There is nothing more annoying than a company low balling you to create content. At least that is what I originally thought! Companies are just trying to get as much as they can within their budget, there is nothing wrong with that. Heck, I always try to get as much money as possible for a job, so am I any different? Not really. So, what should we do to try to fix this budget confusion around creating content?

If you are a freelance content creator, or have aspirations on becoming a freelance content creator, this five part series will help you lay the foundation for making money. In episode two of this five part series, I cover ways to generate active income streams for freelance careers. To do this, I dive deep into what types of active income exist and what the end results will look like. All of these are focused on freelance jobs.

I have been wanting to expand my lifestyle work to expand beyond the outdoor action sports field, so, I took a little bit of time and came up with a concept to shoot a speculation project for Blundstone Boots. This project was a good challenge for me as I had never photographed a shoe before. I have captured socks, but never shoes.

We headed to Baja Mexico for a three months of winter to surf and camp on every beach we could. Loading up the van with surfboards, snorkel gear, and sunscreen we did our best to explore on dirt roads, get sunburnt, and surf throughout the Baja Peninsula. Our goal was to avoid the crowds, but still catch good waves. I would be remiss to mention we missed a couple of swells, got cut up by the reef, and punctured a few boards, but the trip was a success. While the trips wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, we had a splendid time in Baja chasing waves and sleeping on beaches.

While in Yosemite National Park climbing and sleeping in the boulders, a couple of things happened. First, I committed to my second seasonal job as an outdoor educator. Second, I met some famous climbers. Both of which pulled me in opposite directions.

Converting your content into a money making machine provides you freedom. As more money comes in, you can let go of other responsibilities and focus on your creative work that fills your cup. Additionally, getting paid for your work feels great, motivates you to continue, and provides a not-so-healthy validation that your work is good. So, how do you make money as a content creator?

On a cloudy day along the Northern California coast, I went for a walk to try out my new lens; the Tamron 50-400mm. Now, I don't know much about the lens other than I like the range, so I clicked it onto my Sony camera body and went for a walk to see what I could find.

With 72 hours of “free-time”, so we headed out on a kayaking adventure. Starting our kayaking outing at Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe, CA for sunrise, it ended in a breathtaking sunset over the Emerald Range. As the road trip continued, our bodies grew tired, the milky way was overhead, and we cuddled in the van.

Thank you Big Agnes for the opportunity to create with you all. I have enjoyed the process of learning your style and doing my best to contribute to you all!

As we began planning our road trip to Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, one of my bucket list ideas was to rent a couple of kayaks, paddles, and PFDs so we could see a glacier at its source. While searching the internet for ideas, I stumbled upon a couple photos of people kayaking to a glacier, I was sold. Portage Glacier was added to the ideas list.

Getting to Alaska was not easy, nor was it an over night journey. Flashback six years, I had just graduated college and was starting a career in photography. Often, I drooled over images of braided glacial rivers documented from small bush planes. I would day dream about the non-pressurized cabins and the images I could potentially take. However, I was not in a place where I could fund a personal project to Alaska. I was broke, living in a car, struggling to pay my student loans. So, how did I go from broke to being paid to travel through Alaska? Mostly luck with a little bit of fortune.

Travertine Hot Springs is a wonderful stop for all those traveling along Highway 395. If you finished with a long hike, come pamper yourself. If you need time to reflect, bring a journal and enjoy a silent morning before the crowds arrive. If you need a place to sleep, there is dispersed camping around the area, so go for a soak and post up for the night, on forest service land, for a free night of camping. Be a kind human while at the hot springs and enjoy your warm soaks.

Living in a city is full of noise. Beeps, honks, sirens, birds, people… you name it, a city has a sound for that. Well, almost. What a city doesn’t have is a sound for silence. To seek that, we packed our backpacks, sleeping bags, a few meals, and headed out to the woods for a weekend get away.

Waking up early is a novelty. Crawling out from under your covers is difficult, but worth it. Throughout a year, at least one of my highlights comes from waking up early to catch a sunrise. Often my motivation is a photo idea, but sometimes it is a climbing mission, or an outing with a friend. Regardless, do something hard and wake up early a few times a year! It’ll be worth it.

In this photo essay Dalton Johnson documents Ryan Lynch hand shaping a surfboard from a blank. Documenting the process of how to make a surfboard from start to finish, this photo essay shows the beauty of the hand made process. If you are curious on how to make a surfboard, this photo essay will give you a look behind the curtain at how to make a surfboard.

The message is clear, distractions happen, learn how to handle them. In the end, I wrote the above as a stress relief exercise and to spew out an idea that I had been festering away in my brain for the last few days. In many ways, it was pestering me so much, I just wanted to get it down on paper so I could forget about it.

Think of a time in your life, when you said to yourself, “Wow! That was exciting.” Or, “Gosh, that was scary for me!" What do you remember from that memory? Were you close to cliff’s edge, fatigued from exerting yourself, or were you overcoming a fear built up in your imagination? Hopefully, that memory was elective and an experience you can look back upon as type two fun. A learning lesson, a personal challenge, an opportunity to expand your horizon.

A gorgeous photo-essay combined with a guiding haikus tell the journey to a remote Alaskan Cabin. Seeking mental clarity and space to think, the characters in this photo essay reset their lives living off the grid. Chopping fire wood for heat, drinking creek water, and without electricity, this cabin in the Alaskan woods is a perfect place for a digital detox from our modern world.

As a kid, I had two dreams. First, to play a sport in college. Second, see the world. The outtake above is from a childhood conversation I distinctly recall as a kid. As an avid lover of the History and Discovery channel, I have always been blown away by this planet, the diversity of landscapes, and the endless adventures. With curiosity often at the root of my adventures, I have taken this mindset into adulthood.

At the end of the day, my job as a commercial photographer is to sell a product. While photographing a campaign, a thought constantly repeats in the back of my mind and kinda goes like, “You are shooting a (insert product), that is the focus.” This mantra helps balance the struggle between creativity and capturing an image that will sell the product. Overall, the limitation in creating commercial photography is not an art director or creative freedom, the constraint is usually time and money.