The Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast

I recorded this episode in my second favourite place on earth - the local pub - with a pint in hand and a genuinely fascinating guest across the table. David Finch spent most of his career in marketing and creative agencies, most recently selling Purple Frog, a marketing consultancy. He now runs Thinking In Fields, which focuses on decision architectures - helping businesses bring AI into their operations in a coherent, orchestrated way rather than a scatter-gun approach. David introduced me to two ideas I hadn't heard before, and I was quietly furious about that. The first is the Book of Remarkability - a framework for understanding what makes your business distinctive. The spine of the book is your emotional hook, the cover unpacks it, and the bulk of the content is 24 short stories from clients describing the value you created for them, in their words. Only six pages are yours to explain how you do it. It's based on the Canterbury Tales, and it's a genius analogy. The second is the swimming pool with five lanes - customers in lane one, your people in lane five, your processes in lane three. AI sits in lane two (improving the customer journey) and lane four (improving internal efficiency). Most businesses focus on lane four and quietly destroy the customer experience. Some nail lane two but then drown their team with demand they can't fulfil. The whole point is keeping the business moving coherently through all five lanes at once. We talked about AI as a team member rather than a tool - the most intelligent five-year-old you've ever met! Knows everything, but doesn't know what to do with it. David's view is you want to train it to be a teenager and never let it become an adult, because a teenager still has a bit of creative spark and a spiky opinion. Train it to full adulthood and it homogenises everything - it's a probability engine, and probability gives you 80% of the answer, perfectly averaged. The conversation moved into what AI genuinely can't do - and that comes down to human experience. It has never had a first kiss, lost someone it loved, or stood in a field at a beer festival. Any task that depends on that kind of felt, embodied knowledge is still ours. The challenge is that a lot of what we thought required that - writing, design, commercial photography, music composition - turns out not to need it as much as we assumed. For photographers specifically, David's view is that weddings and portraits are relatively safe for now, because the human interface is the whole point. Commercial photography is more exposed - brands are bringing production in-house, and that overcapacity will push talented commercial photographers into our market. The answer isn't to chase efficiency. It's to charge for value, not hours. Ask clients what they genuinely value, attach a price to that, and let the production tasks flow through the tools that do them best. David ended with a metaphor I loved - the future of creative business isn't a pyramid or even an obelisk. It's going to be full of jazz bands. Highly talented people jamming together, creating something that no algorithm could have predicted. I hope he's right.----more----If you have enjoyed the episode, please do subscribe wherever it is that you get your podcasts! Transcript Paul: [00:00:00] Let's hit record both channels. Recording. At which point I put my podcast voice on. You've gotta forgive me. Alright. David: Okay. Paul: Uh, alright, well cheers David. David: Cheers. Paul: Um, well today instead of being in the Land Rover, I thought I'd come and frequent my second favorite place on earth. Uh, the local pub. So I'm sitting here with a really interesting guy I've known for years, um, who will introduce himself in a moment. But if you can hear background noises, that's because there ARE background noises. David and I are sitting in a corner with two pints of beer , and we are gonna chat all things to do with the direction of travel in creative industries. I'm Pa

I’m back after a bit of a stop-start spell with the podcast, and I’m talking honestly about headspace, mojo, and how hard it can be to create when you’re just not feeling it. The main point I wanted to cover is this: there’s more than one way to do things in photography, and the “that’s wrong” comments (especially online) completely miss the point. I’m sharing why I try to frame everything as my way, not the way, and how clients, time, kit, and real-world constraints always shape what works. I also give you a quick update on upcoming workshops, where to find the new short-form video content, and what I’ll be covering next after a couple of judging days. Key links Mastering Portrait Photography Our Reels & Shorts Mastering Portrait Photography on YouTube Workshops mentioned Mastering Dogs With Their Owners workshop (9 Feb 2026) Mastering Advanced Studio Lighting (16 Mar 2026) Mastering Portrait Photography Bootcamp (11–12 May 2026) Transcript [00:00:00] So hello one and all. This is the Mastering Portrait Photography podcast, which hasn't, hasn't been the most frequent in the past few months, one reason or another. Um, I just haven't managed to find either the time or if I'm more honest, I guess the headspace, the difficulty with doing anything creative is that if you don't feel it, if you're not right into it, and you know this as photographers, it's really hard to do it. And every time I've sat down, it's just been incredibly difficult to find, I suppose the words, I'm not sure that last year was the greatest year on earth. We got there, we grafted, but we got there, um, massively busy year, but I don't know if the positivity that we've had over the past years was quite, quite the same. And so in that context, it's been quite hard, I think. To, uh, be a photographer, to be a portrait [00:01:00] photographer, and also to record this podcast. So when I talk to people and they say they're not feeling it, I totally understand. Somebody in a workshop the other day, we always, at the beginning of every workshop we run here, we ask the people on it what they'd like to get out of it. And I think on every single one last year, and certainly the one we ran a couple of weeks ago, there is someone who will simply say. I've lost my mojo. What an interesting line given I think I've been feeling the same way about the podcast. Not that I haven't wanted to do it. I love doing it. I love sitting here and chatting. It's sort of like having my own personal counselor, you, but I just haven't really found the energy and the headspace, um, to do it. And for a million reasons, some of it to do with just the mood, the news. Politics, the weather. Um, and then just to compound everything over Christmas, I completely lost my voice [00:02:00] and I do mean, completely caused a lot of hilarity amongst my family and my team. But I had to do a couple of workshops at the convention. And they were quite squeaky. I literally sounded like squeaky from the toy story. Anyway, you'd be pleased to hear it's all back. It's all firing on all cylinders. 2026 is a new year. I'd like to say it's the start of a new year, but given it's February, I'm not even certain. I can say Happy New Year to all of you, but here we are. I'm Paul, and this is the return of the Mastering Portrait Photography podcast. So, hello one and all. I hope you're well. I hope the weather, I dunno what the weather's like all around the world. Of course I don't. But right here, right now in this bit of the world, it is miserable. We had to drive a Land Rover over to get, um, to. I think it's called an eyebrow repaired an odd, an odd phrase, but it's the bit of the wing that pro [00:03:00] protrudes over the wheel on the front, front driver's side. Because the other day as I was about to head out and do a job for the hearing dogs and with my client, my client's climbing into the car next to me and somebody decided the gap between my front driver's side wing and the wall next to

Husky voice, Friday night whiskey, and a mountain of cheese from the book launch. In this episode I lift the lid on what really happens inside a print judging room. The rotation of five from a pool of seven. Silent scoring so no one nudges anyone else. How a challenge works, what the chair actually does, and why we start with impact, dive through craft, then finish on impact again to see what survives. Layout over composition, light as the whole game, and a final re-rank that flattens time drift so the right image actually wins. If you enjoy a peek behind the curtain, you will like this one. You can grab a signed copy of the new Mastering Portrait Photography at masteringportraitphotography.com and yes, I will scribble in it. If you already have the book, a quick Amazon review helps more than you know. Fancy sharpening your craft in person? Check the workshops page for new dates and come play with light at the studio. The book: https://masteringportraitphotography.com/resource/signed-copy-mastering-portrait-photography-new-edition/ Workshops: https://masteringportraitphotography.com/workshops-and-mentoring/ Transcript [00:00:00] Hey, one and all. How are you doing? Now? I'll be honest, I still have the remnants of a cold, and if you can hear that in my voice, I do apologize, I suppose you could call it slightly bluesy, but you can definitely hear that I'm ever so slightly husky. It's Friday night, it's eight 30, and I was, I've been waiting a week to record this podcast, hoping my voice would clear it hasn't, and so I've taken the opportunity having a glass of whiskey and just cracking on. So if you like the sound of a slightly bluesy voice, that's great. If you don't, I'm really sorry, but whichever, which way I'm Paul. And this is the Mastering Portrait Photography podcast. So it's been a busy month or two. You can always tell when it's busy [00:01:00] 'cause the podcasts. Get, don't really get delivered in quite the pace I would like. However, it really has been a busy couple of weeks the past few. Let me, I'm gonna draw your attention to it. The past couple of weeks, we've, there's a ton of stuff going on around us for a moment. I was up in Preston. I've been up in Preston twice over the past couple of weeks. The first one was working as a qualifications judge for the BIPP, the British Institute Professional photographers. Um. Which I love judging. I love judging. It's exhausting, but I love it. And that was qualifications, panels. Then last week was the launch. Of the updated edition of Mastering Portrait Photography, the book, which is where it all started, where Sarah Plata and I published this book that seems to have been incredibly popular. 50,000 copies translated from English into four other languages. Chinese, Korean, German. And Italian, do not ask me, do not ask me the logic on why the book is in those [00:02:00] particular languages. To be fair, we only found out about the Chinese and Korean when we were trying to get some marketing material together to talk about the new book Nobody had told us. I'm not even sure the publisher knew, to be honest. Uh, but we have found copies. We have a Chinese copy here in the studio. I'm still trying to get a Korean version. So if you are listening to this. Podcast in Korea. Please tell me how to get hold of a version in Korean because we'd love to complete the set. There's, in fact, there's two Italian versions. We knew about that. There's a German version we knew about that hardback version. It's great. It's really beautiful. Very I, like I, I don't live in Germany and I don't like to stereotyping entire nation, but the quality of the book is incredible. It's absolutely rock solid, properly engineered. Love it. We have a Chinese version here but the Korean version still alludes us. However, this week the new version, mastering portrait photography is out. And as you know, I, Sarah interviewed me for the podcast last week to talk about it. Well, it's out. We've

EP166 Interview With Mark & Simon From Elinchrom UK I sit down with Mark Cheatham and Simon Burfoot from Elinchrom UK to talk about the two words that matter most when you work with light: accuracy and consistency. We dig into flash vs. continuous, shaping light (not just adding it), why reliable gear shortens your workflow, and Elinchrom’s new LED 100 C—including evenly filling big softboxes and that handy internal battery. We also wander into AI: threats, tools, and why authenticity still carries the highest value. Links: Elinchrom UK store/info: https://elinchrom.co.uk/ LED 100 C product page: https://elinchrom.co.uk/elinchrom-led-100-c Rotalux Deep Octa / strips: https://elinchrom.co.uk/elinchrom-rotalux-deep-octabox-100cm-softbox/ My workshop dates: https://masteringportraitphotography.com/workshops-and-mentoring/ Transcript: Paul: as quite a lot of, you know, I've had a love affair with Elinchrom Lighting for the past 20 something years. In fact, I'm sitting with one of the original secondhand lights I bought from the Flash Center 21 years ago in London. And on top of that, you couldn't ask for a nicer set of guys in the UK to deal with. So I'm sitting here about to talk to Simon and Mark from Elinchrom uk. I'm Paul and this is the Mastering Portrait Photography podcast. Paul: So before we get any further, tell me a little bit about who you are, each of you and the team from Elinchrom UK Mark: After you, Simon. Simon: Thank you very much, mark. Mark: That's fine. Simon: I'm, Simon Burfoot. I have, been in the industry now for longer than I care to think. 35 years almost to the, to the day. Always been in the industry even before I left school because my father was a photographer and a lighting tutor, working for various manufacturers I was always into photography, and when he started the whole lighting journey. I got on it with him, and was learning from a very young age. Did my first wedding at 16 years old. Had a Saturday job which turned into a full-time job in a retail camera shop. By the time I was 18, I was managing my own camera shop, in a little town in the Cotswolds called Cirencester. My dad always told me that to be a photographic rep in the industry, you needed to see it from all angles, to get the experience. So I ended up, working in retail, moving over to a framing company. Finishing off in a prolab, hand printing, wedding photographers pictures, processing E6 and C41, hand correcting big prints for framing for, for customers, which was really interesting and I really enjoyed it. And then ended up working for a company called Leeds Photo Visual, I was a Southwest sales guy for them. Then I moved to KJP before it became, what we know now as Wex, and got all of the customers back that I'd stolen for them for Leeds. And then really sort of started my career progressing through, and then started to work with Elinchrom, on the lighting side. Used Elinchrom way before I started working with them. I like you a bit of a love affair. I'd used lots of different lights and, just loved the quality of the light that the Elinchrom system produced. And that's down to a number of factors that I could bore you with, but it's the quality of the gear, the consistency in terms of color, and exposure. Shooting film was very important to have that consistency because we didn't have Photoshop to help us out afterwards. It was a learning journey, but I, I hit my goal after being a wedding photographer and a portrait photographer in my spare time, working towards getting out on the road, meeting people and being involved in the industry, which I love. And I think it's something that I'm scared of leaving 'cause I dunno anything else. It's a wonderful industry. It has its quirks, its, downfalls at points, but actually it's a really good group of people and everyone kind of, gets on and we all love working with each other. So we're friends rather than colleagues. Paul: I hesitate to ask, given the length

Join me in the foothills of the Dolomites for a warm, funny, and surprisingly philosophical conversation with Mauricio Arias — Graphistudio’s strategist, storyteller, and, as I’ve dubbed him, their “Product Philosopher.” We dig deep into why printed work still matters in a digital world, how to make your images sing in print (and what that print will brutally reveal), and what photographers need to believe if they want clients to invest in heirlooms, not hard drives. There’s laughter, there’s wine (not during the recording, I promise), and there’s a lot of heart. This one’s for anyone who’s ever asked: does my work really need to exist on paper? (Spoiler: yes. Yes it does.)Links:Graphistudio: graphistudio.comMauricio Arias: mauricioarias.art What Graphistudio Can Teach Us About Craft, Confidence, And Creating Heirlooms Featuring Mauricio Arias – from Episode 165 of the Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast This summer, I found myself at the foot of the Dolomites, tucked inside a sun-drenched meeting room at Graphistudio HQ, chatting with the wonderfully philosophical Mauricio Arias. He’s part strategist, part designer, part storyteller—now officially dubbed (by me) the Product Philosopher of Graphistudio. We’ve used Graphistudio products for over 15 years. Our clients love their albums and wall art. We love their consistency, their craftsmanship, and their beautifully obsessive attention to detail. So when Mauricio and I sat down for a conversation, I had one question in mind: Why does print still matter in a digital world? Mauricio’s answer was simple and heartfelt: because photographs are meant to be held. He spoke about growing up with albums on the coffee table and family portraits on the wall—how physical images root our memories in something real. But what stuck with me most was this: "Printing reveals both the beauty and the flaws." A great print will elevate your best work, but it also exposes any cracks in your post-production. It’s humbling. And it’s powerful motivation to keep improving. We talked about calibration (yes, you need it), about photography as an emotional craft, and about the importance of believing in what you offer. Because if you don’t believe your work belongs in an album or on a wall, how will your clients ever believe it? We also touched on the future—on AI, on trust, and on the rising value of human, handmade, tangible things. Heirloom prints are becoming more important, not less. 🎧 Listen to the Full Conversation Listen to this episode to hear the full interview with Mauricio Arias. There’s laughter, insight, and plenty of inspiration—especially if you’re in the business of turning moments into memories. 📬 Want More Like This? Subscribe to Mastering Portrait Photography for access to videos, articles, and behind-the-scenes tips to grow your photography business. Whether you're just starting or refining your craft, there's something for everyone. Explore Membership Written by Paul Wilkinson · Photographer, Educator, and Portrait Philosopher-in-Chief

In this episode, I dig into a question that’s always lurking in the back of a portrait photographer’s mind – what really makes light flattering? It’s a term we all use, but what does it actually mean? Is it just about soft shadows and low contrast, or is it more about the connection between the subject and the photographer? I talk through this while reflecting on a busy week – from a stunning wedding at Head Saw House to a corporate shoot for Barclays, and a spontaneous portrait session that reminded me why I love this job. I also share some thoughts on the updated Mastering Portrait Photography book, which hits shelves in September, complete with fresh images and a whole new chapter on AI post-production. If you’ve ever wondered what makes a light truly flattering – and why it’s about more than just the gear – this episode is for you. And as always, wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, be kind to yourself. CheersP. 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. Transcript ​ Well, as I sit here in the studio, the sun is shining in through the windows and it's been a beautiful, beautiful week. I started it with a trip down to Devon with the in-laws. One great thing about being married to Sarah, whose family are from Plymouth, there are many great things about being married to Sarah. But one of the ones, in terms of geography, at least, is her family still lived down in Plymouth, in Devon, by the sea. So it was absolutely glorious to spend a couple of days down there walking the dog, drinking a beer, enjoying the sunshine, and the sun is still shining here right now. And on that happy note, I'm Paul. I'm very much looking forward to a barbecue, and this is the Mastering Portrait 📍 Photography podcast. 📍 📍 So what did we do over the past week or so since I recorded the last episode? Well, Sarah and I went off and photographed the most beautiful wedding at a location called Hedger House, which is sort of in between us and London, give or take a bit. Um, and you'll have seen many, many Hollywood films, uh, that were shot there. None of which I can remember. There's a couple of James Bond films, a couple of Dustin h Dustin Hoffman films. I don't know, I should have paid more attention, but it is the kind of venue that you can imagine. Downton Abbey, uh, being filmed in. As it turned out, it was Abby and Rob's wedding. Um, beautiful. I've worked with the family for many years, photographed her brother's wedding, uh, a couple of years ago, and so we've been looking forward to this day enormously. And when Sarah and I work together, it is a great privilege. It's not just that Sarah, uh, Sarah's family are from the sea, but she's a fantastic photographer. Um, not that we've ever really used that talent, but if you think about it, it makes sense given that she must see. Well, I dunno how many hundreds of thousands of images every single year go past her screen. 'cause she does all the selections, but also she knows exactly, exactly what's required to design a great album. Because at the end of the day, I. It's Sarah designs them. So it was a real beautiful thing to be able to do. Sarah has created some wonderful imagery. We've also had a couple of portrait shoots, three or four this week, which I've really enjoyed today actually. We've had one came in for a reveal and one came in for a shoot. Two lovely families, and at the end of the day, that is still what this business is about. There is so much going on out there in the news about ai, about technology, about the economy. But in the end, the bi

Well, it's the day after The Socieities Of Photographers Convention in London. What a blast! Judging, laughing, making friends, presenting workshops, representing Elinchrom Lighting and Evoto Ai, learning, exploring, creating and very little sleeping! The Convention is quite something to be a part of! In this episode, I try and explain what it feels like to be a small part of it whether judging the print competition, presenting or mixing with the trade - the various stages I pretty much always go through from fear to elation and everything in between. Enjoy! CheersP. 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. Transcript Introduction and Post-Convention Exhaustion So late last night, we returned from the societies of photographers convention in London, and you can hear him. My voice. I'm exhausted. The convention is such an incredible thing. 3 4, 5 days. Of mixing with the trade running workshops, attending workshops. And one of the most important print competitions in the industry, and that is anywhere. In the world, it's been a blast. You can hear just how tired I am. But in this episode I thought I'd battled through the fatigue and talk to what it's like to be a judge, a presenter, and a delegate. At this incredible convention firsthand. I'm Paul, and this is a slightly weary. Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast. Well, hello, one and all. I hope you're all. Well, it's been a busy store to January. If I'm honest. Uh, we were hectic all the way up to the convention. And even today, the day after it's all over, I've just been photographing a family. Roles and Responsibilities at the Convention Uh, this year at the convention, um, I was a print judge, a presenter, and an ambassador for Elinchrom Lighting. Uh, the company that I just adore using their products. And so to everybody who I've met, everybody, I've talked to everybody who I've laughed with, shared a drink with shared an idea with. Maybe argued over print score with thank you. Thank you for making the Convention such a pleasure. However, as I was sitting on the train coming home, it struck me. That there are definitely stages stages to how you feel. When, at least in the role I have. Uh, your attending. The convention. The Nine Stages of Convention Experience Um, sort of like the five stages of grief, I suppose these are the nine stages that I go through each and every time I attend the convention. It's the thought processes, it's the things that make me tick. Uh, it's how I feel. It's how I feel before is how I feel through it, doing it in this, how I feel afterwards. So let me step through them. Um, as usually when I come to the end of a judging process, I'll talk to all of the things I heard during the judging and give tips on producing. Uh, competition level prints, but I've done that so many times, this year, I just thought I go through the emotions, the various stages. Did I feel every time. Um, I attend the convention. Stage 1: Excitement So let's start with the obvious stage one. Excitement. This kicks in the minute that, uh, the convention confirm. That you're going to be attending. They confirm that you're going to be running some talks. They confirm that you're going to be a judge. Um, there's a real kick, a real thrill when that comes in. And then you start to think about what you'll do you start to, you've already had to put some ideas in, so those are going to be the titles of the talks, but you start to really plan out what that might look like, and that's six months out. We will start to put in, um, our applications

So after three days of judging images for the British Institute Of Professional Photographers, it's time for me to step down from my role as Chair Of Awards And Qualifications. I have been in the role for three years and it is time for someone else to pick up the reins and run with it (if that isn't a mixed metaphor.) I have loved doing this and if it weren't for a million things I have to go on and do, I think I would do it forever! So as I drive home from my last round of qualifications - possibly the best one I've ever been involved in - here are a few musings of things I have spotted. This is a 'Tales From The Land Rover' edition so please forgive the audio quality and any mild road rage! Enjoy! CheersP. 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. Transcript EP158 Heading Home From The Awards Introduction and Event Recap [00:00:00] Paul In The Defender: So for those of you who love the Land Rover episodes, you'll be thrilled to hear that I'm just leaving the BIPP, the British Institute of Professional Photography Awards, uh, event 2024 25. Uh, why do we call it 2024 and 2025 is because if you get an award at the end of a year, it's a real pain from a marketing point of view if you can only say you have an award for 2024. So we call it 2024 slash 25, uh, just to extend the marketing value. So you're, you hold the titles for a year, , so why wouldn't we? Anyway, that's where I've been. I've just spent an absolute fortune on some fuel, uh, because I hadn't got a lot of choice but to fill up at a service station. [00:00:47] And I am just pulling in to traffic. He says, concentrating on driving. Driving and Multitasking [00:00:52] Paul In The Defender: I had a lovely, uh, lovely email from someone this week. , sorry I'm driving so I can't, uh, look up your name. I'm so, I think it was John McCarthy. I'm gonna go with John McCarthy. , who said, amongst many other things, uh, he doesn't know how I drive and record a podcast at the same time. [00:01:09] Well, the answer to that is I drive. And chat. Uh, there's not a lot of structure to it, , and a few people have said this week they like the podcast like that, uh, because, uh, they find it interesting to hear me ad libbing. I don't know whether that's, I don't know whether there's merit in that, but yeah, I am ad libbing because driving is the priority. [00:01:30] They also said, uh, John said, I'm sure it's John McCarthy. I hope it is, if not, uh, I'm crediting somebody who's a fictional character. , he also said that uh, he can hear in everything we're talking about just how busy we are here at the studio. And it must be hard to find the time to fit in to do the podcast, and it is, which is why, uh, I am recording while driving. [00:01:52] , but he did also go on to say, he loves it when we do them. Uh, they are really valuable. They don't just disappear out there into the ether. There are lots of you out there in the photographic community listening to, uh, hopefully enjoying, uh, at least to a, a greater or lesser degree, the podcast. [00:02:10] So here we are. I'm Paul, and this is the Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast. Well, hello one and all. Uh, I am in relatively. Reasonably slow, fast ish, medium paced traffic, which is not good for me getting home quickly. I've got about an hour and a half of driving, but it is good from a road noise point of view 'cause at this speed, the road noise in my Land Rover isn't quite as, uh, intrusive as it would be. I see. It's not so much the road noise as the wind noise in this thing. I'm just look

Well, this hasn't been the easiest of years with inflation, geographical tensions and all-out confrontations, terrible weather and political transitions. And last night the trusty Land Rover Defender broke down one more time. Possibly one LAST time. But through all of that, we have to look for the possibles - the light at the end of the tunnel. But maybe it's us that has to create, rather than simply walk toward, the light. Enjoy! CheersP. 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. Transcript EP156 - Creating Light At The End Of The Tunnel [00:00:00] Paul - Studio Rode Broadcaster V3: It's Sunday afternoon. It's late. It's getting dark. It's getting dark so early now. Um, Sarah finds it really depressing, but I love this time of year. I love the colors. I love the cool of the air. Though that said this has been well, a weekend of ups and downs. Uh, yesterday we photographed a beautiful wedding. Uh, Hannah and Tom, one of our clients, just the most stunning. Stunning day. [00:00:25] Sarah came with me because it was a bit of a handful. It was a lot of photography to get through far more far, far more. In fact, Then I would have liked to have agreed to. But in the end, it was one of those very complicated weddings where there was family from all over the world. And they wanted lots of different combinations of groups to be photographed in a very small space of time. [00:00:46] But they were the. The most incredible couple, the weather was beautiful. The venue were fantastic. The people there were amazing. And it was just, well, it was just a thrill to have Sarah at working alongside me, which made everything. Okay. Uh, the day before we'd spent with Jake, where. So we've gone up to Nottingham, stayed there for the night, had a wonderful night out and discovered amongst many other things, the magic of a wine bar that has vending machines, kid you not. So you put your card in. Uh, you can get a glass from any bottle of wine you like. And it was all just really, really lovely bit expensive, but really lovely. I also discovered the magic. Now I've not experienced these before I am 55 years old. And have never needed to use them. [00:01:29] Blister plasters. Yep. Blister plasters. So I bought a pair of Converse, uh, decided for a change to have a different style. And it turns out to be a style that cuts the hell out of the back of my feet. Uh, but didn't discover that until two hours into walking around Nottingham. So Sarah, obviously, a bit more used to these things than me having worn heels, um, showed me the glory that is a blister plastic. I'm still wearing them. They're great. [00:01:54] Anyway, an amazing day, a beautiful wedding, the following day. And then driving home. Last night, congratulating ourselves on having done a really good day's work, beautiful photographs, uh, into, uh, on the memory cards. Land Rover all packed up, um, and then proceeded to have a whole series of really irritating road closures, motorway closures queues, culminating in one [00:02:21] that turned out to be well, possibly the end of the Land Rover we're queuing and have been queuing for about half an hour. But by queuing. I mean, we're essentially stationary, just stop starting. And then I went to put it into first gear. Nothing. Absolutely no way of getting it into first gear. I've got my foot on the clutch, lift the clutch, nothing. Put my foot down, the pedal is staying stuck to the floor. [00:02:47] So I've got a couple of tons of land Rover in a single lane queue that no one can get round me. And it's n

There are many factors to success and I have listed many in these podcasts, but the brutal reality is that it takes hard work. Lots of it. There isn't a silver bullet, no matter what every influencer, marketer, salesman, advertorial or Facebook campaign might try to convince you - and AI ain't gonna fix it either. All I wish is that I could stop seeing the ads that tell me otherwise! Before all that, though, I head up the episode with a quick chat with Colin Jones, CEO of The Societies Of Photographers. This is one more in my series of interviews-from-the-photography-show (I need a snappier title) and it's interesting that once more, training and education are at the forefront of his thoughts. Also, I mention a brilliant app called EVOTO.AI in this episode. At some point I'll do a deep-dive into it but rest-assured, this is well worth exploring if, like me, you create portraits for a living. The guys have kindly given me a link you can use that gives you thirty free credits when you register: https://go.evoto.ai/PaulWilkinson One great thing about this app is that you only burn a credit up when export a finished image - you can test it out on as many as you like. This means those thirty credits could be enough for you to play around with as many images as you want until you're happy and then go ahead and run an entire portrait session through! Let me know what you think! CheersP. 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. Transcript EP153 It Takes Work And Life Would Be Boring Without Sarah Introduction to Colin Jones [00:00:00] I'm Colin Jones. I'm the CEO for the Society of Photographers. Excellent. It's lovely to see you as always, Colin. The Photography Show Experience [00:00:06] Tell me why you come to the photography show. Oh, the photography show is a great show. It's great to meet up with all the trade, seeing all the latest products and services in the industry and getting to network with other photographers. [00:00:17] It's a great show to come to. Passion for Photography [00:00:18] So, tell me why you love this industry so much. [00:00:21] Oh, I love the industry. I've always been part of the photography industry. It's been part of my family since my granddad and my dad, and it's an industry full of amazing people, creative people, uh, and, you know, so much passion for, for, for photography and for the craft of it. [00:00:35] And I love seeing people excel in the industry as well. [00:00:37] So that's all of the positives. Industry Improvements [00:00:38] But if, like everything, there was always things we could do better as an industry. If there's one thing, just one thing that you could change in this glorious passion of ours, what would it be? [00:00:48] I think I'd like to see photographers get more training, invest more time in training and more, more money in training. Uh, you know, I see, when we see people take that step and really invest in training to push not only their photography but their business, we see so much success. Uh, so I'd love to see training be more, , forefront of the industry. Importance of Training [00:01:04] When you're talking about training, what aspects do you think, photographers in the industry, certainly the industry we spend most of our time with, which is the UK industry, what do you think is the weak spot? Which direction do you think the development would be most applicable. [00:01:19] I think, uh, quite a lot of photographers, if they're in business, uh, that's where we see a lot of photographers really struggle getting clients through

So what does it take to be successful (at least as a portrait photographer?) In this episode I muse on the key building blocks that every successful photographer I've encountered seems to exhibit, at least to varying degrees! This episode also features a quick catchup with Andy Blake from Kaleidoscope Framing (https://www.kaleidoscope-framing.co.uk/) who have been our supplier for nearly twenty years. Why? Because their products and their customer service are second to none! The PMI Smoke Ninja Photographic Competition is now in full swing - deadline is 5th May so what's stopping you? Head over to https://pmigear.com/pages/smokeninja-portrait-contest to read all about it. The Smoke Ninja is genius! Actually, it should be called the Smoke Genius... I also mention Datacolor's excellent products in the podcast, in particular the Spyder Cube, the Spyder Checkr Photo and the Spyder Checkr Video - they can be found at https://www.datacolor.com/spyder/products/ We have used these products for years and years and I would never go on location without them! If you're interested in any of our workshops or masterclasses, you can find them at https://www.paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk/photography-workshops-and-training/ Enjoy! CheersP. 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. Transcript EP151 What does it take? [00:00:00] Meet Andy: The Heart of Kaleidoscope Framing [00:00:00] Hi, I'm Andy I'm the general manager at Kaleidoscope. [00:00:02] Tell me a little bit about Kaleidoscope. Kaleidoscope. Okay, so we're coming up to our 26th year in business. We are a bespoke picture framer, mainly for the photographic industry, so we basically can make anything you want. So, as long as we can actually build it, we'll do it, it's as simple as that. [00:00:18] Why Kaleidoscope Attends the Photography Show [00:00:18] Tell me why you come to the photography show. So we come to Photography Show, uh, mainly to obviously try and drum up more business, new customers, but also see our existing customers and show off our products, ideas, what we can achieve, what we can do, and try and inspire photographers into what they can tell and display their work like. [00:00:36] Andy's Passion for Photography and Its Impact [00:00:36] Why do you love the photography industry so much? I've always had a passion for photography. I know we've spoke before on your podcast, uh, from a young, young age. Um, don't do as much of it myself anymore. Uh, unfortunately, uh, more involved in this side. But I love photography in terms of what that moment can capture. [00:00:54] What you can hold that freeze frame, that image for time. Um, and look back at it. And just, you know, it's memories, isn't it? You're capturing memories, you're capturing happy moments, sad moments, uh, important moments, lots of different memories from people's lives at different times, so. [00:01:09] Uh, if you could change one small thing, or one big thing for that matter about this glorious industry, what would it be? [00:01:17] That's a tough one. I don't know. I don't know what I'd change. Um, obviously for us, for us as a company, I'd change in terms of trying to encourage people to sell more products. That was what, that's what we would change, uh, in terms of helping us as a business. [00:01:31] But it's, in terms of the industry? Sorry, on that note, I'll stop you and we'll just drill into that a little bit. [00:01:38] The Value of Physical Art in a Digital Age [00:01:38] Do you think that photographers understand the importance and the role that finishe

In this episode, I get to very briefly chat with Louis Wahl, CEO of WEX Photo Video. Turns out he is a really nice guy (and with luck, I'll get to chat to him in a full-length interview at some point in the future.) It's the great thing about the photography show - I get to meet loads of people! As well as the short chat, the episode is primarily a response to an email I received from 'Steve' asking what first strobe he should choose. Having sat and pieced together an answer, I thought it would be useful to make a podcast out of the answer. I guess you can be the judge of that! CheersP. 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. Transcript [00:00:00] My name is Lewis Wall, and I'm the CEO of Wexphoto Video. Okay. So maybe this needs just a little explanation at the photography show last week, which was a blast. I took my little handheld recorder and just grabbed a few people as I wanted ran the show. And I had a vision of creating one big podcast episode where multiple photographers could answer the same question. [00:00:25] Just questions about the industry, how they felt and why they were, where they're at the show. But when I played them back for a couple of reasons, I didn't think that that was going to work mostly. And you'll hear this in this little snippet. I get quite excited and an hour of that. Well, nobody needs that in their life. [00:00:42] So instead I'm going to sprinkle these little clips. Through some upcoming podcasts just for interest. And so you can hear the views. I have some really interesting people in our industry. [00:00:53] And I started with this guy. Now I bumped into him. And by accident. I was buying a memory card for the recorder. Actually. I needed additional memory card. And so I went and queued at warehouse express, WEX photo and video. Standing there quietly in the queue and the next chapter at the till waved his arm at me, I went over and while I was there, I noticed that it was Louis. It said on his badge CEO. Of WEX photo video. And do you know what I thought I chance, my arm and see if he would be willing to do a short interview. Well, you couldn't have met a nicer guy. And he was very willing to give me a few, a little bit of a viewpoint. And so we grabbed just five minutes and this is that interview. [00:01:33] And I start the conversation with why. Do you come to the photography show? This is where our customers are, uh, and they expect to get the service that we provide to them all the time in the stores, and we provide to them online, as well as our institutional customers, a lot of our professional customers, so, yeah, I mean, this has got to be the place to be. [00:01:52] Where else wouldn't you be at a time like this? This is a brilliant place for us to meet our customers. And, of course, I have to ask you, well, I guess it's an obvious question, but you're a supplier to this incredible industry. Why do you love the photography industry so much? Well, the one thing is that I don't come from a photographic background myself. [00:02:10] I actually come from a kind of a radio television production background. But it's all about the intrinsic desire that our customers have to accomplish something. There's an artistic need, so We've got a mission, which is to help our customers get the perfect shot every time and anytime. People come to us not to buy a black box with a camera in it. [00:02:31] They come to us because they've got a problem, and that's brilliant. So they've got a project, they've got a creative spark, they want to achieve something. And a

Yay! Other than a crappy cold, a very good week. Won a Gold Bar with the Guild Of Photographers a couple of days ago which got me to thinking about competitions: why we do them, how to do them and the fear of failure (when in fact, the only failure is to not enter at all!) There are one or two other things to bear in mind and I step through them in the podcast. Enjoy! CheersP. 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. Full Transcript: [00:00:00] I'm really sorry, it's just been one of those weeks. I have spent three days, three whole days at home feeling ill and mostly grumpy. Sorry, I don't take to being poorly particularly well. Whatever Michelle and Sarah had last week. Of course, I inherited it this week. It turns out that the word viral is not a joke. [00:00:25] It's just a cold, really, but it's been quite a horrible one. It hit my chest straight away, and I just felt awful, and if I'm honest, after three days off work this evening is the first time I've really felt sort of compos mentis. I've spent three days sitting in the lounge with the fire on. It's been cozy enough, but I've, I hate being unproductive. [00:00:46] I hate not getting through the lists that I've got to do. I hate the idea that I've wasted three days, but in the end, that had to be done. So as I sit here next to the fire watching back to back episodes of Law Order, I'm Paul, and this is the Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast. [00:01:07] [00:01:20] So I hope you're all feeling a little bit better than me, and in terms of the catch up of the week, well, I can't really say that I've done that much out of the seven days or so. Three of them have been spent laid up doing very little. Obviously, I'm still doing some coding, writing emails, and an awful lot of judging has been flowing through my world. Not this time, not just as a judge or as a chair of judges but also as a contestant. It's been an interesting time. [00:01:47] So, I judged for the FEP this week, the first of the final rounds of their annual image competition. I'm one of the judges on the portrait category. [00:01:58] 647 images, I think, were there to judge. And if you think about that as a volume of judging and all of our, all of the judges. Whether it's for the BIP that I chair for, whether it's for the SWPP, the Societies, whether it's for the Guild, whether it's for the FEP, the World Cup, it doesn't really matter what the judging is. [00:02:19] It takes time and we do it for nothing. Well, I say nothing. We don't do it for nothing, but we do it for free. And so, if you think about all of that, 647 images. If I went at it hell for leather and judged one image per minute with no breaks, that's still basically 11 hours of judging, which is an awful lot when you think about it. [00:02:45] And yet, we put ourselves through it. And I do it because I really enjoy it. I really love the process, I love seeing the images, though there is some disappointment when we're judging and the images haven't come up to standard. But, nonetheless, it's cathartic, it's inspiring, it's very therapeutic, it's quite a rhythmical sort of thing to do. [00:03:04] And I really love it. [00:03:06] On top of that, if that wasn't enough, the results to the BIPP monthlies came out the first BIPP monthly round. So this is a new competition for us. We've set it up to run parallel to the print competition, which opens up in sort of June time and it's judged in September. And they run side by side and they are different beasts. [00:03:27] So the print competition, exactly what it says on t