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Tales, techniques, tricks and tantrums from one of the UK’s top portrait photographers. Never just about photography but always about things that excite - or annoy - me as a full-time professional photographer, from histograms to history, from apertures to apathy, or motivation to megapixels. Essentially, anything and everything about the art, creativity and business of portrait photography. With some off-the-wall interviews thrown in for good measure!
Episodes
Friday Jul 09, 2021
EP108 On Treating Each Client Like They're You're ONLY Client
Friday Jul 09, 2021
Friday Jul 09, 2021
Have you ever stood back and thought about how you feel when your suppliers forget that, while you may be one of the thousands of customers to them, they are the ONLY supplier to you? It has always irritated me that companies forget themselves and send out blanket messages that remind me that I am just one of their masses, yet another annoying customer - possibly the worst message you can possibly receive.
The asymmetry of that relationship between a client and a company is really at the heart of customer service: making sure that your clients feel truly unique is one of the keys to a successful business.
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?
Saturday Jun 19, 2021
EP107 On The Importance Of Polished Shoes
Saturday Jun 19, 2021
Saturday Jun 19, 2021
As a kid, I hated polishing my shoes. Every week, on a Sunday evening before school, I would be sent out, brushes in hand, to put some shine on my trusty (and boring) Clarke's shoes.
These days, I do it religiously before each and every wedding. And I do it willingly.
In this episode, I muse about that and why such inconsequential details matter so much.
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?
Sunday Jun 06, 2021
EP106 On Taking Pride In Everything You Do
Sunday Jun 06, 2021
Sunday Jun 06, 2021
In this episode, sponsored by Panasonic eneloop Pro Rechargeable Batteries, I am pondering on the difference between being 'proud' and 'taking pride' in everything you do. A subtle but important distinction - particularly if you're British and have been brought up that pride always comes before a fall!
Some ideas about how to get around that familiar feeling of not wanting to brag about your images - tell the client how amazing they look instead! Much more comfortable for us Brits and has the added bonus of making the client feel great too!
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?
Saturday May 22, 2021
EP105 On Using Your Own Portfolio To Inspire YOU!
Saturday May 22, 2021
Saturday May 22, 2021
In this episode I'm back in the Land Rover Defender heading out to buy our evening's supper: fish'n'chips! We were due to go and sit on a hill side and eat them with a pint of beer but, sadly, the brassic weather has other ideas. Instead, I am pootling through Midsommer Murders territory on a wet and wild Friday evening.
In this episode, sponsored by Panasonic Eneloop Pro Batteries, I have an idea about how you might use your own portfolio - the images that you've taken that you love - to inspire you and keep you energised ready for whatever walks through the door.
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?
Friday May 14, 2021
EP104 On The Courage For Competitions
Friday May 14, 2021
Friday May 14, 2021
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?
Saturday May 01, 2021
EP103 On The Witchery Of Words (And The Power Of The Positive)
Saturday May 01, 2021
Saturday May 01, 2021
Have you ever wondered how just a few words can make your day or break your heart? In this episode I ponder on how words are the backbone of portrait photography: during the shoot, they're the only thing you have!
From the minute your client arrives, to the moment you're saying your goodbyes and waving them from your doorstep (you do actually make the effort to see them to their card don't you?!), it's your words and what you say with your body language that is going to make or break the shoot. Yes, the images will ultimately be the thing you sell, but the experience and the way your client feels during the shoot are so much important than any pixels can be.
Words. It's all in the witchery of the words.
I mention a piece of software called FoCal in the episode - this is a fantastic app for calibrating your lenses if you happen to own a Nikon or Canon camera (sorry Fuji, Sony, and Olympus users!) It was recommended by one of our Mastering Portrait Photography members - Bob Foyers (https://foyers.photography/) and may be one of the most useful apps I will see all year!
FoCal can be found here: https://www.reikanfocal.com/ You're welcome. Oh, and thanks to Bob for mentioning it!
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?
Friday Apr 23, 2021
EP102 On Leaving Lockdown And Loving To Laugh!
Friday Apr 23, 2021
Friday Apr 23, 2021
It's been an amazing week and you can really feel the change in energy as the Covid lockdown is gradually eased. Emails coming in, the phones are ringing, shoots are happening (rather than perpetually postponed) and in-person sales sessions are back and in full force! Yay!
On the other hand, everything feels rusty, unfamiliar and slightly unnerving. Weird. Getting back up to speed is going to be an exciting process for us here at the studio! Every day is a school day huh?
As long as we're laughing all the way, things will be just fine!
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?
Friday Apr 02, 2021
Friday Apr 02, 2021
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?
Saturday Mar 20, 2021
EP100 An Evening In With My Missus: My Favourite Place To Be!
Saturday Mar 20, 2021
Saturday Mar 20, 2021
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?
Friday Mar 12, 2021
EP99 Who Buys All The Ugly Cars?
Friday Mar 12, 2021
Friday Mar 12, 2021
One from the Land Rover this week - I recorded it while heading over to photograph puppies at the Hearing Dogs UK Charity. Tough gig huh?
A bit of a rambly update, I admit, but the excitement of being out in the sunshine had taken hold. I was later to find that the sunshine belied just how cold it was! That'll teach me not to forget my coat! Anyway, that was later. In this podcast, there is a short update on life, broken websites, flat batteries and scrubbing the studio spotless like a surgical theatre ready to be open for commercial clients.
The actual subject of this mobile recording, is "Who Buys All The Ugly Cars" (or, with a more business-style paraphrase, "There is a market for everything.")
Please do subscribe to the podcast and leave a review - it's a nice thing to do and we really appreciate it!
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?