We see beautiful photos on Instagram every day, and most of them appear to have been shot on elaborate sets with an entire team of professionals.

However, this is rarely the case. Geo Leon, a photographer based in Los Angeles, shows that you don’t always need Photoshop to make stunning images that make people look twice. Using creative lighting, relevant props, and interesting photography techniques, he captures his subjects in everyday settings. He is usually assisted by his friend Chris or wife Michelle. The shoots last between one and two hours. Geo edits and retouches in Photoshop.He transforms each raw image into a stunning composite in between 1.5 and 3 hours.

He compares the BTS and final images side by side, and in most cases, the results are hard to believe. Some of his work can be found below.