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Mike Lewis

View Current photo via Courtesy of Mike Lewis

Mike Lewis is a freelance commercial, sport and lifestyle photographer based in San Diego.  Mike began making photos in the early 80’s and immersed himself in all aspects of the photographic arts.  Mike’s professional career in in photography began after 12 years working within the United States Olympic movement; he held a several executive level positions with USA Canoe/Kayak, USA Water Polo, and the USOC

Mike picked up his first digital camera prior to the 2000 Olympic Games and began documenting much of the behind the scenes action of the athletes with whom he was working.  Over time his ‘side projects’ gained more and more appeal, appearing in print and digital editorial pieces.

Mike has done considerable work in the aquatic sports world where he has developed a reputation for capturing unique and engaging imagery.  He is a well know swimming photographer and is the chief photographer for SwimSwam.com, the world’s largest news and information site for swimming.

A partial list of Mike’s clients include: USA Swimming, Adidas, MP Swim, A3 Performance Swimwear, Arena USA, ESPN, FINIS Swimwear, Q Swimwear, Jolyn Swimwear, BlueSeventy, TYR Sport, Dolfin Swimwear, United States Masters Swimming, HardCoreSport, EQ Swimwear, Modern Luxury Magazine, NutriShops, Popular Photography Magazine, Riviera Magazine, The Orange County Register, Engine Swim USA, Gold Medal Media, LLC, Human Kinetics Publishing, Stanford University, Yale University, University of California, Duke University, Hardcore Swim, Whitesmith Entertainment, ZUMA Press International, SDA Creative, Headstrong, LLC.

Mike is a California native and graduate of the University of California, San Diego where he was a member of the men’s swim team.  Mike remains an avid swimmer and enjoys bodysurfing and surfing.  Mike lives in La Jolla with his wife Cynthia and dogs Sydney & Miles.

Made this shot with Roy Burch in Charlotte at Queen's University. We were working on the FINIS catalog and Roy new there'd be perfect light in one corner of the pool (he does a bunch of cool stuff with his GoPro during the SwimMac training sessions - see his instagram @roy_burch ) (photo: Mike Lewis, Ola Vista Photography) Michael Phelps flanked by his coaches at his 2014 comeback in Mesa, Arizona. (photo: Mike Lewis, Ola Vista Photography) I did a shoot with FINIS at the Orinda Country Club last winter. The day started out a little chilly but once we were ready to get in the water is was a beautiful NorCal day. I thought it'd be a cool shot to get Anthony Ervin off the blocks with the trees and clouds behind him. (photo: Mike Lewis, Ola Vista Photography) Cynthia Lewis loves to swim. The USMS national record holder shot in Kaua'i Hawaii (photo: Mike Lewis, Ola Vista Photography) Here's another from the HardCoreSwim shoot (photo: Mike Lewis, Ola Vista Photography) This shot was made with my camera mounted at the bottom of the pool during the USA Swimming summer nationals. The camera is placed in a protective housing made by Aquatech and fired remotely using a cable that runs up to the deck. I did some trial and error shots during the break when we did the set up to find the best location for the camera rig. (photo: Mike Lewis, Ola Vista Photography) Josh Stiling powers in for a goal (photo: Mike Lewis, Ola Vista Photography)