Today we’d like to introduce you to Martha Howe.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I had never stepped foot in Utah before packing up my car and moving here for a new job working for Ski Utah in the fall of 2021. Before I embarked on this journey, I had been the Digital Content Coordinator at Killington Resort for 5 years. This was my first job after college and I learned so much during those 5 years thanks to the amazing marketing team that we had. I was responsible for creating photo and video content for social media, email, website, print media, and everything in between. I skied over 80 days every season and the job and the lifestyle were so much fun.
My favorite event to shoot at Killington was the Women’s Ski World Cup. There is so much energy and excitement at that event and the entire community is there to celebrate, it was a really special weekend to experience every year. My path toward Killington started at Green Mountain College where I earned my degree in Environmental Studies with a minor in Documentary Studies and Communications. On top of taking photographs and video classes in college, I was also a two-sport athlete. I played soccer most of my life and after my first season on the college soccer team, my coach asked me to play lacrosse as well.
They didn’t have enough women to make a full team so my coach encouraged me to try it. By my senior year, I had made the Division III all-conference team as a midfielder! I am grateful for the opportunity to learn a new sport at the collegiate level and to be part of two sports teams throughout my college career. I have always had a strong interest in photography but my video interest peaked in college. During my senior year in college, my video professor loved one of my final projects and he encouraged me to enter the video I made to a contest. The video was a short documentary-style edit about two men, one who loved fishing in VT and one who loved to hunt in VT. I ended up winning first place in my age category!
That experience encouraged me to continue to explore my relationship with video work as well as continue my interest in photography. During my time between college graduation and my job at Killington, my boyfriend at the time and I embarked on a cross-country bicycle trip. My parents each had bicycled across the country before and they inspired me to do it too! We started at the coast of NH and pedaled a northern route to the coast of Washington State. We were on the road for 2 months camping and staying with friends, and family and making new friends as well.
We biked a total of (about) 3,600 miles each day biking an average of 70+ miles. That experience helped to shape who I am today, both mentally and physically, and I hope to have the opportunity to do it again someday. Now, after almost 2 years of living in Salt Lake City, I can easily say making this big move was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I have seen and experienced a whole new side of skiing. I am surrounded by so many talented photographers and videographers in this new position with Ski Utah and I love being inspired every day by their work and also inspired by everything Utah has to offer.
I fell back in love with the sport of skiing and I also fell back in love with my career. I thrive off of constantly trying to be better at the things I am passionate about and this is exactly where I need to be to do that. When I am not skiing, taking photos, or making videos you can find me running, hiking, biking, swimming, backpacking, playing guitar/singing, and spending time with my friends.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
For the most part, I would say that everything I have done leading up to this point has been smooth. My mom always tells me that opportunities seem to just fall into my lap. I believe that to an extent but I am also always doing my best to put myself out there to create those opportunities.
In a way, I also thrive off of struggle. I enjoy the type 2 fun that everyone describes as suffering but the endorphins that follow those intense struggles are something I am constantly chasing and that mindset translates seamlessly from sport to career and other life struggles. I grew up in a very small town and I also went to a very small college. The fewer people you interact with the fewer people you will learn from so that could be considered a setback that I have had to navigate. After moving to Salt Lake City it’s amazing to realize the opportunities that come to the surface with more people in my community.
Easier said than done of course. My biggest struggle moving to Utah was leaving my friends and family who live in New England behind. I spent my whole life being close to my family and the past 5 years at Killington building a second family and community in Vermont. It has been hard not having them around. It is a slow process building a community in a new place but I am learning a lot from that process as well and I am so grateful for the people that have gotten close to since moving here.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My main focus is in ski/snowboard photography and videography but I also enjoy shooting lifestyle in all seasons as well. I’m known for being willing to go out for long days with heavy camera packs and having the dedication to do whatever it takes to learn more. I also always try my best to have a positive attitude and make every day out shooting as fun as possible for me and the athletes that I am working with.
I am most proud of how much my work has improved after just two seasons of being in Utah. I can see a significant difference in the way I’m shooting and what I am shooting (the snow and stunning landscapes in Utah help too!) and I am looking forward to continuing to improve. I try not to see photography and videography as a competition but rather see the photo and video world as a community rather than competition.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
One of my favorite childhood memories was when my whole family took 3 weeks in the summer to drive across the country. I was 10 years old at the time and we drove from New Hampshire to Idaho. We stayed with some family friends but mostly camped a lot.
We made a lot of good memories on that trip, played a lot of charades around the campfire, and laughed a lot. My favorite stops on that trip were the Bad Lands, Glacier National Park, and Yellowstone. My parents always made an extra effort to get us outside together as a family and that trip was the best adventure we all had together.
Contact Info:
- Website: shotwellhowe.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shotwellhowe/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martha-howe-539965190/
Image Credits
Headshot photo by Re Wikstrom
