Northern Michigan University 2019 alumnus Scott Crady is a photographer and mountain athlete who specializes in adventure photography. His career has taken him around the globe, including the Arctic, Central America and Asia. In November, he will be adding the South Pacific to his list, specifically Papua New Guinea and Fiji.
Crady recently returned from an expedition in Greenland, where he was photographing scientists researching glaciology.
“Scientists are going to these faraway places, like Antarctica and Greenland and they come back with data, numbers and a few iPhone photos," Cracy said. "It is my job to do them justice and tell their story.”
As a freelance photographer, Crady is hired for specific assignments, or he occasionally pitches ideas to brands, such as National Geographic.
“As a freelance photographer, you make the work you want to be doing. It is a weird career. You must prove you can take expedition photos before you get invited to go.”
Crady went to Nepal to photograph at Everest Base Camp, but ended up never making it to the destination.
“What I wanted to do in Nepal was go photograph and parlay the images [to brands like The North Face and Patagonia]. I ended up getting Acute Mountain Sickness from the increase of altitude at a fast rate, so I made the decision to helicopter evac out of the mountains and was treated at a local hospital."
Crady has to be skillful in what he's tasked to do behind the camera, but also physically fit and active. He became part of the climbing community in Marquette while attending NMU, which proved helpful to his current vocation, he said in a previous release.
When Crady is not all over the world, he is shooting commercial and lifestyle work.
“In an adventure career, you can throw away your personal life because of being on the road. I do one to three expeditions at a time that are from two weeks to a month. I balance it with commercial work or other freelance stuff.”
While at NMU, he earned his bachelor's in digital cinema and marketing. He worked on campus as a photographer and videographer for NMU Marketing and Communications.
“I worked as a student photographer. The best thing that ever happened to me was working in the marketing department, I got a taste of what it looked like to pick subjects, photograph and bring back images they would use in advertising."
He began working as a student brand marketer for Red Bull, one of his first clients, while pursuing his degree. Red Bull saw his photography and he was invited to the Red Bull Content Pool.
“There were a few times I would fly from Marquette to a rental shop [with Red Bull] somewhere in the country, and I would come back for class,” he added.
Crady said his most rewarding expedition was working with NMU alumna Samantha Lalonde, a musher in Alaska. He lived with her and her sled dog team for a month and sold the story to different magazines.
His advice is to "stay true to your own style and figure out how to collaborate with others." He says it is not good for the industry to not collaborate with others.
Crady has had his work featured in the following magazines: Outside, Climbing, Rock and Ice, and Delta Sky. His photography has also been used by Adidas, Sony, Bose Headphones, Pure Michigan, Columbia Sportswear, Arcteryx, Rap Alpine Equipment, Travel Channel, Michigan Ice Festival, and National Geographic Your Shot.
View some of his work at ScottCrady.com
