Anyone ever hired a photographer to cover their hunting trip?

[Cjeffrey]

Hello, forum members.

Allow me to introduce myself. I am a wildlife research biologist living and working in Michigan. I'm also a hunter, and a one-time professional photographer (I put myself through graduate school shooting weddings and events).

In my career I meet a lot of hunters and almost everybody I meet have a few things in common: hunting is about doing what they love, camaraderie, sharing their passion with family, watching a dog get birdy, being outside, and so on... At least that is what it means to me. The photographer side of me says that we should be documenting these memories; especially the rare, once in a lifetime ones where we get a chance to harvest critters out west.

I understand that I'm new here so I hope it's okay to ask a few questions.

Would you all be interested in doing something like this?
Have any of you ever done this in the past? What was your experience like?
What would you be willing to spend on a day's coverage of your hunt?

I am extremely grateful for any help you can offer. Please feel free to PM me if you have other things to suggest.

Best wishes,
Chad

 

[ivorytip]

what do you hunt? lets hear some stories about one of your fav hunts and the amazing pictures you must have taken

 

[Alabama]

Great 1st post. It sounds like a great idea but I have no idea how much something like that would cost. I hope someone else chimes in.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[mallardsx2]

Do you take hero shots?

My fiance took this one of me on our Mule Deer trip this season.

We think it is wonderful and it captured the moment! LOL
Sometimes its the stupid pictures that we remember the most....
Not seeing any deer....take some goofy pictures to break up the day.

Paying someone to tag along and document the hunt....I doubt that's for most people.

 

[packmule]

Travel expenses and permits (?) since it's commercial make it an expensive endeavor before the camera ever comes out of the case. Now folks can easily document hunts with phones, hi-Res cams with spotter adapters, etc. You'll even have some people who carry the high end gear on trips. I personally like and highly suggest documenting trips. With mine, I'm the only person who can do it and have a clue about what I'm looking at in the pics and why I even took a picture. Good luck to you.

 

[Cjeffrey]

what do you hunt? lets hear some stories about one of your fav hunts and the amazing pictures you must have taken

I’m primarily an upland and waterfowl hunter. I grew up in North Dakota chasing pheasant and grouse across the plains. My favorite hunts are too many to count, but they usually entail a pot of coffee in the morning, a half marathon of walking behind a French Brittany or sitting in a blind with a golden retriever by my side, hopefully some shooting, and a nice meal made by mom that night. Now in Michigan, I chase mainly grouse and wood cock with my son, and instead of mom cooking dinner, its my wife and I. I’ve done some deer hunting in my time, archery hunted some turkeys, and have been on one epic elk/moose hunt in Idaho (no luck unfortunately). I never really carried a camera during these hunts because I’ve always had a gun in my hand. Sorry that I can’t show you any pictures.

 

[Cjeffrey]

Do you take hero shots?
My fiance took this one of me on our Mule Deer trip this season.

We think it is wonderful and it captured the moment! LOL
Sometimes its the stupid pictures that we remember the most....
Not seeing any deer....take some goofy pictures to break up the day.
View attachment 16260

Exactly the reasons why I think this would be cool. But instead of a single picture after the kill, I’d want to document the entire experience and deliver a nice album to carry on this memory. I mean, sometimes you do once-in-a-life time things… marriage, children, etc…. and sometimes this includes hunting trips. I think an epic hunting trip is worthy of an album right next to your wedding album!

Paying someone to tag along and document the hunt....I doubt that's for most people. View attachment 16260

Maybe not. But at the same time, we give photographers full access to our lives for other events such as our wedding or family photo sessions… I don’t see this as being too different, but I’m interested to hear your thoughts.

 

[Cjeffrey]

Travel expenses and permits (?) since it's commercial make it an expensive endeavor before the camera ever comes out of the case. Now folks can easily document hunts with phones, hi-Res cams with spotter adapters, etc. You'll even have some people who carry the high end gear on trips. I personally like and highly suggest documenting trips. With mine, I'm the only person who can do it and have a clue about what I'm looking at in the pics and why I even took a picture. Good luck to you.

Good points, I think where I would differ is in that I would envision spending a weekend with you, sharing camp, helping with cooking, sharing stories, packing out, etc. I think all of this is worthy of documenting.

 

[Never in Doubt]

I'd be concerned about the photographer getting injured, or scaring the game. What if you fall off a mountain? I don't know you or your physical skill set. I go in some very steep country. There's a good chance I turn around and see you bouncing head over ass down the mountainside, cameras and film flying in all directions. I like to hunt my way and not have to be concerned about keeping an eye on another person. Just my 2 cents

 

[nicktrehearne]

As a photographer who has done (and still does) exactly what you're asking, I think you'll have a tough time finding anyone willing to pay you what it's worth. Typically the only people willing to pay for that kind of service are businesses, outfitters, tv shows, etc who actually need it, for marketing, and it's just a business expense to them. To justify your time, gear, editing, etc on a week long hunt, you should be looking at a fee of thousands of dollars. This puts it out of the range of most guys.

 

[WY ME]

There's a good chance I turn around and see you bouncing head over ass down the mountainside, cameras and film flying in all directions.

I've experienced similar scenarios a few times. The only difference is they were always horses bouncing around, not people.

 

[AKaviator]

I've seen guys bring friends along on various hunts up here, that act as photographers. Generally guys that want some of the adventure but didn't draw the tag. I think they generally are not paid, other than being able to tag along on a really cool trip.

Guides often have their packers do a lot of photo's or videos too. It's a required skill set for guides.

As a game warden, I always liked to have as many cameras in the field as possible. Most of the hunters were more than happy to film someone else that was poaching or using their airplanes illegally, etc.

 

[Hilltop]

There are services out there for hire like you mention... they do cost thousands of dollars.

While guiding in Colorado in the early 90s, our outfitter did hire a photographer for a week. He was expected to work as well but his primary role was to photograph for their new brochures. I believe he was paid $100 a day plus all expenses were covered. In general, he got in the way and was annoying to have around even though he was a really nice guy. He didn't have much experience in the mountains which in turn meant that instead of guiding just a hunter, the guides had to guide the photographer as well. Our hunters in general were not impressed by his presence either. His lack of experience also cost him several great photo opportunities. I had him behind one of my hunters on a setup when I called in a great bull. The bull came in to 18 yards- perfectly in line with the hunter and camera man. It would have made a great picture but the photographer wasn't ready for the opportunity.

I don't think your idea is bad but I do believe you should stick with the type of hunting you have a lot of experience with. I can see an upland or waterfowl hunter paying for a day of photos during a hunt as long as the price was reasonable.

 

[packmule]

I would agree with upland hunting, even field trials because those folks tend to love their dogs and there's a lot of action shots.

 

[480/277]

I agree with upland/waterfowl. When my Ted died I learned I had 47 good photos of him......
What I would give to have a little album of him on ducks and pheasants.
My new boy Ben, I have about 2000 pictures right now and he has not turned 2 yet.
I still could use some action pics of him!!!

 

[hoshour]

I had a young guy my guide brought along to film my goat hunt up in BC. He was a nice guy but I was so frustrated with his complete lack of knowledge of how to frame a shot.

The early footage was all scenery with me down in the corner. He got better as I taught him over the course of two weeks but even though I told him he absolutely, positively had to get the kill shot right and asked him when it came time if he was ready, he did not steady the video camera on a tripod or even a rock. The goat was in and out of the picture, out of focus when it was in and the footage was completely unusable.

We eventually got enough good footage to use but the blown kill scene cost me an episode on a hunting show that had agreed to use the footage if it was good. Needless to say, I did not tip him much and felt like he should have paid me.

 

[Bonecollector]

Sorry to hear that Hoshour. bummer.

 

[Cjeffrey]

As a photographer who has done (and still does) exactly what you're asking, I think you'll have a tough time finding anyone willing to pay you what it's worth. Typically the only people willing to pay for that kind of service are businesses, outfitters, tv shows, etc who actually need it, for marketing, and it's just a business expense to them. To justify your time, gear, editing, etc on a week long hunt, you should be looking at a fee of thousands of dollars. This puts it out of the range of most guys.

Sorry for not following up sooner... I'd be interested to pick your brain. Mind if I follow up with you?

I was thinking of a flat rate that varied depending on the type of hunt... $3-5k (obviously a backcountry hunt for Dall Sheep in Alaska requires different gear than, say, a turkey hunt here in the lower 48), plus a smaller daily rate $300-500 for every additional day needed beyond 4 or 5 days. Seem reasonable?

 

[nicktrehearne]

Sent you a PM Cjeffrey

 

[brianboh]

I worked in outdoor industry and we would typically pay several thousand dollars a day to film tv shows. Some 3-4 day turkey hunts we would pay up to 5-8k to film. A lot of cheddar for a video