Throughout his schooling, Bayer took advantage of every opportunity to work overseas as a crew member with his father, renowned cinematographer, Wolfgang Bayer. They made wildlife films for such companies as Discovery Networks, Nature, "Nova", National Geographic, ABC and PBS. Bayer started keeping written journals and sketches, and then took up still photography and videography. He began shooting behind-the-scenes video of his trips and presented his adventures to his classmates back in Wyoming. In junior high school, Bayer created multimedia "show-and-tell" presentations that entertained and educated his peers. Bayer's work was published in Ranger Rick on three occasions.