01 Oct From Landscapes to Sports Photography: Tyler’s Career Behind the Camera
For Tyler, photography started with landscapes and nature. Today, at 30, he is a sports photographer in San Diego capturing everything from marathons and triathlons to surfing.
What keeps him excited about the work is not just getting a great action shot. It is capturing moments that mean something to the people in front of his camera, whether that is someone catching their first wave or a father and daughter crossing a finish line together.
His career shows how experimenting with different types of photography can help turn an interest into a profession.
A Boy Scouts Trip Sparked an Interest
Tyler started taking photography seriously when he was around 16 or 17.
In 2013, while living in Maryland, he traveled with the Boy Scouts to Olympic National Park. Surrounded by incredible scenery, Tyler began photographing landscapes and nature.
He was hooked.
After moving to Southern California, his surroundings changed, and so did his photography.
Tyler began photographing races, including triathlons and marathons, and eventually moved into surfing photography.
Instead of only photographing places, he was now capturing people in motion.
Capturing Moments People Remember
Today, Tyler works as a sports photographer in San Diego and shoots for a surf camp.
That gives him the opportunity to photograph people experiencing something special: catching their first wave.
Those are the kinds of moments Tyler enjoys most.
Sports photography can capture competition and athletic performance, but it can also capture relationships, accomplishments, and memories.
One of Tyler’s favorite examples is seeing a father and daughter cross a finish line together.
For the people in the photograph, that image can become much more than a sports photo. It becomes a memory they can keep.
You Don’t Need the Perfect Camera to Start
Tyler’s advice for aspiring photographers is not to wait until they own expensive equipment.
Start with whatever camera you have.
As skills develop, Tyler recommends investing in a fast lens with a wide aperture, which can be especially useful when photographing action and working in different lighting conditions.
But equipment alone will not make someone a great photographer.
Tyler’s bigger advice is to shoot as much as possible.
“Shoot lights out.”
The more photographs someone takes, the more opportunities they have to understand their camera, experiment with settings, make mistakes, and improve.
Try Different Types of Photography
Tyler also encourages new photographers to experiment.
Shoot sports. Try portraits. Photograph dogs. Explore landscapes. Find different subjects and environments that force you to develop new skills.
He also recommends learning editing programs such as Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. Photography does not necessarily end when the shutter button is pressed. Learning how to work with images afterward can become another important part of developing the craft.
Tyler did not begin at 16 knowing that he would become a sports photographer in San Diego.
He started by photographing what was around him.
Landscapes eventually led to races. Races led to surfing. Along the way, Tyler continued shooting, learning, and discovering what he enjoyed most.
For someone interested in photography, his story offers a simple starting point: pick up a camera, take a lot of pictures, try different things, and see where your skills can take you.
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