FAB FRAMES

It’s something of a harmonic convergence of teen idolatry in Orange County, what with the Noone-Sherman-Jones show at the Orange County Fair tonight, Paul McCartney’s “Standing Stone” oratorio at the Orange County Performing Arts Center over the weekend, and in Laguna Beach, the exhibit of 1960s Dezo Hoffman photographs of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

Hoffman, who was more famous than the Beatles when he began shooting the band, took most of his behind-the-scenes photographs with available light, giving the images an immediacy and sense of candor.

Many of Hoffman’s images have become icons; others are rarely seen. He shot those haircut pictures, those bathing suit pictures, those go-cart pictures--you know the ones.

The Czech-born Hoffman (1918-86) was the first professional photographer to take lens to the Beatles and had nearly unlimited access to the group from before its first record. Later, he traveled with the band on its British invasion of America in 1964 and--despite a rift with Lennon that the photographer would later call “silly”--continued to drop in on the lads’ exploits periodically throughout Beatlemania and into the “Sgt. Pepper” days.

“The Beatles: Historic Images 1962-1967,” black-and-white Hoffman photos are on view and for sale (average from $750 to $1,200) through Aug. 2 at the Studio Gallery. About 50 images (average size 14 inches by 16 inches) are on display, and about as many more are available by request, a gallery spokeswoman said.

Also on view are some of Hoffman’s Rolling Stones images from the early ‘60s.

* “The Beatles: Historic Images 1962-1967” continues through Aug. 2 at the Studio Gallery Laguna Beach, 225 Forest Ave. Hours: Sunday-Tuesday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Wednesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Free. (949) 494-6896.