The Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast

Well, this is the last episode of 2021.  Unless I find a moment to drag myself away from the turkey, pigs in blankets, roast potatoes, cheese, Quality Street, sherry, wine, stuffing, more turkey, more cheese and maybe just a tad more sherry.  Oh go on then, if I must, best make it a small one.

In this episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with Grays Of Westminster - a legendary shop of all things Nikon.  I am speaking with Becky and Kon from the shop who not only run rings around me with their knowledge of Nikon gear but are two of the nicest people you can imagine!  It is a lovely interview, irrespective of the camera brand you use. Mostly we chat kit, customer service and the imminent Z9!

In the interview, I ask them both for the book recommendations.

Kon recommended Wonderland, by Annie Leibovitz: 

‘Looking back at my work, I see that fashion has always been there,’ Annie Leibovitz observes in the preface to Wonderland. ‘Fashion plays a part in the scheme of everything, but photography always comes first for me. The photograph is the most important part.  And photography is so big that it can encompass journalism, portraiture, reportage, family photographs, fashion ... My work for Vogue fueled the fire for a kind of photography that I might not otherwise have explored.’ 

Becky recommended The Real Deal, by Jo McNally

'Joe writes about everything from the crucial ability to know how to use (and make!) window light to the importance of creating long-term relationships built on trust; from lessons learned after a day in the field to the need to follow your imagination wherever it takes you; from the random and lucky moments that propel one s career to the wonders and pitfalls of today s camera technology. For every mention of f-stops and shutter speeds, there is equal discussion about the importance of access, the occasional moment of hubris, and the idea of becoming iconic. Before Joe was a celebrated and award-winning photographer, before he was a well-respected educator and author of multiple bestselling books, he was just Joe, hustling every day, from one assignment to the next, piecing together a portfolio, a skill set, a reputation, a career. He imagined a life and then took pictures of it. Here are a few frames.'

I'll be adding them to the library!

If you'd like to see some of their videos, they can be found on YouTube (or just search for 'Grays Of Westminster')

Have a wonderful Christmas, one and all and here's to a happy New Year!

Enjoy!

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. 

If you'd like to use one of the other players out there, why not try Vurbl?  

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. 

If you'd like to use one of the other players out there, why not try Vurbl?  

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. 

If you'd like to use one of the other players out there, why not try Vurbl?  

After the last episode's interview with Sarah (my one-and-only!), this week, I am talking to another husband and wife team - Terrie and Colin Jones from The Societies Of Photographers.

I have been a very happy member of The Societies (when I joined it was still just The Society Of Wedding And Portrait Photographers - The SWPP) and so it so good to sit and chat - remotely I might add - with two of the nicest, hardest working people in the industry.

The Societies provides a range of benefits for photographers from mentoring, training, networking, promotions, negotiating discounts for members, magazine subscription, qualifications, competitions and so much more.

If you're interested in the benefits mentioned by Colin, head to this page and you can see the various links there.

As always, I ask my interviewees for a book nomination for our ever-growing library of things to fascinate photographers.  Terrie and Colin nominated Mastering Lighting & Flash Photography by our good friend, and incredible photographer, Richard Bradbury.

I loved this interview: two genuinely nice people, 60 minutes of chit chat and a lot of laughing.  

Enjoy!

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. 

If you'd like to use one of the other players out there, why not try Vurbl?  

Well, it's been 99 episodes to date, and now this, the 100th!  Whoever thought we'd get to that milestone?  Well, it's entirely down to you amazing people, our subscribers and the feedback we get: that and the cathartic effect of chatting about life as a professional portrait photographer.

Over the past 99 episodes, some of my favourites have been the various interviews with many more to come, and there isn't anyone I'd rather be chatting with than my amazing wife and co-director Sarah.  So I thought this episode would be a nice moment to grab a glass of wine and look forward to the lockdown restrictions being lifted.  Oh, and to reminisce about some of the things that have gone wrong over the years!

All while trying to silently consume olives, peanuts, ciabatta and wine! Ah, you gotta love a romantic Friday evening; just the two of us and microphones.

Enjoy!

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. 

If you'd like to use one of the other players out there, why not try Vurbl?  

Things are definitely looking up! Today, I had my vaccine, and I cannot help but think things are (gradually) appearing more positive.  At the end of the day, vaccines are the only way out of the pandemic, so it feels good to not only have done my bit but also to see what an amazing job the NHS and all those volunteers are doing getting it out there - and it's all being done with huge smiles and a ton of love.

Graphistudio is running a Live Lounge on the 6th / 7th March, so I thought it would be a great time to get Graphistudio UK's Managing Director into an interview to talk about the state of the industry, the future of social photography and to get excited about what's going to be broadcast during the event.

As always, I asked for a book to add to the library - and this one is an absolute stunner (it's smart, inciteful and tells exactly what it's like to be the wife of an MP.) It's called "The Diary Of An MPs Wife" by Sasha Swire and it's a great read, though a bit depressing if you think politics should all be above board and completely democratic!

Incidentally, this podcast was recorded with a video version as well - if you'd like to watch Jeremy and me chatting (and who wouldn't?!) then head over to Youtube to see the version.  Would love to know what you think and whether it's worth producing all of our podcasts like this.

Enjoy!

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. 

If you'd like to use one of the other players out there, why not try Vurbl?  

In this interview, I get a chance to talk with the incredible photographer, Sanjay Jogia.   To quote from Canon's website (he is a Canon Ambassador):

Sanjay Jogia is one of the world's most decorated wedding photographers, with a clutch of awards from both the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers (SWPP) and Wedding & Portrait Photographers International (WPPI). The Briton is known for capturing a mix of posed and unposed images, all bursting with emotion and charm. He also shares his expertise, travelling the world to deliver lectures and workshops.

Serving the luxury wedding market, Sanjay's company, Eye Jogia Photography, specialises in wedding photography of the most demanding kind: destination weddings all over the world, and Indian weddings, which pose distinct challenges compared to other types of ceremony. "Indian weddings are more intense and much longer: a typical day can be 12 to 16 hours," says Sanjay. "There are many separate rituals on the day of the main ceremony, and all the days tend to be an onslaught of colour, energy, emotion, socialising and fun."

Well, that may be the official line but I know him as someone who I thoroughly enjoy judging with - his sharp attention to detail, the emotion and his humanity (he is always respectful of each and every image we assess) make him a pleasure to work alongside.

In this interview we talk about a wide range of topics though I had originally intended to talk about what we have learned through judging - it is still in there somewhere but there is much more besides! 

I talk about one particular image in the podcast - this is that image:

I just love the subtlety of it! More of Sanjay's beautiful work can be found at https://www.eyejogia.com/

As always, I asked him for a book submission for ou library and he recommended  "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki. This is a book I've read a couple of times and is well worth the investment!  

Enjoy!

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. 

If you'd like to use one of the other players out there, why not try Vurbl?  

In a podcast last year, I lamented that I had lost a little mojo - the penalty for having a massively busy season prior to that.  This triggered a couple of threads of conversation, one of which is this interview with Trevor Long PhD.

To quote from his bio: "Trevor brings an extensive experience in education and consultancy to this work, from many different countries and cultures, with a primary interest in individual development as a means of building long-term growth and well-being.  Working with several business schools, including Cambridge, Duke, Henley and Warwick, he has designed and delivered programmes on strategy, leadership, change, personal development and cultural awareness. He focuses on the educational content of the charity.

In this fascinating interview, Trevor talks about ways in which we can be more creative, stay motivated and generally be happier in everything that we do.  And right now?  Well, I'll take every bit of information on joy and contentment that I can find!

Trevor, and his wife Nikki, run a charity in The Gambia, called Be Reel, that helps the community form viable, sustainable micro-businesses to feed themselves and their families.  Details of the charity can be found here.  

As always, I asked Trevor to nominate a book for our every-growing Photography Library here at the studio.  In typical enthusiastic fashion, he nominated two!

The first is called "Mindfulness And The Natural World", by Claire Thompson:

The second, by Micah Mortali, is called Rewilding.

Enjoy the interview and please share with anyone you think might find it useful.

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. 

I don't know quite what inspired me for this podcast, but I thought it would be interesting (and so it proved to be) to invite someone onto the podcast that really does understand relationships and the language that people use.

Every day in a portrait photography business, we're facing families and couples, watching their behaviour, listening to their conversations and creating beautiful images of them and their loved ones.  I wondered if there were techniques we could use to improve their experience - in particular, ways of diffusing the natural tensions that are present when a family arrives for a portrait session.

Kate Nicolle is a long-standing friend and client of the business and, as it happens, is also a qualified relationship counsellor.  The way she views a couple is going to be distinctly different from the way we see things through the viewfinder, but there is plenty to be learned in this conversation.

We mention the portrait session that Kate and her friends, Karen and Rachel, had a few years ago (and the picture that now hangs in her downstairs loo!) If you're curious, a short blog about this can be found here on my portrait website.

If you'd like to see more of what Kate is involved in, her website can be found at www.katenicolle-happierrelationships.co.uk and she is, truly, one of the nicest, smartest people you could meet! 

NOTE!  If you would like a virtual relationship counselling session, Kate has very kindly offered a 20% discount to anyone who mentions this podcast!

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. 

In this episode, I get a chance to talk to the team of qualification judges that I am privileged to be a part of for the British Institue of Professional Photography.

I thought it would be interesting (and so it proved to be) to ask each of them before and after the judging, what they would love to see, what (after the fact) was a highlight and what they would say to anyone thinking of getting themselves qualified.

The two days of judging are really intensive - you can hear the fatigue in the judges' voices later in the podcast - but what they have to see is inciteful and priceless.

The judges in this episode are:

• David Stanbury - https://www.stanburyphotography.co.uk/
• Catherine Beltramini - http://www.catherine-beltraminiphotography.com/
• Sean Conboy - http://seanconboy.com/
• Saraya Corteville - https://sarayacortaville.co.uk/
• James Musselwhite - https://www.portraitofawrestler.com/
• and me - https://paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk

The chair of judges is Scott Johnson -https://www.theedgephotography.co.uk/

And if that weren't enough, I also get the chance to chat with Martin Baynes, the CEO of the British Institute of Professional Photography about qualifications and what the future holds.

• The British Institue Of Professional Photography - https://www.bipp.com/

So, all in all, quite a long podcast (just over an hour), but well worth it. So pour a cuppa, sit back and enjoy an insight into the judges and judging for professional photography qualifications.

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