Andy Hiseman’s revised 2025 golf photography online portfolio at www.hisemanphoto.com is an explosion of colour, atmosphere and the joy of golf.
Over 100 never-before-seen new images in five categories make their debut this year, most of them taken in 2024 at a variety of UK golf venues.
“Spend 30 seconds scrolling through my portfolio, and you will spot how different it is” said Hiseman, who is into his 16th season as a golf photographer.
“There’s a lot of golf course photos on there, but I’m equally comfortable photographing people, coaching, facilities, spa & leisure or dining. I think that’s really important if you’re trying to show people every aspect of your golf facility.”
With other commitments in the sport taking priority, Hiseman books no more than a dozen photoshoots each year.
“30 years since I started in the golf industry, some people are still even talking to me and I thoroughly enjoy being part of this amazing sport” he said. “I am better known for my roles in various commercial projects, so whenever a golf club or resort puts their faith in my photography skills, I am always tremendously honoured.
“Getting out onto the golf course with the Nikon is a refreshing contrast to the desk job. Waiting for a burst of sunlight at 5am, on a beautiful golf hole, is transcendent work. It can be very special, and also very frustrating! Luckily I’m a patient guy: as a Leeds United fan, I have to be.”
At well over 1,000 images now, Hiseman’s complete online gallery is one of the UK’s largest specialist golf portfolios, and most images are now available for wallcoverings, marketing campaigns, digital activity and promotional purposes.
“Often it just takes one photo to drive new customers to your golf club” said Hiseman. “I usually deliver well over hundred finished high-resolution images after a photoshoot but getting that one blockbuster photo which goes on the clubhouse wall is what it’s all about.”
Nikon Professional photographer Hiseman has worked locations as diverse as Japan, Azerbaijan and across Western Europe on photography commissions, but nothing beats the challenge of bringing UK golf facilities to life.
“One of my favourite recent shots is of a young guy splashing out of a bunker at Stratford Oaks Golf Club last summer” he said. “It’s visible at the start of my portfolio. He and his mates were enjoying a little late afternoon golf, and to me it’s the perfect amateur golf action photo.”
A beam of light illuminating a Par Three on the Nicklaus Course at St Mellion International Resort is another favourite (main picture). “For about three seconds this shaft of sunlight appeared, on a gloomy morning, and I was on the ball enough to capture it. Sometimes you get lucky – but then again, I seem to get luckier the more I do this. Maybe I’m finally learning something.”
There is quirkiness as well as formality in the portfolio, too. “If you approach people with the right attitude and a smile, it’s amazing how their individuality shines through. There was a woman on the Dreamland driving range in Baku who appears quite high up in the new portfolio .. all long flowing auburn hair and a great big smile. She was definitely a bit more extroverted than most.
“But just as compelling are the greenkeepers, their breath in the air on a frosty morning, and the charismatic bar staff, and of course the golfers themselves who often just pose it up without a care in the world.
“Of course, many others run a mile at the sight of a camera. That’s all part of it, and I am very well-trained as regards GDPR, after I wrote to the Information Commissioner’s Office for guidance before it started in May 2018.”
But you’ll not see Hiseman controlling a drone. Why is that?
“There’s a thousand people who can fly a drone over your golf course – they don’t need to know anything about golf, and it’s a race to the bottom on price.
“I am 100% hand-held. Try photographing a golf lesson close-up with a drone, or highlights from your new menu, or your clubhouse interiors looking perfect.
“Most of all, the angle at which I take most of my golf course photos – from up on a ladder, around 10ft in the air – is the absolute prime angle from which to capture a golf hole. High enough to see into the bunkers, but low enough for you to imagine yourself standing there, playing the hole. That’s how I’ve taken the vast majority of my golf course photos. It gets wobbly at times up there, on a windy day, but it’s worth it. I’ve only fallen off half a dozen times in 15 years … “
Andy Hiseman uses Nikon camera bodies and lenses, and Adobe Lightroom for post-processing. Each photo is subject to an ‘image valet’ service to remove blemishes, marker posts, GUR signs and other visual clutter on the golf course.
“The post-production work takes twice as long as the photoshoot itself” he said. “If you spot a bunker rake in any of my photos, I’d be disappointed. Ditto the ubiquitous white, yellow and red stakes. Some holes are just a forest of those, and they all have to come out on the computer afterwards.”
As VP Global Sales & Marketing at Zen Golf, and as owner of PR & media buying agency Flagstick, with long-term clients such as SkyCaddie, Berkhamsted and Tewkesbury Park, opportunities to get out and take photos are limited. “With family time and the day job I’m juggling like everybody else, but when I look back on my career in this sport, one day, I’m sure that it’s the images which I have taken which will probably give me the greatest pleasure” said Hiseman.
“I have a weird ability to be able to recall the details of more or less every one of the 1,000-plus images in the portfolio – there’s a back story to pretty much every one.
“But most of all, I am constantly flattered when people say that they like the photographs which I take. I am looking forward to good weather in 2025, and a load more early mornings out on the golf course!”
See www.hisemanphoto.com for more, or contact Andy Hiseman on +44 (0)7795 360112 / andy@hiseman.com to enquire further.
