TN Visa for photographer's assistant

I am an aspiring adventure sports photographer. I am fairly competent as a climber, skier, kayaker and because of these skills and the fact I a proactive and organized I have a couple of photographer friends based in the US who would like me to come down for a few months to work as their assistant. I do not have a degree in photography being largely self taught though I did complete a six month program at a local photography school.

Can any one comment on whether I might quality for the TN visa. Or is it such a long shot that I shouldn't even bother trying? I would really appreciate any tips or advice one of you could provide. Many thanks, tony

There is no NAFTA category for photographers. The usual method is to get a job with a publication (outside the US) and then get an I visa.

thanks Steve - It still doesn't tell me what my chances are of getting a Visa to work with a US based photographer. But perhaps there is not an easy answer to that question.

Well if you've got an I visa you can work with them provided it's validly related to what you put in your application for an I visa. I'm not actually sure how I visas work for Canadians, whether you need to physically get a visa as it's a non-immigrant category, however you need to meet the State Dept. guidelines, which essentially boil down to the fact you're working for foreign media and have an assignment in the US.