Simon, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about how you got your first non-friend, non-family client. Paint the picture for us so we can feel the same excitement you felt on that day.

well I had a handful of small one time clients from my home town but i would say the one that surprised me the most and made me the most stoked would be Autumn Headwear. The first handful of years shooting was a challenge to get anything from companies especially snowboarding. I don’t want to name any of them but they used my work on multiple occasions because they were images of riders they sponsor but would not respond about fairly compensating me for those images. Working with Autumn has been wonderful. They appreciate my work and time fairly. Honestly feels more like Im sending imaged to my Buddies instead of a client. They always are down for new creative ideas, couldn’t appreciate them more. Ive had 3 consistent projects with them and really looking forward to more!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Growing up I was really into snowboarding and eventually surfing. I was never like exceptional at riding so i think it was almost a matter of time till a camera was picked up. i started early in High School and just fully dove into it. I continued on through college and earned a BFA in Photo from Northern Michigan University. During college most time was spent snowboarding with friends or surfing so i would just always have my camera with me. I think just love for the sports is what got me “into the industry” but Unfortunately there is not much money in that world for the creatives so its hard to do full time especially in the midwest. So ive been working on photographing new things and different things so i can expand my skillsets and clientele. My work is mostly Board sports and outdoors, landscapes and what not but i like to dabble in it all.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Honestly its pretty awesome to see how stoked people are when I get a good image of them, sometimes its their first! and in snowboarding theres this thing called clip high, you get a high when you get a really good clip of yourself, so its almost like that when you land a really good shot of your buddy. Sometimes you can like visualize the image in your head before shooting and when you get the shot exactly how you pictured its quite rewarding

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I think that making work that is specifically to post on Social Media was a big hurdle for me. The instant gratification is almost like a drug and really messes with your ego. I really had to focus on personal projects and more long term projects and save the work to be displayed on a grander scale.

Contact Info:

• Website: Simonberghoef.com
• Instagram: @simonberghoef
• Linkedin: Simon berghoef