The Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast

Photographers are supremely visual, right?  Of course.  But have you ever wondered about the power of words?  Two words, in particular, can have a bigger impact than any image ever can (and I am speaking as someone whose entire life is living and breathing pictures).  The words? "Thank You".  These two words, when given or received, can bring a huge amount of joy.  Trust me.

In the podcast, I mention the dates of our upcoming workshops:

• 6th March, Mastering Essential Studio Lighting
• 20th March, Mastering Available Light
• 3rd April, Mastering Headshot Photography
• 17th April, Mastering Your Creative Workflow From Shutter To Print
• 15th May, Mastering Advanced Studio Lighting
• 5th June, Mastering Available Light On Location In Oxford

These can all be found on our website.

Every workshop is limited to six delegates so we can fine-tune the content for the attendees.  They're an absolute blast! If you're a portrait photographer, whether a pro or looking to break into the industry, these workshops are perfect for you.  We also provide a delicious lunch!  Never underestimate the need for good food! haha.

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. 

I recorded this podcast at 7am while sat in the studio, waiting for a new TV to be delivered.  Luckily it actually arrived when they said it would!  The TV is for our Client Reveal Room as we want our customers to have the best possible experience when they come back to see their pictures.

But exactly how do you figure out where to spend your limited budget?  On things that benefit your client, that's where!

In this episode, I mention a couple of different things.  Firstly, a reminder of the colour correction tool I love: Imagen AI If you use this link: https://www.imagen-ai.com/start?ref=paulwilkinson the lovely guys at Imagen AI will give you 1500 free (yes 1500 FREE) file corrections.  I get some as well, so feel free to use the link, and we BOTH get a freebie!

We have just announced a brand new workshop: Mastering The Essentials Of Studio Lighting.. This workshop is very anyone who is venturing into studio lighting and wants to get to grips with creating stunning images with simple techniques and easily available kit.  We'll go through everything you need to know, from setting up the camera to getting the best out of your space.  Details can be found at https://www.paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk/store/workshops/mastering-essential-studio-lighting-21st-november-2022/ As always with our workshops, the number of attendees is strictly limited to 6 (or half a dozen if you prefer it in words) so everyone gets plenty of time to try things out and ask questions.

At the mentioned workshop, we'll be serving a delicious lunch care of the guys at What's Cooking.  Admittedly this link is a little geo-restrictive (I doubt it's much use to listeners more than a few miles away!), but the lunch was sooooo good at the last workshop that I felt we just had to give a quick link!

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. 

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 

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 

In this interview, I get to spend a very happy hour in the company of Melanie East, an extraordinary Newborn Photographer and Trainer: Melanie is known around the world for her passion and creativity for newborn photography and is the author of the book The Art Of Newborn Photography.  She is equally passionate about running a business which is key to the success of any social photographer!

We get to talk about how (and why) she became a newborn photographer; her views on safety; running a business; the love of the sales process and her taste in soft furnishings (which, it has to be said, is flawless.)

Her chosen book - which I initially struggle to spot under a huge pile of publications that permanently resides on her coffee table - is the Icons Of Photography by Peter Stepan which is a wonderfully worthy addition to our ever-expanding library.  And you can get 2nd-hand copies for less than a fiver!  Bargain.

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 

In this podcast it is an absolute joy to interview the fantastic documentary photographer, Mark Seymour.  Mark has spent many years at the top of the wedding profession but is equally at home (maybe more at home these days) creating iconic street documentary images - so much so that images are featured in the National Geographic magazine.

In the interview we talk about many aspects of life, the job and family and Mark's disaster one fateful day when a concerned wedding venue had to call to ask him why he hadn't yet arrived!

As an avid collector of books, Mark mentions three in particular (though the titles here are not quite as he recalls):

1. Contact Sheets, Magnum (one that we have featured previously)
2. The Life Of A Photograph by Sam Abell  (during the podcast, Mark refers to this as "Two Shots" which may have been an overseas title of the book - at least, I couldn't find any reference to a book of that name but, given Mark's description, this appears to be the correct one.)
3. The World from My Front Porch by Larry Towell

These links go to abebooks.co.uk which has a vast range of titles available and is noticeably cheaper than Amazon!

If you're interested in attending one of Mark's incredible Street Photography courses, details can be found here.

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 

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!

One of the most useful things any photographer can do, is attend seminars, workshops and trades shows, and one of the biggest of those in the UK is the SWPP Convention.

I have always loved this convention for its mix of networking and learning - plus it’s just after Christmas which gives me something in the calendar to look forward to as the memory of sherry, mince pies, pine needles stuck in your socks, refuse cans stuffed full of discarded (and non-recyclable wrapping paper), the fire hazard that is tinsel, bloated stomachs, impressively average cracker jokes, the Queen’s speech and dodgy afternoon movies fades into the dim and distant past.  Just when you think the next thing to get excited about is an Easter egg or the hope of a Valentine’s card, there’s the SWPP Convention to cheer you up and set you on your way for the year.

In this podcast it is my pleasure to be chatting to Juliet Jones who, as Managing Director of the Societies, is responsible for putting on one of the my favourite networking events of the year.

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!

This podcast is an interview with Katy Walsh, photographer, owner of Red Fox Studios in Henley and the founder of a new venture: We Are Curious Photography Workshops. Katy is lovely and we talk about her background, how she founded the studio and what she's hoping will come from the new workshops.

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 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 us at info@masteringportraitphotography.com.