We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lucas Peltier a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Lucas, thanks for joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?
I know it sounds cliché, but I believe it takes persistence to be successful ¬– especially as a photographer in the sports industry. I will even say that sports photography almost feels like a sport itself, and I don’t mean in terms of competition or the physicality or work environment, I’m talking about growth.
There are no overnight stories with athletes. They don’t win championships starting out. It takes time, experience, and just pure work to be successful ¬and the same can be said about photographers or creatives in general. The main thing I truly love about photography is that you can visually see the progress made in the photos from day one to however many months or years, and it’s a wonderful and inspiring thing to witness.
I’ve taken thousands of photos so far in a fairly short amount of time, and even if my career is someday defined by one great photo, it will be the thousands that I’ve taken before and the thousands I’ll take afterwards that I will appreciate.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a sports photographer based in Las Vegas, Nevada and I graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) where I currently as a staff photographer for the athletic department. I am also the team photographer for the Las Vegas Lights FC, as well as a freelance photojournalist for USA Today Sports and the Associated Press.
I started photography as a college student when I took a photojournalism course. I had never picked up a camera before and I honestly didn’t even have an interest in photography. I simply took the course as an elective because my academic advisor suggested it would be fun.
I photographed a women’s soccer game for my first assignment and I wasn’t good at all – I didn’t know the settings for my camera and I took a lot of blurry photos that day, but when it came time to present the work I did manage to salvage to my class, I admit I was proud and the feedback I received only made me want to go out and do it.
And that’s exactly what I did with my free time outside of class. I photographed around hundred events during my first year as a student photographer, which led me to join a student-run sports broadcast as well as getting involved more with the athletic department at my university. I will admit most of the work I did was free labor during my time as a student, but I cared more about learning and gaining experience.
So I kept showing up, and the more times you show up and do good work, the more people start to notice.
And those connections I’ve made with other individuals in my industry, athletes, and coaches led to my position with the athletic department after graduation and later on with my freelance work.
I have photographed collegiate sports, NFL, NHL, WNBA, NBA, NASCAR, USL, and MLB.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Some days I photograph four different sports events in a row, and it never feels like a lot for me. The thing is that because of the unpredictable nature of sports, it honestly makes my job refreshing. It keeps me on my toes, I don’t know what to expect and it just makes me excited to be working.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
For me, the most rewarding aspect is getting to work with athletes – especially student-athletes in college. It is a pleasure getting to know them and their personalities at practices, media day photoshoots, and games. They are also really appreciative of my photos. Likewise, I get to document some important parts in their lives as students. It means a lot and I’m always rooting for their success.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lucaspeltierphoto.com
- Instagram: @lucaskpeltier
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucas-peltier-45b171182
- Twitter: @lucaskpeltier
Image Credits
The photo of me on the first page was taken by Eliza Biglete. All of other sports photos are my own.