It’s football game day and on the football field, students pose as sophomore Zachary Hauser captures photos of them. Later that week, he sells the photos to his friends and peers – his own photography side hustle.
Starting at the age of 13, Hauser learned how to operate a camera without taking any photography/videography classes.
“I did everything myself,” Hauser said. “I learned it all on YouTube and from the internet. Before I got the hang of it, it probably took me two to three months [to get] where I was comfortable. It took me forever. I think everything’s hard to learn but with YouTube, it’s not that hard.”
Hauser started photography in 8th grade by taking pictures at his friends’ sporting events.
“I took photos of them and I fell in love with that,” Hauser said. “It’s more fun to watch the game and take photos from there. Watch[ing] the action while taking photos is the best thing. I just started taking pictures [and] I bought my own camera.”
Hauser bought his first camera the Sony G Master 70-200 millimeter and the ZVE 10, along with his first microphone. His camera was $600 and the miniature telephoto lens he uses is around $2000.
“My mom bought [the telephoto lens] for me, it was a present,” Hauser said. “I bought the camera myself though with my own money. I ended up doing extra work and I did a lot of volunteering and I made about $700 from that.”
Along with photography, Hauser also does videography. He started content creation when he was in 3rd grade, making movies and creating fake scenarios.
“I like it, I don’t do anything I don’t like, but honestly it’s a passion,” Hauser said. “I saw it and it looked cool, so I wanted to do it. I’ve always been making movies since I was younger. I’m a photographer and a videographer. I do both of them and [they] are my passions.”
Pursuing his videography, his lacrosse coach asked him to film a “hype-up video” of the lacrosse team.
“I went to their games, I filmed clips and I slowly edit[ed] that through,” Hauser said. “About two to three weeks later I gave them a hype video. It was my first ever one [and] it was really bad, but it was progress.”
Hauser doesn’t have a permanent way for people to buy his photos, but at the moment he has a website where he uploads them.
“If it’s an away game and you really want me to go to something like that, it’ll be minimum $25,” Hauser said. “If it’s home and you’re my friend, [it’ll be] $15-10. I am biased.”
Now, Hauser takes photos at football games and other events. He takes many pictures and posts appealing ones for people to see and buy off his website.
“Sometimes [when] I go to a paid event, [I could] take the worst photos in my entire career,” Hauser said. “At the same time I could go to an event and take perfect photos. You can find really bad ones and then really good ones.”
Hauser has an Instagram account where he uploads the best photos he takes at events.
“I do edits for McNeil, my friends [and] vlogs,” Hauser said. “I do all that little fun stuff. I take some of it chill, but when I’m focusing on school, I get pretty into it.”
Hauser wants to start trying new things and exploring other photography options.
“I want to branch out and do portraits because it’s more money that way,” Hauser said. “I could take photos of seniors for them. I want to branch out to try different things and give people different options than just football. You’re stuck during the season with what you’re doing. You can only take photos of certain sports during certain seasons, but when you do portraits you can do anything.”
Hauser often experiences negative comments regarding his photography, but he believes can rise above it by trusting himself and motivating others to try something new and not overthink it.
“I don’t really care,” Hauser said. “It’s my thing, so I don’t really focus about what they have to say. Trust your instinct and jump right into photography [be]cause if you keep doing too much research, then you’re gonna get overwhelmed. Then you’re not gonna buy the right stuff and you’re gonna keep overthinking and you’re never gonna buy it. If you never buy it, you can’t start. As simple as that, you just gotta go into it.”
