Athlete Profiles: December 2014

Name: Scott Thompson

Nickname on the boards: Scott T

Member Since: Jan 2013

Occupation: self-employed advertising photographer and director

Words to live by: I love this poem from the movie "The Grey,” I have it framed and hanging in my office:

"Once more into the fray...
Into the last good fight I'll ever know...
To live and die on this day...
To live and die on this day..."

Favorite quote: "When I have a camera in my hand, I know no fear." -Alfred Eisenstaedt

Favorite movies: My favorite movies are wide and vast. I watch movies to study their cinematography, directing, storytelling and lighting to get ideas and learn techniques for my own work. For fun, I enjoy watching movies like Chef, Midnight in Paris and Hustle & Flow.

Favorite food: I love cooking, so I am always trying out new cuisines and finding new flavors to love.

Favorite music or artist: I am a BIG admirer of the Great American Songbook and the myriad of artists who perform from its collection. My favorite song is “Nearness of You” from that collection.

Favorite sport or activity: I enjoy being active and trying new activities. These past three years I focused on rock climbing and now I am addicted to Crossfit.

Sport or activity that you are training for: I am still working to accomplish more than 1 double under, a muscle up, and to make my 7-minute mile even faster.

Goals

Personal: To always be pushing myself. I have a list of challenges and self improvements that I try to work on. One of my current challenges is to become a better speaker.

Professional: Continue to work on my personal projects that help develop my business. Make a strong effort on networking within the creative field and collaborate more with people.

Athletic: I slipped (lets be real, I was lazy) a few years back on my fitness and barely passed my Annual Fitness test in the Air National Guard for 2 years straight with a 75.2 % and 75.8% (Passing is 75%). After joining WCCF I raised my score up to a 92.8% and this year a 93.5%. I won’t let that happen again and will continue to strive to reach that 100%.

I am passionate about: Collaborating and working in a community with artists, supporting Veterans, loyalty and a solid handshake.

Name some things we don’t know about you:

I was a rock and roll photographer in my early 20’s and traveled around on tour buses shooting for record companies.
I have been a combat photographer for the Air National Guard for over 24 years.
The most dangerous place I had to take photos was not while serving in the military in combat zones...or shark cage diving...or hanging out of helicopters by a rope...or hiking an active lava flow volcano...but while photographing a rock band in a biker bar in Rockford, IL. Amidst a crowd of drunk, slam dancing bikers, I broke one camera and collected plenty of bruises, cuts, body slams and puke from the crowd. I was truly afraid for my safety that night.
I grew up in a small town. When I moved to Chicago 16 years ago, I had $50 in my pocket and no work; I was either going to sink or swim.

Adventure you are planning: I have a couple of small adventures going on every month (rock climbing trips, paintball, hiking, kayaking, etc) but my larger adventure planned this coming up year is a trip to hike Mount Kilimanjaro.