I opened April’s Outside Magazine (Anderson Cooper’s on the cover) and saw The North Face’s latest outdoor adventure ad, and was impressed to see a credit for the photographer, Tim Kemple.
Since Tim is one of our Salt Lake City photographers, I asked if he knew how that came to be, as it’s you don’t often see photo credits outside of magazine assignments.
From Tim:
The Photo and Video director at TNF is a photographer (Brooks Grad from back in the day) and has always gone to bat for photographers and videographers. I think he is the main reason why photo credit is given. Also in the Action Sport market it is more common because it adds more credibility (no pun intended) to the validity of an image.
Kemple has shot several campaigns for The North Face (TNF), including these:
I asked him to elaborate on what he describes as a “40 hour travel marathon from the US to Patagonia” to shoot the ads:
The Summit Series Ads were from a North Face expedition to Patagonia, Argentina early in 2009. We based out of the town of Chalten and played the weather waiting game like most of the climbers do (Patagonia has notoriously rainy, windy weather)…
Patagonia sits on the edge of a big ice cap, so the weather blows off the southern Pacific across the ice cap and then hits the mountains…We waited about two weeks in Chalten for the weather to clear. You often hear stories of people going down for 2 months and never making it into the mountains…
Once we got a window, we did the 10 hour hike into basecamp, were we stayed for a week. I shot action images of the athletes establishing a new route and shot lifestyle images around basecamp when we weren’t on the wall…
And he’s also shot some of their running campaigns, for both print and video:
Pocket Wizard recently interviewed Tim, and he discusses more on his background (he was a pro climber before getting into photography) and technique on their website. They have some pretty cool behind the scenes shots there, as well: http://pocketwizard.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/tim-kemple-reaches-high/
Here in the Northeast US, most people are ready to slip into their pajamas, hot chocolate in hand, at the slightest mention of the blizzardy conditions that we’re currently experiencing.
However, some of our photographers actually make a living off the stuff! Case in point: Salt Lake City’s Scott Markewitz was just recognized by the Ski Channel as “One of the Most Influential People in Snowbiz.” They base their list on “figures in the snow-sports industry who influence. They are not just the powerbrokers—this isn’t Hollywood. This is sliding down a hill on frozen water… this is a tribute to those who help make it all happen.”
Recent ad campaigns that Markewitz shot for Salomon and Nordica.
So how did Scott make the list? They cite his 350 magazine covers for the likes of Ski, Skiing, Men’s Journal, Outside, plus he’s the the only photographer to make Ski Magazine‘s 100 Most Influential Skiers of All Time. That’s right, he’s a good enough skier that in this case he was being rewarded for more than just his photography.
Of course, winter comes to an end in even the snowiest of climes, so Scott shoots plenty of sports and action/adventure work during the other three seasons.
Scott was also recognized as one of the “World’s Greatest Adventure Photographers” by Men’s Journal, so his work is appreciated outside the “Snowbiz,” as well.
You can see more work on Scott’s website: www.scottmarkewitz.com. Stay warm this weekend!
Took his first photograph at age 5 (Big Ben). Didn’t become a passion of his until age 10 though.
Assisted for 7 or 8 years before taking on a solo career. Just won 1st place in IPA Awards for his
wild "Tree Divers" editorial, showing men literally diving from cliff side trees in Negril, Jamaica.
Speaks fluent Spanish and English. A true explorer at heart, Sergio has traveled the world.
He even runs his own travel company out of Boulder, specializing in adventure tours of Bolivia
(where he grew up). Worked at National Geographic in the Photo Dept. in the 90′s.
Colombian native. Picked up photography when he moved to Mexico City, where he lived for
23 years. Later studied at Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, CA. Did a stint in Los Angeles.
Recently returned to Colombia to shoot and teach. "Life is a journey," he likes to say.
A transplant from Atlanta. David became interested in photography as a teen, while on a safari
in Tanzania. The camera that went to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro is still part of his ever-growing
collection. Known for his punctuality. Also has a thing for watching professional tennis.
