Trial by fire turns into dream job for Mariners photographer
May 3, 2015, 10:23 PM | Updated: May 11, 2015, 3:37 pm
Ben VanHouten wasn't a baseball fan before landing a job as the Mariners' official photographer. (AP)
(AP)
Go to any Mariners game and you can’t miss him.
He’s the guy on the field, or in the stands, with several cameras draped around his neck taking pictures of people posing with the Moose, or the singers belting out the national anthem.
If it’s going on in Safeco Field, it’s Ben VanHouten’s job to shoot it.
It’s a job VanHouten’s had since 1992.
“They were looking for someone to do pregame stuff,” VanHouten said. “The majority of what the Mariners used was from road games because the Kingdom wasn’t good for marketing purposes.”
The funny thing is, VanHouten wasn’t even a baseball fan. A friend told him the Mariners were hiring, so he applied.
“I had been to one baseball game in my life before I was thrown out into opening day,” he said.
It was trial by fire, to say the least. But since then, he’s figured it out. Taking millions of pictures will do that for you. Suffice it to say, he couldn’t tell you how many.
“People would think I have photos all over my house,” he said.
He has just a few, he added.
VanHouten’s been there for all the highlights: the ’95 slide, the record setting 116th win, and King Felix’s perfect game.
After all these years, you’d think he would get bored.
“Honestly, I love what I do,” he said. “I love coming to work and taking pictures.
“It’s something different every day.”
Like that dramatic come-from-behind victory
against the Rangers on a sun-drenched Sunday several weeks ago, a sunny day is the kind he likes to shoot best.
How does someone get that dream job?
“Keep shooting,” VanHouten said. “If you really want to get to the next level, get your camera and take a lot of pictures.”
