We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cole Taft a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Cole, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

Creating a business out of adventure/outdoor media creation was never truly an “idea” or even a conscious decision. I wish it had been that straightforward, though the love and passion that has led me to this point likely would not have formed if it hadn’t been so organic.

From a young age I always had a love for the outdoors – spending as much time immersed as I possibly could. This continued as I grew up and through college – fishing, skiing, wakeboarding, hiking, exploring, camping. I always wanted to capture this experience and share it with my friends who didn’t always “get it”, but I never pulled the trigger on purchasing a camera. In college, where i studied Cell and Molecular Biology, media was never at the top of mind for me. That is until I got the opportunity to intern with a start up outdoor apparel company in New York, where I did some marketing and saw first hand the importance of media and content to a business.

Around the end of college I bucked up and bought an old Nikon off of Facebook marketplace for $200. After I had a few pennies in my pocket I started to travel all over the US, and lately the world, chasing my hobbies. In the past 4 years I have slowly improved, evolved my style invested in gear, and as I began to travel more I began to shoot more of what I loved. When I first came to California in 2022 I fell in love with surfing, and from the first time I shot surfing I was hooked. After a year I bought a water housing and moved to shooting in water, which in turn opened up 70% of the planet which I couldn’t access before.

While surfing continues to be my favorite subject to shoot, my interests have shifted over the years. From landscapes and wildlife I transitioned to some more lifestyle, adventure and product, leveraging my travels for campaigns to pitch to brands. As my style has evolved, this has progressed from a lot of no responses, to a bunch of contra deals, to a few paid deals, then some more paid deals, and even into paid short films. Getting the work takes time and dialing in your style and your value prop, but most of all depends on the relationships you build and continue to grow.

Starting out I often compared my work to other creators, but eventually learned that my value is in my uniqueness. They say comparison is the thief of joy, so my advice if I had to give some would be to appreciate the uniqueness of what you create. Sometimes the simplest feedback from friends keeps me creating and encourages me to strive for more. That and my ceaseless desire to travel and adventure and create, and meet people with those interests in common.

Cole, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I combined my love for nature with my desire to show it to others, and what evolved from that was a media business. I provide media services mostly in the travel/outdoor/adventure/sports space, though I shoot for assorted small businesses as well. This includes product, action sports, and lifestyle photography and videography mostly for businesses and brands in those spaces. In water and out of the water.

I also do personal and corporate events, concerts/ music events, destination weddings and random freelance, I am usually a yes man. I have started to shoot short films this year, which I have fallen in love with and am in the process of working on more. I want to tell more longer form stories showcasing nature and peoples ways of uniquely interacting with it.

What sets me apart is that I am able to showcase products being used the way they are meant to be used because I only shoot products that I would use. Time and practice slowly gives you a better eye for a shot or a look, but I think the realest part about shooting for a brand is making sure that it is a brand and product that you believe in and value.

Do you have multiple revenue streams – if so, can you talk to us about those streams and how your developed them?

On top of travel/lifestyle/product media campaigns, I also do some real estate photography/videography photo, video, and drone work and have an online shop where I sell high quality prints. (www.coletaft.me)

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

While the end product is often what the perception of an artist’s work is, the creative process is usually the most rewarding part for the creator. Obviously traveling to a beautiful place for a shoot or having morning meetings with a client in the ocean are lovely plusses, but I think the moment a vision starts to form together into something tangible is the most rewarding aspect for me. The process of an idea forming in your mind and then slowly starting to come together in real life still makes me giddy. That said, I think an equally exciting part of my creative process is when, after I shoot or during editing, I realize that I have captured or created something beautiful that was completely unintentional. Surprising yourself is a treat.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.coletaft.me
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_colescamera_/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@colescamera_

Image Credits

Cole Taft @_colescamera_