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Steven

@stevenjmagner

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📍 Bay Area | Commercial Real Estate & Architectural Photographer
Girl dad + storyteller behind the lens

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Our first hospitality project in Napa. 🖤

We weren’t just designing a bar. We were designing how it should feel to be there.

The energy. The lighting. Where you sit. What catches your eye. How the space moves from day to night. Whether you want to stay for one more drink…

Every decision at Matrix, from the space plan to the finishes, furniture and smallest details, started with the experience we wanted to create.

Because good design isn’t just about what a space looks like.

It’s about how it makes you feel. And we wanted people to feel a certain way when they walked in! 👀

@matrixnapavalley
Designed by @honeycombinteriordesign || Built by Chad Briskovich || Photos by @stevenjmagner by @stevenjmagner

I was excited to return to San Diego for @hollandpartnergroup to capture @thetorreysd , a high rise in the heart of the city setting the bar for luxury rentals. I followed the flow of light as it passed through the property each day, a delicate study of time and emotion, as the story of the property unfolded before me.

A heartfelt thank you to Holland Partner Group for trusting me with their properties over the last six years. Torrey marks my 27th project with them and I could not be more grateful for the continued partnership.

Shot for @holland_partner_group
Architecture @carrierjohnsonculture

In collaboration with @peri_lachman_photography @andrewbramasco

Talent @ellieholliway @nathanial.mp3 @korey_elizabeth @brinabrighteyes

Photos by @stevenjmagner. Please only repost with written permission. Thank you. by @stevenjmagner

Showed up at 4142 Dry Creek Road at dawn and didn't leave until the sun went down. Nick Noyes designed something that genuinely earns the word "landmark" in Napa Valley, two gabled volumes tied together with steel and glass, concrete floors, and ceilings that make you look up every single time. The light here has a job to do from the first hour to the last, and I just tried to keep up with it.

Assisted by @themjkelley

Photos by @Stevenjmagner. Please only repost with written permission. Thank you. by @stevenjmagner

I recently shot The Daphne for @hollandpartnergroup and this one meant more to me than most.

I used to live around here and this corner has some history for me. As a kid whenever I came out from Connecticut to visit my grandparents, my grandfather would want to stop at Andre’s when driving down from the valley to the westside, which existed where @livedaphnela has risen. Honestly, it was never about the food. It was about going with him. He provided me a lot of opportunity when I was a navigating life. He's since passed, but having the opportunity to walk in those shoes once more made this shoot all that more special.

The building made it easy to work with. Every amenity space had its own window of light. We started at the pool in the early afternoon, then moved to the Overlook around 5:15 and wrapped at the Canyon Club as the sun dropped. The Drift Lounge doesn’t get peak natural light this time of year, so we had to play with @photopils and some strobe action to bring it back to life.

Huge thanks to the talent, @itschloe_noelle @justincayton @priscil.laa @quenmeadows, who made it feel like people actually live here. Thanks also to @noonan_boss for the food at the Canyon Club, @peri_lachman_photography for keeping everything moving, and @amygig13, Shelly and the whole HPG team for making the access and logistics so smooth.

Shot for @hollandpartnergroup
Architecture @mve_architects

Photos by @stevenjmagner. Please only repost with written permission. Thank you. by @stevenjmagner

The natural light that changes throughout the day. The welcoming lobby. The Hideaway’s quieter atmosphere. The rooftop views that stretch across the city and out toward the coast.

In the final episode of Behind the Lens, Steven shares the places that left the biggest impression and why they’re the ones he’ll remember long after the shoot.

🌱 The Torrey Apartments Downtown San Diego
🌱 1200 Front Street, San Diego, CA 92101
🌱 Now Leasing. Explore more at our link in bio.

#TheTorrey #WildCoast #DowntownSanDiego #SanDiegoLiving #ArchitecturePhotography by @stevenjmagner

I have been having enough conversations with AI companies in our industry about building models, mimicking my editing style. While I am flattered by the gesture, and have considered it as an alternative to my current approach, which is me editing every image myself, it took me recording my approach to lighting a space that put into perspective the years of dedication learning a craft to get an image nearly perfect in camera.

I'm not opposed to AI. I certainly use generative fill, Claude and a few other programs to help automate some of my workflow. But I am against augmenting reality that doesn't exist.

I remember catching a property on the MLS that I had shot a couple years prior and didn't sell. The hero image of that listing had the Milky Way projected behind the house. Unfortunately, knowing the composition, the Milky Way would never rise north of the home in the northern hemisphere. It's these sort of warped realities that I worry about with AI. Not expediting editing, that's inevitable. But projecting things that would only exist in fairytales is not my jam.

Shout out to @photopills for providing the best AR tool on the market. I have been a fan since you guys first visited Mammoth Mountain and gave a presentation back in 2018 by @stevenjmagner

MATRIX BAR PART ONE 🎬

A study in atmosphere. 🖤

Low light. High contrast. Rich materials. A space designed to feel as good at midnight as it does at five.

Matrix, after dark. 🍸 #interiordesign #honeycombinteriors #bar #napa by @stevenjmagner

Here's a throwback shoot to 2021 when I was experimenting with new ideas to bring interest to real estate videos, and break free of the copycat culture trends at the time. This was sort of the a-ha moment that allowed me to head in a direction that wasn't all speed ramp, and club music. The focus was more on the story of the home over the course of a day, and its interplay with the nature around it.

I had commissioned @ignasci_music to create an avant garde style track that allows the visuals to flow without structure. Just as the rusted corten steel, board-formed concrete, and corrugated panels layer together without a single rigid rhythm, the avant garde score moves in the same unstructured way, letting each material and moment breathe on its own terms.

In 2023 I revisited the property and I am sad to say the beautiful California live oak that sits between the pool and guest house has now fallen down. Funny how a piece of footage can end up capturing more than you intended. Not just a home, but a moment in time that doesn't exist anymore.

Video by @stevenjmagner
Shot for Bob Pennypacker
Music by @ignasci_music by @stevenjmagner

I spent two full days at 10718 Mora in Palo Alto capturing something a little different: over 20 timelapses shot from pre-sunrise all the way through evening twilight. The goal was to actually show what it feels like to live inside this home for a full day, not just a single golden hour. Watching the light move through every room, room by room, hour by hour, is the best way to understand a house. Quiet blue tones before sunrise, the first warm light hitting the primary bedroom, golden hour spilling across the living spaces, and finally the soft glow that turns to twilight stars.

Video by @stevenjmagner
Listed by @kpluxuryhomes of @theagencynorcal
Music by @liquidmemoirs by @stevenjmagner

Great design isn’t defined by one space.

It’s the way every detail works together to create a consistent experience.

In this episode of Behind the Lens, Steven shares the spaces and design details that left the biggest impression, from the welcoming lobby to the residences above.

🌱 The Torrey Apartments Downtown San Diego
🌱 1200 Front Street, San Diego, CA 92101
🌱 Now Leasing. Explore more at our link in bio.

#TheTorrey #WildCoast #DowntownSanDiego #SanDiegoLiving #ArchitecturePhotography by @stevenjmagner

Every place has a story. The way it’s told is what makes it memorable.

In the first episode of Behind the Lens, we sat down with Steven Magner, who’s spent years documenting Holland Partner Group properties, to hear what drew him to The Torrey and what he sees through the lens of his camera.

Sometimes the best way to experience a place is through someone discovering it for the first time.

🌱 The Torrey Apartments Downtown San Diego
🌱 1200 Front Street, San Diego, CA 92101
🌱 Now Leasing. Explore more at our link in bio.

#TheTorrey #WildCoast #DowntownSanDiego #SanDiegoLiving #ArchitecturePhotography by @stevenjmagner

In 2015 I picked up a camera for the first time with the goal of learning about astrophotography. I have always had a deep appreciation for dark sky photography, but never had the patience to sit down and learn. After enjoying many trips up and down California learning how to capture the Milky Way, star trails and meteor showers, while exploring some of California’s absolutely beautiful landmarks.

Today these images sit stored on hard drives in my office, and a few prints that I have yet to hang up since moving to Novato, today was the day I finally dug into them again to remind myself of where this career as a photographer started.

Many hours were spent on the road alongside @cecphotos @jeffpoephoto @adamtphotos @cartermurphyphoto @codymayer22 and many others while learning what a DSLR was and what it could do, and how I could express myself creatively through the adventures I got to enjoy.

Photos by @stevenjmagner. Please only repost with written permission. Thank you. by @stevenjmagner