sport photography + motion Feb 2016

Brandon Flint is an accomplished sports and lifestyle photographer based in Salt Lake City, Utah. He loves to capture beautifully simple images of people engaged in high-energy active moments.

Working alongside a team of other like-minded, creative, and talented people Brandon tackles projects ranging from editorial portraits to full production advertising campaigns for clients big and small. He has been a go-to and trusted photographer for many people over the last 10 years.

Brandon has worked with clients including Browning, Outside Magazine, Hi-Chew, Backpacker, Via Magazine, Sierra Designs, Adweek, Workers Compensation Fund, SkullCandy, AARP and SelectHealth.

Check out his website for more details. Brandon is currently supported by Wonderful Machine.

Dan Root is trained to get his clients the shot, no matter what. His speciality is in capturing transitional moments, portrait moments, product moments, and conceptual moments in and around the world of sports and sports culture.

Having won many awards, most recently from the Communication Arts Photography Competition 2015, Dan is busy ensuring his clients come back for more. These include Adidas, Nike, Merrell, Brooks Running, Manchester United, Dick's Sporting Goods, and several magazines.

Dave Lehl hails from the outdoor sports mecca that is Denver, Colorado, where he has honed his eye to capture all types of action, adventure, and action inspired lifestyle.

Having grown up in the streets on skateboards, in the dirt on motorcycles, and on the mountains as a snowboarder, he knows the ins and outs (as well as the risks) of the action sports way of life.

Due to his unique ability to capture the precise moment of photographic perfection in the harshest of of environments, Dave has travelled the world to work for such brands as Oakley, Red Bull, Nike, Mountain Dew, Burton Snowboards, and ESPN.

Most recently he made it as a top 50 finalist in the Red Bull Illume, the most prestigious action sports photography contest in the world.

They say hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard, but David Clifford lives and dies by the belief that passion will get you further than both. Always armed with a wide smile, a healthy dose of humility, and a full arsenal of camera gear and lenses, “Cliffy” charges the machine-gun nest in pursuit of the best light, the peak action, and those serendipitous “in-between” moments that grab you and shake you to the core.

He is perhaps the only photographer who has won awards in the categories of being a filmmaker, a photographer and a photo editor: a 2012 APA short-film contest with “Best Overall”; a 2013 APA/NY 1st place for Action + Adventure; a 2014 APA for 2nd place Landscape; a Maggie Award for Photo Editing; and a Red Bull Illume Finalist in 2007.

David Clifford is a Zeiss Lens Ambassador, a former photo editor of Rock and Ice and Trail Runner magazines. Some of his clients include: The North Face, Marmot, Mountain Hardwear, Sketchers, and Hoka One One. His work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, National Geographic, Outside, Runner’s World, Ski, Rock and Ice and Trail Runner.

He is centrally located in the heart of the Rockies, in Carbondale, Colorado, with his wife and three kids.

Detlef Schneider is a freelance photographer based in Munich and London. He regularly works for sport and fashion brands such as Adidas, Mustang and Nike across both stills and moving images.

Detlef's latest projects include films for KJUS captured in Munich and Norway.

Recent new clients featured in this Spotlight include Coca-Cola, Sony, Atomic Ski, Kjus and Bogner.

His career has taken him from professional basketball to the film industry, where he specialised in lighting and directing. He now works in photography and directs short films.

Detlef is represented by The Pure Agency London and by Kathrin Hohberg for German requests.

Laura Barisonzi strives to create unique, iconic imagery which incorporates strong use of colour and graphic elements. Her lifestyle and sports work is based on the beauty of real active people and natural movement rather than stiff poses.

"What keeps me inspired to shoot is connecting with people and experiencing new places."

Laura studied at Brown University and RISD and now lives in New York. When she manages to pry herself away from her camera she is probably biking, running, swimming, or travelling around trying to improve her foreign language skills.

Her clients have included Reebok, Adidas, NFL, Dove, Heineken, MSG Entertainment, Outside Magazine, Runner's World, Nationwide Insurance, Boston Magazine, Health Magazine, Bicycling, Sierra, Nature Conservancy, Women's Health, Fitness, Popular Photography, Newsweek and Forbes.

Manfred Heiduk is based in Dusseldorf and travels constantly between Miami, Los Angeles, New York, Cape Town and London. He spent many years as an illustrator and creative director in digital media, and with more than 20 years of experience in photography he is specialised in shooting in extreme conditions.

Whether shooting snowboard and outdoor in Alaska, running in South Africa or fashion in Japan, Manfred captures the moment and brings the scene to life. His easy-going attitude and personable approach puts both client and talent at ease.

Manfred and his team are able to provide full photo and video production services from start to finish, to meet all project requirements. His clients include Adidas, Puma, Nike, Sportarena, FIFA, Sidestep, Runners Point, C&A, Kaufhof, Boecker, Deichmann, Metro Group, Joy and Shape Magazine.

Born and raised in Southern California, Michael Scott Slosar took his first photography course in 7th grade and didn't stop there. After attending Northern Arizona University and Brooks Institute of Photography, he moved to Brooklyn, NY in 2002 to pursue his career in photography.

Michael loves to travel and be on the go, and gets restless if he stays in one place for too long. This is why he currently splits his time between NY and CA.

Michael wishes the world was still film and Polaroid and believes film is the new vinyl. He loves anything vintage, "classic", and/or antique and never misses a good BBQ!

His clients include Toyota, Lacoste, British GQ, Playboy, Sony Records, Ed Hardy, Zoo York, Puma, Asics, Honda, Acura, Time Out Magazine, Italian Vogue-Black, Procter & Gamble, Bridgestone, Hollister and Abercrombie.

A diverse creative background as well as collaborations with some of the most respected minds in photography and art are the foundation for Morten Smidt’s work in arts, publishing, and advertising photography.

Born in Denmark, a graduate of Blackpool in England, and a seasoned photographer in NYC,  his characteristic style is inspired by the ideal of simplicity behind the Scandinavian design tradition and fostered by his exceptional sense for spatial arrangement and light.

Morten's photography captures the particular character of a person or place and reveals its story in clean and coherent images. He is also on the faculty at NYU, teaching studio lighting.

Clients include Asics, Footlocker, Seiko, Arizona Beverages, Red Carter, Nova Nordic and Olympus.

Ray Demski has always been a bit different. He grew up in the Canadian Rocky Mountains and was raised by crazy hippie parents. Ray was homeschooled… Really, he just spent a lot of time outside!

At the age of 14, he moved with his two brothers and parents onto a 45-foot sailboat in Trinidad, and set sail on the 'Mangwana'. As they sailed around the world, Ray trained in martial arts and took plenty of photos. 40 countries and seven years later, he dried out a bit in Europe, and started shooting professionally.

As a life-long athlete and explorer, Ray’s primary focus is on action and adventure. He splits his time between high profile commercial work and expeditions to intense places with amazing people. Always trying to keep things a bit different, Ray is currently based in Munich, Germany.

He has been represented by UPFRONT photo & film since 2012.

Clients include BMW, Red Bull, Adidas, Nikon, Audi, Multipower, Rosbacher, Atomic Ski, National Geographic Adventure, Bogner, Callaway, Salewa and SportScheck.

Robert Randall is an award-winning advertising photographer and director specialising in fitness, sports, active lifestyle and beauty. His photography elicits the feeling and mood derived from the natural beauty and athleticism of the California lifestyle, no matter where in the world he may may be shooting.

Robert opened his first photography studio in Seattle in 1992 and started his career as a fashion and beauty photographer shooting for local magazines and designers. Expanding his portfolio into the areas of fitness, sports and active lifestyle, he began to venture out of the studio and proceeded to get rained out 32 times in one year. He ditched the Pacific Northwest (and the studio) and headed back home to warmer climates in Southern California, and has never looked back.

As a “location specialist” for over 20 years, his assignments now take him around the world shooting ads for companies like Speedo, Anheuser Busch, Kodak, Nordstrom, Clairol and Lancome and editorial for magazines such as Oxygen, Fit and Natural Health.

Robert splits his time between Los Angeles and Denver.

Having already built an excellent reputation in Japan, Satoshi Minakawa moved to London in 2005 to study for an MA in Photography at the Royal College of Fashion. He now splits his time between Tokyo and London and travels the world for clients, bringing his unique mix of strong lighting techniques, boundless energy and conceptual thinking to each project.

The visual complexity of his work creates powerful multi-layered advertising images for clients including SKY, Nike, Vogue Japan, Guinness, BT, Credit Suisse, Asics, Hilton Hotels, L’Oréal, Panasonic, Timberland, Audi, Skoda, Land Rover, Mercedes and Nissan.

Tom Bear is an editorial and commercial photographer with a passion for the outdoors and an eye for classic composition.

He captures the raw moments of his subjects to create genuine, energetic imagery.

With clients ranging from Merck to ESPN, Tom’s shoots reflect professionalism, humour, and a love of pictures.

Tristan Shu is based in the heart of the French Alps near Geneva, and his photography covers sports, action, aerial, landscape, interiors, advertising, portrait and lifestyle.

His contrast-rich, colourful and action packed shots have gained Tristan worldwide recognition in magazines including National Geographic, Courier International, Paris Match and GQ. His clients include The North Face, Quiksilver, Vacheron-Constantin, ESPN and X Games.

Very at ease with extreme sports and disciplines he has never previously shot, Tristan has developed a signature style and is an international ambassador for a flash manufacturer.