About Me

Sophie Goik

Based in Colorado

Graduate at Colorado State University with a B.A in Fine Arts, with an Integrated Visual Arts & Art History concentration.

Minor in Business with a focus in Marketing.

I have had a strong passion for the arts ever since i was little. When I finally got my first phone in middle school, I started taking photos of everything I saw. These photos would later become inspiration for future art pieces.

Senior Thesis Project

I started photography around middle school. As soon as I got my first phone, I became obsessed with taking photos of my dog, Bella. This led to me starting an Instagram profile, which is now known as @sophiegoik. At the time, this account, then titled Bellathedoodle, started to grow a strong foundation as I would take Bella to the park every day to take photos for her instagram. Once I started to gain a big following, I would ‘borrow’ my mom’s old Canon EOS XS camera and return it by the end of the day. This is when my love for photography really started to blossom. I spent hours laying on the floor, flipping through all of the camera settings and learning more about aperture, ISO, shutter speed, and so on.

Often love scuba diving with my family!

Of course, eventually my parents caught on; And then on my 13th birthday, I was given a Canon Rebel XS T6i, which as of today, is still my baby. I continued to ask for camera parts, and camera lenses, holidays after birthdays, and so forth.

A Couple years later, my account was expanding fast, causing the attention of several big companies, where I did sponsorships for free pet supplies, in exchange for me posting photos of Bella with their products. I have also been reached out a few times by CanonUsa, which I believe to be one of my biggest achievements.

I started to build up my confidence, and expanded my portfolio from “Dog Photos” to people, landscapes, nature, and basically everything I could get a photo of.

Street Photography 2024

Once I reached over 10,000 followers on my account, I realized that I could start using that as credibility, leading me to get offers for Real Estate magazines, Travel magazines, Pet magazines, and Portrait magazines. All of which I gladly accepted.

For now, I am reaching for a job higher up in Photography. My absolute dream job is working for National Geographic. I have been following and looking up to so many of their photographers for as long as I can remember. However, since National Geographic is very hard to get into, and reach their attention, I spent my college career taking photos for Colorado State University. Senior graduation, public events, and even becoming the media specialist for CSUChemClub, which is affiliated with the American Chemical Society.

Standing Analog Camera Poudre River

I still take photos for families, pets, nature, and for my own personal portfolio, but I find that most photography jobs are looking for years of experience. Which I do have, but not credited because I haven’t been actively working for any companies.

I have recently graduated from Colorado State University with my Bachelors in Fine Arts where I mainly focused on Photography and Marketing. I still love taking my new Canon R5 on every adventure I go on! I’ve been blessed to have so many amazing opportunities traveling around the world, and exploring new cultures and environments through photography.