Sports Denver

Jean Fruth

Photographer Jean Fruth does more than take pictures.  She tells stories — of vibrant personalities, local cultures, and distinctive communities.  From a small darkroom to the most iconic stadiums flooded with lights, Jean’s trajectory as one of photography’s preeminent visual storytellers has taken her on a round-the-horn tour of the world’s most indelible landmarks – from the world of baseball to the world at large.  Sports have always been Jean’s most compelling subject, and from her earliest days in sports photography, she covered everything from wrestling to sailing to basketball — and on any given Friday, she could be found taking full advantage of those Friday night lights, shooting northern California’s storied football rivalries.

Soon Jean was called up to the big leagues herself, as she spent nearly a decade shooting the crown jewels of Bay Area sports — the Giants, the A’s, the 49ers.  Her portfolio quicky expanded when she was invited to Cooperstown and the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum, where she helped build the museum’s archive and bring to life the story of baseball.  America’s most eminent historical institutions – including the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and the Smithsonian — have featured her work.

What drives Jean now is to serve communities through her storytelling – as the co-founder of Grassroots Baseball, a non-profit that promotes participation in baseball at the youngest levels, and as a traveling photographer for La Vida Baseball and La Vida Sports, digital media companies that shares the stories of Latino sports around the globe.  As one of Sony’s select Artisans of Imagery, and through her popular workshops, she shares her techniques, her insights, and her love of images — both the power of pictures and the stories they tell.

Jean’s first book, Grassroots Baseball: Where Legends Begin, was released in 2019. Her latest, Grassroots Baseball: Route 66, was published in spring 2022, with proceeds benefitting the non-profit program.

John McDonough

Based in southern California, John W. McDonough is one of the main contributors to Sports Illustrated. Before working at Sports Illustrated, John freelanced for SPORT Magazine and worked at the Los Angeles Times and Arizona Republic as a staff photographer.

Mark Reis

Mark is the former deputy director of photography of the Colorado Springs Gazette — and certainly one of the finest newspaper photographers working in the nation. Mark has now entered the world of freelance photography where he will undoubtedly be highly successful.

Matt Hernandez

JC Carey

Joseph “JC” Carey is a lifetime image maker that like many photographers was terrified of lighting until he was gifted with a class in 2007. The class wasn’t very informative with too many of the “recipes” that people love to share rather than teach how to light, but it lit a fire that has never stopped burning. That gift changed everything. It transformed him from someone that barely took pictures of people and knew nothing about lighting into someone still trying to figure out how to light everything. 

The last 14 years have passed with him being blessed with a daughter, a career doing what he loves, multiple magazine covers, and with meeting amazing people and trying to create great images of them. The art of photography and taking pictures is his passion but the ability to make his vision a reality in a photograph is what truly drives him. 

JC has taught all over the US including being part of the Faculty at Summit Workshops. 

JC joined the FJ Westcott Company in 2020 as their Eastern Accounts Manager and also works as a professional photographer.  

Follow his Instagram at JCPhotoMedia

Chris Steppig

Chris is the owner and director of Summit Workshops. Summit was his first job out of college and nearly 20 years later, this is home.  He is in charge of all workshop operations, scheduling, logistics, faculty, social media, marketing and sponsorship. Chris has a passion for conservation, travel, and education and the workshops are a dream platform to help others reach new heights as not only photographers but as people.

Chris is an affiliate of the International League of Conservation Photographers. The iLCP is a U.S. based non-profit whose mission is to further environmental and cultural conservation through ethical photography. This affiliation provides a tremendous opportunity to help deliver great content and also be an advisor on matters large and small.  He is also a professional advisor for Outdoor Photographer magazine.  Through collaboration and great communications with the editor of the magazine, there have been countless articles written by Summit Alumni in the magazine over the years.

Catharyn Hayne

Catharyn got her start in commercial photography in New York City, but relocated to the Bay Area 20 years ago and immersed herself in sports photography. While she has covered all the major sports, Catharyn quickly discovered her passion for all things aquatic. She regularly covers events for USA Water Polo, UC Berkeley athletics and others, and has shot the World Aquatics championships and Len European Aquatics championships.

When not on a deck or on the sidelines capturing the action, she covers the same athletes at Hall of Fame dinners and awards ceremonies for USA Water Polo, the Oakland A’s, and UC Berkeley Athletics Hall of Fame. Catharyn also works as a contract photographer with Drawbridge Digital working for assorted clients, including the San Francisco 49’ers. Her client list includes World Aquatics, LEN European Aquatics, Kap7, Special Olympics, Turbo, Rock Tape, Delfina and Malmsten. Her work has appeared in SI Online, the Los Angeles Times, and Swimming World Magazine, among others.

Steve Fine

Steve Fine was the Director of Photography at Sports Illustrated from 1996 until 2013. Prior to that he was deputy photo editor serving under the legendary Heinz Kluetmeier. More recently he spent six years as picture and sports editor at Flipboard, a mobile news aggregator. Steve worked at The New York Times from 1983-92, first as sports picture editor and then as deputy photo editor under Kathy Ryan at the Sunday Magazine. Currently he is a digital news curator at Facebook. 

Sam Craft

Sam’s journey into the world of visual storytelling began in high school when he discovered his passion for shooting sports. This passion evolved into a successful career in photojournalism, with over 15 years of experience working for newspapers covering day-to-day life in small town community journalism.

Transitioning into higher education, Sam now serves as the Assistant Director of Visuals and Multimedia for Texas A&M AgriLife in College Station. Leading a team of three multimedia shooters, they create unique assets for four state agencies and the Texas A&M University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

In his freelance photography business, Sam covers a wide range of assignments, including commercial projects, breaking news, and sporting events for clients such as the Associated Press, ConocoPhillips, NWSL, ESPN, ExxonMobil, AFP, the Dallas Morning News and the Houston Chronicle, among others.