The E-commerce Content Creation Podcast

Summary We’ve talked a bit about change on this podcast, how could we avoid it? Change happens faster then ever and most professional adults with any amount of experience have learned to expect that. But that doesn’t mean that the practice of change management should be be ignored. The opposite in fact. To keep your teams happy and productive during major changes, there’s a few things you can do t...

Summary Adam Parker joins Daniel for this episode of the podcast, which is really sort of an extension of the discussion the pair had during the Henry Stewart Photo Studio Ops forum virtual conference on September 27, 2022. We break down what Flow production is, how it relates to studios, and what you can do to improve your studio processes once you understand this information.  Key Takeaways OK,...

Summary Setting goals for yourself is one thing, but making a plan to achieve those goals is another thing entirely. Like many things in life, this is a skill that needs to be developed and Lauren Stefanik of Victoria’s Secret has some excellent advice for you on actionable things you can do to gain momentum toward your goals, and not miss out on the journey itself. Key Takeaways It’s easy to set...

Summary The Content Crisis. Danny Effron said it really well in this episode of our podcast. When a brand makes the decision to move into a new marketing space or channel, they quickly find out that requires its entire own set of assets designed to work within that space. This is why the content studio of the future needs to be able to adapt quickly, while still building a system that ensures accu...

Summary Automated imaging devices have come a long way in a short period of time, both in terms of capability and the organizational understanding that these devices need to function as part of a system of tools and technology. Joining Daniel for this episode is Mark Duhaime of Orbitvu USA. Mark’s roots in our industry go back to the days of medium format film cameras, but his purpose now is worki...

Summary Joining Daniel for this episode of the show is Rob Cohen of Vizio Imaging. Rob comes from a background in consumer products, where he experienced first hand the challenges of inconsistent or low quality product photography and the impact it could have on marketing and sales. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, in response to his customers needs and his own business see...

Summary We live in a golden age of LED technology. It's been said before on this podcast. Think back to the early years of LED lights for almost any application and you might recall that those products fell pretty flat. Whether it was LED christmas lights, LED consumer light bulbs, or light fixtures for the studio. Since that time, LED has come a long way, and for many applications is now the lead...

Summary Kim Dirmaier of Burton Snowboards joins Daniel for this episode of the podcast and we discuss the role that location shoots with athletes plays into PDP imagery at burton and the complications that can arise and the organization required to manage so many inputs coming from all over the world.  Key Takeaways Burton has started using more imagery from the field on PDP pages to help support...

Summary Daniel is joined by Tim Dalal of Lifetime Brands. Tim is a longtime commercial photographer based in New York City. After an entire career running his own commercial studio, he took on a position as Adjunct Photography Instructor with LaGuardia Community College, along with a role as managing senior photographer with Lifetime Brands. Tim’s experience and observations on the industry make h...

Summary Key Takeaways Last time we talked, I had opened up the possibility of talking mentorship with you and we didn’t get a chance to touch on it. In your experience, how important is it to find a mentor? The importance of a mentor is directly proportional to the importance you’ve set on your goals and your development If you’re one of those “i’m just happy to be here” kind of people, a mentor w...

Summary If you’re like many people, having grown up in commercial photo studios, you may not have spent a lot of time interrogating the history of your grip equipment. But for Martin Torner, who spent close to 20 years as a grip working on film and television productions before joining Matthews Studio Equip., it’s all about the history of innovation and serving a tight knit industry who values eff...

Summary It’s not an uncommon idea that the tenure of a creative team member in an e-commerce studio tends to be short. 2-3 years typically. It’s easy to understand how this idea persists because creative production for e-commerce can be quite repetitive, and changing teams, studios, brands can help keep things interesting for a career product photographer or other creative role. What if we in the...

Summary If your studio has never managed a post production vendor before, the task can seem daunting. But with a little preparation and an understanding of your own studio KPIs, you can rely on the data to help build that relationship. That's one of the great things about data, it becomes that source of truth that, with some transparency and communication, clearly indicates whether the relationshi...

Summary Patrik Bluhme of Profoto joins Daniel for episode 69. About a year ago, Profoto went public with an IPO and as part of that process, explained what their plan for future growth looked like. One area of opportunity that profoto identified was what they called “ecomm workflow solutions” That can mean a lot of things, but we now know that Profoto was interested in moving into the automation s...

Summary There is an art form to asking your company for money or resources, and while business lingo changes and evolves all the time, right now that art form is called making a business case. It might not be a surprise to you that this skill generally doesn’t get taught in photography school nor is it wisdom passed among stylists while setting up the next look. It’s a skill that really gets devel...

Summary DEI has been a topic on this podcast before, we’ve recorded 3 episodes on the topic with Jessica Lopez in episode 52, with Karen Williams in Episode 47, and way back in episode 8 with Clair Carter-Ginn. While we were recording the live the episode at the Henry Stewart Photo Studio ops event in New York, we heard again during the Q&A session that this topic is still top of mind for many stu...

Summary Rhea Pappas joins Daniel to talk about the benefits and pitfalls of remote retouching. We learned some valuable lessons during COVID about how to operate remote production teams and there is a lot of benefit to widening your available labor pool and use remote retouchers. Really it all boils down to developing relationships based on communication and trust.  Key Takeaways Trust and communi...

Summary We talk a lot on this podcast about the current state of e-commerce product photography. In particular, the studio process, where we control everything. All or most variables are accounted for and we have all the tools we may need to get the job done. Sometimes though, we have to take the show on the road. While most of us creative production professionals are no stranger to the location s...

Summary This is episode 64 of the e-commerce content creation podcast and Daniel is unpacking his terrible fear of changing technology with Conrad Sanderson. If there’s anyone who understands the relationship between change and fear, it’s probably Conrad, while he’s not a licensed therapist or anything, his career has spanned many changes in the technology that drives our industry and his job has...

Summary In this episode Daniel is joined by Larry Gerrard, studio leader at Gymshark. If you have a pulse and are active at all on Social Media, we're certain that you’ve heard of Gymshark. An absolute favorite brand amongst fitness influencers, Gymshark has experienced incredible growth over the last several years, and we connected with Larry to talk about his approach to building the right found...

Summary Joining Daniel for this episode is Ashley Snarski of Medline. At Medline, Ashley manages the post production teams but with a bit of a twist, as part of the e-comm content team, and not as part of the production process which is more typical in our industry. Ashley shares with us a bit about how this org structure came about, and what impact it has had on their workflow and speed to web. ...

Summary On May 4th 2022 The E-commerce Content Creation Podcast was recorded in front of a LIVE audience at Photo Studio Operations 2022 in New York City hosted by Henry Stewart Events. Recording an episode in front of a live audience is something we have wanted to do since virtually day one of this show, and this event in New York was the perfect opportunity. David Hice of Aritzia joins me for a...

Summary Sean Arbabi joins Daniel on the podcast to talk about the relationships and disconnects that can happen between the studio and adjacent stakeholders. Sometimes you need a "zoomed out" that can help build fluency between departments and allow for more effective communication and facilitate problem solving.  Key Takeaways Its all about inputs and outputs, and being aware of what impacts you...

Summary Project Management as a discipline isn’t exactly second nature to many studio teams around the world, but employing a bit of project management thinking can help inform studio stakeholder relationships, and set your studio up for success. David Hice of Aritzia joins Daniel for this episode to talk about exactly this.  Reminder You can save $100 off your registration fee for the Henry Stewa...

Summary This episode features an event preview with Stacey Tyrell discussing her session at the Henry Stewart Photo Studio Operations 2022. Daniel runs down some select highlights in the agenda and then interviews Stacey about her session which will kick off the event.  Reminder You can save $100 off your registration fee for the Henry Stewart Events Photo Studio Ops Forum 2022 in New York City on...