John Biever, 49, works for Sports Illustrated Magazine.
He has a COOL JOB as a Sports Photographer.

“I think it’s the ideal job. It doesn’t even seem like a job at all!” That’s how Sports Illustrated photographer, John Biever, describes his job photographing major sporting events and stars.

A Day in the Life of:
"You have to have the eye to find the exact picture in the moment,” said Biever. Covering sports events requires a lot of physical energy. Following Tiger Woods at the Western Open or Bret Favre at a Packers Game means running from hole to hole or up and down the field with 20 to 30 pound cameras. Biever doesn’t position himself near the other photographers, he always finds a unique spot to get his stellar shots. At this years Western Open, Biever started his days in the press tent around 9 a.m. talking to the Sports Illustrated writer who was writing the golf story. After getting an idea of the story content, he set out to get the picture.
Six or seven hours later — with a short water break or two — he has shot 40 rolls of film, walked or ran about 20 holes of golf and is racing the clock to ship the film overnight to make the magazine’s deadline. The most rewarding part of it all is that two days later Biever’s photos are either on the cover or inside of the magazine.

High Five: “Getting to go to sporting events. I’m a big sports fan.”

Down Low: “Getting out of car rental buses with all my equipment.” When he travels to sports events, 200 lbs. of equipment tag along with him.

Expenses: Biever uses three to four cameras at each event. The biggest weighs 30 lbs. and costs about $10,000.

Education: Bachelor in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin, Madison

How He Got This Gig:
Biever’s father was the team photographer for the Green Bay Packers for 52 years. “I sort of caught the bug from him. I think it’s the ideal job. It doesn’t seem like a job at all.” His first big break came when Sports Illustrated was
understaffed at a college football game (Michigan vs. Wisconsin). Biever came to the rescue and freelanced his
photos from the game. Shortly after, he was hired by SI to cover another college football game and has stayed with
them since.

Honor Role: Throughout his 12 years at Sports Illustrated, Biever’s photos have been on dozens of covers.
So far this year he has photographed:
• The Super Bowl
• Masters Golf Tournament
• NBA Finals
• U.S. Open Golf
• College Final Four Basketball Tournament
He also be traveled to Sydney for the 2000 Summer Olympic Games.

Career Path: Biever got his start as a photographer with a summer internship at the Milwaukee Journal during college. They eventually hired him full-time and he stayed on board for 13 years. During that time he freelanced some gigs for Sports Illustrated and persistently asked them for more work. It paid off and they hired him in 1988.

Words from the Wise: “Persistence is important.”

For More Information:
Sports Illustrated