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About Charles Mann Photography, Royalty-Free CD, equine, stock, advertising, commercial photography, editorial, horse, Maryland Photographer, Charlie Mann
Are you ...?
I am neither the former Washington Redskins football player who shares the same name, nor the Charles Mann from New Mexico who photographs flowers. However, I do specialize in High-Quality Equine, Commercial and Stock Photography.
When did you first start photographing horses?
My first horse photo was taken in the mid-1970s with a Kodak Brownie camera at my sister’s farm in Pennsylvania.
How did that turn into your occupation?
I
continued taking pictures for my friends who rode Motocross and for my high school yearbook. Did some work for the local newspapers in Frederick, MD. My first images published in a
magazine were of polo horses in Horseplay magazine in 1986.
Where did you learn photography?
I am mostly self-taught with help from various professionals over the years. I worked as studio manager for “stock photography impresario” Jon Feingersh of Rockville, Maryland.
What’s been the most exciting part of being an equine photographer?
I’ve gotten to travel to some
great places. I have covered the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta as well as the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, and the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. I went to the
1999 Pan-American Games in Winnipeg, Canada, the 2003 Pan-American Games in
Santo Domingo and have attended the Washington International Horse Show in Washington DC and the Festival of Champions in New Jersey for many years. I will be attending
the
2004 Athens
Olympics in August.
What’s the coolest place one of your photos has appeared?
It’s always exciting to see my
photos published, but I have to say the coolest was in June 2002 when my photo of eventer Nina Fout was chosen by the Washington DC 2012 Olympic Commission to help promote the region to the U.S.
Olympic Committee site selection panel during their visit. The photo, which I took during the 2002 Rolex 3 Day Event, appeared on a dozen street signs around downtown Washington DC and around the
University of Maryland campus in College Park, Maryland, and as a three-story-high building banner that was hung on the SunTrust Bank Building downtown. In addition, the image was part of a full-page
advertisement that appeared in The Washington Post and Washington Times newspapers.
Have you won any awards for your work?
In1999 I won the
American Quarter
Horse Association’s
Steel Dust award for my photo on the cover of Western Horse magazine. Also the 1999
American Horse Shows Association
Media Award, the 2001
Chronicle of the Horse
Photo of the Year
and numerous awards from
American Horse Publications.
What kind of photography equipment do you use?
I have been using Nikon for years. I switched to digital in April 2000 and have not looked back. I currently use several Nikon D2H and D1X digital bodies with a variety of lenses from a fish-eye to 400mm.
In what magazines and Web sites can we see your work published?
Dressage Today, Equisearch.com, Equus, HorseCity.com, The Chronicle of the Horse, Practical Horseman, The Horse, Sports Illustrated, Chronofhorse.com, Towerheads.com to name a few.
What’s one thing that most people don’t know about you?
I
have been called a "master set builder." When I worked for Jon Feingersh, I built sets for his stock photography production shoots. Jon and I were written up in several photography trade publications.
Jon still calls from time to time for me to build him an office or living room in the studio.
What’s the craziest thing you ever did to get a photo?
I
laid on the landing side of a jump and had Olympic show jumper
Laura Kraut land a couple of feet away from my head.
Do you have an office assistant?
Actually
I have two now. One is a Golden Retriever named Buddy who doubles as a willing model for my photography. He has appeared around the world in various editorial and advertising campaigns. He has also
been on Hallmark greeting cards and on the cover of the book New Complete Dog Care Manual.
Then there is Stacey Nedrow-Wigmore. After years of doing everything myself, I took the plunge and hired Stacey full time in February 2003. Stacey has many years in the equine world. She was associate editor of Dressage Today magazine for more than six years, and she has competed in show jumpers, equitation, hunters, intercollegiate and dressage for about 25 years. In 2003, she fulfilled a life-long dream of competing at the Washington International Horse Show in Washington, D.C. riding a youngster she trained herself. When she’s not cracking the whip at me in the office, she fulfills stock image requests for clients, manages the image collection and has even gotten lucky and taken a good photo or two at competitions.
.
And, for the Monty Python fans …
What is your name?
Sir Lancelot of Camelot.
What is your quest?
To seek the Holy Grail.
What is your favorite color?
Red. No!!!!! Blue. AAAAhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Right. Off you go.