Biography
Paul Abell is an award-winning professional photographer and graphic designer that holds a BFA in graphic design from the University of Georgia. While attending the University of Georgia, Paul was one of five selected design interns to participate as a Summer intern at CNN and CNN international.
Originally from Roanoke, Virginia, Paul grew up in Macon, GA where he honed his creative skills drawing and playing guitar in local and Atlanta area bands. Paul regularly works throughout the Atlanta Metro and Middle Georgia areas, the Southeast and USA.
Paul has covered hundreds of photographic assignments throughout Louisiana, Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, New York, and Washington state, and regularly spends his Saturdays and Sundays covering NCAA and NFL football.
Known for his sports photography, (Scott Kelby Guest Blogger – Sports Photographer Paul Abell) he is the former team photographer for the Atlanta Braves and Tampa Bay Buccaneers and he is a commercial NFL contributing photographer. In addition to his action photography with the Braves & Buccaneers, Paul has covered hundreds of sports assignments, special events, corporate outings, portrait sessions, group photos, head shots and catalog and lifestyle photo sessions that make him one of Georgia's premier photographers.
After getting his start with the Arena Football Macon Knights, where he shot the league’s Photo of the Year in back-to-back seasons, Paul went on to capture national assignments for Getty Images, US Presswire and WireImage. His work was quickly chosen for publication in Sports Illustrated, ESPN The Magazine, The Sporting News, USA Today, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and TV Guide. His images have also been featured in team yearbooks, media guides, on trading cards, posters, calendars, video games, and billboards.
Paul was recruited to the National Football League as he was named Team Photographer for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was later offered the opportunity to return home in a position with Major League Baseball’s Atlanta Braves as their Manager of Photography and Graphic Design.
Since early 2002, he has operated his sports photography though Abell Images.
Abell Images specializes in providing Commercial and Editorial Photography in the follow areas: Architecture & Real Estate Photography, Corporate Photography, Headshot Photography, Industrial Photography, Lifestyle Photography, Portrait Photography, Family Photography and Sports Photography.
If you need a photographer for you Golf Tournament, Convention, Trade Show, Conference, Red Carpet Event, Banquet, Award Ceremony, Abell Images event photography and on-site printing services are available in the Middle Georgia, the Atlanta metro areas, Southeast or anywhere in the USA. Paul has covered assignments across the USA and is willing to travel for your special photographic needs.
As a contract photographer, Paul regularly covers assignments around the Eastern United States for the Associated Press, AP Images, Getty Images, Picture Group and US Presswire.
His photographs are regularly published in many of the world’s top editorial publications and commercial applications across the US and abroad. Paul continues to cover a number of high profile assignments that have included the Super Bowl, World Series, BCS National Championship, NBA Playoffs, Reality TV Shows, Video Shoots and more.
More recently, Paul has focused a great deal of his photographic efforts shooting as a unit still photographer and award show photographer for such organizations as MTV, BET and Atlantic Records, to name a few. He has worked on such television shows as Teen Wolf, The Game, Reed Between the Lines, Let’s Stay Together, Sunday’s Best, Born to Dance, Almost Married, Tiny & Toya Reality Show, Pay it off and the Monique Show. Additional credits for music video stills include Like Em All (Jacob Lattimore), Rock Wit’Cha (Bobby V) and As She’s Walking Away (Zac Brown Band).
Like all outstanding sports photographers, Paul has the unique ability to capture the drama of competition in a single frame. But his background as an award-winning graphic designer distinguishes his work with eye-stopping composition, as seen in his winning entry in the 2005 NFL Hall of Fame Photo Competition.
His sports images are represented: AP Images / Invision and Getty Images, respectively.
He is an active member of the International Alliance of Theatrical State Employees (IATSE) Local 600 International Cinematographers Guild, Sony Pro Services (SPS) and Professional Photographers of America (PPA); he is a former member of Canon Pro Services (CPS), Nikon Professional Services (NPS) and the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) and Sports Shooter.