A career in photography can be educational, rewarding and lots of fun! But where do you start? How do you get your first photography job? Do you work for an advertising company, newspaper, or modeling agency? Maybe if you are a photography major. So where does that leave the rest of us.
Depending upon your level of motivation and commitment, you can be a successful freelance photographer lining up your own work, but thats another story OR you can find an employer to take you on and train you. Yep-sure, where are you going to find that?
How about an on-mountain photographer job at one of the Nations major ski resorts. Almost every major ski mountain has a photography program. Breckenridge, Steamboat, Vail, Copper Mountain Colorado, Heavenly California and Jackson Hole Wyoming will train outgoing and enthusiastic candidates to be professional photographers.
Have you ever wanted to become an extreme sports photographer? This is your chance. The action photographers shoot the ski/snowboard park and have private appointments that typically want extreme shots. Another part of the job is setting up on the side of a run and photographing skiers as they rip by. Your action shots get really good, quickly when you shoot a thousand pictures a day and you work on commission.
Do you have a zest for life, love working with families, would you enjoy working with a variety of groups or shooting child photography? Then a ski hill portrait photography job would be perfect for you. You set up your shop on the mountain at the scenic overlook. Families, groups, couples, kids ski right up for a photo shoot. it is not unusual to shoot 20-30 groups a day during peak periods like spring break, you can't buy experience like that, but you can get paid to do it!
You will learn valuable photography skills that you can use the rest of your life. You will gain the experience and confidence to go up to anyone, anywhere take their picture and sell it to them. You will learn a work flow that can be applied to many different types of photographic situations when you freelance on your own.
The whole world will open up for you and your love for the art of photography with real world experience.
It is important to note that most of the ski areas will provide you with the proper camera equipment, uniform, and a mountain pass to get to your zone. You need your own ski/ snowboard equipment and Although they rarely provide housing they may have suggestions on how to get settled in to the area.
This isn't for everyone, if you really just want to ski, get an evening job doing something else from 3-11pm. You can ski all day, everyday.
If you love photography and skiing you better hurry up and get in touch with one of the resorts right away because they fill their photographer jobs in October and November.
I have been a top professional photographer at several western ski resorts including Vail and Breckenridge Colorado, Brighton Utah, and Grand Targhee Wyoming. The season starts Thanksgiving and ends in April. I have exceeded $100,000 in sales in one season, a few times. I started out at Grand Targhee where I landed my first professional photography job taking action photos of skiers on the slopes. Now I live in South Lake Tahoe, California and this will be my 3rd season at Heavenly. To view my gallery of action and portrait photography visit freelancephotographerjobs.com There are a lot of photography free tips and info too.
I also publish a blog at: lookatyourphotos.blogspot.com If you know someone that enjoys photography and sking or snowboarding, email this article to them. They'll get a kick out of it!
Brandon Baumgarten
The Flow
