H Baker Media is Halee Baker’s freelance photography and videography business. Baker, a recent graduate from Maryville University, primarily focuses on projects related to sports, occasionally doing senior pictures.
Baker’s business started within the last few years. She first worked for Maryville’s hockey program and helped with building their media department. After that, people started asking her to shoot games and senior photos. It slowly progressed from a side hustle into a business.
The biggest challenge for Baker has been time management and scheduling.
“It’s definitely a balancing act to be able to fit everything in as far as you know, going to games or doing somebody’s pictures. And then you know, also having time to edit those and get them turned around relatively quickly,” Baker said.
Baker describes her creative process as “a bit chaotic”, in the sense that everything is not completely laid out before a shoot. She starts with a list of shots in her head, but she is more of a quick-thinking and “on the fly” person, so she will make changes and try new things depending on how things turn out.
Baker finds it rewarding to see how people react whenever they get their pictures and videos. She said with senior photos especially, people gain a sense of confidence, and she likes helping them have that positive experience.
She has also enjoyed assisting with Maryville’s hockey program and helping it grow, because she has been working with them almost since they became a team. She assists with all aspects of the Maryville Hockey media portfolio, which includes designing social media themes, creating videos and organizing special events.
Jeff Crenshaw, the assistant coach and marketing and media manager for the hockey team, has been working with Baker for years and he appreciates her help. He said that Baker does great videography, photography and graphic design work.
His favorite thing about working with her is her ability to bring ideas to life.
“She helps me put a vision into reality along with coming up with outstanding ideas and concepts herself,” Crenshaw said.
One of the things that keeps Baker motivated is learning and trying new things. Many of her skills are self-taught. She first started doing photography when she was in 7th grade, then she learned new skills on her own, and over the years she has grown a lot as a photographer.
Because Baker enjoys sports-related photography the most, her short-term goal is to start working with an additional sports team so she can do this type of work year-round. In the future, she would eventually like to do photography and videography with major leagues, like the NHL and MLS.
The main advice Baker has for people who want to start a business in media or any other field is: “Don’t be afraid of what you don’t know.”
“Everybody kind of has to start somewhere,” she said. “Don’t be afraid to reach out to people who might be doing something similar. People are going to be willing to help you way more than you think.”
Halee Baker’s work can be found on her website, so feel free to take a look at some of the projects she has done.
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