The Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast

Today I am musing (and, additionally, interrupting myself - not once but twice!) on being beholden to my diary.  It is, of course, completely to be expected when you run a successful portrait photography business but that doesn't make it easy.  Instead, you have to find strategies for keeping motivated, keeping the excitement and keeping up the creativity.

PS. there is a slight irony in today's recording that, having had a massively scheduled day, I felt the need to add a couple of updates to the recording to talk about just how much I have enjoyed today - both personally and creatively!

Enjoy!

If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry. 

PLEASE also subscribe and leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think!

If there are any topics you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or would simply like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk 

This episode was recorded from the cab of my Land Rover Defender as I head to (and come back from) the wedding that held on in the diary despite of the risk of cancellation due to Covid-19 restrictions.  You have to admire their bravery and it was, in the end, a perfect day for them and for the team working with them!

After everything that has happened, it wasn't obvious just how easy the day would be but, as it turned out, the day was stunning - and it looks like we'll be able to create beautiful imagery and still stay safe.  The same is true of everything we're doing at the studio to make both lifestyle and studio portraits not only safe and compliant with the 'new normal' but just as creative and exciting as they've always been.

Enjoy!

If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry. 

PLEASE also subscribe and leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think!

If there are any topics you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or would simply like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk 

It's so lovely to be in the position to sit and chat with some incredible people - and that they agree to it when I ask!

This episode is with Gary Hill - a fantastic photographer, trainer, judge and all-round lovely bloke.  Admittedly we were chatting in the bar of the SWPP Convention in London which does inject a kind of 'authentic ambience' to the whole affair (which is to say - it's noisy!)

We get to chat about judging, the joy of printing and the story of how Gary became a photographer - it's quite a story!  

Enjoy!

If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry. 

PLEASE also subscribe and leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think!

If there are any topics you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or would simply like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk 

I've just returned from the Societies Of Photographers Convention in London which has been an absolute ball!  Though I admit, I am hurting just a little. A week of laughter and learning. And maybe just a little socialising.

Having sat as one of the print competition judges once again, I thought it would be helpful to relay some of the comments I heard during the process of picking this year's winning images to help you create higher scoring photographs in the future.

Enjoy!

If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry. 

PLEASE also subscribe and leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think!

If there are any topics you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or would simply like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk 

We are already 2% of the way through 2020.  0.02 of 2020.  Go figure.  

I've used that time so far to grab tools, some wood and to hack away at our studio - goodness knows it (and me) needed it.  It's a long time since I've drawn up engineering drawings and I am, honestly, loving every second.

Oh, and I've been creating pictures too. So you didn't need to worry that I had retired the cameras.  They're just having a breather.

Enjoy!

If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry.  You can subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, PodBean and Spotify.

PLEASE also leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think!

If there are any topics you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or would simply like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk 

Ah, and so here we are: 2020.  We've careered through the holidays like a kid on a brand new scooter, bouncing down the road until we've crashed headlong into the New Year, and here we are, bruised and smiling, all ready to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and get back on for the ride ahead.

This year, this year, is all about development and learning.  I LOVE this job - more than you can imagine - but by the end of 2019 I was utterly shattered.  Now, don't get me wrong here, 2019 was the best year we've ever had in terms of clients, shoots and, ultimately, revenue, but it was a brutal 12 months and by the time we bounced into the festive season, I was feeling anything other than festive.  Unless by 'festive' you mean sat useless in an armchair craving, of all things, sherry, a little junk TV and a sausage roll or two. Or four.

It had not been a year for taking time for personal development. 

So we kick off this year while the paint is still wet and it's going to be a year of learning.  I need to spend 2020 focussing (forgive the pun) on driving my creativity forward.  I don't quite know where that will lead - or how I'll do it - but I am utterly determined to get out there and adding some new arrows to the quiver, tools to the toolbox, colours to the palette: basically, I need to get out there and learn some new stuff.

And I cannot wait to get started!

If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry.  You can subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, PodBean and Spotify.

PLEASE also leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think!

If there are any topics you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or would simply like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk 

So you know what it's like: you're in the middle of a busy week, the weather is crappy, you're tired and you have a shoot to do...

Not exactly conducive to creativity.  And yet, and yet...  your job is to weave your magic - from the experience to the images, your clients rely on you, nay your business relies on you to kick into gear and perform to the absolute limit of your ability. Even if you'd rather be sitting with a cup of tea (or a glass of wine!)

And that is always the case. No matter what, it is crucial that you turn up and you're present.  100%.  Each. And. Every. Time. Your clients deserve it.

Enjoy!

If you do enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry.  You can subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, PodBean and Spotify.

PLEASE also leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think!

If there are any topics you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or would simply like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk 

A real pleasure to have interviewed Richard Bradbury FBIPP FMPA.  Richard is one of the world's great photographers and an all round nice guy and the interview is full of little gems about preparing for sales, customer service and authenticity. In fact, our chat in his west London studio is full of useful stuff for anyone interested in running a photography business.

As is our way, I asked Richard to recommend a book or two for our ever-expanding library of interesting books. Richard recommended Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind and The Work Of Hipgnosis : Walk Away Renee by Storm Thorgerson.

Enjoy!

If you do enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry.  You can subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, PodBean and Spotify.

PLEASE also leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think!

If there are any topics you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or would simply like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk 

It's always a pleasure when I get to sit and chat with someone with such a wide and interesting view of photography as Su Kaye, MPA's Chair Of Judges.  I've known Su for a few years and, as ever, she is intriguing, knowledgeable and engagingly honest about her life, career and what the future holds for her and the photography industry.

As always, I asked my interviewee to choose a book or two for our ever-expanding library and she chose the following brilliant editions:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1846149649/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_bx1TDbYEFFBMM Obama: An Intimate Portrait: The Historic Presidency in Photographs

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cyclops-Collection-Photographs-Albert-Watson/dp/0821223887  Cyclops: A Collection of Photographs by Albert Watson

I've used the Amazon links for these (as these offered the best value I could find) but they're available in various online booksellers.

Enjoy!

If you do enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry.  You can subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, PodBean and Spotify.

PLEASE also leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think!

If there are any topics you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or would simply like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk 

You've finished your shoot (in this case, a wedding), everything is packed up, the memory cards are shared between you (you know, just in case you're in a car crash - you have clean underwear on too, just like your mum told you) and you're trundling your way home. 

And then it hits you.

That all-too-familiar wave of paranoia and disappointment. 

You start to think of all the images that you didn't take.  Ignoring the hundreds, maybe thousands, that you did capture - beautiful images, maybe even a competition image or two.  And the constraints of a wedding. And the UK weather. Yet still, you focus on the things you didn't manage to capture.

And it's a normal feeling.  Uncomfortable? Yes of course, but still normal.

This podcast is all about that disappointment.

Enjoy (and don't be disappointed!)

If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography where there are articles and videos about this wonderful industry.  You can subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, PodBean and Spotify.

PLEASE also leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think!

If there are any topics you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or would simply like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk