Ep.4 Photography Adjacent Podcast - The Cinematic Storyteller
In the realm of portrait photography, Sean Lewthwaite stands out as a compelling storyteller, seamlessly blending his graphic design background with a keen eye for authentic human expression.
After moving from London to Stockholm in 2008, where he worked with Thomson Reuters and the BBC, Sean transitioned into photography, embarking on a journey that has since defined his career.
London's streets ignited Sean's passion for photography. He captured unspoken stories, discovering a deep connection to the world through his lens. This led him to headshots and portraits—a new challenge, yet he embraced the profound reward of revealing people's stories. Stepping into a new genre required Sean to adapt, and he did, finding the intimacy and depth of his subjects through incredible portrait photography.
Over the years, Sean honed his headshot photography skills, capturing actors from aspiring students to award-winning talents. His work has opened doors—landing his subjects roles on Netflix and Viaplay. More than just taking their picture, Sean elevates his subjects, helping them stand out in a competitive industry.
Sean's approach to photography is deeply rooted in photorealism. He takes the time to understand his clients, listening to their needs. His goal is to capture their personality in a natural way. He enhances the portrait with a minimalist editing style without creating an artificial image—something that we need to hold on to more these days with the emergence of AI-assisted photos. Sean's photos aren't about perfection; they're about showcasing the real person.
Sean's journey is a testament to the transformative power of pursuing one's passion, underscored by his belief in authenticity and the importance of human connection. His work goes beyond mere photography; it creates a space where subjects feel seen and valued, capturing their true essence in every shot. He tells a person's story, capturing their essence with the tenacity of a cinematic storyteller.
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This episode steps inside the world of master photographer Sean Lewthwaite. From London streets to Stockholm scenes, his journey is incredible. Graphic design pro for Thomson Reuters and the BBC? Check. Now, he captures actors' raw, natural essence—the kind that lands roles on Netflix and Viaplay. Sean spills secrets on photorealism, getting the best from his subjects, and even the power of mentorship. It's about more than photos—he tells a person's story, capturing their essence with the tenacity of a cinematic storyteller.
Tom Trevatt (00:01)
Hi, Sean Lewthwaite, how are you? Very well, thank you very much, Sean. We've known each other for maybe just over a year through Headshots Matter and chatting on the group and so forth. But this may be the first time that anyone's come across you. So can I have a little bit of introduction, who you are, what got you into photography in the first place?
Sean (00:04)
Not too bad, yourself?
Well, my name is Sean, Sean Lewthwaite. I've been in Stockholm now since November 2008. My original background, my previous life was a graphic designer for 14 years with Thomson Reuters, BBC, etc. When I moved over in 2008, I managed to get some very little graphic work.
And One of the places that I was working at, they were looking for some headshots. And I had my trusty Nikon D3000, what's it, 10 megapixel camera with a kit lens. I know everything perfect. It was a disaster, but still, it got me intrigued enough to want to look into doing more to do with people. I like one-on-one interactions. So doing headshot photography is absolutely perfect for me.
So I did the headshots, I mean at the time it wasn't bad, I didn't have any studio lights, it was mostly natural daylight, etc. Then it came to a point, one day in the local dog park, I was out speaking to some people, and I got speaking to a couple of people, and this guy's girlfriend, she's Finnish, and she wanted assistance with her...
university paper, I believe it was. So I helped her with that. And it was like very technical in English. I mean, a bit more for me, you know, it was hard going. I had a migraine for like two weeks after it. So anyway, she said, what can I do to sort of things? So we'll listen, you know, I've started photography. I want to get more into it. Can I take some portraits? So we went out into the streets, took some stuff and I really liked it. At the time I had a 18 to 55 and a 35 millimeter DX lens. And I was like, yeah, I like this. This is really good.
So long story short, I got looking on Facebook. I typed in Headshots Students Stockholm. And the first thing that came up was Active Studio Stockholm, which is located in Old Town, so the old part of Stockholm. And it all sort of just cascaded on from there. So I enjoy what I do. I don't really see what I do as work. Of course, I don't think I would want to do it, basically. And uh.
Yeah, I mean, fast forward, you know, I've had some very interesting projects to work on as far as clients, and also with Headshot Matters, you know, jetting off to Austria for, you know, 24 hours and shooting the Snapchat team over there, which was... It's jobs like that, I think would be very hard to find yourself or impossible to get.
So having the opportunity to do that was just, it was, it does a confidence good as well. So yeah, so now here I am January starting off quite promising. I had two people call yesterday, a young girl who was in a local Swedish movie was directed by Lasse Hallström and another guy.
Tom Trevatt (03:17)
Mm-hmm.
Sean (03:34)
who called me up, I was on the phone for like an hour, which was great, but I also had to get onto a meeting with a director in town. So yeah, so January is starting to look, shaping up quite nicely. It normally doesn't pick up till like mid February for me. So I'm sort of be able to breathe a bit now, relax a bit, since we get the first jobs in for this year.
Tom Trevatt (03:48)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, of course. You also do weddings and portrait photography that is maybe for maternity or pregnancy portrait photography. Is this something that you do on a regular basis or do you really find yourself mostly in the studio taking headshots of people?
Sean (04:13)
It's mostly in the studio with headshots. I very rarely do location work, not unless it is for corporate headshots and then I have to travel. Weddings, that's obviously a season for that. I have done one or two winter weddings, which is a lot of fun, but most of them are summer. And the summers in Stockholm, they do get quite brutally hot, like 35, 40 degrees.
So running around with lots of gear, trying to get in front of people, trying to figure out where they're gonna be at a certain point, it's quite hard going. I love weddings, because I mean, I got into it by mistake. It sounds a bit strange, but I went into my mistake. I helped a friend as a second photographer, and I liked it.
I didn't really want to do it as the main photographer because that's like a lot of pressure to get the shot. You know, the first kiss, the dance, you know, the little quirky things that happen in weddings. So I got to do my first wedding on myself, which was with some friends. I said, listen, my style is very documentary style. You know, there's none of this Vaseline wrapped around this side of the lens to give you a nice blurry type feel. It's just very honest documentary. A lot of black and white, the portraits will be in color.
And I think I've probably done now, since I started, maybe 30, 40 weddings. But that's over a span of maybe, what, three, four years. So it's good. It's good for the bank balance, but it's an all-day event. It's from like seven o'clock in the morning till two or three o'clock in the morning. Then when you get home, then you've got to edit four or 5,000 pictures and...
So it's about a week's worth after that just to edit and cut down. So I enjoy it.
Tom Trevatt (06:03)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, of course.
It's certainly a young, a young photographer's game to some degree. I know that, you know, being in my early forties, um, probably the idea of carrying big heavy camera kit around for eight hours, uh, terrifies me so more, more power to you to be able to do that.
Sean (06:21)
Yeah.
It does, I mean.
It is, I mean, I sort of try and cut down my gear, what I take. I mean, I used to take a lot of stuff with me, but then I just found out, even though it's like four or five years ago, I'm now 48, I sort of cut down from using the Lumix S1 to using the Lumix S5, which is a considerable weight saving. I do take the S1, but that's normally when we're at the venue and I don't have to walk around with it. So the S5 does the bulk of the work. And with lights, it's an off-camera flash.
Tom Trevatt (06:53)
Yeah.
Sean (06:56)
and that's me good to go so.
Tom Trevatt (06:59)
Do you find, I mean, I know your work quite well. I've, you know, we follow each other on Instagram and I've looked through your website and I know your work quite well, but let's have a little chat about the style of the work. For me, it's kind of artistic, it's kind of deep. There's lots of deep shadows. There's an approach that isn't really about trying to necessarily show someone's just their face. It's more of a feeling, more of a kind of an idea or a kind of portrait.
Sean (07:24)
Yeah.
Tom Trevatt (07:25)
Um, I know for me working in the headshot game as well, there's this kind of balance that is, is you're always kind of trying to get between taking a photograph that does the kind of functional role of, of a headshot for an actor or a performer or something like this, and then trying to add something else in there that might be considered some, you know, kind of your, your take on it, like a kind of portraiture artistic take, talk me through your kind of reasoning for, for the approach that you take.
Sean (07:51)
I, there's a sort of an amalgamation of the last five, six, seven years with a lot of different styles of photographers. I don't really want to sort of follow one particular style of photographer because then I'll get classed as a mini-me of that photographer. And that's not a bad thing because there's a lot of the photographers I do follow are absolutely amazed and there's a...
Jeff Rojas in New York, there's Peter Hurley, which seems to be a very popular and sort of emulated style of portraits, but For me for actors, I want to show them in a very realistic kind of way. I do use the one light source as I'm using just now, just one light shoot through the lamp. But as far as I want to make it very cinematic in appearance,
I want to make it easier for the casting directors to look at a picture of mine or through them and mine stands there. I shoot landscape because it's more like a screenshot or screen grab of the actor as if he was or her going to be on screen. So I do like having a lot of depth to the face because the face is not flat as some lighting styles do. I mean I know your lighting style is...
I'm quite envious of that in a very good way. It's something, I mean, that's, I mean, we've had this discussion before with Headshots Matter that the only person you should be competing with is yourself. I think if you start competing with other people, it slows things down, you don't get anything done at all. So having someone whose work inspires you is, it just spurs you on. It's like, how did he do that? How did she do that? So for me,
I want the face to have like a painterly style, but have a still a lot of focus on the eyes. There is gonna be one side of the face is a bit darker than the other, but I still then I want to have a bit of a 3D effect as such without making it look ridiculous. But so yeah, it's just more or less of trying to make the casting director's job a lot easier. to saying, okay, we can see this person as a dentist, we can see this person as a taxi driver.
Tom Trevatt (09:51)
Mm-hmm.
Sean (10:13)
without having to think about it. If they don't have to think about it, the decision's already made and they call them for the audition. After that, it's up to the actors themselves to land the role. I always sort of say that these headshots are a key to get you into auditions, the rest is up to you. So if you don't get it, it could be any number of things that on the day it didn't really work for them and then they move on. So it can be very good for them that they don't get called forward because then, they know they're not gonna be right for the role. But at the same time, they get called in, they want to see more of the person, they want to see what the picture that they see through email is the same person that walks through the door. So I don't really want to do too much to the photographs at all. So honesty is the best policy when it comes to headshots, especially for actors, especially for actors.
Tom Trevatt (10:44)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Of course. Do you find that you get any pushback from actors about the style of photography that you practice?
Sean (11:12)
Any negatives of pushback on it or just general? Oh, right. Mostly it is from agents, but I think these agents are more under the style of having, seeing American style headshots, very well lit, no shadows, white background, sort of quite retouched.
Tom Trevatt (11:14)
I'm just kind of just push back, yeah.
Sean (11:41)
should we say to a certain degree. But at the same time, I'll say, listen, these headshots work, they get actors work. So when it stops getting actors work, then I will obviously rethink how I'm shooting them. But until then, I'm gonna keep on doing what I do. And a lot of people, they do come back to me. I mean, my sort of biggest...
in the back is actually having actors come back for like a second, a share session, third, fourth, fifth. There's some actors that have now come back like five or six times over the last, you know, four or five years. So that's the biggest achievement I have as, you know, they like what I do, they get work from it, so they come back and that's what that's what any sort of photographer wants to have done. So there's negative wise.
I, if there was someone would say, I think some actors want the session to be a bit quicker. I'm not sure if it's a bad thing, but you know, I mean, they get all the photographs out of the session, you know, they will get like two or three photographs in their email before they get home. So then they can start use them as fast as possible. The reason why I do give them all the photographs, my editing, I said it's.
Tom Trevatt (12:47)
Hahaha!
Sean (13:07)
30, 40 seconds each picture of the pimple, remove it, save it and send it, is the more photographs they have, the more they'll use and the more they'll get seen, the more they'll get seen by casting directors, then their friends will say, you're getting a lot of work here, why are you doing this? Why are you getting so much work? Because they're keeping what they have, their image fresh by changing profile pictures, upload onto their spotlight accounts or whatever it is.
from your professional acting insights that they have. So they're getting seen, that they can upload as many times as they want. I think they have a limit of like 11 pictures on Spotlight, I'm not sure what stage, whatever it's called. But yeah, so they get to get seen with new eyes and different look pretty much all the time. I sort of try and give them a variation during the session as well. You know, some sort of Danish crime series, you know, sort of like quite dark and moody, then I will give them sort of, some as far as I'm concerned quite well lit. They're still quite heavy, light and dark one side, but you can still sort of see the hair and the ears on the other side, so I do want to give them a bit of variation, not just what I want to give them, because that would be wrong.
Tom Trevatt (14:21)
Fair enough. What's the, what's the Stockholm scene like? Like I haven't spent a lot of time looking at other photographers in Stockholm and the surrounding areas. What's it like? I mean, I know London pretty well. What's, what's Stockholm?
Sean (14:32)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Stockholm as far as headshot photographers goes, there's, I think, there's a lot of portrait photographers in Stockholm, there's a lot of portrait photographers, I'm not sure you know what the German scenes like, they do shoot like a lot of black and white, sort of art deco art, noir sort of type stuff. Stockholm, there's, I think I know acting headshot photographers, maybe two, that comes to mind.
But a lot of them are sort of outdoorsy portraits, you know, Canon 1.2 natural light type photographers. And that's great. But for me, yeah, I do use constant light, but I still want to give it a bit of a cinematic look. I do sort of color grade, but still try and keep the natural skin tones going and the same with her eyes. Or else it's not really a hedge, it's just a portrait. I want to keep everything.
tip top square away and so what they see is what they get basically. But yeah, the scene is, I'm not sure if I just haven't tried to look for at the headshot photographers in Starcom, to be honest with you. That's a lot of really amazing portrait photographers. And I sort of see the two slightly different, I think if you take a portrait.
Okay, it is a headshot, but for the purposes of representing someone truly as they are, you know, with green eyes, green eyes, pinkish skin, whatever it is, I think headshots and portraits are, they do show the same thing, but one is showing what you can be and one is showing you what you are and the beauty of your face or whatever it is. Both have their pluses and minuses. I mean, I do like doing portraits, arty type portraits. It's a lot of fun.
Bread and butter is as active as headshots.
Tom Trevatt (16:34)
Mm-hmm. And how many per month do you think you're shooting?
Sean (16:37)
God. I think there is a bit of an up and down ebb in when people come around. I mean, normally it falls off from at the end of October to February. There's nothing at all. And it's generally springtime. People still have time to have a headshot. That's quite a busy period. Then it'll drop off for people going on summer.
then sort of winter time it'll drop off sort of early September time until you know as I said February so is it there is sort of big ebbs people are starting to come back now which is it's really good to see I'm not sure if that's just a financial change in the market or whatever people have some more expendable cash but I'm happy that people are starting to come back this early on in the year you know it's what second week of January and I've already
I've had a meeting with a director yesterday to shoot headshots for his people he represents. There's going to be other stuff that evolves from that. So a lot of the stuff when I'm not working, a lot of it is networking with producers, directors and casting agents. But a lot of them have their sort of golden child photographers who shoot their headshots and that's absolutely fine.
Tom Trevatt (17:41)
Mm-hmm.
Sean (18:00)
But there will be a case of where I will do quite a lot of editorial work for photographers or for magazines in town. That's very enjoyable. But also, it's a bit like when photography, there's a lot more after the fact. There's a lot of editing to be done, a lot more editing on the photographs than there would be for actors' headshots. So it's fun, but there's a lot of work. There's a lot of follow-up work after it. So.
Tom Trevatt (18:28)
Mm hmm. And if there was a, okay, there's a woman in your portfolio that I've seen a couple of times popping up on Instagram, a blonde woman. Is this somebody you test with regular? Is this a client that comes back?
Sean (18:44)
It is, I do like a lot of, well, not a lot of tests. I used to do a lot of tests before I started to have a bit of a client list that was for assignments. But when I do get people around, it is because I've got a new lens or I've got a new light, which seems to be a lot now, especially over Christmas. But it's when I want to test something out, but I don't wanna test it out on a paying client.
The worst thing would be do is to do that then have to reshoot them with all stuff so then you know, it's best to test it out, you're not gonna 45 minute an hour session with someone who's quite happy just to use the photographs for Instagram or Facebook profiles, so I do some of it, but it's generally just to test I don't want to really sort of test on people are paying for it. So
Tom Trevatt (19:39)
You both of us are mentors for Headshots Matter. I'm gonna give a little bit description of what Headshots Matter is, because people who are listening to this or watching this might not know. So Headshots Matter is set up by Dwayne Brown a number of years ago, initially as a kind of directory of headshot portrait photographers, so professional portrait photographers working in a kind of commercial sphere, predominantly in a kind of LinkedIn setting.
Sean (19:43)
That's correct, yes.
Tom Trevatt (20:08)
since the beginning of this, he has changed and he's brought in new, amazing photographers to be part of this, essentially a kind of directory of these photographers. So for example, Sean, there's only you and one other photographer in Stockholm. There's only me and a small handful of other photographers that are listed within London, but smaller cities or large towns get one photographer is there. And it's a kind of SEO bump or a little kind of
since that, but Headshots Matter has also been progressing and over the last year to become much more than that. It's also becoming a kind of resource for photographers as well as a kind of space where photographers can kind of meet and chat. And that's how we've been talking. But what we've been setting up recently is this mentorship program where we offer people either online or in-person mentorship, whether that's a workshop, whether that's a kind of one-to-one like portfolio review
help with your branding or help with your kind of confidence, those sorts of things. For me, this is a really exciting and interesting way to get involved in my community. I was gonna say local communities, it's not local, it's very much spread across the world, but involved in the sort of photographer's community and to kind of help people get over those little steps, those little hurdles that we all have, whether that's like, how do I price myself? How do I...
market myself, what's the best way to do a portfolio, what should, you know, those sorts of things. You've been working with a number of photographers who've fairly recent to the, to the game. I think one of them is Mike. And Mike's, Mike's work has taken, taken a huge uptick in recent, recent months. So give us a little bit of background on, on the conversations you've been having with Mike and the other sorts of things you've been doing with, with the mentoring.
Sean (21:47)
That's right, yeah. All right.
Well, with Mike, I think this was before the mentoring scheme came up. I'm glad it has come up because I do have knowledge whether people want to use it or not, it's a different matter. But I was talking to Mike, I've always liked Mike's work. He's a very strong creative workflow coming out. And we started talking on Instagram, I think it was, and he sort of likes my style of portraits, you know, very strong, very contrasty, very helpful images basically, you know, and he basically was like, so how do you do this? And I said, well, I use one light. And he was like, one light. And I sort of said, yeah, I use one light for them. And I think it's a case of I'm very comfortable using one light. I know the exact effect that I can get from it, either moving it further back or whatever it is that I want to do. I mean, I used to use off-camera flash a lot. And for that, I used to literally use an off-camera, so there was no modeling lamp on it so it was a very much a trialing error and I did like it but the sort of the big downfall for me using strobe was when you shot the picture the pupils of the eyes with dilates and if they had like beautiful green eyes that pretty much disappear so I don't know how I got on to using two LED lamps I'm not sure if I used to watch stuff that was more video
Tom Trevatt (23:28)
Mm-hmm.
Sean (23:38)
style-orientated, but it was a case this person was moving this lamp around off camera left, and you could actually see the lights and the shadows. I was like, okay, this can work for video. I'm going to use it for photography. It's not groundbreaking. I'm sure there's other people that have used it way before I have, but the effect that I get with it is something that I like a lot. I sort of start off in the Rembrandt type style light, and if I want it more...
moody then I'll just move it further around to the sides or want it bright I'll just move it further closer to the camera and he sort of tried I mean I think he used three lights I think he used two lights at the moment one is like a hair light that he uses camera right and he uses the key light camera left and his stuff now is I'm kind of wish I hadn't told him about this because that stuff is just absolutely amazing I mean his I mean he's, I think as you said, he's quite new to the game of photography. I wish I was at his stage when I started off with photography. I mean, his stuff is just, I'm just, and that's the thing with certain photographers, you know, as soon as it pops up, you know, let's scroll through your morning coffee, I'll sort of see a picture, as if that's Mike, blah, that's Tom, blah, that's Ivan Weiss or whatever it is. His stuff is very recognizable to me. And he's got an interesting style when he shoots with the one light. I'm not sure of it because he does... There's just something about he gets a lot of depth, a lot of contrast out of it. I'm like, how the hell is he doing? Is he using constant light or whatever? But his stuff is very good. It's very strong. His stuff has... I've sort of seen a big difference. And I mean, I think that as a photographer yourself, you want to see a big difference, a big change in your work.
Tom Trevatt (25:26)
Yeah.
Sean (25:38)
from me when I started shooting street photography in London in 2006, I think it was, up till now, when I started my portrait photography or headshot photography, I'm quite glad that when I look back five, six, seven years ago, I can still see, well, that's terrible. That's only a case of I'm actually improving what I'm doing, you know, day by day, session by session, that I will, I do see a big difference in my work. I mean,
I do have off days, absolutely. I think like most people do, but I think it's a case of, right, you've had an off day, stop it, get back on the wagon and start doing stuff again. But I mean, as far as headshots per month, it really just depends. I mean, I can have sort of a good month and have like five, six, seven people coming in. Then the next month could be like two people, next month could be one.
Tom Trevatt (26:20)
Yeah.
Sean (26:35)
A lot of actors are sort of, I want to book like this week in of the year, you know, like two days before a day, or even a night before, they'll say, listen, I've got an audition, I can't make the headshot session, then they'll rebook. So it's, it's frustrating, but you know, they've got the possibility of getting work. So I just, I rebook them.
Tom Trevatt (26:46)
Hmm.
Mm hmm. Just a geek out a second. Do you still using your Lumix?
Sean (27:03)
Oh god yeah, I'm using my Lumix big style. No, I do like my Lumix. I recently got, no actually not recently, it was like last year, maybe nine months ago actually I got a 35 millimeter 1.4 sigma art and I got it secondhand from a site called cyberphoto.se and I think the original price was about £950 and I got it.
for five and a half, yeah, five and a half. So I was really happy to get that. I do like the shallow depth of field at 1.4, even with a full body portrait. I do like the separation that it does give me. I do use it for half body shots. It's amazing outside. It's great in low light. But the Lumix, for me, has been a
total game changer as far as with Mike using his one light system now that he uses me changing to Lumix from Nikon. I think my last Nikon was Nikon D810, which was a very good camera, very strong, but yeah, I like to sort of see instant gratification as far as seeing the images, the way I see them in front of me and how they appear on the camera. I think for me Lumix is a really good option.
Up into the points, I've heard of Panasonic, but Lumix, I don't really know that they were that big in the camera community. I'm not sure if it's more orientated to video, the camera is a J6 and so forth. But as far as cameras go for stills, it's amazing. And being an L-mount lens, I can use Leica lenses, which I can't afford, but if I do have the option, I can use Leica lens. Fingers crossed.
Tom Trevatt (28:38)
Mm-hmm.
it comes up. Yeah, exactly. So yeah, fantastic. Um, if you were to give a tip to a photographer who's just about to start into the headshot game into the portrait game.
Sean (29:14)
Mm-hmm.
Tom Trevatt (29:15)
What's your tip?
Sean (29:19)
I think don't get lost in the sea of other photographers. I think I sort of fell into that trap of falling on many people and they all had sort of very different styles of how they work and what the work they produced. So I was sort of left chasing my tail. Like for example, like shooting Peter Hurley style and shooting like a...
fashion editorial style sort of portrait. So I think if you have a style that you like is to follow similar type photographers, like if it is fashion editorial portraits or headshots, then either go on to Google it or Pinterest or even Instagram. Once you do find it, and Instagram, I think they not really still do, but you click on one and it'll show you like
as a photographer is similar to them and follow them. But I think just don't get caught up in it. I sort of wanted to be great at the very beginning. That was just so disappointing when I wasn't great at all. I'm still not there at the moment, but I've sort of came the long way around to get to where I am just now. So I think is if you can sort of nail down what you want to do or the style of photography.
Tom Trevatt (30:30)
Hmm
Sean (30:44)
that you want, you know, even if you use Google you can sort of, is it back set images, it'll show you like images that are very similar to the one that you've uploaded. So I think if you can do that, then you can sort of find the photographer who did that then follow their work. But don't get obsessed with gear either. That was my biggest downfall. At one point I had more lenses than I could carry in a camera bag. Now I'm lucky if I use two, even at weddings, it's a 24 to 70.
and the 35mm 1.4, that's it. Whereas before I have a 70-300, 35mm, 18-55. Spend more time changing lenses than you're actually doing shooting, so don't get obsessed with the latest gear. I know since I had the Bluemix S5, there's the S5 II, the S5 Black Edition, but I think they're mostly more aimed at videography, something frankly I'm not interested in doing.
Tom Trevatt (31:44)
Yeah, of course. You know, it's really interesting about gear because, uh, you know, we all do have little conversations about gear and we, we do care about it as well. But one of the things I always say is that it's not just the gear, it's the studio, the, the environment, the feeling that you bring to the, to the shoot that actually has a big impact as well. I've, I've shot now in my, in my career, I've shot in four different studio settings.
Sean (31:52)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Tom Trevatt (32:11)
One being my flat, which I'm sitting in at the moment. And then three others being kind of dedicated studio spaces. I'm on the third kind of dedicated studio space. And each space has got a different character. Each space brings something different to the photograph, whether that's the height of the ceiling or the type of windows there are. You know, I shoot, sometimes I shoot with natural light. So having a big open window is really helpful for me. Whether that's the floor or whether that is literally just
It's a vibe. It's a feeling, you know, I work with actors and I work with, um, people in the business world and you know, both, both of them, I always, I always talk to them and talk about the way that headshots operate in a kind of, as part of a kind of branding operation, you know, think about yourself as a business, if you're an actor or, you know, like you run a small business, if you're a business world and you've got to think about these kinds of headshots as part of that kind of package. And.
Sean (32:43)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Tom Trevatt (33:12)
And so what that means is that the feeling actually is one of the most important parts of the, of the way that you should be, you know, the focus that you should have. So the sharpness of the image or the proximity to natural colors and so forth, it's partly there, but it's not necessarily the most important thing because actually the feeling is really there. And I think that that's something about your work that I admire is that you're not
Sean (33:30)
Yeah.
Tom Trevatt (33:41)
You're not backing down on that. You, your whole point is saying, this is what you get. And, um, and I care about the kind of the feeling that you might be portraying to the world. Um, that might mean that actually for 30, 50, 70, even percent of your potential client base, you're not the guy because you're not, that's not the feeling that they want to be putting into their work. You know, I think, I think it's really important with photographers, right? To.
Sean (33:54)
Yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
Tom Trevatt (34:11)
You know, hold onto that, right? You are marketing yourself as a business owner. And so you also then have, have a kind of brand and a look. So it's important, right?
Sean (34:15)
Yeah.
Yeah, it was integrity as well. I mean, I think a lot of people won't have, I did sort of fold once. I think this was quite early on in my headshot career, I guess it was. And she contacted me, I think she was, she moved back to Sweden, I can't remember where I'm from, but she liked my stuff, she contacted me, I like your stuff. Then she sort of said, well, can we shoot in this style? And I was like, okay.
and it didn't work, it just did not work at all. So from that point on, as a case of, listen, if you like what you see, this is what you get, you might get something a bit lighter, just, you know, but still that falls into my sort of criteria. So, okay, there's enough shadow on that side of the face to make it still relatable to what I do. But it was a case of, you know, like getting Rembrandt to paint.
Tom Trevatt (34:51)
No.
Sean (35:16)
pop art style, you know, it just wouldn't work at all. So I may lose out on some work, but I'd rather lose out on work than produce stuff that just doesn't represent me. I want them to find someone who represents them. And if that's someone else, then so be it. But I'm quite happy that I do have a bit of a loyal following of actors and finance people as well. So it's good.
Tom Trevatt (35:19)
Yeah, no of course.
No, of course.
Interesting. Yeah. I mean, in a way, right, it's the reason why you can't shoot in another style just like that is because there's not one part of your ingredient mix that you can swap out and suddenly it becomes a different type of photography. Because there's all of these different elements and it might be a lens, it might be a camera, it might be a particular light or a particular modifier, or like I said, it might be the studio.
Sean (35:46)
Good light.
Yeah.
Tom Trevatt (36:10)
It might be the atmosphere, it might be the approach, it might be the depth of field, it might be, you know, a certain way of directing people. It might be all these kinds of things combined and actually just to go, okay, well, I'm going to shoot an entirely different style. That actually means that you've got, okay, what is it particularly in my kind of toolbox of things that I can bring to this shoot?
Sean (36:30)
Yeah.
Tom Trevatt (36:35)
that I can change that I can swap out. Oh, I can, you know, I can bring in rather than having just one light. I can bring in two, I can bring in three rather than just have it. Rather than using constant lights, I'll use strobe rather than using studio lights, I'll use, um, uh, outdoor, natural light or, or environmental light. Um, so all of those kinds of things, uh, kind of part of that consideration process, we're thinking differently, but it's not, it's not really easy to just be like, right. That's the particular thing that you swap out and.
Sean (36:40)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, the make-over.
Tom Trevatt (37:05)
and change.
Sean (37:05)
Yeah, I mean, I think it must be like a chef, you know, trying to take out using salt or adding something, another spice to make something else. You know, you follow a Bolognese recipe, you use the ingredients. I do, if I do something that's completely different, I mean, I like shooting dark. That's evident by my Instagram account. But if I do choose to go with a light background, that will be on someone that's
Tom Trevatt (37:14)
Yeah.
Sean (37:33)
I want to test it out. You know, it's like, as they get pictures, I get pictures and I get to test out if I can do it or not, rather than testing it on someone on the day. And it was a case of, they wanted like an infinity background. So it was, I had a, it was like one of these cotton, it was like a bed sheet basically. And I had like an Ikea roll out dark out blind that I rolled on the ground.
It was two different shades of white, but post-processing, I blended it in. So I was quite happy how it worked. It was shot in black and white. I wasn't too happy how the colors worked, but in black and white, it was just very, very contrasty. There was still a lot of detail in the skin, which I wanted, but still had the skin quite a bit lighter. So that was a lot of full-body shots, some close-up, sort of like chest up, head sort of very framed, tightly framed in.
I liked it, but I think for me it was one too many added ingredients that I didn't like to do. It was fun. I liked the photographs, but I think I know I don't have to think about when I come to set up my studio and I shoot from my living room at the moment, I just kick the coffee table out of the way, pull the lampshade down, backdrop, then it's like ready to use in like 10 minutes.
Tom Trevatt (38:42)
Mm-hmm.
Sean (39:02)
So the light placement, I'm sort of restricted to where the light can go. But that's, I guess, part and parcel of how the images look. You know, the light is like this because the sofa's in the way or something's in the way, the dog's on the ground or something like that. So it is a case of, I mean, if it didn't work out, I would find a way to make it. I would rather use like a light on a boom arm, wherever it is, but.
Tom Trevatt (39:19)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Sean (39:30)
I like the results. I think the biggest light modifier I've used was a seven foot Westcott umbrella white inside, no diffuser. But the light from that was just very magical. It was just very ethereal. Even the dark parts of the face was dark, but still you could see individual hairs in the dark part of the face. It was a very soft wrap around on the face. It was very sort of edit.
you know, front cover editorial type style light. And I like it, but it's a huge light source. It's massive. It's great because I can put it straight behind me and stand in front of it and still manage to light them up. But it's a beast. It's a beast for a light modifier. Yeah, absolutely.
Tom Trevatt (40:15)
You'll have to send me a link to it. I want one.
Sean (40:21)
Want it?
Tom Trevatt (40:24)
Sean, we're just about to come to the end. Is there anything that you want to talk about or anything that you want to mention before we wrap up?
Sean (40:30)
I think what I would like to say is to new photographers, and it's the same type of advice that I give to actors as well. I think the temptation to start off and feel overwhelmed by what other people are doing is a lot better. I mean, when I started off, I was looking back and now I was bad. It was bad. But I think it's just not to lose hope.
or interest in photography or headshot photography or portraiture or wedding, whatever it is, find that sort of equilibrium, what keeps you sort of balanced as a new photographer. Don't be afraid to ask other photographers for advice. I think if I was to ask you something, you'd be like, yeah, sure, this how you do it, blah, blah. I mean, I'm sort of very much the same as well with Mike asking me.
I think photographers are very giving when it comes to advice. And I think new photographers can't lose hope in it. Like some actors, they listen, you've spent all this time doing two or three jobs, night jobs, to be able to go to acting school, then you're just gonna give up because you get neglected on your first audition. Keep going at it. You throw enough...
brown stuff at the wall that's going to stick. So just keep at it, you know, and it will pay off. You know, when you start getting a bit of a following, you will get sort of self-gratification like, okay, I've got, it's not all about likes, but seeing a picture going to likes, okay, well, people like that style, I'm going to sort of investigate that more, like with the white background, like they get quite a bit of attention, but that's purely because it was different from what I did. But I think it is, you know,
Tom Trevatt (42:14)
Moving.
Sean (42:23)
Just don't be afraid to ask other photographers and try and sort of keep yourself grounded to one style, whether it be still life photography, shooting balls of fruit, or if it's shooting actors or corporate headshots. Find what you like about it, then you won't see it as work. And that's where I get a lot of enjoyment of that I have a real good laugh with my clients.
You know, we come in, we have a coffee and just take it easy and just chill out. There's like three bagels knocking around this coffee. There's Spotify on. So, uh, and it's a very, it is my home. So it's a very homely environment. So I think if there's like a lot of image and emotion within the photograph is people are very, they feel at home. They feel relaxed. They're not in a…I can't shoot, I don't know how you can shoot in a studio. I think a studio environment for me is just a very scary environment. You know, I think I have a lot to fall back on with having the sofa there or the coffee machine or the dogs or whatever it is. So for me, this familiarity is probably one of those key ingredients to what I do. But yeah, just don't give up, you know? I mean, keep on going at it. If you're like me, you're gonna be very curious and want to know more about it. And if you do see a style of photographer that you like on Instagram, like with your work or Dwayne's or Mike's or whoever it is, I'm gonna ask them. I'm definitely gonna ask them how they do stuff. And 10 times out of 10, they'll say, I've never had someone say, well, no, that's my secret ingredient. That's my KFC spice mix. I'm not gonna tell you. So people are very willing to help, which is good.
Tom Trevatt (43:54)
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, of course. Absolutely.
Sean (44:07)
It's good. And then it just makes you feel a part of a family like Headshots Matter is. I thought, like a lot of groups or whatever it is, it's going to be very competitive. And that's the sum that are. But Headshots Matter is just, it's just one big family and it's growing, which is great to see.
Tom Trevatt (44:24)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah, exactly. People should be joining out. It's great.
Sean (44:28)
Absolutely, absolutely.
Tom Trevatt (44:31)
Well, I think we're coming to the end, Sean. So thank you very much for chatting. Where can people find you online?
Sean (44:35)
Thank you for having me
My main account that I use on Instagram is Stockholm underscore Sean, S-E-A-N, Sean Connery. I think when you get to that then you will see my link to my website. It does need to be updated but obviously with the holiday periods there's not really being new added onto it but you know that there's going to be stuff coming on now so I'll be updating that soon but on Instagram I sort of post daily.
Tom Trevatt (44:47)
Hehehe
Sean (45:08)
at least daily, sometimes if I get a lot of work in, then people are just gonna be spammed, a lot of people are only because they spam a lot. But yeah, stockhom underscore Sean on Instagram.
Tom Trevatt (45:20)
Sean, thank you very much.
Sean (45:21)
Thank you very much, Tom.
Tom Trevatt (45:24)
Cheers.
Sean (45:24)
See you next time.