How I Got Into Photography

This is probably the question I'm asked the most, so I'll run through my history, how I got into photography, and advice that I usually give to those looking to pursue a similar path!

This story will take you from my early childhood up until when I landed the first job that I consider to be the starting point of the career I have today.

Jack 📸

The Backstory

I didn't grow up from a young age wanting to get into photography. I actually wanted to be an astronaut or an airline pilot for most of my time going through school.

My late father, Steve "SP" Pantaleo owned and operated an Audio Visual Equipment Rental & Production Company- he was the guy that provided & operated speakers, lights, cameras, and microphones for big events like concerts, speeches, and parties. I spent much of my childhood exposed to this industry and have countless memories of weeknights spent doing math homework on an audio mixer or standing on a riser running camera for a live performance.

From 5th grade onward, I knew I was a band kid. Something clicked when I found the trumpet and I couldn't get enough. I did elementary school band, middle school band, middle school jazz band, high school concert band, high school wind ensemble, high school marching band, high school pep band, high school pit orchestra, high school jazz band, and would go on to march 4 summer seasons of World-Class Drum & Bugle Corps.

I switched majors a few times once I hit college, going from business/ entrepreneurship to retail to communication arts- radio/ tv/ film. I couldn't find anything that I was passionate about enough to commit to learning about for 4 years instead of starting to work and learn as I went. Plus, this was right around the time that dad started to have some pretty serious health issues.

If I'm being totally honest, 95% of the reason I had chosen where I went to college was so I could participate in the marching band-- I was exponentially more dedicated and involved in this than I was with anything related to undergraduate study.

After 3 full-time semesters at The University of Wisconsin-Madison, I dropped all of my classes except for one-- marching band. I stayed enrolled for another 3 semesters but only so that I could take marching band in the fall and do "Varsity Band" in the spring. It was announced to be Marching Band Director Mike Leckrone's 50th and final year-- his legacy and what he had built was a huge reason I chose to attend the university, and I wanted to see that through.

After the end of what would have been "junior year" and with Mike Leckrone retiring, I made the decision to completely drop out of college.

Finding Photography

Having moved home after making the decision to forego college, I worked a handful of odd-jobs while I worked on finding what I couldn't in college. It was also right around this time that the world started to seriously be impacted by COVID-19.

One night during quarantine, far down some YouTube rabbit hole, I stumbled upon this video of Voctave performing their cover of "All Is Well". I was completely hooked- both by how inhumanely perfect Voctave is at everything they do, but more importantly by the fact that I had figured out what I needed to do without trying.

For some reason in that moment it made so much sense yet, it's something I had never thought about before. Someone with a camera had to be in that room with Voctave in order for me to be watching this video. Here I was at 2AM grinning from ear to ear because I had found a way to combine my childhood spent around the media production industry with my deeply rooted passion for the performing arts.

This discovery would eventually lead me to where I am today-- a full-time freelance professional who chooses to use photography to highlight and share the stories of performing artists.

There's obviously a lot in between when I grabbed my first Original Canon 7D and what I do now, but I believe that knowing the origin story is a piece of the puzzle that can't be overlooked.

In Between

Everyone has opportunities and situations in their life that are unique to them- be present to recognize what those are and don't be afraid to take advantage.

My Uncle owns a company in the Real Estate Industry and was struggling with marketing during COVID. Previously, they had relied on going door-to-door and in-person campaigns to get their message out. However, that was no longer an option with quarantine, social distancing, and the new era of business.

I was offered an opportunity to come work full-time for my uncle to re-invent his marketing and move to social media and digital campaigns. This wasn't my dream of working in performing arts, however, it was a start, and it was an environment where I could experiment and grow with many of the industry-standard media tools. I got to be hands-on with camera gear, started a podcast studio from scratch, managed multiple social media accounts, and worked on numerous creative projects with guests & other people involved-- which were all skills and experience that I was able to translate to performing arts media.

My First Job

I was lucky to have access to a Canon 7D MK I that was in our family. I went to YouTube University and learned the fundamentals of camera operation & exposure. Just like everyone does when they start, I immediately started applying my newfound knowledge on inanimate objects around my bedroom. After filling memory cards with underexposed shots of houseplants taken at far too low of a shutter speed, I was ready.

These are some of the earliest test-shots that I could find!

So naturally what did I do? I sent an email to my old high school band director offering to create a VIDEO project and take some photos for their first in-person rehearsal post-COVID quarantine. I was obviously in way over my head, but I got a "yes" and was given the opportunity to make something for the first time on this path that I wanted to go down.

Here's the final product!

The video sucked. But I learned a lot, I created a professional connection that I still have to this day, and throughout this process of making one of the worst things I've ever made, I validated the fact that this is exactly what I want to do.

This project wasn't about money (I made $0) or fame (no one knew who I was). The moment that made me want to do this for the rest of my life was sitting behind a camera as the director smiled as she heard the sound of the band for the first time in over a year, and knowing that I had just saved that moment-- for her and for the students, forever.

I had won the admiration of the students for showing up and creating something for them, and that was the only thing that mattered to me. I knew that I could get better and that I could find ways to make money with what I was doing. It was the foundation though, of finding a deeper motivation for what I'm doing, and for connecting my work to the performers that cemented my love for what I do.

Up Next

After this job, and while still working for my Uncle, I continued to improve my skills- watching videos, experimenting with techniques, and practicing on friends, family, and places that I had access to at the time.

I found a handful of small performing arts related opportunities in the following months using the "portfolio" that I had generated from the band shoot above. My brother and his friend were working on starting a recording studio and I offered to do media work for any of their sessions.

One day I got a message from someone who knew my brother, mentioning that he knew I had done some performing arts photography and wondering if I would be available to shoot a concert at a local university coming up.

I happily said yes and as a bonus, they had a small budget that they were willing to compensate me with- I made $300 for shooting an A cappella competition with 6 performing ensembles.

This Is What I Had Been Working Towards

With my first paying job in the books, I had total proof of concept for what I wanted to do and I now had somewhere around a year of experience on this path I was carving for myself.

Over the next few months, I kept taking small jobs and creating on my own as a way to continually improve and find ways to be better than I was the day before-- all while still working a "day job" for my uncle's company.

Towards the end of 2020 I secured a position that would go on to be the starting point for the last 5 years of my life.

After high school and during my college years, I spent 4 summers touring with World-Class Drum & Bugle Corps. 3 of those 4 seasons was spent with The Blue Stars, a group based out of my home state, and with who I still had a close relationship with. The activity had taken a gap-year due to COVID and in winter of 2020 they were beginning preparation for a return to normal for 2021.

I knew how this world worked and knew what sorts of staffing conversations and moving parts were being put in-motion even 5-7 months before the season truly kicked off in mid-2021.

Completely unprompted, I sent over a portfolio, resume, and cover letter explaining my interest in providing media coverage for the national tour in 2021. My offer to them was to tour for the full-summer without a break, providing photo and video coverage, for no compensation.

A majority of people would look at that and call me crazy. I probably am to some extent. Here's the logic behind my crazy offer:

• I knew that with the gap-year, the organization would be very budget-conscious. This wasn't going to be a permanent issue, but for this first season, money was going to be tight. I wanted to remove as much friction as possible and make a "yes" as easy as possible

• Chances were, if I was able to get on the team and do a good job, this would lead to a multi-year engagement that would allow the terms of my contract and expectations to grow and evolve

• I had the time and didn't have any commitments that prohibited me from living this crazy schedule for a summer

• This is the dream I had, and I could see where it would lead. I wasn't going to let short-term constraints dictate a decision that would have exponential long-term benefit

They said yes, and that became the starting point for the career I have today.

A summer touring the country doing media for a performing arts organization forced me to learn at an incredibly rapid pace, taught me to adapt and create in literally any environment with any condition, required me to post every single day, and gave me access to a very relevant, very large audience to know if my work was what it needed to be.

To this day, I'm not sure I could put a monetary value on everything that came from that first summer of touring with my cameras.

Advice & Takeaways

Hopefully this proves that you can get to where you want to go, if you want to get there. There's no one-size fits all approach, and you can certainly find success if you try.

Leverage the people you know, the things you have, and the opportunities that are unique to you. Everyone has these, no matter how big or small.

Yes you need equipment to do the job but I can't stress how unimportant that part is. Don't buy something unless you need it. Buy something used. Borrow and rent.

You don't need to have everything planned out right now. There's no way to know if it'll even work out the way you intend. Have a big idea and work towards it. You'll find the little things along the way.

This isn't something where you get rich quick. You have to care, you have to invest in yourself, and you have to invest time. There's no shortcut for the amount of time that it takes. The truth of the matter is that it might take someone more time than someone else. That's just how it is and there's no use in getting hung up on that.

Progress can often be made going the wrong way. I worked in a different industry for 3 years while I learned, grew, and got my start. Just because you can't make a full-time living tomorrow shooting only concerts doesn't mean you can't start. If you want it, there's a way.

We are often our own greatest obstacle. The amount of times that I've asked and been flat out told "no" is so incredibly few. Get out of your head, get out of your house, and just go try to do what you want to do.

Don't let ego or comfort get in the way of progress. I still regularly offer work for free and likely won't ever stop doing this.

You miss 100% of the shots you don't take

-Wayne Gretzky

-Michael Scott

-jacksnapsband

Jack 📸