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, will be 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.

Maxx Wolfson

Maxx has been one of the top editors at Getty Images for 13 years. As Managing Editor for Sport in North & South America he is onsite at the biggest sporting events all over the world. Maxx will be leading the Getty Images team at his 11th Super Bowl and then leading the editing team at his sixth Olympic games in February. He also works directly with staff and freelance photographers assigning events and hiring photographers to cover events in his region. Through his work with many sports leagues, Maxx possesses a deep institutional knowledge of the industry.

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.

Jen Pottheiser

Jennifer Pottheiser is a commercial photographer based in the New York area. Often photographing with athletes and entertainers, Ms. Pottheiser’s list of corporate, commercial and non-profit clients is a venerable Dream Team. She produces and shoots large scale projects for the National Basketball Association, United States Tennis Association and Memorial Sloan Kettering’s non-profit Cycle for Survival among others. Her images have appeared in countless books, publications and advertisements and her assignments have taken her throughout the world. Pottheiser’s campaign with Goodby, Silverstein & Partners for the National Basketball Association was recognized as one of the best print campaigns of the decade and her work has been acknowledged industry wide including recognition with a Communication Arts Advertising Annual and a Silver International Andy award.

Darren Carroll

Darren is an accomplished sports action and portrait photographer, having done editorial work for the likes of Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Golf Digest and the NBA for over 20 years and commercial campaigns for Dick’s Sporting Goods, ClubCorp, and Golf Galaxy, among others. He serves as a photography consultant to the PGA of America, and is also part of the photography team for both the U.S. Open Golf and U.S. Open Tennis championships.

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

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. 

Ali Gradischer

Ali Gradischer is a one-woman freelance photography studio based in Portland, OR mainly specializing in sports and travel photography. As a self-taught photographer, her work is brought to life through a Swiss-army-like-skillset from her formal arts education background, and her previous life as an interior designer and high-level competitive athlete. Some of her client work includes Oregon State University Athletics, Stanford University, Portland Community Football Club, AirBnB Experiences, Portland Monthly, and more. She is the recipient of numerous small business and arts grants, and is a former student in the Summit Workshop series.

Outside of her freelance photo work, Gradischer has taught photography workshops for universities, small businesses, and continuing education workshops throughout the Pacific Northwest. Additionally, she’s traveled nationally and internationally to artist residencies, including Iceland and Germany, to pursue personal creative projects based on the different seasons of her life. When not behind the camera, some of the things she love’s most include the Olympics, meeting someone’s home for the first time, her dad’s homemade lobster bisque, and music that was born before she was.

Thearon Henderson

Thearon has been shooting sports for 40 years.  As a self taught professional, he brings a critical element to the Summit Family.  Having been in the shoes of the students and finding his way is what we all aspire to.   Thearon is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.  In 1980 working in a health club owned by the orthopedic surgeon of the Golden State Warriors, he gained access to shooting NBA games and has since been shooting as a freelance/contract photographer for four decades.  He has worked for Topps Trading Cards, The Sporting News and currently Upper Deck since 1990.  Thearon worked for the AP as a stringer from 1998-2010 and is currently a stringer/contributor for Getty Images since 2010.