Meet David Cudd | Owner of Venture: A Service of David Cudd Photography

We had the good fortune of connecting with David Cudd and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi David, what role has risk played in your life or career?
A good amount of people who live and work in Summit County, CO have more than one job to be able to afford to live in this beautiful mountain town. At one point, I was working 3 jobs/gigs, including a photography job, so that my family could afford rent, food, and to pay other bills. I felt stuck, exhausted and overwhelmed. I was worried that if I quit one of my jobs we would go hungry or not be able to pay rent. I had this deep desire to start doing something I wanted to do – to start my own photography business, but I had no time or energy to work on anything toward that goal. I finally came to the conclusion that I had to take the risk and quit one of my jobs – I quit the job that was the most consistent, reliable and financially stable but that was sucking the most time and energy out of my life. My family had a rough couple of months after that, but God provided and our heads stayed above water. What followed was great opportunities to grow my photography business, new clients, new interest, and networking. I have gotten to photograph quite a few events and sports races and have been asked to do it again next year, which I am ecstatic about. I learned that there can be success in risk, if it is done in wisdom.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I got into photography as soon as my wife bought a nice camera. We had always talked about how it would be nice to have a good camera to capture beautiful landscapes we saw while traveling. I researched and played with the camera settings constantly. Every time I had free time at work, I would go outside and take pictures of landscapes and wildlife. Whenever I went out with friends to do something active I would take along my wife’s camera to capture them doing the sport. It started to become a passion and I began to dream about what it would be like to do this for a living. After a year or so of taking photos as a hobby, I was told a friend needed to hire a photographer for his property photography business. I upgraded my gear and jumped at the chance that I could make money doing something I loved, and he agreed to hire and train me. I’ve had the privilege of working with him for a couple years and have learned the in’s and out’s of real estate photography. While I enjoy this side of photography, my desire is to be a sports photographer. I’ve recently set up my own business and have been working on networking, marketing, and creating a photography service called “Venture”, where I take pictures of people doing the sports/activities they love to do. Whatever it may be – skiing, biking, paragliding, auto-racing, hiking, climbing, ect. I will tag along and take professional photos for the athlete . A couple of clients that I have had the privilege of taking pictures of so far include the CHSAA cross-country ski races, the first Mexican woman to complete in the Olympics for cross country skiing, racers in a regatta, ice climbers looking to show off their new gear, paragliders giving disabled people the ability to fly, multiple road-bike races, and much more. I am still learning what shots in each sport are the most desired by the athletes, I hope to perfect the art of sports photography and have more opportunities that would make this a full-time job to support my family.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If they came in the summer/early fall: I would take them to Mountain Lyon café to get some delicious breakfast and Cuppa Jo to get some great coffee. I’d take them to the Blue Bird Market or Enza’s Italian Deli for lunch. For dinner we would eat at Kucu, Rootstalk, the Dillon Dam Brewery and Downstairs at Eric’s. One of the days I would take them Jeeping up one of the trails, an easy yet beautiful trail – probably St.’s John to Middle Fork. We would go mountain biking one day and road biking around the lake another day. I would take them to Radium hot springs – to experience a short hike to a natural hot spring. We would go to lake Dillon to go boating, sailing, paddle boarding or kayaking. We’d hike up Buffalo Mountain and enjoy a concert at the Dillon Amphitheatre. We would take a trip down to Buena Vista/Salida to go white water rafting and watch people in the white water kayak park.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many amazing people that have supported me on this journey of becoming a photographer. First, my wife, without her initial desire and her savings to buy a nice camera for our adventures, I wouldn’t have even known that I wanted to pursue photography. My buddy, Zach Ostrander, who encouraged me to start working with Summit Multimedia doing Real Estate photography. Jonathan Huffman, who gave me a chance and hired and trained me to do Real Estate photography. Another good friend of mine, Kevin O’Neill, who is a phenomenal photographer himself, suggested it was time to upgrade my gear. I was skeptical at first knowing the gear doesn’t necessarily make a photographer’s work great, but I looked into it and started saving. A little local coffee shop with a huge vision, Cuppa Joe aka Breck Coffee Roasters, approached me to be their main social media content provider. They gave me a chance to do exactly what I really wanted to do, and made me rethink who I could be and the path I was on and have supported me ever since.

Website: https://davidcuddphotos.com/venture

Instagram: @light_expressions

Image Credits
All photos were taken by me, David Cudd.