Karl Shreeves

It's All About People

My work is about portraiture, and that is more than just a pretty face. It's about feeling -- an emotion frozen in time.  It's about seeing you as you want to be seen, but also as you are. Bringing those together isn't easy, but it's what I specialize in. This is true in head-and-shoulders seated sessions, dynamic sessions set up to generate feelings, interaction and expression, or being in the right place at the right time documenting real events.

What I do is specialized, but it's accomplished in different circumstances. As a result, whether one wants to call it candid, lifestyle, fashion, event -- underlying everything is that it's about a person or people. 

Dramatic Portraiture: These are shots one most commonly thinks of as portraits, either with intention, or captured in the moment. 
Scuba & Scuba Lifestyle: The institution for which I work is about divers, diving and the diving lifestyle (I’m an accomplished diver, too). But, I’m not a fish photographer. Again, it's about people -- really, portraits underwater..
Photographic Art: This gallery features highly manipulated imagery built on images I captured  (except where noted). 
Underwater Portraiture: My style is distinctive. You won’t see anything quite like it elsewhere.
Beauty and Fashion Style Portraiture: You’ll find contemporary images, but note a passion for the retro look, with post processing used to emulate historic shooting styles used by Hollywood.
Behind the Scenes & Tear Sheets: Many thanks to friends and shooting assistants for these snaps of me at work. This galleries also includes some mag covers and other published images of mine. Where relevant, I reference the images in other galleries these behind-the-scenes relate to.

This and that: A few images more about topics of interest, commonly related to my blog.


Hiring Me
If you like what you see here, you want me for my individual artistic take on how to approach a photo session and processing a given subject. It’s not canned – each image was custom-conceived and produced to create something one-of-a-kind.

Rates – My rates follow industry norms, but I'm not someone selling a picture. Rather, I'm a contractor you hire to execute a vision.

• My rate is based on the estimated time to complete what you ask for, which includes the preparation and post work. Even a 10 minute project may take several hours total time.
• Routine studios make their money selling prints and other versions of the images. That’s not my business model. The delivered images are yours, or mine with an unlimited license. (Click "rates" for more about this.)
• That said, people often want help when selecting for specific uses, whether to display at home or for commercial purposes. This is part of my service; you'll have options to choose from, of course, but part of my job is to help you accomplish your vision with the works.
• I don’t bulk process, even more “routine” images. Every delivered image is retouched and refined to a high detail level, as appropriate to what you want or need. To maintain professional quality, I do not release unretouched/unfinished images (there are exceptions for institutions that do their own processing; this would be agreed ahead of time).
• Pro bono (TF) assignments. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I routinely consider pro bono and/or expenses-only for not-for-profit groups, individuals without means and in particular need, and similar causes consistent with my faith. I will also consider unusual/new shooting situations and travel opportunities that particularly interest me, especially for exciting, worthwhile but cash-starved ventures.  
• Weddings. I’m not a wedding photographer (but thanks for asking -- I get asked a lot) The wedding images in the galleries are actually models as part of an ad campaign. Engagement and wedding portraits, however, are well within the work I do.
• Technical details: Unless otherwise specified, I deliver the final processed image masters as Adobe RGB TIFF masters and sRGB JPEGs. However, I can provide them in any format and color space Photoshop supports.

Click on the rates link for more.