The Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast

  Well, in just one week things have changed incredibly rapidly! But we're stocked up, we have each other and we are staying positive.  Together we can get through this thing. So, for a while at least, the podcast will be shorter and (hopefully) more frequent. That way I might just be able to keep up with the latest news! Stay safe and be kind to yourself.  Oh, and be kind to others too. If you en...

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 studi...

It's so lovely to be in the position to sit and chat with some incredible people - and that they agree to it when I ask! This episode is with Gary Hill - a fantastic photographer, trainer, judge and all-round lovely bloke.  Admittedly we were chatting in the bar of the SWPP Convention in London which does inject a kind of 'authentic ambience' to the whole affair (which is to say - it's noisy!) We...

Where have all our teaspoons gone?  Seriously.  They just seem to evaporate from the studio!  Soon we'll be using the handle of a knife to stir the coffee around here! But that's not really the topic of the podcast - in this podcast, a budding photographer from Glasgow emailed some questions and so I thought it would be a good way to both answer her curiosity AND have a topic for a podcast.  Ah, a...

I've just returned from the Societies Of Photographers Convention in London which has been an absolute ball!  Though I admit, I am hurting just a little. A week of laughter and learning. And maybe just a little socialising. Having sat as one of the print competition judges once again, I thought it would be helpful to relay some of the comments I heard during the process of picking this year's winn...

Relating to your client is a key skill in social photography - and there is no escaping it.  Whatever it takes, you need to find ways of having a meaningful conversation even if you're client is (literally) a rocket scientist! Right now I am sitting at the 2020 Societies Of Photographers Convention, typing this in the hotel bar, watching photographers laughing and joking as we begin the annual pri...

We are already 2% of the way through 2020.  0.02 of 2020.  Go figure.   I've used that time so far to grab tools, some wood and to hack away at our studio - goodness knows it (and me) needed it.  It's a long time since I've drawn up engineering drawings and I am, honestly, loving every second. Oh, and I've been creating pictures too. So you didn't need to worry that I had retired the cameras.  The...

Ah, and so here we are: 2020.  We've careered through the holidays like a kid on a brand new scooter, bouncing down the road until we've crashed headlong into the New Year, and here we are, bruised and smiling, all ready to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and get back on for the ride ahead. This year, this year, is all about development and learning.  I LOVE this job - more than you can ima...

So you know what it's like: you're in the middle of a busy week, the weather is crappy, you're tired and you have a shoot to do... Not exactly conducive to creativity.  And yet, and yet...  your job is to weave your magic - from the experience to the images, your clients rely on you, nay your business relies on you to kick into gear and perform to the absolute limit of your ability. Even if you'd...

A real pleasure to have interviewed Richard Bradbury FBIPP FMPA.  Richard is one of the world's great photographers and an all round nice guy and the interview is full of little gems about preparing for sales, customer service and authenticity. In fact, our chat in his west London studio is full of useful stuff for anyone interested in running a photography business. As is our way, I asked Richard...

In this episode, I ponder on WHY on earth I am taking the shot?  There has to be a reason, right?  Surely I am not just lying in the dirt for the fun of it! In this day and age it is all too easy to simply take the photograph because you can - not because it's a good image or there's a profound reason to take it.  These are my thoughts on some reasons why you should create that image - and some th...

It's always a pleasure when I get to sit and chat with someone with such a wide and interesting view of photography as Su Kaye, MPA's Chair Of Judges.  I've known Su for a few years and, as ever, she is intriguing, knowledgeable and engagingly honest about her life, career and what the future holds for her and the photography industry. As always, I asked my interviewee to choose a book or two for...

You've finished your shoot (in this case, a wedding), everything is packed up, the memory cards are shared between you (you know, just in case you're in a car crash - you have clean underwear on too, just like your mum told you) and you're trundling your way home.  And then it hits you. That all-too-familiar wave of paranoia and disappointment.  You start to think of all the images that you didn't...

Well, I'm back on the microphone!  Had a bit of a break as the summer peak workload kicked in but once more, I am sitting in the cab of the Land Rover Defender, muttering musings into the microphone on the move. Haha, a little alliteration for you. Anyway, this episode's topic is the choice between constancy or invention: should we, as photographers, creatives, artists, strive for constancy - reco...

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 ge...

  Meet one of our clients.  Rob Panting, Communications Officer for OxLEP (The Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership) has been a commissioning client of ours for nearly decade - starting at the Hearing Dogs charity in 2011 and then with Affinity Trust, Bucks Care and his current employer, OxLEP. I thought it would be interesting to ask him what he values when selecting (and retaining) suppliers...

In this episode, I am talking about the all-too familiar feelings of a photography business: faith, fear and fatigue (and possibly one or two other 'F' words!) When you start you set out from some point of having nothing more than an idea - and a whole heap of faith! Insecurity, sure, ignorance, naivity, risk, maybe a little poverty - but, in the end, an utter belief that it’s the right thing to d...

"You soon start to learn a lot more about business" In this interview, I get to talk to Karen Massey, wedding and portrait photographer.  Karen is a successful photographer and business owner, having started out owning a beauticians and then transferring her business skills to setting up a photography studio. She talks about how she has always worked, how she had to 'soften her accent' (not someth...

"To keep them coming, to keep them inspired, you have to give them an experience." So true.  In this episode I talk to Steve Gregory, founder and owner of the inspirational Fitlife Gym about his career as professional footballer (soccer player for my U.S. friends), his motiviation for fitness and how he deals with the highs and lows of running a business. A wonderfully frank interview that deals w...

In this episode, I get to to sit and chat with Chris Cooze, Technical Communications & Training Manager at Hasselblad . It has been a real pleasure for me to have both the Hasselblad X1D and H6D for a couple of months here at the studio and it was Chris, along with Hasselblad's European Marketing Manager, Mark Witney, who came to the studio to help me get the most out of the kit.  Who knows, maybe...

One of the greatest pleasures of recording this podcast is that I get to talk to all sorts of people and, in this episode, it gave me the opportunity to chat with an incredible, internationally renowned sculptor, Tom Stogdon.  We talk about all things creative from leaving his job as a greengrocer (his love of arranging fruit and vegetables in many and various ways is still with him) to how you de...

Well, it's just me in this podcast: me, a microphone, a couple of hours in the car and Friday night rush hour traffic. Clearly I had time to kill so in this recording I chat away about bits and pieces but mostly about figuring out clients and why you have to stay positive no matter what happens. I also take the opportunity to add a new book to the Photographer's Library: Hug Your Customers by Jack...

In this podcast I get to chat with Terry Hope, the long standing editor of Professional Photo Magazine and its newbie publisher, having acquired the magazine just a few short weeks ago. Having trained as a photographer Terry went straight into journalism and has worked on titles as varied as Camera Weekly, Amateur Photographer and Professional Photographer. He was part of the team that launched Br...

 This podcast really is about the importance of relationships - particularly those with your clients - how some of those can play out in your career. I don't know if this podcast makes too much of an intellectual point other than it being a vehicle for me to be proud of our son, Jake.  That's the nice thing about a podcast: I occasionally get a chance to wax lyrical about the people I love around...

  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...