The Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast

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 

With everything going on at the moment it's all too easy to lose sight of the joy that this job brings to so many.  This podcast is about that and a bag of cooking apples.

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 

In this episode, I get to chat with the guy behind the software behind the business - Light Blue Software.  We've used this software for over a decade and it is the one application that each of us here is guaranteed to log into every single day.

Tom asked if I would help spread the word about an offer that Light Blue extending to all of their customers (new and old) to help through these difficult times and so I thought it would be a good opportunity to invite Tom onto the podcast and ask him about the software, why it's important to track your data and what the future holds.  An interesting interview with a really genuinely lovely guy - who, like me is a techy!

For details of the generous support Tom and the team at Light Blue are offering, head to lightbluesoftware.com.

As is our way, I also asked Tom to nominate a book for our ever-burgeoning library of the curious and the inspirational and his nomination is Landscape Within by David Ward

You can get second-hand copies (and I think there are one or two very expensive new copies around - it's no longer in print) on both Amazon and Abe Books. I've just ordered a copy for the studio for just £11.99 so it's an absolute steal!

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 

During a conversation the other day, a visiting photographer to the studio passed a comment about the frames he displayed in the entrance to his own studio.  This one, short, passing comment, led me to the obvious observation that first impressions count.  And, importantly, you cannot have a second go at it.

But everyone knows that right?  Of course.  So I thought I'd take a walk through our studio here to see if we live up to that very same ideal that I so often advise others.

Listen to the podcast to see if our clients' initial impact when arriving at the studio is everything I think it should be!

During the podcast I mention the one-on-one workshops we run here at our studio, right in the heart of our little village.  More details can be found at https://www.paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk/photography-workshops/

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 

Relating to your client is a key skill in social photography - and there is no escaping it.  Whatever it takes, you need to find ways of having a meaningful conversation even if you're client is (literally) a rocket scientist!

Right now I am sitting at the 2020 Societies Of Photographers Convention, typing this in the hotel bar, watching photographers laughing and joking as we begin the annual print judging.  Always fun.  Hopefully I'll get a chance to record daily updates while I'm here but we'll see how it goes!

In the meantime 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 

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 

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