Clients get real athletes shooting real athletes. A talented photographer in his own right, Leighton is a major asset as second camera, allowing Mark to utilize a multiple camera set-up. This is vital for maximizing the imagery when the difficulty and frequent danger of the shot makes repeated attempts impossible. Mark and Leighton are always up to a challenge, whether it's shooting on skis on a 50-degree slope in Alaska or getting NBA star Kobe Bryant to do one more jump shot. Because Mark has so much experience with extreme sports and the people who play them, his photographs portray the excitement and risk involved with uncanny realism.
Clients get the shot they envisioned and often go home with something even better.
As a testament to this, when Kobe was asked to do a literacy public service announcement for LA-area kids, he personally chose one of Mark's portraits for the poster. Mark is adding filmmaking to his repertoire and has enjoyed directing several commercials. A native of Colorado, Mark completed his formal studies in photography and began pursuing his interest in sports and travel photography by assisting and shooting second camera for the top sports photographers in Aspen, Colorado. In 1980, Mark pursued his deep love of travel and adventure photography by undertaking a solo expedition to South America, where he spent five weeks exploring and documenting the Colca Canyon. Located in the high altitude desert of Southern Peru, the sheer remoteness of the Colca has left it virtually unexplored by outsiders, and Mark was the first gringo many of the local Quechua Indians had ever seen.