The Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast

It's late and I'm driving back from a beautiful spring wedding, shot in uncharacteristic April sunshine.  I am, to put it mildly, hot and tired.  in spite of this, I thought it would be an idea to record a quick podcast on my way home, so here it is - various musings on finding freedom in the studio and the joy of using the Z9  as a wedding photographer. Oh, and I got to photograph some fireworks...

I think I may have mentioned this before, but I LOVE creating portraits.  The past couple of days have been all about headshots - part corporate, part creative branding.  Either way, these are just portraits. And that is something that I cannot stress enough: if you're a portrait photographer, creating cool, engaging headshots is no different to creating fine-art portraits - and you get to meet so...

So it's been a month since recording the last podcast.  A busy month. A very busy month.  But during that time I did manage to get some time out with Sarah and our trusty spaniel, Rufus, and go for a walking holiday in South Wales.   Wales is my home country so it is always a real joy to be back - there is something about the country, its ruggedness and its friendliness in equal measure: a week of...

If there is one skill I have, it's recognising an opportunity when it bops me on the nose.  Today was one of those moments.  Helen May actually came to the studio to update her headshots but the minute we sat and talked about her work on diversity and inclusion, I knew she would be perfect to have on the podcast.  Luckily both of our diaries had some time after her session and so we sat, chatted a...

It's 2022 and I have to say it's starting off in a very positive mood!  Admittedly New Year didn't go quite to plan, thanks to Covid and family injury, but other than that all good. And besides, my Nikon Z9 has arrived and I am now having a ball with what can only be described as the best camera I've ever had the pleasure to use.  More on that in this and future podcasts! We had a wonderful email...

Well, this is the last episode of 2021.  Unless I find a moment to drag myself away from the turkey, pigs in blankets, roast potatoes, cheese, Quality Street, sherry, wine, stuffing, more turkey, more cheese and maybe just a tad more sherry.  Oh go on then, if I must, best make it a small one. In this episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with Grays Of Westminster - a legendary shop of all thin...

Suck, squeeze, bang, blow: four words that drive an engine.  OK, so maybe an obtuse analogy but a business is much like a power unit - once it's running, it doesn't take too much to keep it going but you need to keep it fuelled and maintained.  Ignore these things at your own peril! Enjoy! Cheers P. If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to  Mastering Portrait Photography , where there are ar...

So it's Sunday as I both record and write this and I'm having a frankly chilled day.  Not that this is in any way your worry, but I thought I'd tell you. This episode is a rebuttal of my own grumpy podcast (EP113) when I seem to have spent most of it muttering about my Z7ii and how it isn't quite there yet.  Well, this one is the other extreme - here are the reasons I think mirrorless and, by exte...

When I first set out in this crazy, camera-carrying career, I had mixed views about working in the studio - I much preferred being outside in natural light with the environment as my backdrop.  Over the years, that changed as I realised much of my cynicism was partly because I didn't understand it and partly because many of those who had taught me didn't excite me. Now?  Well, now I think of studi...

Switching to a mirrorless system was always going to happen - SLRs (and their requisite mirrors) are slowly heading the same way as film, dark rooms, Black Forest gateaux, prawn cocktail and sandals with socks. Though I happen to love Black Forest gateaux. And film.  And the darkroom.  Prawn cocktails and sandals with socks, well they can stay in the history books! Anyway, James Keen DM'd me on In...

I knew this would be an entertaining podcast and so it proved to be: Julia Fensom, author of With Sleep I Can Do Anything: The First Year - A Manual is always funny, energetic and full of ideas.  So this interview was always going to be interesting - and long!  When the two of us get together it is always a very funny hour or two, laughing about life, having families and running a small business....

I am so sorry it's been a couple of months since I last published an episode - a very busy few months here at the studio!   In this episode, numerous conversations at The UK Photography Show 2021 started me thinking about whether technique is more important than imagination (or vice versa).     What do you think?  Let me know in the comments or drop me an email ( paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.u...

  Every day new clients, new stories, new laughter. That is the joy of a portrait photographer.   At the end of a recent headshot session, it seemed a shame to stop the laughter. So we didn't. Instead of packing up and going home, we plugged in some microphones and recorded a podcast. The portrait session had been sunny and full of stories and the interview is much the same!   I love when that hap...

Dad was always right. Of course, it took me a decade or two to acknowledge that fact, but dad was always right.   Of many pearls (of the wisdom variety) he threw in my direction, is this: if you want something doing, give it to someone who's already busy.   I don't know if I believed it at the time. That's the thing about fathers: you don't like to tell them they're right. But he always was.   And...

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 possibl...

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 podc...

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 imag...

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 i...

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 Panas...

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 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...

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...

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...

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...

I admit this is a shorter episode than some - I am multitasking and getting prepped and rehearsed for the Graphistudio Live Lounge over the weekend - details can be found at https://www.graphistudio.com/en/accademia/ I'm on stage (as much as there is a stage of course) at 15:40 UK time (16:40 European time, 10:40 US Eastern) talking about shooting for album sales.  Would love to see you all there!...