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RECAP: The 30 Most Influential People of Laguna Beach
[cincopa AEKAxzKYNr_A] Last November, Dondee Quincena and I were booked by Laguna Beach Magazine to photograph a selection of the most influential people of Laguna Beach for their special feature. I photographed 12 of them, while Dondee photographed 6. It took us a little over a week to be able to get everyone; we were doing 2-3, sometimes even 4 shoots a day. I must say it was a fun experience running up and down Laguna Beach and meeting some of the most interesting people I’ve ever come across. Everyone we photographed...
read moreQ&A: Lenses
Sean, Saw your response to the question about what lenses you use on your shoots. I have a 24-105 f4, 85 f1.8 and a 70-300 f4-f5.6. But I don’t own a macro. Sure I can rent (or purchase) but is there anyway I can emulate a macro with my existing grip? You can’t duplicate a true macro lens with a normal lens. With a prime lens, you are stuck with one minimum focusing distance and you will not be able to emulate a macro shot with an 85 because it is a telephoto. with wide to telephoto zooms,...
read moreQ&A: Retouching
i’d love your photo. And i realy love the color retouch in series pic name “Beautifully Cultured”… Can you share it for me? thank a lot I actually have the first part of a tutorial mini-series up on the FStoppers PPT Youtube Channel that shows how to do this. Ask me...
read moreQ&A: Mirrors
Hi Sean, In your Vamped Mag BTS video there’s a mirror tower in the background. It shows up again Orlando BTS vid. Could you elaborate on how it’s made and used? Good question. That mirror was actually already in the studio when I moved in. I have no idea whose it was, but it’s actually pretty neat. It was definitely bought from somewhere, that I know. It’s a 3-sided full length deal that kind of resembles a skinny pyramid and it’s on wheels. I initially started...
read moreRECAP: Laguna Style Fashion Show
Fashion week here in Southern California isn’t quite the same as let’s say, New York, Paris or Milan. I’m not as exposed to it as other fashion photographers would be living in those cities. So in the 8 years I’ve been shooting, I have never shot a runway event, simply because it isn’t a huge part of my career. Late last year I was asked to shoot a fashion show at the Montage Resort for Firebrand Media, who owns Newport Beach Magazine and Laguna Beach Magazine among other titles. I was excited to do...
read moreRECAP: K’YA Bistro for Laguna Beach Magazine
I know I’ve mentioned in previous posts how I enjoy shooting editorial food photography, but let me now say I REALLY enjoy shooting it. Needless to say I was excited when Laguna Beach Magazine called me to shoot a feature on K’YA Bistro in Laguna Beach. My goal when shooting food is to make it look as appetizing as possible. I want you to get hungry just looking at the photos, and I also want you to want to dine at the restaurant I shot these in. I like to be able to create an atmosphere out of the dishes to give you an idea...
read moreQ&A: Lenses
hi! i like your work and i saw your video a lot. i want to ask about your lenses you are using.. how many lens you usually use in most of your photo shooting.. thank.. fer I own three lenses. a 50 1.4, an 85 1.8, and a 180 3.5 macro. Ask me anything
read moreQ&A: File Formats and Colorspaces
hi Sean, im new to photography, i want to ask about what mode you use (ex. RGB,CMYK) when you edit your images in PS. and do you convert it to JPG for printing or any other file extension?? thank you very much.. fer I edit my images in AdobeRGB as a 16bit TIFF in Photoshop, converting it to an 8bit sRGB JPEG for delivery to the client. Ask me...
read moreQ&A: File Formats and Colorspaces
Hey!!! I really enjoy watching your works they are fabulous!!! And u help me a lot in my work by your tutorials. Thank u so much!!!! my question is which format of pictures u giving to the editorials, and is it CMYK or RGB? thanx!!!! Thank you so much and I’m glad they have been helpful. To answer your question, I submit final work as sRGB JPEGs. Ask me...
read moreRISE. FALL. CRASH.
stylist // LYNDZI TRANG makeup // ASHLEY ANN HARRIS hair // AMY SAEKOW models // LILI + DANICA // noties assistants // DONDEE QUINCENA + WAYNE HAYES + MARCO...
read moreQ&A: Lighting Modifiers
Hi Sean:How would you compare a 7′ parabolic umbrella, a 7′ octa and a Mola Setti. If you had to choose only one which would you like best?Thanks!JP The basic comparison in those instances would be the size of the modifier, as a mola setti is much smaller than a 7′ anything. Each modifier from their respective brand is quite unique despite falling under the same category because they are all made from different materials and all have different shapes. when people try to compare...
read moreBACKSTAGE: Cote De Pablo
Here is a behind the scenes look at my shoot with NCIS star Cote De Pablo for Beverly Hills Lifestyle Magazine. Many thanks to TetherTools and of course to Litmus Project for their hard work in producing this video. For more info on this shoot visit my RECAP blog post.
read moreRECAP: Cote De Pablo
The only thing about shooting editorial that I don’t like is having to wait for the issue release before being able to share the images, especially when I’m as excited about a shoot as this editorial feature we shot for Beverly Hills Lifestyle Magazine featuring Cote De Pablo. Cote De Pablo is a Chilean actress who plays Israeli agent Ziva David on the hit CBS show NCIS. When I was approached by art director Jamie Breuer about doing the shoot, I couldn’t wait to get to work on it. Cote is a stunning beauty, and...
read moreRECAP: Sandy Segerstrom
While I enjoy being able to photograph Hollywood and music celebrities, many times I also photograph a different kind of celebrity. While they may not be in the media spotlight or up on the big screen or blasting through the radio, they are equally important people who are behind some of the more well-known companies, charities, and organizations that we interact with every day. I also find them to be just as interesting as their more famous counterparts. I must admit, when Newport Beach Magazine contacted me to photograph Sandy...
read moreLYTRO: Possible Image-making Gamechanger
When I first heard of a light-field camera a few months ago I wasn’t really sure what the hype was all about. In fact, I thought it was some sort of gimmicky software plugin. The demo showed a photo taken of a scene, which you were then able to magically change the point of focus. Repeatedly. Anywhere on the photo it seemed. And it looked right. While I was impressed, I did remain skeptical. After all, I didn’t take this photo. It could have been a photo created just for this particular demo so that it would work...
read moreQ&A: Lighting
Hi Sean, on your Dodge & Burn Technique post.. About lighting on the older photo of jade. I can see a beauty dish or maybe octabox above the model but i was wondering about the smaller round light source and how it was diffused and it’s purpose? the key was a beauty dish, the smaller catchlight was from an 11″ silver reflector layered with 3 stops of ND gel and tracing paper for diffusion at camera position. the purpose of this light is an overall frontal fill to bring crispness to the...
read moreRECAP: Eva’s Caribbean Kitchen
While my previous blog post about shooting for the Eat & Drink issue of Laguna Beach Magazine was more focused on capturing Chef Craig Strong, I did another shoot featuring Eva’s Caribbean Kitchen which focused more on the food; which I must add was absolutely amazing. Eva’s Caribbean Kitchen is a very quaint and colorful little spot in Laguna Beach. It is owned and operated by Eva Madray, who is a very warm and hospitable host. She also prepares the dishes herself, and we were treated to a very delicious meal...
read moreRECAP: Chef Craig Strong for Laguna Beach Magazine
Besides photography, one of my biggest passions is cooking and eating. I’m a total foodie and I love being in the kitchen whipping stuff up or stuffing my face. There is definitely an art to cooking, and like photography, I find it to be a constant state of discovery. Discovering new tastes and creating dishes from different ingredients is a metaphor I often use to describe the dynamic of a shoot. Much like the success of a meal is dependent on the quality of the ingredients, so does the success of a shoot rely on the...
read moreRECAP: Erica Hosseini
Being able to spend the day shooting at the beach for work is one of the reasons I love living in Southern California. I have always lived close to the ocean, and it has been a constant source of inspiration for me. Newport Beach Magazine contacted me to shoot pro surfer Erica Hosseini for the cover and inside feature of their summer issue. They sent over some inspiration shots of how they wanted the images to look, and they actually used a few of my own photographs, which is always quite flattering. From their suggestions, they...
read moreRECAP: YWD California Fall/Winter 2011
I have the utmost respect for great wedding photographers, though have no intention of shooting weddings. They just aren’t my thing and I’m not wired for it. However, I love being able to shoot something completely different from what I normally shoot, especially when I am able to inject my own approach to it. What I love about shooting bridal is that the gowns themselves, can be quite haute couture when from a good designer. Earlier this...
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