FAQ:

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• Tell me more about prints.
• How much do you edit your photos?
• What camera gear do you use?
• What is your blogging/social media policy?
• Hey, I'm with a large company, and we're going to use your photos/videos. We can't pay you, but it will be great exposure and will totally lead to lots of work down the line. That's completely cool, right? Please sign the attached document which grants us unlimited rights to all your work.

Tell me more about prints.

The vast majority of the images on this site are for sale as prints. I own a professional-level photo printer and print on high-end papers. I can do sizes up to 17x25" in-house. For larger sizes, please inquire and I can provide a quote. Some common sizes:

• 8x10" or 8x12": $30
• 12x18", 13x19", or 10x19": $50
• 16x24": $60
• 12x36" panorama: $70.

12x18" is the most commonly purchased size, includes a 1/2" border (i.e. is on 13x19" paper), and mattes well into an 18x24" frame. Priority shipping within the U.S. is $9. Shipping is per-order, not per-print (i.e. you could buy 4 12x18s and it will still be $9). International shipping is available. I have a PayPal business account, so you can pay with any normal credit/debit card. Email sean [at] sgphotos [dot] com for more information.

 

 

How much do you edit your photos?

I shoot everything in an uncompressed "raw" format. The images can't be displayed directly from the camera--they must first be converted to JPGs. I'll tweak the colors and contrast and such during this step, but I try to keep my edits minimal. If an image is on this site, I took it because the conditions at the time were beautiful. I don't add, reposition, or enlarge elements like the moon or milky way. It's somewhat horrifying the number of well-known photographers who claim that their work is "straight from the camera" when it clearly has been edited. This quote from Galen Rowell summarizes how I feel about truth in photography:

Photographs are like gems: the real and the synthetic are often physically indistinguishable, but there is no question as to the ultimate value. A photograph that depicts a moment of real life, whether that of a human activity or of the natural world, is of a higher order than the most perfect replication created by or for the camera with luck removed from the formula.

 

 

What camera gear do you use?

I kind of dislike this question because it's possible to get great results with pretty much any equipment, and people who answer this question often try to turn it into a "My photography money pit is deeper than yours!" show-off. I'll answer the question as something of a gear recommendation. If you have questions of why I chose one item over another, I'll be happy to answer them.

 

At one point or another, I've shot with nearly everything in the Canon DSLR lineup. When I worked as a photojournalist in college, I shot Nikon. I spent much of 2016 using a Sony setup, abandoned it and went back to Canon, then switched Sony in 2019 because Canon's products weren't competitive. I habitually borrow gear, and I continuously buy and sell used gear on camera forums. My semi-permanent current (August 2020) gear includes:

 

Cameras:

• Sony A7 III
• Sony A7R III
• Canon M5 (basically my hiking/travel camera)

Lenses:

• Sony: 24-105mm f/4 OSS GM, 24mm f/1.4 GM
• Sigma: 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN
• Rokinon/Samyang/Bower: 12mm f/2.8 fisheye, 50mm f/1.4
• Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM on Sigma adapter
• Olympus Zuiko OM 200mm f/5 via adapter (SO TINY. SO SHARP. SO AWESOME.)
• EF-M: Rokinon 12mm f/2, Canon 18-55mm kit lens, Canon 22mm f/2 pancake, Canon 55-210mm (These lenses are both tiny and surprisingly sharp. I spent a year shooting Sony APS-C and am amazed at how much sharper and cheaper the Canon kit lenses are.)

 

6D + Bower 24mm after an average night of filming timelapse.

 

My college-era sports setup. It got a lot of comments.

 

 

What is your blogging/social media policy?

It's fine to feature material from here on social media or blog sites. Please link back to this site and/or my Flickr. It would be great if you email me (sean@sgphotos.com) to let me know I've been featured. Note: this assumes that your article is about my content; if you would like to use my content to promote your site, you will need to purchase it.

 

 

Hey, I'm with a large company, and we're going to use your photos/videos. We can't pay you, but it will be great exposure and will totally lead to lots of work down the line. That's completely cool, right? Please sign the attached document which grants us unlimited rights to all your work.

It's slightly ridiculous how often I receive some variant of this email. Seriously ya'll, I actually will read the contracts you send me. I will not sign away everything I own just because you put it in the small print. One of these days I'm going to create a Wall of Shame which lists the major companies (and quotes their presumptuous emails) that tell (not ask) me to give away my imagery. If you are a charity, we can talk. If you are a Fortune 500 company and you send me this, don't expect a polite response.