Tim Mantoani Photography » Tim Mantoani photographer

Junior Seau – RIP

Tim Mantoani — Thu, 03 May 2012 00:11:37 +0000

I was very saddened to hear the news about Junior today. He was one of the first professional athletes I photographed when I moved to San Diego in the early 90′s and my athlete portraits have hung in his Mission Valley restaurant since it opened. Junior had a wonderful smile and was always a pleasure to have in the studio, he will be missed.

EA SPORTS NCAA13 Cover

Tim Mantoani — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 03:03:16 +0000

Here is a peek at the new cover I shot of RGIII for EA NCAA FOOTBALL 13.

Madden 12 – In Stores Now

Tim Mantoani — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:49:10 +0000

It has been a fun week seeing the media blitz for Madden 12 with all of the images we shot several months ago. I am ready for some football!

Zdeno Chara Limited Edition Print Auction To Benefit Kevin Young

Tim Mantoani — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 01:22:40 +0000

Last year, I set up a private signing with Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins to autograph 33, 30×30 prints as promotions for my business. I have listed one of these prints on Ebay as a benefit to raise money for one of my freelance assistants who was seriously injured on the 4th of July. You can read about Kevin and his accident here, http://kevinyoungdonation.com

Here is the link to the auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150651787220#ht_809wt_205

Any help in getting the word out is appreciated.

Tim

Zdeno Chara signing photographs

The Making of NCAA 12 on ESPNU

Tim Mantoani — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 19:34:00 +0000

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Keep an eye out for a 4 part series running on ESPNU that shows the making of the NCAA 12 video game. The trailers appear have some footage of our photos shot for EA as well and some imagery from the cover shoots.

MADDEN 12 COVER SHOOT, LIVE IN TIMES SQUARE

Tim Mantoani — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 00:03:40 +0000

EA Sports trusted us again to create the cover image for Madden 12. This is the third year running we have shot the cover art. There was a big twist to the shoot this year than in the past. In prior years, the subject matter of the cover was top secret and not revealed until months after the shoot, just prior to the game hitting stores. However, this year EA held a voting contest on ESPN allowing, for the first time, the fans to choose the cover athlete. After 12.7 million votes, it came down to Michael Vick and Peyton Hillis as the final two. Since the winner would not be announced until the night prior to the shoot, we had to prep for both athletes, having their complete uniforms in hand. In the end, the Cleveland fans prevailed giving Hillis honors.

To further the fan involvement, unlike our prior shoots that were closed sets, EA chose to shoot the cover in a public venue the day prior to the NFL Draft in New York. Working closely with the NFL, Diversified Production Service and HG Producers, we had a small football field built on Military Island in Times Square where the shoot took place. Beginning at 11:30 PM, the night prior to the shoot, construction began for our 9:00 a.m. shoot, the following day.

Here is a time-lapse of the production, it’s not everyday your photo shoot is projected live on the Jumbo Tron in Times Square!

EA Sports Madden 12 Cover Shoot from Tim Mantoani on Vimeo.

Mark Ingram – NCAA

Tim Mantoani — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:36:32 +0000

EA announced the winner today of the NCAA cover contest. Congrats to Mark Ingram. Here is a look at the cover and a video of our shoot in Texas.

Kobe Takes Flight

Tim Mantoani — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 03:13:48 +0000

We had an great shoot a few weeks back for Turkish Airlines photographing Kobe Bryant. I first photographed Kobe back when he was a rookie in 1997 for Directv. We both have a little less hair now! In addition to the shoot, we handled oversight of the retouching. Here is a peek at the ad in Time Magazine and an ad at LAX that was sent to me by fellow photographer Michael Collopy.

Below is another ad that is popping up in a few of the travel magazines. All images were shot with our new medium format digital back and I have to say these giant files look amazing.

Take a peek at the Behind the Scenes video for the TV spot. You get a quick glimpse of my bald head at :26.

Easton Hockey 2011

Tim Mantoani — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 06:56:52 +0000

Here are a few spreads from the new Easton Hockey catalog. I was hired to shoot the portraits, backgrounds and even do the post work. Another group of great guys to photograph.

1947 Guzzino

Tim Mantoani — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 07:12:51 +0000

My studio is next door to a motorcycle shop and this 1947 Moto Guzzi, Guzzino appeared one day. It belongs to Jessie, one of the mechanics, so I was able to get it in the studio for a few hours to shoot. They just don’t make them like this anymore.

Herman Leonard – March 6, 1923 – August 14, 2010

Tim Mantoani — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:43:05 +0000

Herman Leonard with his photograph of Dexter Gordon at the Royal Roost 1948

The work of Herman Leonard has had a great impact on the world of photography. Herman had a unique perspective and a thirst for technical perfection. Although his work was recorded in still photographs, his images often gave you a sense of sound. He will be missed dearly. Please pay him a tribute by viewing his work http://www.hermanleonard.com/

On the bottom of his Polaroid portrait he wrote, “It was early 1948 at the Royal Roost in New York. An afternoon rehearsal gave me a unique opportunity to photograph many giants of jazz with my trusty 4×5 Speed Graphic. What a great career! To do what you love and be entertained at the same time!”

Herman Leonard and Tim Mantoani

GOLF Magazine – Inventor, Steve Milo

Tim Mantoani — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 18:06:24 +0000

Inventor Steve Milo

Here is a double page spread from GOLF this month. Steve is an amazing man that invented many golf items long before we heard of them. I love his 5 1/2 Iron, I want to get one for my bag!

Steve came up with a smaller set of clubs including 1/2 irons

Madden 11 – Custom Xbox 360

Tim Mantoani — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:30:23 +0000

Today is the release of Madden 11 featuring my photography of Drew Brees. Last night I received an email with these photos of a Limited Edition Xbox 360 that was made for the release. Guessing Drew is getting one of these!

Here is the release tv spot that ran during last weekends Hall of Fame Game.

EA Sports – MMA

Tim Mantoani — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 22:23:59 +0000

I am happy to announce my latest project with for EA Sports. I had the unique opportunity to shoot Randy Couture in Las Vegas and then travel to Stary Oskol, Russia to photograph Fedor Emelianenko. Both fighters were amazing to work with and provided us with some great content. Along with fellow Brooks Institute graduate, Jeff Wiant, we shot video for the game release trailer which was announced this week at E3. Jeff edited the piece complete with a custom soundtrack by Chris Hoffee. I have to say the Canon 7D and Mark IV HD video was a blast to shoot. I will be able to release more details from the shoot soon and include some behind the scenes footage and stills. Thanks for reading.

EA Sports “Worlds Collide” from Jeff Wiant on Vimeo.

Upper Deck Rookie Cards

Tim Mantoani — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 05:53:11 +0000

I’ve been hunting around for which of my images ended up on Upper Deck football cards this year. Here are a few that I have found so far. It is always fun to see where these images end up. Thanks to the Upper Deck design crew and my editors for doing a great job this year.