October 15, 2016

Meet West LA Photographer: Cole Sprague

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cole Sprague.

Cole, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up in a relatively small ski town in central Oregon, surrounded by outdoor sports and top level athletes. I developed a passion for cycling and competed at the highest level of cycling. In addition to my interest in sports, I was also surrounded by art and artists growing up. My grandmother is a well-respected painter, and my mom dabbles in different art mediums from painting to glass and clay. I got my first camera, a Nikon D80 when I was 14 years old. From there, the combination of photography and action sports was natural. I moved to Portland Oregon for my undergrad and started photographing cyclocross races whenever I was not racing in them. After school, I decided to take my passion full time and started shooting everything from trophy trucks blasting through the desert to mountain bikers launching through the air. Moving to LA was a logical next step in my career and gave me easier access to sports like motocross and surfing and more top level athletes.

Has it been a smooth road?
Definitely not, finding my own person style to stand out from the crowd and finding what I really wanted to photograph has been a struggle, I started with wedding photography and quickly realized it wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life. Now I shoot mostly action sports, but also do portraiture. I’m constantly pushing to challenge myself and get out of my comfort zone. I’m also slowly adding video to my repertoire. Finding awesome collaborators is also a challenge and I’m always on the lookout for new talent that wants to help me make awesome images.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The proudest moment of my career so far would have to be getting featured on my first magazine cover. It’s very empowering to be able to walk into a grocery store or bookstore and see your work on the shelf.

Tell us more about the struggles you’ve faced along the way.
It’s always a constant struggle to book my next job. My first magazine article I emailed well over one hundred people before I finally found someone that believed in my vision enough to give me the go ahead. Building the right contacts and pitching ideas is always where I struggle the most.

What’s your outlook for the industry in our city?
LA is definitely a great place for me and pretty much anyone into photography or film, there’s just so many opportunities here and so many awesome collaborators. If you’re just starting out I’d recommend you have more than just the basics down before moving, starting here from scratch would be difficult just because the talent pool is so much larger than most other places. If you want to be a photographer build up a business where you are first and if it leads you to wanting to move, then make the jump. If LA could improve in any aspect it would definitely be bike friendliness, moving from Portland, where it rains most of the year, everyone bikes everywhere. Here it’s perfect biking weather year round and no one rides anywhere.

Contact Info: