After spending nearly 15 years behind the camera, Scott Olson still can’t get over the fact that he makes his living doing the things he loves to do most—lighting and shooting. “It’s always something new,” he says. “You’re either capturing something cool and interesting that most people have never seen, or you’re experiencing things you never would have experienced otherwise.” Among the more memorable things Scott has seen and experienced as a director of photography:

Don King on a Dog Sled
In 1998, boxing promoter Don King came to Minneapolis to drum up publicity for an upcoming pay-per-view fight, and he knew exactly what he wanted to do. It being winter, he was determined to take a ride on a dog sled. And who better to shoot Don King on a dog sled than Scott Olson? Scott balanced himself on the front of a sled to capture the sight of Don King, bundled in a parka, being mushed
across the frozen tundra of suburban Minneapolis.

Martin Scorsese Critiquing a Lighting Set-Up
As director of photography on United States Satellite Broadcasting’s Hollywood Insiders series, Scott had to figure out how to light the Park Avenue screening room of interview subjects, Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. His solution: an intricate truss capable of holding nearly two dozen lighting fixtures. When Scorsese entered the room, he initially seemed worried that the set-up might scratch the floor or gouge a wall. But after closely examining Scott’s work, he smiled and gave it his approval.

150-Foot Drop Onto Hard Marble
During the shooting of the public television documentary, A Crowning Achievement, Scott found himself crawling through every nook and cranny of the historic Cathedral of St. Paul. At one point, while stopping to rest inside the peak of the building’s massive dome, an electrician pulled up a chandelier so that Scott could shoot straight down to the floor below. Like any self-respecting DP, Scott got the shot, held on to his camera, and kept down his lunch.

Over the years, Scott has worked as a Navy missile guidance radar technician, a supercomputer customer engineer, a SCUBA instructor, and an underwater photographer. He’s also a husband and the father of three kids—Trevor, Megan, and Christopher (hence the name of his company, TMC Productions). But he says of all his professional experiences, few have produced kind of satisfaction he gets from seeing a well-lit, well composed shot in the camera. “It’s amazing how you can come up with all sorts of things that are surprises,” he says. “And thankfully, they’re usually they’re good surprises.”