Interview with Sean Critchfield | GBPW Episode 180

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A portrait done by Sean Critchfield
Quick summary

In this episode of Great Big Photography World podcast, I speak with portrait photographer Sean Critchfield about his career as an actor and photographer, and how he turned a bad day into an elevated passion as a photographer.

A self portrait of Sean Critchfield

I think that documentation is important and I think that photography is a wonderful way to do that.

Sean Critchfield

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Portrait Photograph shot by Sean Critchfield

In this episode, I speak with one of our community members and ambassadors, Sean Critchfield. Sean is an actor, portrait photographer, and overall creative powerhouse based out of Las Vegas, Nevada.

We talk about:

  • How his young life influenced his photography
  • Why gear doesn’t necessarily matter to take good photos
  • Why the world is a beautiful place with more art in it

& much more!

Sean and I have a lighthearted conversation talking about those special photography moments.

Here is a preview of our conversation with Sean Critchfield.

A portrait image by Sean Critchfield

Q: What drives you to lead such a busy life?

Sean Critchfield: It’s interesting. This is a discussion that my wife and I have been having recently about me needing to slow down. There are so many aspects of me as a person that need to be fulfilled in different ways and the best way to do that is to put those skills to use in a form of service within those different categories. I get called a people pleaser a lot and I think that the survivalist mentality is what made me understand that I don’t think we’re people pleasers. I think we can handle a larger load than others and I think that survivalists learn that that you know the mind controls the body and that when you think you’re out of gas.

A silhouette photo by Sean Critchfield

Q: What made you specialize in portrait photography?

Sean Critchfield: I’ve always been a bit of a pixel slinger like you know I I started way back in the day on photoshop and I really enjoyed it. It was a creative outlet that I would play with, but never really got into the photography aspect of it. My wife one day was having a day and I had a cheap little camera and I said: “Let’s just go take some pictures”. We walked around the neighborhood and I took pictures and we came back and we were looking at them and, she was like these are really good. My father was a photographer and he passed away just recently. He shot pictures of airplanes for the air force, but also did portraiture.

A ghostly portrait photo by Sean Critchfield

Q: Do you have any tips that you use to connect with your subjects before a session?

Sean Critchfield: I take a few minutes and I tell them it’s going to be a slow process. I’m going to take a picture and adjust a light, I’m gonna take a picture, I’m gonna adjust the light. What I find is that does is two things: they calm down and get over any nerves. We get to chat while I’m doing it, and they get about 10 clicks before we’re ever actually really taking a portrait. This is to get used to the lights and the flash and the camera and it it kind of lets them baseline a little bit.

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Take Away

Don’t miss out on this insightful episode that will spark your creativity and passion for photography. Sean and I have a lighthearted conversation about different aspects of photography and how our Great Big Photography World is growing.

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Perrin lives as a nomad in Canada and spends his time shooting landscape photography while exploring the wilderness. Throughout his career, Perrin has been a wedding, portrait, and product photographer. However, his passion always leads him back to the outdoors, where he teaches people how to photograph and interact with the natural world.
Perrin lives as a nomad in Canada and spends his time shooting landscape photography while exploring the wilderness. Throughout his career, Perrin has been a wedding, portrait, and product photographer. However, his passion always leads him back to the outdoors, where he teaches people how to photograph and interact with the natural world.
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  1. @Perrin @sean-critchfield Hi guys i thoroughly enjoyed this podcast thank you for the mention, wow how busy are you Sean do you get time to take a breath. lol
    Sean please please can you put up the photo that your late dad took of you in the crowd i would love to see this.
    This was a fantastic podcast thank you guys

    1. Hi Robbie, glad you enjoyed it my friend. He doesn’t take a breath. And when it’s always to do something haha! I really enjoyed my time with Sean.

  2. I’m super excited we got the podcast going again. You are busy, man @sean-critchfield! I am impressed with how much you can take on at the same time. Excellent first interview, @Perrin. I’m looking forward to hearing more! Congrtz.

  3. Hey Sean, great podcast and you are one busy dude. You had some great advice and enjoyed how you proceed with portrait clients. Perrin great interview.

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