About Jeff Gatesman

Iam an award winning cinematographer and still photographer who has been working in film production for almost 20 years and have experience that spans all media from fine art photography and independent films to commercial television and very large budget studio features.

I am a graduate of Columbia College’s film program with focused studies in cinematography, and have studied Photography at the world famous FAMU in Prague, CZ.

Early on my career, Chicago Independent Magazine wrote of the Lifetime-aired feature film Solstice: “Jeff Gatesman graces Solstice with excellent cinematography not typically seen in independent films.”

Aside from my formal education in cinematography, I like to think I learned the craft and worked my way up to being a Director of Photography by woking as a gaffer on Hollywood Studio Feature Films and national commercial spots alongside world renowned DP’s Dante Spinotti, Haskell Wexler, Dean Semmler, Janusz Kaminsky and Mauro Fiore.

My technical experience covers the complete spectrum of film making, from my early days shooting 16 and 35mm film, to high definition video and now digital in all of it’s various configurations. I shot 3D feature films and commercials, lugged huge, heavy beam splitter rigs through the  Yucatan rainforest to shoot Mayan Ruins in 3D, shot the Amazon River in anamorphic High Def video, strapped cameras to roller coasters and race cars, and shot a herd of stampeding buffalo from a moving pickup truck. I have experience with all the latest digital cameras, and have been invited by Sony and Canon to be trained on their newest cameras, the C300 and F65, as well as the 3Ality Technica stereographic systems.

Kudos
Nominated for a Black and White Spider Award, the leading International Award for Black and White Photography, for my image of a 1957 Pontiac 2012.
Awarded Nominee in the Photography Masters Cup of the International Color Awards for the image Derby Doll 2010
Gold Aurora Award for Amazonas a documentary shot on location in the Brazilian Amazon
Honorable Mention from the Advertising Photographers of America for A Quiet Bright Reedsong, portrait of a Whirling Dervish.
Platinum Telly for Next Opinion, shot on location in Santo Domingo, D.R. for Microsoft.

I was also the DP for the documentary film See What I’m Saying, that did this:

I have shot all over the world, in Belfast, London, Cambridge, Johannesburg, Taipei, Hong Kong, Prague, Dominican Republic and Brazil, and am a member of The International Cinematographers Guild, and The Advertising Photographers of America.