywhere

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
@papaz_potionz2 On Instagram for not only getting me into my first cannabis events in San Diego but helping network and get into others.

@sandiegocannabisfarmerzmarket for networking me and being one of the first to get me into events they put on and others they network with.

@wingkinglv for networking me in the Las Vegas cannabis scene and getting me backstage to shoot Fortunate Youth & at a private concert with Grammy nominated Raging Fyah at a Glass shop in Phoenix AZ

@toker_poker for sticking with me as their photographer for their products even through Covid

@weedmaps for believing in me and giving me a platform.

Website: Fotobudz.com

Instagram: @Fotobudz

Linkedin: Christopher Wheeler “Fotobudz”

Twitter: @Fotobudz

Facebook: Fotobudz

Image Credits
Mike Tyson Jerome Baker Designs Tommy Chong Ice Cube The Emerald Cup 420 Nurses