Coach fulfills dreams of becoming nature photographer

on Tuesday,March 01,2011 20:03

For 35 years, Lance McCoy was known around town as a soccer coach at Bremerton High School in Washington, but he has since put down the whistle and embarked on a journey that has taken him deep into the Olympic Peninsula, according to The Kitsap Sun.

His goal? The delicate art of photography design. McCoy takes a single-lens Canon reflex camera and wanders out into the wilderness on day hikes to photograph the nature around him.

"I'm pretty much self-taught," he told the news provider. "If there's a mistake to be made in photography, I've made it. But that's how you learn."

He added that he loved the physical conditioning of hiking and the mental effect of taking pictures. He hikes with a close friend and sometimes brings his son or daughter along for the journey.

One of McCoy's photos recently won third place at the annual Northwest Exposure Photo Contest.

Design degrees in photography may help lead to a lifetime of job satisfaction if, like McCoy, one pursues their passions and takes pictures while doing it. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics states that there is a degree of freedom to the job as well, as more than half were self-employed.