The Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast

Well, it's only gone and happened again: we're back in lockdown from this Thursday.  Finding out on a Saturday night that you have five working days left in what is normally the busiest month of the year, is not ideal, to put it mildly.  Still, we have to find ways of coping, ways of staying positive.  

This is a quick podcast I recorded to talk about the things we're doing here to stay in the right frame of mind to see our way through what is undoubtedly going to be a tough end of this year and, probably, beginning of next.

There are no silver bullets in here - just the things we're planning right now.

In the end, I have to think of this time as an opportunity: an opportunity to finish the jobs I never have time for; an opportunity to find new avenues for revenue and an opportunity to reach out to our clients when they, too, will be feeling low.

Taking control of what I CAN be in control of and figuring ways around everything I CAN'T be in control of is the only thing I can do.

I hope you're all OK and I hope this podcast is, in some way, useful.

Take care,
Cheers
P.

If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography, where there are articles and videos about this beautiful 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 like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk. 

Well this is one of those catchup episodes (I have discovered that our studio microwave has a grill!) but it also deals with one of those odd bits of human nature: that as you develop your talents and knowledge, the insecurity never seems to leave you.

Funny ol' world isn't it?!

Enjoy!

If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography, where there are articles and videos about this beautiful 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 like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk. 

Another Land Rover based podcast I'm afraid (at one point it sounds like I am being shaken to pieces!) but this time I have a little help with the noise reduction and sound quality.  Hopefully, it'll take the edge off it!

In this (bumpy) episode, I wanted to mull on the value of critiques, competitions, and qualifications and how judges, such as me, evaluate images across all genres irrespective of specialism and come to the conclusion they all have their place.

As for judging?  There is no shortcut - you need to have a wide variety of experience!

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 

You'll be happy to hear that this episode is recorded in the peace and quiet of our studio - actually, I had intended to record it in the studio garden as the cool and the smells of late summer and early autumn are so seductive.  Sadly, about a million drills, chainsaws, strimmers, lawnmowers and jackhammers ruined that for me.  It wasn't nearly as peaceful as I'd hoped!  Goodness knows what our neighbours are building!

Still, we're lucky to have a nice calm studio in which to record so, with a microphone, recorder and a cup of coffee, I decamped to our consultation room which is currently not being used as we impose some Covid-19 policies for safety.

Anyway, this podcast was triggered by a lovely email that included a question about whether someone who is gentle and quiet could be a successful wedding or portrait photographer: do you have to be energetic and confident or does gentle and reserved have its place too?

Here are my thoughts on the matter.

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 

Today's podcast was recorded as I travelled to photograph a wedding.  Given this is August 2020 (the year of Covid-19) that is not a particularly common occurrence, with most of our weddings being postponed to 2021 / 2022 so I am probably sounding a little giddy!

As usual, there is an update on what's been happening and then the main topic is all about understanding 'stops' - or, more precisely, why it's USEFUL to understand stops, even in this day and age of automatic everything. 

I promise I do, eventually, get to the point after going through the whys and wherefores of stops, their definitions and some examples.

So a slightly technical episode this one but hopefully useful nonetheless!

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 

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 

Along with thousands of other students, Jake, our son, has just had his 'A' level results. An interesting time to put it mildly.  However, it did get me thinking about how incredibly hard he worked for his mock exams (it's lucky he worked as hard as he did as it has meant he HAS been given a place on the university course that he desperately wanted!) and the parallels with our industry.

It is always easy to look around and think other people have it easy but the truth is that no-one gets to be successful without a huge amount of dedication and effort.  I'm not tub-thumping in this podcast, just musing on the fact that no matter what level you're at - or in what field - to make those next steps, you have to be prepared to put in a huge amount of work. But it is always well worth the effort.

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 

Still here, still in lockdown, still working like crazy to make sure we're ready for when things eventually open up again, as they must, inevitably do.

Right now, things are busy: we're re-designing our website and rebuilding a platform for our portfolio - a wonderful opportunity to go through images old and new and to decide which images we'll use for the next year or two in all of our literature and articles.  It's great fun but hard work!

This podcast is all about that task.

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 

Well, in just one week things have changed incredibly rapidly! But we're stocked up, we have each other and we are staying positive.  Together we can get through this thing.

So, for a while at least, the podcast will be shorter and (hopefully) more frequent. That way I might just be able to keep up with the latest news!

Stay safe and be kind to yourself.  Oh, and be kind to others too.

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