June 6, 2024 • 15 mins
Welcome to a fascinating podcast episode where we engage in an enlightening conversation with London-based photographer, Martin Higgs. Known for his impeccable aesthetic sense in various genres of photography such as fashion, beauty, portrait, and more, Martin unveils his journey into photography that started by a twist of fate. Invited to capture haircuts for a competition, he discovered his passion that guides him to transform everyday moments into timeless frames.
With a career spanning over two decades, Martin discusses his evolution as a photographer, successful model collaborations, and his current inclination. He addresses the intriguing matter of AI's role in Photography, viewing it not as a threat, but a tool for creation and inspiration. Join us on this inspiring journey as Martin shares his views on staying tech-relevant, striking a balance between natural and styled looks, along with notable future directions.
Navigating the entrancing intersection of AI and photography, Martin, an established IT professional doubling as a photographer, provides unique perspectives. He unfolds his apprehensions about AI's potential job impacts and emphasizes staying abreast with technology to stay competitive. Addressing entrepreneurial challenges, he sheds light on strategic marketing necessities and the search for a unique niche in the photography industry.
Our guest further outlines his future plans, contemplating focusing solely on photography as he approaches retirement. He encourages aspiring photographers, prioritizing practical apprenticeship over academic learning for gaining industry insights. Join this intriguing episode as we traverse the compelling confluence of technology and art through the lens of a professional navigating these realms with proficiency and grace.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Good evening, everybody. So today I'm joined with Martin Higgs.
Martin is a top London fashion, beauty, portrait, pageant and hair photographer.
Martin has worked in photography for 20 years and has mastered the art of making
women look and feel their most confident.
Hi, Martin. How are you? Hi, Sharon. Good, thanks. How are you?
(00:21):
I'm good, thank you. Okay, Martin, just first tell us a little bit about yourself
and where you're from and how you came into the world of photography.
Okay, so I'm 56 this month.
I live in Essex, in Chelmsford, Essex. I've lived in Essex all my life.
I've been doing photography 20 years now. And the way I got into it was by accident, really. really.
(00:46):
I was going to visit a barber friend of mine for years, and he wanted to enter
a competition, a hair competition, which is going to be judged in Paris.
And I think I just bought a camera at that point. I'm not particularly good
by anything like that, but he was aware that I'd just bought a camera and just
said, would you mind taking some pictures of some haircuts that I've done on
(01:07):
some clients to put in for this competition?
I said, sure, yeah, I'll give it a go. so i borrowed a light from a friend and
that was my first time ever shooting anything really and anything properly so
i just gave it a go from things i'd learned online and that kind of stuff.
And we got some nice shots out of it and he put them in for the competition,
and they got through to the final and he asked
(01:29):
me to go to paris with him to basically go
and see this final so i was over the moon so i'd never been to
paris before so i said yeah sure i'll come so we
went off to paris and i had an amazing time over there we went to
this the competition was all based at um i
think they have a regular yearly event called mcb
paris i think it's called the mondial coffer de
(01:50):
beauty it's like big hair competition so he
was doing a competition for the nhf which is the national hair federation in
the uk and it was men's hair and
yeah basically i provided the images for that i took pictures behind the
scenes of him doing his sort of live demos and
that kind of stuff for the for the show which was really
good and in between this this place
(02:11):
was massive they were doing all sorts of demonstrations including big
catwalks and runways and stuff so i decided to take photographs of the runway
and that's the first time i've ever done that as well so having amazingly sort
of um well-dressed models all done with their hair and makeup stomping towards
you with the music going and everything was just really exciting for me i really
enjoyed it and from that point on i just realized i'd love shooting.
(02:35):
People basically and don't interject there martin and say you're shooting women
this is a great way to pull the women and i don't know about pulling women but it's certainly,
just it just it's just something i really enjoyed especially the catwalk thing
i used to do some of those for fashion week and all that kind of stuff,
oh wow i did graduate fashion weeks and
(02:57):
some of the big shows i really enjoyed it although when you're
in the press pit for those things at the end of the catwalk you
have to have sharp elbows because you've got industry professionals there and
i was just like doing this for the first time but if you move if
you move off your spot somebody will be in it so you have to kind of stand
your ground and get the best angles all that kind of stuff and
i really enjoyed it but not to the point that i wanted to kind
(03:17):
of do it permanently because you really need a source
to sell your images and all that kind of stuff so i never really went down that road but
that's how i got into it pardon me that's pretty
much how i got into it all oh that sounds very inspiring
and you're at it 20 years so something stuck so compared
to your photography back then to now how did
it change and at what point in your life did it
(03:38):
change well that's a good question i think you're always developing your style
and it's nice eventually when you get to a point where people say that they
recognize that this image is one of yours as opposed to somebody else's so although
sometimes you don't always believe you found your style for yourself it's nice
if other people recognize it as being so.
(03:59):
That's nice i have experience just for the listeners at home for my own platform
and going into modeling since i've been living in the uk i've been working with
martin higgs and he is an exceptional photographer i've worked with him now
for almost two years and i'm very very I'm very privileged to work with Martin.
So tell me this, you have inspiration, you've worked with your friend and you've
(04:23):
got 20 years of this and your style's changed.
How would you describe your photography style now?
I'd like to say it's, I've always got a thing on quality, so I like to have
nice sharp images, vibrant images, and I like to be shooting something that's properly styled.
There are exceptions to that. It's sometimes nice to pare everything back and
(04:45):
just shoot or work with someone that's just completely natural and hasn't necessarily
gone to a lot of effort and all that kind of stuff to get an amazing image that
way, but it's a different sort of thing.
And is this where you kind of bring how you would
edit or retouch an image so you may have
somebody that has a sharp jawline and perhaps
doesn't need a lot of makeup do you just
(05:07):
not edit as heavy or where does that come in when is enough it's interesting
i feel like we've got two styles of photography it's like a studio style which
tends to be lit with um you know other lights and all that kind of stuff to
get exactly what you want and that tends to be very sharp and and a certain
style and then I feel I've got another style which is shooting in natural light
and having a shallow depth of field and having things blur out and
(05:30):
all that kind of stuff and I think they're just totally different styles and
I enjoy shooting in black and white when I do that kind of stuff as well so
you can get a bit more timeless and it's like a different type
of thing for me I think but it's nice to have both styles I think yeah I
agree it is and I think you need to post more of the stuff I've seen a lot of
the work that Martin does abroad and I think on on your instagram you don't
(05:51):
post that as much as you would post your head shots or your portrait shots why
is that i think the world needs to see more of that yeah i think it's because um sometimes,
some of that stuff i've done is more kind of for me to develop my own skills and.
The other stuff that i put on instagram is more to gain business you know just
(06:11):
taking new clients and that kind of stuff and i guess you could have new clients
in both styles but in my experience This style for clients has been more the studio style.
Yeah, you feel most comfortable and confident. And what's your views on AI?
Do you think AI poses a threat to the creative industry?
How can you overcome this new technology? I think some people are really frightened
(06:32):
that it's just going to take over completely.
I don't think it's going to take over completely. I think it's just another tool in the box.
I mean, I've used it for doing things like pre-planning shoots because you can
actually prompt AI to produce an image in maybe the kind of thing that you're
thinking of going out and shooting yourself,
And that might give you extra inspiration or ideas for what you're going to do on your shoot.
So I've definitely used it for that. And it's getting better and better all
(06:55):
the time. It's amazing how realistic some of these images can look now.
Yes, there's the problem where some of these images are coming from somewhere
that's been shot before maybe in some way or maybe there's some copyright stuff
going on that shouldn't be and all that kind of thing. That's a big topic of debate.
But I just see it as another tool. all and yes i guess it
(07:18):
may take over some commercial photography i think
it can i think there's some situations where it is now where maybe somebody's
brought out an outfit and a certain color and with ai you
can just make any color you like and then put up you know pictures up
for um for shopping channels and
that kind of stuff to you know you haven't had to take all
the photography you've done maybe done one picture and then you can change
(07:39):
everything after this after the fact to be whatever it
is you want it to be and i'm sure maybe for advertising
the ai will get used instead of going out
and doing a shoot at some point in the future well that's very
true because i know in my own modeling career i was
asked not so long ago maybe six months ago to
do and go to london to do a fashion shoot and the man that was supposed to hire
(08:04):
me said actually we aren't using models now we're just going to use ai so they
had a computer to put these dresses on them and what appeared to be a model,
modeling them, it wasn't. It was all done with AI.
So that's me out of pocket, I'm sure a lot of other people are like that as well.
I think there will be a backlash. I think if AI takes over so many things,
(08:28):
and it's going to, it's advancing at such a pace, it will take over a lot of
things, there will be a backlash from individuals because they will be losing work and losing jobs.
I've taken it on a view of, because I'm actually an IT professional with my
main career, this is not my full-time thing.
I've just tried to dabble with it and understand it and use it as a tool so I don't get left behind.
(08:52):
Well, that's very true. that you say we need to stay with
the times and i know even myself i'm not a very tech
person why have you not made photography your full-time
work i mean it is amazing it's
good to have but it's so different you're stuck
behind a screen and when you go out you're so creative
and i know what it's like personally to work with you martin you're a
(09:12):
very fun easygoing person so i can't
really imagine you stuck behind a screen all day
no it's like living two lives to be honest with it's so different because in
the it career i mean generally speaking you don't
get any attention unless something's going wrong but um
when you're working in photography you get
instant gratification if you're taking a picture that you're proud of
(09:36):
and somebody else likes and maybe their
family like as well you often get an
on set you get instant like feedback so it's
really nice to have something somebody say oh yeah this is great we
were doing you know doing a good job here and let's carry on and etc etc well
you just don't really get that in my main career so
it's nice to have that it is you're you're
(09:57):
constantly making women feel better about
themselves and have more confidence i mean i've seen it firsthand particularly
with the pageant women coming in with their moms and you taking their photographs
editing them to look their best and their mothers would break down crying because
yeah it has been amazing i've really enjoyed that yeah Yeah, absolutely.
(10:19):
So tell me, what are the pros and cons of being a photographer?
What are the things that you come up against, the challenges that you face?
There's all sorts of things. I think when you're doing it, when you first start
out, you probably go from a hobby to what starts to become a business.
And then all sorts of things have happened there. Obviously,
if you made it your main business, you've then got to go out and market yourself
and you've got to go and get enough money in to be able to live off of it.
(10:42):
And marketing photography is very hard there's lots of people
doing it you'd probably best to
find a niche rather than be doing all sorts of photography
like you know if you're going to be like a wedding photographer you know
stick to that but if you're going to be doing that and pets and
kids and events and all sorts
of things i think you can go you spread yourself too far i think you probably do better
(11:02):
if you find yourself a niche and stick to that and
become really good in that niche and i'd like to think that's
what i've done to a degree but because
i've always had a fairly secure job in
it to devote all my
time to photography instead and not have that regular income is.
Always the fear really i mean i know
(11:23):
that you're very entrepreneurial i think
that takes a certain sort of person but i think for
people that have actually had a steady career career to give it
up in favor of something that they're not 100 sure is
going to bring them up to the same level
is scary especially if you've got family and stuff so some
people are braver than others when it comes to all that kind of thing so that's
(11:44):
what i'd say about that i think no that's understandable and
i totally appreciate what you're saying you do need to think about your family
what do you think the future holds for you in photography do you think there
will ever be a a time that you will focus purely on photography and maybe perhaps
come away from it it would be nice because it is getting harder and harder to
(12:05):
keep up with i mean it's moving at such a pace.
And the ai thing is just crazy i've never seen anything like it with the pace
of how things are changing and as you get older it does become more difficult
to catch up with much as i love technology i hope well as well yeah it does
come a point where you just think well this is just over my head now and maybe
I need to be doing something else.
(12:26):
And not only that, you know, I'm not a million miles away from retirement and
I would say that at some point it would be nice to move away from corporate
type life in favour of something that was more like the photography and hopefully
by then I will have a bigger name and be known for certain things and I'll be
able to do that full time.
(12:46):
And not only that, there could be other opportunities that come up that are
just compelling where you think, okay, now is the time to move forward.
So I'm always open to ideas. is well that's great
what what is the support around your family and friends
i mean okay yes you've had friends that are in this field
but for your parents growing up did they think
and believe that photography could actually lend itself to a
(13:08):
real career yeah i think they've been surprised with the
things that some of the things i've done and the level we've got to so they've
been very supportive from that point of view probably more
so it's just the whole whole thing comes back to of the risk element
you know somebody might have told you oh you could definitely do
this full time etc etc it's just a reality you know can you or can't you and
I think the people that have actually made it out there are few and far between
(13:31):
and there's lots of people that have tried and failed so it's just a risk element
some people have got that but they can just step out into it and other people
are a bit more reserved and I think I'm probably one of the preserved ones
well that's very true you can be the best photographer in the world but if you
don't know how, like you said yourself, you don't have those entrepreneurial
skills and go out and say, I always say to you as well, you know,
(13:55):
maybe I could be your manager.
Well i'd have a good manager if you were i could use your
talent and give you my skills maybe we could
work in a team in this way martin there's a lot of
young people are going to be listening to this podcast that are starting out
in photography is there something that you could say to them
starting out how they can maybe get better
(14:17):
at what they're doing and their skill yeah well
my daughter studied photography um in college
and she's enjoyed it from that point of view it's been funny really
because my daughter hasn't really come back to me to so much for like much
advice occasionally she will do which is great i'd love.
To have shown her more things but then i have always showed her
things practically so she wants to use my studio
(14:38):
setup i'll give her all the bits to put together the
lighting stands the lights the backdrops and whatever and just
so we'll get on with it and if you need my help let me know so she's
got an idea of how to build a set now and get pictures as she wants
them and that's been great but i would
say that practical school hands-on experience is probably
even better than what you might learn at
(14:59):
college yeah if you could go and spend a
week with a photographer you'd probably learn more in that week than
you'd learn in a year at college i think personally now i'm
not disparaging college because they have their pros and cons for
sure but yeah if you want a fast start
fast track to learning these things i do
believe that getting out there and working with someone is probably probably the
(15:19):
best thing you can do oh that's good advice okay martin i'm going to i'm just
seeing the timer there i'm conscious that we do have to finish after 20 minutes
so i'm going to thank you for your time today for coming on and hopefully we
can get you on again soon thanks kira take care thank you bye.
Good evening, everybody. So today I'm joined with Martin Higgs.
Martin is a top London fashion, beauty, portrait, pageant and hair photographer.
Martin has worked in photography for 20 years and has mastered the art of making
women look and feel their most confident.
Hi, Martin. How are you? Hi, Sharon. Good, thanks. How are you?
(00:21):
I'm good, thank you. Okay, Martin, just first tell us a little bit about yourself
and where you're from and how you came into the world of photography.
Okay, so I'm 56 this month.
I live in Essex, in Chelmsford, Essex. I've lived in Essex all my life.
I've been doing photography 20 years now. And the way I got into it was by accident, really. really.
(00:46):
I was going to visit a barber friend of mine for years, and he wanted to enter
a competition, a hair competition, which is going to be judged in Paris.
And I think I just bought a camera at that point. I'm not particularly good
by anything like that, but he was aware that I'd just bought a camera and just
said, would you mind taking some pictures of some haircuts that I've done on
(01:07):
some clients to put in for this competition?
I said, sure, yeah, I'll give it a go. so i borrowed a light from a friend and
that was my first time ever shooting anything really and anything properly so
i just gave it a go from things i'd learned online and that kind of stuff.
And we got some nice shots out of it and he put them in for the competition,
and they got through to the final and he asked
(01:29):
me to go to paris with him to basically go
and see this final so i was over the moon so i'd never been to
paris before so i said yeah sure i'll come so we
went off to paris and i had an amazing time over there we went to
this the competition was all based at um i
think they have a regular yearly event called mcb
paris i think it's called the mondial coffer de
(01:50):
beauty it's like big hair competition so he
was doing a competition for the nhf which is the national hair federation in
the uk and it was men's hair and
yeah basically i provided the images for that i took pictures behind the
scenes of him doing his sort of live demos and
that kind of stuff for the for the show which was really
good and in between this this place
(02:11):
was massive they were doing all sorts of demonstrations including big
catwalks and runways and stuff so i decided to take photographs of the runway
and that's the first time i've ever done that as well so having amazingly sort
of um well-dressed models all done with their hair and makeup stomping towards
you with the music going and everything was just really exciting for me i really
enjoyed it and from that point on i just realized i'd love shooting.
(02:35):
People basically and don't interject there martin and say you're shooting women
this is a great way to pull the women and i don't know about pulling women but it's certainly,
just it just it's just something i really enjoyed especially the catwalk thing
i used to do some of those for fashion week and all that kind of stuff,
oh wow i did graduate fashion weeks and
(02:57):
some of the big shows i really enjoyed it although when you're
in the press pit for those things at the end of the catwalk you
have to have sharp elbows because you've got industry professionals there and
i was just like doing this for the first time but if you move if
you move off your spot somebody will be in it so you have to kind of stand
your ground and get the best angles all that kind of stuff and
i really enjoyed it but not to the point that i wanted to kind
(03:17):
of do it permanently because you really need a source
to sell your images and all that kind of stuff so i never really went down that road but
that's how i got into it pardon me that's pretty
much how i got into it all oh that sounds very inspiring
and you're at it 20 years so something stuck so compared
to your photography back then to now how did
it change and at what point in your life did it
(03:38):
change well that's a good question i think you're always developing your style
and it's nice eventually when you get to a point where people say that they
recognize that this image is one of yours as opposed to somebody else's so although
sometimes you don't always believe you found your style for yourself it's nice
if other people recognize it as being so.
(03:59):
That's nice i have experience just for the listeners at home for my own platform
and going into modeling since i've been living in the uk i've been working with
martin higgs and he is an exceptional photographer i've worked with him now
for almost two years and i'm very very I'm very privileged to work with Martin.
So tell me this, you have inspiration, you've worked with your friend and you've
(04:23):
got 20 years of this and your style's changed.
How would you describe your photography style now?
I'd like to say it's, I've always got a thing on quality, so I like to have
nice sharp images, vibrant images, and I like to be shooting something that's properly styled.
There are exceptions to that. It's sometimes nice to pare everything back and
(04:45):
just shoot or work with someone that's just completely natural and hasn't necessarily
gone to a lot of effort and all that kind of stuff to get an amazing image that
way, but it's a different sort of thing.
And is this where you kind of bring how you would
edit or retouch an image so you may have
somebody that has a sharp jawline and perhaps
doesn't need a lot of makeup do you just
(05:07):
not edit as heavy or where does that come in when is enough it's interesting
i feel like we've got two styles of photography it's like a studio style which
tends to be lit with um you know other lights and all that kind of stuff to
get exactly what you want and that tends to be very sharp and and a certain
style and then I feel I've got another style which is shooting in natural light
and having a shallow depth of field and having things blur out and
(05:30):
all that kind of stuff and I think they're just totally different styles and
I enjoy shooting in black and white when I do that kind of stuff as well so
you can get a bit more timeless and it's like a different type
of thing for me I think but it's nice to have both styles I think yeah I
agree it is and I think you need to post more of the stuff I've seen a lot of
the work that Martin does abroad and I think on on your instagram you don't
(05:51):
post that as much as you would post your head shots or your portrait shots why
is that i think the world needs to see more of that yeah i think it's because um sometimes,
some of that stuff i've done is more kind of for me to develop my own skills and.
The other stuff that i put on instagram is more to gain business you know just
(06:11):
taking new clients and that kind of stuff and i guess you could have new clients
in both styles but in my experience This style for clients has been more the studio style.
Yeah, you feel most comfortable and confident. And what's your views on AI?
Do you think AI poses a threat to the creative industry?
How can you overcome this new technology? I think some people are really frightened
(06:32):
that it's just going to take over completely.
I don't think it's going to take over completely. I think it's just another tool in the box.
I mean, I've used it for doing things like pre-planning shoots because you can
actually prompt AI to produce an image in maybe the kind of thing that you're
thinking of going out and shooting yourself,
And that might give you extra inspiration or ideas for what you're going to do on your shoot.
So I've definitely used it for that. And it's getting better and better all
(06:55):
the time. It's amazing how realistic some of these images can look now.
Yes, there's the problem where some of these images are coming from somewhere
that's been shot before maybe in some way or maybe there's some copyright stuff
going on that shouldn't be and all that kind of thing. That's a big topic of debate.
But I just see it as another tool. all and yes i guess it
(07:18):
may take over some commercial photography i think
it can i think there's some situations where it is now where maybe somebody's
brought out an outfit and a certain color and with ai you
can just make any color you like and then put up you know pictures up
for um for shopping channels and
that kind of stuff to you know you haven't had to take all
the photography you've done maybe done one picture and then you can change
(07:39):
everything after this after the fact to be whatever it
is you want it to be and i'm sure maybe for advertising
the ai will get used instead of going out
and doing a shoot at some point in the future well that's very
true because i know in my own modeling career i was
asked not so long ago maybe six months ago to
do and go to london to do a fashion shoot and the man that was supposed to hire
(08:04):
me said actually we aren't using models now we're just going to use ai so they
had a computer to put these dresses on them and what appeared to be a model,
modeling them, it wasn't. It was all done with AI.
So that's me out of pocket, I'm sure a lot of other people are like that as well.
I think there will be a backlash. I think if AI takes over so many things,
(08:28):
and it's going to, it's advancing at such a pace, it will take over a lot of
things, there will be a backlash from individuals because they will be losing work and losing jobs.
I've taken it on a view of, because I'm actually an IT professional with my
main career, this is not my full-time thing.
I've just tried to dabble with it and understand it and use it as a tool so I don't get left behind.
(08:52):
Well, that's very true. that you say we need to stay with
the times and i know even myself i'm not a very tech
person why have you not made photography your full-time
work i mean it is amazing it's
good to have but it's so different you're stuck
behind a screen and when you go out you're so creative
and i know what it's like personally to work with you martin you're a
(09:12):
very fun easygoing person so i can't
really imagine you stuck behind a screen all day
no it's like living two lives to be honest with it's so different because in
the it career i mean generally speaking you don't
get any attention unless something's going wrong but um
when you're working in photography you get
instant gratification if you're taking a picture that you're proud of
(09:36):
and somebody else likes and maybe their
family like as well you often get an
on set you get instant like feedback so it's
really nice to have something somebody say oh yeah this is great we
were doing you know doing a good job here and let's carry on and etc etc well
you just don't really get that in my main career so
it's nice to have that it is you're you're
(09:57):
constantly making women feel better about
themselves and have more confidence i mean i've seen it firsthand particularly
with the pageant women coming in with their moms and you taking their photographs
editing them to look their best and their mothers would break down crying because
yeah it has been amazing i've really enjoyed that yeah Yeah, absolutely.
(10:19):
So tell me, what are the pros and cons of being a photographer?
What are the things that you come up against, the challenges that you face?
There's all sorts of things. I think when you're doing it, when you first start
out, you probably go from a hobby to what starts to become a business.
And then all sorts of things have happened there. Obviously,
if you made it your main business, you've then got to go out and market yourself
and you've got to go and get enough money in to be able to live off of it.
(10:42):
And marketing photography is very hard there's lots of people
doing it you'd probably best to
find a niche rather than be doing all sorts of photography
like you know if you're going to be like a wedding photographer you know
stick to that but if you're going to be doing that and pets and
kids and events and all sorts
of things i think you can go you spread yourself too far i think you probably do better
(11:02):
if you find yourself a niche and stick to that and
become really good in that niche and i'd like to think that's
what i've done to a degree but because
i've always had a fairly secure job in
it to devote all my
time to photography instead and not have that regular income is.
Always the fear really i mean i know
(11:23):
that you're very entrepreneurial i think
that takes a certain sort of person but i think for
people that have actually had a steady career career to give it
up in favor of something that they're not 100 sure is
going to bring them up to the same level
is scary especially if you've got family and stuff so some
people are braver than others when it comes to all that kind of thing so that's
(11:44):
what i'd say about that i think no that's understandable and
i totally appreciate what you're saying you do need to think about your family
what do you think the future holds for you in photography do you think there
will ever be a a time that you will focus purely on photography and maybe perhaps
come away from it it would be nice because it is getting harder and harder to
(12:05):
keep up with i mean it's moving at such a pace.
And the ai thing is just crazy i've never seen anything like it with the pace
of how things are changing and as you get older it does become more difficult
to catch up with much as i love technology i hope well as well yeah it does
come a point where you just think well this is just over my head now and maybe
I need to be doing something else.
(12:26):
And not only that, you know, I'm not a million miles away from retirement and
I would say that at some point it would be nice to move away from corporate
type life in favour of something that was more like the photography and hopefully
by then I will have a bigger name and be known for certain things and I'll be
able to do that full time.
(12:46):
And not only that, there could be other opportunities that come up that are
just compelling where you think, okay, now is the time to move forward.
So I'm always open to ideas. is well that's great
what what is the support around your family and friends
i mean okay yes you've had friends that are in this field
but for your parents growing up did they think
and believe that photography could actually lend itself to a
(13:08):
real career yeah i think they've been surprised with the
things that some of the things i've done and the level we've got to so they've
been very supportive from that point of view probably more
so it's just the whole whole thing comes back to of the risk element
you know somebody might have told you oh you could definitely do
this full time etc etc it's just a reality you know can you or can't you and
I think the people that have actually made it out there are few and far between
(13:31):
and there's lots of people that have tried and failed so it's just a risk element
some people have got that but they can just step out into it and other people
are a bit more reserved and I think I'm probably one of the preserved ones
well that's very true you can be the best photographer in the world but if you
don't know how, like you said yourself, you don't have those entrepreneurial
skills and go out and say, I always say to you as well, you know,
(13:55):
maybe I could be your manager.
Well i'd have a good manager if you were i could use your
talent and give you my skills maybe we could
work in a team in this way martin there's a lot of
young people are going to be listening to this podcast that are starting out
in photography is there something that you could say to them
starting out how they can maybe get better
(14:17):
at what they're doing and their skill yeah well
my daughter studied photography um in college
and she's enjoyed it from that point of view it's been funny really
because my daughter hasn't really come back to me to so much for like much
advice occasionally she will do which is great i'd love.
To have shown her more things but then i have always showed her
things practically so she wants to use my studio
(14:38):
setup i'll give her all the bits to put together the
lighting stands the lights the backdrops and whatever and just
so we'll get on with it and if you need my help let me know so she's
got an idea of how to build a set now and get pictures as she wants
them and that's been great but i would
say that practical school hands-on experience is probably
even better than what you might learn at
(14:59):
college yeah if you could go and spend a
week with a photographer you'd probably learn more in that week than
you'd learn in a year at college i think personally now i'm
not disparaging college because they have their pros and cons for
sure but yeah if you want a fast start
fast track to learning these things i do
believe that getting out there and working with someone is probably probably the
(15:19):
best thing you can do oh that's good advice okay martin i'm going to i'm just
seeing the timer there i'm conscious that we do have to finish after 20 minutes
so i'm going to thank you for your time today for coming on and hopefully we
can get you on again soon thanks kira take care thank you bye.
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