The Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast

A couple of weeks ago, we judged the British Institute Of Professional Photographers (BIPP) 2022 national print competition.

I have always loved being a judge and now, in my role as Chair Of Qualifications And Awards for the BIPP, I couldn't be happier!  I get to see so many incredible images and sit with so many incredible photographers.  It's one of the best gigs imaginable.

In the first half of the episode, I step through the rigour of judging, how it is done, and how we ensure it is fair. In the second half of the episode,  I go through some of the notes I made while the judges assessed and commented on each of the entries.

If you are curious about image competitions or fancy entering one - not just the BIPP competition - some of the things we spotted might be of use to you!

Enjoy!

Cheers
P.

If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography, for more articles and videos about this beautiful industry. You can also read a full transcript of this episode.

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. 

At the end of a long week, the exhaustion can creep up on you.  Fatigue is not an unusual feeling for a professional photographer.  But finding your source of energy, whether it's your work, your clients, your colleagues or just some time out with family, is crucial.

For me?  Well, for me it's always been about people in one form or another!

The details of the Photo Hubs Oxford workshop mentioned in this episode can be found at:

https://photohubs.co.uk/product/oxford-light/

This is a hands-on, three-hour workshop for no more than ten people and is all about the thing that I love doing most: finding and using available light for fantastic portraits!

Would love to see you there!

Cheers
P.

If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography, for more articles and videos about this beautiful industry. You can also read a full transcript of this episode.

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 episode is recorded from my nearly-finished workshop which, while it is ultimately built for making things, also seems to have great acoustics!  That wasn't a design choice but it makes for a coincidentally glorious recording studio!

It's great at the studio right now, as everything is opening back up and the business is returning to its familiar buzz.  

This episode, sponsored by Panasonic Eneloop Pro Batteries, discusses entering and learning from image competitions: you cannot win if you don't enter - and there may be other rewards beyond the obvious prizes! Besides, if you're careful about which ones you enter, they're completely anonymous unless you win something!  How scary can it be?  And yet, they are just that: scary.  But if you can find a way past the fear, the rewards make the nerves worthwhile.

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?  

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 

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 

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 

It's just me this episode, wittering away about the week that's been and something that was raised during a recent presentation to a camera club: that photography judges can be pretty rude.  And I don't think it's right or proper that this is the case: judges should be polite, constructive, inspiring, entertaining and, most of all, supportive.

During this episode, I also mention the announcement of The 2 Fellows Workshop - details for the 2020 workshop in Graphistudio's Castello Ceconi can be found at www.the2fellows.co.uk. We'd love to see you there!

If you did 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 

Photography competitions can be a bit of a mystery: what are judges looking for; how do I prep the images; what subjects do better than others; how much post-production is encouraged? The list goes one.

As Head Of Judging for the Societies, Terrie Jones is in charge of one of the biggest photographic competitions in the UK and so I thought it would be fun to have a chat about her views and to talk about the fast-approaching SWPP Convention in London in January 2019.  If you're curious about photography competitions then it is well worth listening to what she has to say as there are plenty of insights in this interview.

Terrie recommends a book during the podcast: it's called 'Book Of Judges' and is by Vincent O'Byrne and can be bought directly from his website here.

Details of the Convention can be found at http://swpp.co.uk/convention/ and you can find more information about the Superclass and Masterclass that I'm hosting at http://swpp.co.uk/convention/2019/speaker-bio-Wilkinson4840.htm These proved to be hugely popular last year (though I don't think I'll be presenting in black tie this year!) and we would love to see you in 2019!  Please do come along and make this party everything we'd love it to be!

If you enjoy this podcast, 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 head over to iTunes and leave us a review - they're really useful for driving up our audience and our position in search engines!

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 

Enjoy!