Presets give the photo a subtle boost and a stronger emotional presence, and in turn, it pushes me to explore color more boldly in my work.
Stuart Seigel doesn't just photograph places, he reframes them. Working across infrared, aerial perspectives, and tightly controlled color palettes, his images strip familiar environments down to structure, tone, and feeling.
That kind of transformation doesn't only happen at the moment of capture. It's also made in the edit, where the right preset or adjustment can bridge the gap between what you see and what you envision.
In this conversation, Stuart walks through how he uses VSCO, from presets, to AI Lab tools—and why developing a practice rooted in color helps make his portfolio stand out and work that holds weight with clients.
1. What VSCO editing tools do you use regularly?
I use presets regularly, especially the We The Creators series, and depending on the emotional feel of the image I may use grain, split tone.
I often use many of the standard tools such as highlight and shadow adjustments, saturation, contrast, exposure.
2. Why do you use these tools? What excites you about them?
The presets are incredibly well crafted, and they’ve become a meaningful part of my process.
After editing an image in Photoshop, I’ll often bring it onto my phone and apply a We The Creators preset (usually WE9 or WE10) as a final touch. There’s something about how those presets render color and tone that adds an extra layer of depth and energy to the image.
That subtle boost often gives the photo a stronger emotional presence, and in turn, it pushes me to explore color more boldly in my work.
3. Have these tools changed the way you see, not just the way you edit?
These tools handle color so well that they’ve pushed me to refine my own editing. I’ve even kept a color wheel on my desk this past year—it’s a simple thing, but it really sharpens how you see and balance color.
4. Have any of VSCO's editing tools inspired new ideas for you? New ways of working? Maybe a specific series grounded in them?
Absolutely. VSCO’s tools have directly shaped how I work. The presets have sharpened my approach to color balance, pushing me to be more intentional with tone and palette. The upscale feature gives me flexibility to crop more aggressively and refine compositions, especially for portrait formats that work well on socials.
The AI tools help bridge the gap between capture and intent, letting me resolve limitations from the original shot and bring the image closer to what I envisioned.
There’s something about how presets render color and tone that adds an extra layer of depth and energy to the image.
5. Infrared runs through a lot of your work. What inspired you to use it and what keeps you coming back to it?
The first time I saw infrared photography was in a magazine. It made the world look like a different planet. That stayed with me. Years later, when I was able to get a modified camera, I started working with it myself.
What keeps me coming back to infrared is how it separates a place from its usual context. Familiar environments such as neighborhoods, streets, landscapes, stop reading as everyday and become more about structure, tone, and color.
There’s a feeling you get when you’re somewhere new, your attention locks in because everything is unfamiliar, and the usual noise fades out. That’s what I’m chasing. I use infrared to create that shift in ordinary places, with the goal that viewers experience that same sense of reset when they look at the images.
Long term, I’d love to present these images at a large scale printed big enough that the viewer feels immersed in them, almost like stepping into that altered version of the world.
6. How would you describe your photography practice?
My photography focuses on reframing everyday environments—neighborhoods, beaches, parks—through structure, pattern, and color.
I often use infrared, aerial views, and unconventional perspectives to push familiar scenes into something less expected. The goal is to strip away the usual associations we attach to these places so they feel new again, even if just for a moment.
The tools you use shape the work you make.
Stuart Seigel doesn't use presets as shortcuts. He uses them as a final layer of intent—something that makes an image feel finished, cohesive, and portfolio-ready.
That progression is what VSCO is built for. Start with presets that unite your instincts with real colors. Dial in your look with HSL, split tone, and grain until your work feels unique to your vision. Then take it further: upscale for tighter crops and bigger prints, use AI Lab to resolve what the camera couldn't, and build a body of work that holds up across every format and platform.
Because better edits aren't the goal. Better work is.
Work that gets remembered. Work that gets shared. Work that gets you paid.
The AI tools help bridge the gap between capture and intent, letting me resolve limitations from the original shot and bring the image closer to what I envisioned.
