Took these test portraits in Vancouver at Sugar Studios of Tomasz while helping shoot the cd cover for the new Shy Brothers album. We only took a few photos but they were all pretty good. Is there a modeling future for Tom?
Back maybe a month ago I had the opportunity to photograph Tom and Betty in Vancouver. We decided to either shoot the photos at the Olympic Village or if it was rainy Granville Island. I like Granville Island because of the variety of photos us portrait photographers can achieve without having to move around a lot. I don’t like how there’s a lot of people there though. The day was a bit overcast so the couple opted for Granville Island.
Tom described themselves as weird or random. I’d say they were a bit quirky and cool. Right from the start Tom looked like he’d been in front of the camera before. Betty was a bit shy but as our session progressed she got much more comfortable and it seemed like Tom was getting stiffer. It was a great session and I tried some shots I hadn’t done before because of their quirky and weird factor. Btw, it’s not weird at all, it just shows how much fun they have with each other.
I asked if Betty could take some photos after she got them printed. I’m very happy with the way they turned out. Not sure where they printed them but the printer did a good job. I edit my photos on colour calibrated monitors for printing so people will see a bit of a difference when viewing the photos on the monitor vs. printed. The majority of people don’t have calibrated monitors. What I found interesting was that her favorite photos weren’t my favorite, rarely are they anyways. Her favorites didn’t have as much artistry in them as I would’ve liked.
Thanks to Brandon for coming out and helping as well. I got to test out his 5Dmk2 vs. my 5D. Can you tell the difference in the pics? Most likely not. Feel free to guess. The 5Dmk2 felt lighter than my 5D with the same lens attached. Love the LCD on that camera.
Aww matching outfits! Haha. Reminded me of all the couples I saw in China. 1/4 couples were wearing matching clothes 
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One of my new favorite spots. Why? Cause it doesn’t look like Vancouver but some place in Europe.
Here’s some of my favorite shots photographed over this past weekend in Richmond of Renee’s family. She was visiting her family for the week and wanted a set of family photos of her, her sister and mom. We shot these around Minoru park on a very bright sunny Vancouver day, probably the second hottest day in Vancouver as well. I had a lot of fun with these and the entire family was fun to photograph. Thanks Renee for letting me capture some nice moments.
Thought I would post up some of the behind the scenes photos from the JCI shoot I did in January. Here you can see the girls doing the make-up, hair, and wardrobe dressing. The make-up and hair took the longest but the job the girls did was fantastic! Parm Pandher did the make-up, Siobhan O’Brien the hair, and Sami Ward the wardrobe choices. Jenna Cunningham, the model, did a great job showcasing the students’ work. I also have to say Jenna did a great job modeling.
Two weeks ago a friend of mine, Sam, asked if I could photograph a model for her and a friend who plan to get into make-up and nails. I said sure, no problem! And then she said it was the next evening! 
. Monday nights are for 24 and Heroes, lol. So after work I packed my gear together and headed down to her Richmond apartment with my buddy Wes. I was pretty tired already after work but that didn’t matter. They took a bit longer getting the model ready than we expected. It was suppose to be an in and out type thing but turned out to be a lot later. Thus I didn’t get as much time to shoot as I would’ve liked. I think we shot these off in 20 minutes all in one small room. The apartment complex had an clubhouse I really wanted to try but it was getting too late and we had work the next day and the model had class. We’ll have to try her clubhouse next time!
Every couple of months John Casablancas International had a build your own book (BYOB) session where students from their make-up, hair, and fashion departments get together to put together four looks. They are pushed to achieve four looks (outfits) within a 7 hour time frame. The five best photos from each look are then picked and submitted to the school and String magazine for review. The set they like the most is then published in their monthly Vancouver fashion String magazine. It might seem easy but the make-up, hair, and clothing changes usually take anywhere from 1-1.5 hrs to complete leaving little time for photographing the subject.
The school invites local professional photographers in Vancouver to these sessions where they are placed with one of the groups for the day. We’re allowed to either photograph on location or inside their studio. For this shoot I brought with me a friend who I often photograph weddings with, Tom Wagner. Having shot many weddings with him and Three Sixty in the past made this session go smoothly as we’re use to thinking on the spot and using our natural environment to our advantage. Thanks to the Water Street Cafe for letting us use a table for 5 mins and Ray for letting us use his lights inside the studio.
So what happens when you combine the following:
You end up with (I would hope) a great set of photos that you’re proud of and that you can feel confident about showing to others. Check out the below 30 second clips of two looks we shot. Below that are some of the favorites from the day out of the four looks/outfits.
Alysha and her family has been good family friends for a long time. I remember when she and her brother were just lil tykes. She’ll be going out of province for her first university co-op experience and her mom wanted some portraits in Vancouver of the family. I gave her a call a week before she was about to leave and suggested that in addition to family portraits we do a set of photos in Yaletown and Gastown of just her. I had just about two hours to photograph Alysha including all the traveling. We spent about 30-40 mins just outside Urban Fare in Yaletown photographing the outdoor portraits. After freezing our butts off (ok it wasn’t that cold) I promised her we’d warm up inside and take a set indoors. We headed over to the new Woodwards apartment in Gastown where we spent the remainder of the time taking indoor shots. We produced a great set of photos given the time I had.
A word of advice for aspiring photographers, a good portrait photographer should be able to shoot in any location whether it be inside in a nice studio or out in the back alley.
Continuing where I left off with that impromptu session with Seungyon. These were shot in the district of Wudaokou in Beijing, China in an apartment complex. In the middle of the apartment complex, four towers surrounding a small terrace, we found an inviting park where children and seniors play and pass time. The day was overcast so it was perfect for these naturally lit photos. These are some of my favorite individual pictures from my time in China.
So I’ve finally decided to start my own photography showcase after being in photography for the past six years. Wow it’s been a long time since I started getting into this hobby, an expensive one I might add. I’ve met a lot of great people along the way and it’s made it just that much more exciting. Vancouver wedding photographer Justin Lam at Threesixty Photography who I shoot weddings for, Tom Wagner who I collaborate a lot with, Denny Tang over at Photoshop Tutorials who’s an amazing photoshop genius, as well as many local Vancouver make-up artists and fashion artists. For the longest time I’ve uploaded my own photos onto flickr (Michael Sean Lee photography) and linking clients to them, no more. This site will showcase my best and favorite images. Wedding, portraiture, travel, fashion, scenery, interiors and vehicle photography. Feel free to contact me should you have any questions, want to purchase images, or work together.