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Convinced that beautiful editorial photos always require phenomenal sets, elaborate lighting, and a full crew of people? Let Geo Leon prove you wrong. The talented LA-based photographer has amassed an audience of more than 300K followers on Instagram by posting his glamorous final-result shots together with the behind-the-scenes ones. The latter show how creativity is way more important than fancy props. 

In the images below, you’ll find the latest work by Geo. Also, don’t forget to check out the previous Bored Panda post about the photographer.

More info: Instagram | geoleon.gumroad.com

#1

Los Angeles Photographer Reveals The Behind-The-Scenes Of His Photos, Which Makes Them Even More Impressive

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Alex Hamilakis
Community Member
3 years ago

i am sorry ew

Mazer
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

CGI (computer generated images) or enhanced videos for commercial work is amazing and I applaud the work, I’m just not into enhancing nature photos. It creates an unrealistic expectations.

monkeydog
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The point of this photo series is that they are not digitally enhanced. They've used other tricks (props, lighting, clever angles) to achieve the result.

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Geo has been linked with photography for over 10 years: “It all started back in 2011 when I was on a competitive martial arts team. One of my teammates' mom happened to be a photojournalist working for the Kansas City Newspaper! She used to photograph all of the teams in competitions and I was very intrigued by it. She recommended that I pick up and try it out. My wife gifted me a camera and the rest was history.”

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    Los Angeles Photographer Reveals The Behind-The-Scenes Of His Photos, Which Makes Them Even More Impressive

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    Geo says that nowadays there are many creators that are trying to replicate one another’s style: “You have to develop such a unique style to stand out from others. It is very difficult to do so just because there is so much talent out there!”

    #5

    Los Angeles Photographer Reveals The Behind-The-Scenes Of His Photos, Which Makes Them Even More Impressive

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    Jason Alexander
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    But how he made her hair so fiery red in the resulting imagine. Beautiful.

    Tee Witt
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    How to turn an untanned fair hair girl into a tanned red headed model

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    As for future endeavors, Geo says: “I have yet to scratch the surface with what I want to accomplish. As an artist, we all have goals that we want to achieve. Since my photography style is so different, I’d like to push the boundaries of today's media and be able to have photography like mine in big-time magazines/websites.”

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    Los Angeles Photographer Reveals The Behind-The-Scenes Of His Photos, Which Makes Them Even More Impressive

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    #7

    Los Angeles Photographer Reveals The Behind-The-Scenes Of His Photos, Which Makes Them Even More Impressive

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    Matheus Oliveira
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The concept it pretty interesting. But, seriously, though, how does he achieve such a nice background contrast? Is it ISO trickery or post-production?

    bob bruce
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Most of these have an awful lot more going on than what's shown in the "behind the scenes" picture.

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    Gergely Kiss
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Considering that 90% of the finished picture contains stuff that is not there in the photoshoot and even what is actually there is shopped into oblivion, this is more of a "painting based on a reference image" than an actual photo.

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    Mermaid Elle-Jaye
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Wow, so hard to get the fluke and your head in the right position at the same time too ❤️

    RedFox
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Mermaiding is a beautiful hobby that is often overlooked. I highly recommend it! It is really freeing and you can start off fairly cheap on good quality if you use the right websites. If you are interested, DO YOUR RESEARCH!!! You could be putting not only your own life in danger, as well as others. (Good sites/you tubers that are good for beginners) FinFunMermaid.com, Nerdmaid Faith, Mermaid Zelda (Emzy), Courtney Mermaid. FinFunMermaid.com is fairly cheap depending on the design and your size. Nerdmaid Faith has several videos explaining how to get into mermaiding, she will also tell you good beginner websites and online stores you can buy from. She will also get into types of tail, mono fins, tail skins, etc... Sorry for ranting, I'm really passionate about this kind of thing.

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    Geo's advice for young creators would be to “shoot, shoot, and shoot! Do research, find a photographer that inspires you! Ask questions, lots of them! In today's day and age, there is plenty of information that I wish I had when I first started! If you’re starting out, photograph a friend or a family member and come up with ideas to improve after every shoot.”

    #8

    Los Angeles Photographer Reveals The Behind-The-Scenes Of His Photos, Which Makes Them Even More Impressive

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    Lee
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Pretty sure shoot arrow like that would hurt your fingers.

    Jeroen de Wijn
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    So, he edits the hell out of the picture and we are supposed to be somehow amazed that the base photo is totally different? Do people not know how photography works?

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    #12

    Los Angeles Photographer Reveals The Behind-The-Scenes Of His Photos, Which Makes Them Even More Impressive

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    Jason Alexander
    Community Member
    3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Is crazy to me how the picture of him taking the picture just seems so regular and people have typical facial features, but then the results are so vivid and have such beautiful colors and depths. I feel like it's almost a double meaning about how beautiful the art of photography can be but in the flip side how deceiving a picture can be in terms of how something/ someone looks in reality.

    s. vitkovitsky
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    There's clearly been a massive amount of photo efiting. Tje picture is just raw material for further work.

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    #14

    Los Angeles Photographer Reveals The Behind-The-Scenes Of His Photos, Which Makes Them Even More Impressive

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    Joran Quinten
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    No, you make an excellent point. Nothing of the lighting or props (apart from a generic step) are used. Much easier in a studio. 🤷

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    Wise beauty
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Lol they are taking street photography to a whole new level here

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    #18

    Los Angeles Photographer Reveals The Behind-The-Scenes Of His Photos, Which Makes Them Even More Impressive

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    Return of Saturn
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Ok but that the makeup! The pink! The donuts! Everything is just so perfect I can't! ^^

    #19

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    Deja Katz
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Models really suffer for their art, looks fun but bet it was cold and uncomfortable

    Andy Saputo
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Is there a name for this makeup style where they make the tip of the nose red like they have a cold? I'm seeing it in a lot of these photos.

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    #21

    Los Angeles Photographer Reveals The Behind-The-Scenes Of His Photos, Which Makes Them Even More Impressive

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    #26

    Los Angeles Photographer Reveals The Behind-The-Scenes Of His Photos, Which Makes Them Even More Impressive

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    Glirpy
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Sorry, but this photo makes the guy look like a douchebag. Take it down a notch.

    Jeroen de Wijn
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Step 1: Create a selfie against a neutral background in 5 seconds. Step 2: Spend 1 hour editing the hell out of the photo. Step 3: Post before and after because this simple process that's been done by all photographers everywhere is somehow interesting to anyone?

    #27

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    Sneeze
    Community Member
    3 years ago

    This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

    def photoshopped... her hair is different colors

    Jason Alexander
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    They are all photoshopped; none of these people's faces look the same in the candid picture as the result. They are all perfected, enhanced, and optimized with vivid colors. I don't think natural was the point, he was being artistic.

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    #61

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    Talon
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I love how he’s using his foot to hold up the light

    #62

    Los Angeles Photographer Reveals The Behind-The-Scenes Of His Photos, Which Makes Them Even More Impressive

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    Donna Leske
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    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    WHY do so many of these photos emphasize the nose? Noses are bigger, brighter, darker, shinier than real life.

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