February 27, 2025 • 47 mins
#541 Erika Greco is a passionate amateur photographer from Charleston, South Carolina. Erika shares her unique journey into photography, which began in a magnet high school for the arts and evolved alongside her professional career in theater. A central theme in her story is the decision to keep photography as a creative outlet rather than a business, an approach that aligns with her desire to serve and connect with her community.
KEY TOPICS COVERED
- Journey into Photography - Erika shares how her high school exposure to photography sparked a lifelong passion, illustrating the importance of exploring different artistic mediums.
- Photography as Art vs. Business - Erika discusses her struggles with the pressure to monetize photography and her conscious decision to maintain it as a hobby, offering a perspective on the value of art for self-expression.
- Overcoming Technical Challenges - Erika elaborates on her transition from film to digital photography and how she navigated the technical challenges she encountered, providing insights into the learning process.
IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS & CONCEPTS
- Vergleichungsspiel: The concept of the "comparison game," highlighting the issues of self-doubt and standards in creative fields.
- Photography for Service: Using photography to connect with others and support community needs, showcasing its role beyond personal artistic expression.
DISCUSSION & REFLECTION QUESTIONS
- How can photographers balance the pressure to monetize their skills with their passion for the craft?
- In what ways can photography serve as a tool for community engagement and service?
RESOURCES:
Follow Erika Greco on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/erikadgreco/
Sign up for your free CloudSpot Account today at www.DeliverPhotos.com
Download your free copy of
46 Creative Photo Ideas to Get You Out of a Rut
at https://creativeimageideas.com/
Connect with Raymond!
- Join the free Beginner Photography Podcast Community at https://beginnerphotopod.com/group
- Get your Photo Questions Answered on the show - https://beginnerphotopod.com/qa
- Grab your free camera setting cheatsheet - https://perfectcamerasettings.com/
Thanks for listening & keep shooting!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Erika Greco (00:00):
I think sometimes being limited can actually be
(00:01):
kind of a good thing because itpushes you out of the box and
makes you be more creative andmakes you work on yourself
instead of just working onupgrading your gear.
Having to work with somewhatlimited capabilities actually
makes you more creative andmakes you learn how to do things
yourself instead of relying onsome new piece of gear to fix
the problem for you.
(00:23):
Hey, welcome to the beginnerphotography podcast.
I'm your host, Raymond Hatfield.
And each week I interview one ofthe world's most interesting
photographers to learn what itreally takes to capture
beautiful images so that you canstart to do the same.
In today's rewind episode, weare chatting with community
member Erica Greco about findingthat balance between art and
commerce.
(00:44):
Now, if you have ever felt maybeoverwhelmed by the pressure to
turn your photography into abusiness, trust me, you're not
alone.
Many photographers struggle withmaintaining their passion for
photography, with the pressureto, you know, this hustle
culture that glorifies workingyourself to the bone at an
unreasonable pace.
(01:06):
Today's guest and communitymember Erica Greco shares her
journey of rediscovering the joyof photography without
commercial pressure, right?
Balancing a day job and usingphotography as a form of
artistic expression, to keep itfun.
So in today's episode, you willlearn why you should prioritize
passion over profit, how tovalue your artistic expression
(01:30):
and how to use photography toserve others.
And as I mentioned, Erica is amember of the amazing and
supportive beginner photographypodcast community.
And I would love to invite youto come and join us.
You can join the community forfree by heading over to
beginnerphotopod.
com forward slash group.
Again, that's beginnerphotopod.
com forward slash group.
(01:51):
We'd love to have you.
So with that, let's go ahead andget on into today's interview.
Raymond Hatfield (01:57):
I think for these community spotlight
interviews, I think it justworks best to just kind of start
off by just let me know who youare, where you are and what it
is that you do.
Erika Greco (02:07):
Yeah, well, my name is Erica Greco.
I live in Charleston, SouthCarolina.
So luckily, very beautiful spotto be into photography.
And what I do full timeprofessionally during the days I
manage the box office and ticketsales for South Carolina's
largest professional theatercompany but by night and
(02:28):
weekend, I guess say amateurhobbyist photographer I love to
shoot Families, couples, models,and then recently, thanks to
COVID, I've gotten a lot moreoutdoor time and gotten kind of
into like shooting birds andthings like that, too.
So, Yeah, that's kind of how Ispend a lot of my time right
now.
Raymond Hatfield (02:48):
You know what I think is so cool is that,
like, you've been in the groupfor so long that I feel like
I've really seen quite theprogression in what it is that,
you know, you shoot and evenkind of how you think, sometimes
when it comes to gear and theshots that you take and your
editing that you do.
So I really have a lot ofquestions for you today.
I'm super excited to chat.
(03:08):
But before we get into that, youdo theater now.
You love photography.
Where did it start?
How did photography become,important to you?
Erika Greco (03:17):
Yeah.
So I actually went to, a magnethigh school for the arts.
I didn't go to like my localhigh school.
I went to a special school for,my specialty that there that I
studied was theater and acting.
But they also had a great visualarts program and it gave me, it
opened up the opportunity totake, art classes in different
(03:37):
disciplines and I picked it forphotography class.
And really loved it.
And then, to prepare for thephotography class, I had to get
an SLR film SLR for us, predigital kids.
Um, and yeah, so it was reallyin high school.
I knew that I wanted to go tothis great high school for the
arts.
And I thought I was just goingfor theater.
(03:57):
Little did I know it was goingto open me up to this other
artistic passion that I wasgoing to hold on to for the rest
of my life as well.
So.
Definitely started at good oldPatapsco High School in
Baltimore, Maryland, where Igrew up.
Raymond Hatfield (04:09):
What was that?
Patapsco?
Patapsco.
Erika Greco (04:13):
That was a mouthful
Raymond Hatfield (04:14):
right there.
It's
Erika Greco (04:15):
the name of a river.
Raymond Hatfield (04:17):
Oh, okay.
I got it.
I got it.
So, what happens next?
Because, I think many of us getinterested in photography,
oftentimes in high school,whether it be the dark room,
whatever it is, but how doesthat grow into, or I guess, let
me step back.
What sorts of things were youshooting?
Mm hmm.
Back then.
And was that what interested youin photography the most
Erika Greco (04:36):
so back then?
I think it was, I did probablymore like street photography in
high school, just walking aroundBaltimore taking pictures of,
you know, just random scenesthat looked cool or random
people that looked cool.
didn't do a lot of, staged photoshoots or anything back then.
it was more kind of whatever wasfound in my environment.
(04:58):
yeah, so that's, that's prettymuch what I was shooting back
then, and then, sorry, I forgetthe rest of the question.
Raymond Hatfield (05:03):
Haha, like, how does that grow into the rest
of your life?
Because after high school, wejust kind of forget a lot of the
things.
What was it about photography?
Erika Greco (05:10):
Yeah, so I actually did for a while, my path wanders
quite a bit.
even though I went to this artshigh school, I was the first
person in my family to go tocollege.
didn't see theater orphotography as a real career
field.
I didn't really think that thatwas a way that I could.
Grow up and make a living.
So I kind of put both of themaway for a while to study the
(05:33):
highly practical field ofpolitical science.
Oh, yeah.
Um, yeah.
Spent my four years at collegestudying political science,
thought I was going to go to lawschool, thought I was going to
work in politics, got close tothe end of graduation, realized
I in no way wanted to go to lawschool or work in politics, not
in a million billion years, notwith a 10 foot pole.
Um, So I taught, I worked ineducation, I kind of did all
(05:57):
sorts of different things, butmeanwhile, still really needing
something to, some sort ofartistic and creative outlet.
so even in college, I still havemy little film camera with me.
Sometimes it would take picturesaround campus, but I did kind of
get away from it for a whilebecause I had this incorrect
(06:18):
mindset that I didn't need to,or that I shouldn't be spending
my time with theater or withphotography if it wasn't going
to be a business.
If it wasn't going to be a joband why would I continue doing
it or why should I continue,honing my skills or like
investing in my practice.
Things like that.
So I kind of put it down for awhile because I had this mindset
(06:39):
that if it wasn't going to be ajob or at least a side hustle,
then it didn't have value and Ishouldn't be pursuing it
anymore.
That's not what a grownup doeswith their time, you know, um,
And if you weren't going to tryto, and it was impractical.
You couldn't make a living beingan artist, of course.
So of course we all know that.
Right.
Right.
Which is completely incorrect,but I had that mindset.
(07:01):
and so I, I put it away and Ididn't, do it for a while, even
for enjoyment until later inlife when I realized that I was
missing that, that piece, thatcreative outlet that I really
wanted and needed and enjoyedand had learned learned that
there is value in just that insomething, not necessarily being
(07:23):
a business because I do not dophotography as a business.
I already monetized one of my,one of my artistic passions.
There's, I wanted to keepsomething just for myself.
I still do want to keepsomething just for myself and
just for my enjoyment.
And I think that for a lot ofyears, I didn't realize that.
I could, um, that that was okay.
(07:44):
That that wasn't stupid.
so yeah, then I eventually foundmy way actually back to, you
know, a career in theater, whichwas like my first artistic love
and, but still spend a lot oftime on photography as well,
even though I don't do it, as abusiness or I not aiming to make
a business out of it, justbecause it's, you know, fulfills
me.
Raymond Hatfield (08:04):
now tell me if I'm wrong here, but it seems
like you struggled with thatquite a bit because I know that
in the group you have hadconversations about charging,
you've had conversations aboutthe business side of things, and
then it seemed like not too longago you were just like, wait a
second, No, I'm taking a stand.
I'm not going to do that.
I do really just lovephotography for what it is and I
(08:26):
guess what it provides for youand in the artistic sense.
You know, I know that you justkind of explained that there.
But can you walk me through thata little bit more?
Like, was it because you werefeeling like the business side
was taking away some of theenjoyment?
Because I know that that'ssomething that a lot of
listeners also struggle with.
So you share your thoughts onthat?
Erika Greco (08:46):
Yeah.
I think that, like you said, thebusiness side takes away from
the enjoyment.
I mean, as a business owner, youknow that a lot of your time is
not spent shooting and doing thethings you love.
More of your time is spent onthe business side of things.
and I don't enjoy that part.
My day job revolves a lot aroundcustomer service.
And even my last job did, And soI didn't, I don't want to go, go
(09:09):
home and do customer service onthe weekends.
I just have no, I have nothingleft for that.
No energy left for that at theend of the week.
So yeah, it was really aboutthat.
Like, how did I want to spend, Ilove my full time job.
I'm not going to leave it.
you know, until they kick meout.
So how do I want to spend mytime outside of that?
Is it still, dealing withcustomers and clients.
(09:32):
And dealing with the businessside of things when I work
really hard at that kind ofstuff all week and it just, it
just wasn't, it wasn't how Iwanted to spend my free time and
I felt like if I tried to pushmyself to fit my photography
journey into this box That Ifelt like I was just supposed to
do.
Like if you do photography, youshould make it your job or you
(09:52):
should make it at least a sidehustle.
You should make it income,income generating.
And I was just doing thatbecause I felt like I should, I
felt like I was supposed to, Ifelt like that was the normal
thing to do.
but it wasn't for me.
and I realized, yeah, that whyfit my journey into this box
that I don't like.
So it doesn't fit.
(10:13):
It just doesn't fit for me.
And like I said, I, I workreally hard at one of my
artistic passions and turn thatinto a job.
And that can take some of thelike fun and magic out of it
sometimes.
so I needed something that wasjust, like I said, just for me.
And I finally saw the value inthat and realized.
It's not everything has to bemonetized, not everything has to
be a hustle like art can just beart, and you can just do it for,
(10:38):
your artistic expression itdoesn't have to be.
Because you're going to make ita business one day, you can.
And if you do great, fantastic,but that's not for me, at least
not right now.
Raymond Hatfield (10:49):
I love that so much.
That's absolutely okay.
And you're right.
I feel like that is alsosomething that gets pushed
really hard on people is that ifyou're doing this, like you
might as well just turn it intoa side hustle, you might as well
make that money.
Erika Greco (11:02):
Yeah, I feel like we live in this culture of like
hustle, hustle, hustle, grind,grind, grind, get a hundred
thousand followers, make yourfirst million, retire at
whatever age, like, and unlessyou, hit that standard, or if
you're not at least striving forthat standard, then your life
isn't good enough, or what youractivities aren't good enough,
or you're not working hardenough, or you're, you know,
you're not this or that enough.
(11:22):
But at the end of the day, yeah,that's just someone else's path
and someone else's box.
And you don't have to fityourself or your journey or your
hobbies or your passions into,you know, someone, the mold,
someone else.
created.
I just, yeah, pure rejection ofthat.
Like hustle, hustle, hustle,grind, grind, grind culture.
We gotta have some fun too.
Raymond Hatfield (11:42):
Yeah, we do gotta have, okay, so then let
me, play devil's advocate herefor you.
Can I ask what your otherartistic endeavor is that you
said that you've monetized?
Erika Greco (11:51):
Oh, well, I work full time in theater.
Raymond Hatfield (11:53):
Oh, I see.
Okay.
I was thinking, I don't know,pottery or, I don't know,
something else that you weredoing.
And I guess the question that Iwas going to ask was, why did
you choose to keep photographythe passion, and then whatever
the other thing is as the profitgenerator?
But that makes more sense,because you can't really do the
all of live performance on yourown.
Erika Greco (12:12):
Yeah.
So no, we've got a, we've got aquite large theater company.
I do not perform anymore.
I sell tickets and do customerservice and stuff like that.
So, but I, work in a theater.
I'm very lucky.
I work in a theater that Istarted as a fan of.
So,
Raymond Hatfield (12:28):
Oh, that's so cool.
Erika Greco (12:30):
I was going, you know, as I've lived in
Charleston for like 10 yearsnow, and as soon as I got to
town, I found this theater.
it's called Charleston Stage.
We're out of the historic DockStreet Theater, which anybody
who has visited Charleston hasseen.
It's a beautiful historicbuilding.
And as soon as I got to town, Ijust, I started seeing their
shows there.
I loved it.
I love the theater.
I love the company.
the director that I work fornow, He's the direct founder of
(12:52):
the company, so he's been therefor a billion years, and, he
writes a lot of the shows, too.
So the first show, the firstplay I saw in Charleston was an
original work by our directorJulian Wiles.
And so he was just this largerthan life character to me, and
then a job opened up.
I saw it when I was ready toleave an old job.
a job there opened up and I waslike, this is it.
(13:13):
So that's how I, how I chose tolike, which of my passions to
follow a career in and which todo on the side is just that the
opportunity presented itself.
And I jumped on it and Hey, ifthere was a photography
opportunity that just wasperfect and presented itself the
way this theater opportunitydid, then maybe I'd be in
photography full time.
Since I am in theater full timenow.
(13:34):
It's awesome to get to work withall these creative, amazing
people that I admired from afarfor so long.
but it does sometimes take, youknow, if you're working in a
field that you love, itsometimes takes, a job.
It becomes work, it's not justfun and play and passion
anymore.
it becomes work and I didn'twant to do that to photography
too.
Raymond Hatfield (13:54):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, I think it's great becauselike, I can hear it in your
voice as you were describingthis to me, just how, how much
you do like your job, I thinkmore than the majority of
people.
So, that's always exciting whenyou get to be able to say
something like that, or just inthe way that you say it.
I think that that is going tohelp you, long term, but back to
photography.
that I think about kind of your,earliest days back in high
(14:17):
school shooting there, I want toknow, because you said that you
were shooting film.
time, the camera that you had,was that full manual or were you
shooting an auto?
Or what was that learning curvelike for you?
Erika Greco (14:28):
yeah, so we were shooting on manual.
I'm pretty sure.
it's been a while now.
It's been a minute.
We talked about what year wewere born and what year I
graduated.
Yeah, so we were shooting inmanual.
We learned about the exposuretriangle and all that stuff.
And I loved that a lot.
loved the dark room, loved blackand white, like swore I would
(14:48):
never go digital, never godigital.
That's not real photography.
That's cheating.
You never know when a photo hasjust been edited to look that
good.
Like, but now I do not own afilm camera anymore.
So
Raymond Hatfield (15:01):
that is too funny.
So then I guess in those earlydays, was there something that
you remember that wasparticularly challenging for you
to grasp or understand or putinto practice.
Erika Greco (15:13):
I feel like it was harder once I picked it back up
years later in digital than itwas the first time around.
I think because the first timearound I was in a class.
it was pre, instagram and socialmedia age.
So just developing a picturethat you took yourself and
developed yourself and you know,had any sort of like artistic
flair to it.
(15:34):
Was like impressive.
The bar wasn't so high
Raymond Hatfield (15:37):
as it is now.
Erika Greco (15:37):
And now you see, you can just, immerse yourself
in crazy talented artists justby scrolling your Instagram
feed.
There's just so much good workout there that I feel like it
really raised everybody'sstandards.
so I didn't feel like Istruggled with a lot.
Back in high school, but I thinkit was because the bar was a
little bit lower.
It was like, Oh, man, I tookthis picture of a flower and I
(16:00):
developed it myself.
And this is so I mounted on someblack cardboard.
And this is so cool.
where once I picked it back upin the age of, digital
photography and you know, socialmedia and just being exposed to
a lot more good photography.
That's when the challenges camebecause my standards.
had been changed.
Raymond Hatfield (16:19):
Wow, so let me think about that for a second.
So the standards had beenchanged, so photography got
harder for you.
In terms of, was it a personalthing?
Were you just feeling like, ohwait, I'm not as good of a
photographer as I think I am?
Or were you trying somethingthat you were seeing and
realizing that it was harderthan you expected?
How so?
Erika Greco (16:37):
Yeah, so I think that they're the part of it was
part of it is insecurity becauseyou play the comparison game,
even though you know, you're notsupposed to compare your journey
or your life to someone else'slike we still all do it.
And I think that there's a placefor that.
It made me improve.
It definitely made me improve.
where If you just, don't look atanybody else's work or don't
compare yourself ever, do youreally know in which direction
(17:00):
to go to improve your work, butthere can be joy lost in
comparison for sure.
So, yeah, I think that part ofit is just all of a sudden I
realized all the problems or allthe shortfalls or all the, all
the areas I could improve when Istarted seeing people who were,
more advanced and more skilledand more experienced than me.
And was really exposed to themjust on a, regular basis versus
(17:24):
like I said, in high school, itwas just like, wow, I developed
a picture.
This is awesome.
Raymond Hatfield (17:28):
Yeah.
Erika Greco (17:29):
But, and I think part of it was also making the
transition to digital.
and relearning some of thebasics after I put it.
Put the camera down for a littlewhile and then the transition to
digital and there's just a lotmore options.
There's a lot more buttons tolearn.
So there was some kind ofpersonal growth that had to be
made as far as, being secureenough to have some confidence
in my work.
That's confidence is always anissue for me.
(17:51):
and then, but then there wastechnical growth to be made to
to make that transition todigital and just kind of get
back in the group of things.
Raymond Hatfield (17:57):
was there anything from a technical
standpoint in particular thatyou can think of?
Erika Greco (18:02):
Oh, gosh, like.
Focus.
I think having things beingfocused was like a whole an
adventure.
isn't that funny?
Take you take a picture on yourlittle tiny little screen.
You're like, yes, I nailed it.
Then you get it to a computerand make it bigger and you're
like, oh man, that's that'scompletely out of focus.
Um, so yeah, focus lightinglearning flash.
I never did flash, in highschool and Yeah, I think those
(18:26):
are probably the biggest thingsis consistent focus consistent
lighting and then with part ofconsistent lighting being how to
use artificial lighting, youknow, when that natural light.
is an option, or is it your bestoption?
Or isn't the vision you have inyour head?
Raymond Hatfield (18:40):
Yeah, right.
Yeah, all three of those.
Yeah, exactly.
And I think when it comes tofocus, I don't think that you're
alone.
That's definitely something thatis very challenging.
And then I think the world ofmirrorless kind of changed
everything again.
I feel like everybody really gotused to Oh, you haven't made the
switch yet?
Erika Greco (18:54):
No, no, no, my camera is still it's still big
and heavy.
I just I can't do it.
Look, I resisted digital For awhile, the list is going to, is
going to take even longer.
So, no, I feel like I'm just.
Raymond Hatfield (19:06):
If it works though, you know, if it works,
like why change it up?
And if you don't rely on thesetools for, you know, so one of
the reasons why I switched fromCanon to Fuji was just simply I
felt like it helped me do my jobbetter.
And that was it, right?
It was a smaller camera.
It kind of helped me blend in alittle bit.
I could be a little lessconspicuous, and on a dance
(19:27):
floor, like, that's what youwant.
You don't wanna, at least Ididn't want to be the guy with
the giant camera and the flashin everybody's face, right?
I don't think that, if it wasjust me personally and my
personal photography, I'm notsure that I ever would've
changed systems.
So I don't blame you there.
I would, I would stick with ituntil the shutter just falls
right off the camera.
Erika Greco (19:47):
Basically, basically.
And plus I'm like, I've spentenough money on all this stuff.
I'm going to keep it for awhile.
But I think that that really,it's actually to like some
really good advice that helpedme that came from your podcast
and it was about like, not gearchasing, like making sure if
there, if you're buyingsomething new that you know
exactly why you're buying andexactly what hole it's going to
(20:09):
fill for you, what gap it'sgoing to fill for you.
And to me, like mirrorless atthis point, I don't even have a
full frame camera.
I have a crop sensor camera.
And the only reason I wouldchange it, it just because like,
I don't know, like an illogical,like Little itch for some new
technology.
And that's not a good reason tospend a bunch of money.
It's, it doesn't feel a need forme.
(20:30):
It doesn't feel like gap.
And that was really good advice.
I got actually from your podcastthat really helped.
So every piece of gear, everylens that I bought and every
piece of gear that I bought, Iwanted for months, at least
months, and I know exactly why Ibought it.
And that was because of you.
Raymond Hatfield (20:46):
Yes.
I love to hear that.
That is so awesome.
That is so awesome.
Yeah, I mean, that is such ahard thing.
And I think about that too, inthe same sense that a lot of
people get told that if you'reinto photography, turn it into a
side hustle.
I think that today, a lot ofpeople are told once you get
into photography, got to go fullframe.
Got to get it, get it, got toget all the big lenses.
(21:06):
And I don't necessarilysubscribe to that.
I went, cause that's kind of thepath that I took.
I went, the Canon XT and thenthe Canon 40D.
And then I was like, I got to gofull frame.
You know, if you're going to beshooting weddings all the time.
So I went to the 5D Mark II andit was amazing at how fast I
realized, wow.
My photos didn't change at all.
(21:27):
Like, yeah, expect thismonumentous monumentous
monumental change to shift inyour images, but really, you're
still exact same photographer asyou were before.
And there are some technicaldifferences, obviously, some
better low light capabilities.
But I think overall, it's notgoing to transform your
photography.
And I love I absolutely lovethat you are like, nope,
(21:50):
sticking on to this thing.
And if I do upgrade, I gottaknow why.
So then let me ask you, whatwould it take for you to upgrade
to full frame?
Erika Greco (21:59):
The thing that gets me sometimes tempted for full
frame is the low lightcapability.
And another thing that I'veheard from, excuse me, your
feedback in the group and otherpeople's feedback in the
Facebook group, which is anamazing community by the way, is
like, Oh, just up your ISO, upyour ISO.
But I don't know what it is,whether it's my camera or just
(22:19):
my taste.
I don't like it and it drives mecrazy.
And so the only thing that Ithink would, that would make me
upgrade to full frame is It'sjust that the low light
capabilities, but right now Iwork around it and maybe learn
flash, which I think is a realasset, which is really fun.
so yeah, I think that sometimeslimitations and having to work
(22:42):
with somewhat limitedcapabilities actually makes you
more creative and makes youlearn how to do things yourself
instead of just relying on somenew piece of gear to fix the
problem for you.
so sometimes what is this?
Like scarcity is the mother ofinvention or something like
that.
Oh yeah.
Raymond Hatfield (23:00):
Something like that.
necessarily.
Erika Greco (23:02):
Yeah.
So like, I don't have this greatlow light camera, so I had to
learn flash.
Well, flash is actually reallyfun and really cool.
It can really like step up yourphotos and just change the way,
you know, you can make, youknow, pictures.
There's as an artistic layer, tothe things that you're able to
produce.
So, yeah, I think sometimesbeing limited is, can actually
be kind of a good thing becauseit pushes you out of the box and
makes you be more creative andmakes you work on yourself
(23:25):
instead of just working on,Upgrading your gear.
Raymond Hatfield (23:27):
Right.
And it's a whole lot cheaperthat way too.
So let me ask you what, likepersonally, just for you, what's
the highest that you would go asfar as ISO when you're shooting
with your camera?
Erika Greco (23:37):
Oh, gosh, I started to get annoyed above like.
400.
Raymond Hatfield (23:42):
400.
Hold on.
Oh, can I ask what camera youhave?
Erika Greco (23:46):
A Canon 80D.
Raymond Hatfield (23:47):
80D.
What?
Erika Greco (23:49):
80D.
I actually started on a, Istart, you mentioned that you
had a 40D and I started my firstdigital, not film, I don't know
what my film was, but my firstdigital camera was a 40D and
then I upgraded to an 80D.
and I love that camera.
Raymond Hatfield (24:06):
But 800 is the max for you, huh?
Erika Greco (24:09):
I mean, no, I will, but it starts to bother me.
Raymond Hatfield (24:14):
Wow.
Well, yeah, you know what, thenI think, because the 80D is,
still a relatively very newcamera.
I think there's only one modelnewer than it, which means that.
Essentially going full frame,you're only going to get about a
stop more performance out ofyour ISO.
So that means 1600, you know?
So then I guess the question is,would you be willing to spend
(24:36):
two grand to go up to ISO 1600?
Erika Greco (24:40):
Absolutely not.
And my bank account, thanks youfor pointing that out.
Raymond Hatfield (24:43):
Yeah, well, hopefully that was a, was very
rough and dirty, I guess, answerto that question, I guess, that
you'd be thinking.
But no, I mean, it sounds to melike, like you got to figure it
out and that, that you're happywith it.
So yeah.
Erika Greco (24:56):
Yeah.
And instead I bought some killerlenses that I really had a good
time with.
The first one that I, so rightnow I have a, Tamron G2 24 to 70
and 70 to 200.
And then I have a Sigma 150 to600, which is my newest
purchase.
Raymond Hatfield (25:12):
Wow.
Erika Greco (25:13):
And that's for birds and that has been so cool
and so fun.
And, it's funny how likephotography has actually made
me, made me get more exercise
Raymond Hatfield (25:21):
because
Erika Greco (25:22):
yeah, I'll put on like miles and miles and miles
with that lens.
And it's like six pounds.
Um, it's not light.
So I get a bit of a workout.
I have figured out that my, thehand I support that lens with,
like you can visibly see thatthe muscle on that, that arm is
stronger, even though it's myleft hand, even though it's my
non dominant hand.
So I was like, why is my, my, mybicep on my left arm stronger
(25:45):
when I'm very much right handedand we're like, oh, it's because
I hold that.
That big lens, that big, heavylens.
Raymond Hatfield (25:50):
that is so funny with my left
Erika Greco (25:52):
hand.
but yeah, it's like.
It's helping me get outsidemore.
It gives me more exercise.
So there's so much value, youknow, in my photography, even if
I, don't, try to turn it into abusiness.
And yeah, instead of investingin that, full frame camera, just
because I was supposed to,because it's somebody else's
business.
journey that they made upsomebody else's box that I don't
have to or somebody else's plan.
(26:14):
I don't have to subscribe tobecause I didn't do that.
I was able to, you know, yeah, Iguess I get some killer lenses
instead that I've had a greattime with.
I mean, started to find likewhere all the bald eagles are
locally.
And that's been really fun andreally cool to see and gotten,
yeah, super into birds guts.
Oh, I, um, I had a painter, anartist, a painting artist,
(26:35):
contact me for about a picture.
I took of a group of Rosie atSpoonbills, which are crazy
looking pink birds that are so,so cool.
asking me if she could paint it.
Raymond Hatfield (26:48):
And she said, if
Erika Greco (26:49):
the painting sells, she'll send me a commission.
So yeah, like I couldn't have, Iwouldn't.
And it was because I got outbecause I had this super cool
new lens.
I couldn't have done that witha, you know, just because I
upgraded to a full frame camerabecause somebody else said I
should.
Raymond Hatfield (27:03):
Right, right.
And because of the crop factor,you'd actually be further away.
So the photo wouldn't be asimpactful with a full frame
camera.
So that's even better.
Erika Greco (27:12):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I love all the Investedin, but like I said, I, I made
sure I wanted them.
They were in my Amazon cart fora very long time before I,
pulled the trigger.
And that, so that was reallygood advice.
I use.
Um, take them everywhere.
And really, yeah, really get alot of enjoyment out of the
(27:32):
things that I have chosen toinvest in.
Raymond Hatfield (27:35):
That's good.
I love to hear that.
One of the things I see oftenis, in like buy set camera bag,
Or photography buy sell tradegroups is always like people
think that it's this badge ofhonor when they go to sell a
camera and it's like, there'sonly 1000 shots on it.
And it's like, what?
Like, how is that a good thing?
That means that you didn't useit at all.
We should be praising the peoplewho have 600, 000 shots on their
(27:58):
cameras.
You know what I mean?
But
Erika Greco (27:59):
one of my one of my gears, it's probably not good.
But one of my gears sticks alittle bit because it's got sand
in it, because I've taken it tothe beach.
Raymond Hatfield (28:07):
On one of your lenses.
Erika Greco (28:09):
oh my camera.
Raymond Hatfield (28:10):
Oh
Erika Greco (28:11):
Oh my camera.
I do take I don't think i'veever taken one of my more
expensive lenses to the beach Mycamera and a cheap lens we'll go
on the beach.
I've done a model shoot out ofthe beach and, as well as done
some astrophotography out therewhere the Milky Way has been
visible.
So that was super fun.
and yeah, it still has some,there's a little bit of
sandiness in one of the gears onmy camera.
(28:34):
But I, but I wear that like abadge of honor.
It means that I have used it.
Oh my gosh.
My, when I did the, um.
the beach shoot where I wasshooting models.
I was, it was the craziest site.
I had my camera in one hand, butwe were in the waves.
So I had a flash on a flashstand in the other hand.
And I was just trying to balancemyself like in a low squat
(28:56):
position because the model waslike kneeling on the ground, low
squat position.
And I'm trying to get hergetting hit by a wave, like the
wave, like crashing over her.
But that also means that I'mgetting hit by a wave.
I've one time at one point wipedout, got knocked over by one of
these waves, luckily was able tolike hold the camera and the
flash stand high enough up inthe air to save the camera and
(29:17):
stuff.
But yeah, I mean, if you, whichsome people, you know, would
think is crazy.
Like, why are you standing inthe water with your camera?
You could get your gear wet.
And I'm like, well, what am Igoing to do with it?
If not, like I didn't buy it toleave it in the bag and sit on
the shelf.
So I definitely, yeah, mycamera's gone to the beach and
the water, like.
in and out of suitcases.
(29:37):
I'm a little rough on it,
Raymond Hatfield (29:39):
probably.
Well, thank goodness for those,those big lens muscles that
helped you, you know, holdeverything out of the water.
Yeah, it all works itselftogether.
That's hilarious.
know, when it comes tophotography, I love to know,
especially in this day where Ifeel like Instagram is well,
Instagram has come out and saidthat they're no longer photo
focused or photo forward,whatever the word was there.
(30:02):
Yeah, exactly.
Right.
So it's like, I'm alwaysinterested to know, like as a
photographer, where do you findyour inspiration from?
Erika Greco (30:10):
I mean, I mean, I never thought that I would like
Instagram.
I was very late to the Instagramgame.
but I do like Instagram thesedays.
as far as seeing, work outsideof the people around me, but I
would say actually the mostinspiration that I have found is
from local photographers.
And, local photographers andthen like Facebook communities
(30:33):
because two examples to twothings that I think would or a
huge motivational point for meand inspiration to me.
one was the beginner photographypodcast Facebook group because I
can name people that I feel likehave been in the group for years
and we have watched theirjourney and we've watched them
grow so much and it's a littlebit of not competition.
(30:56):
But it just motivates you tolike, Oh, they're getting
better.
Like I should get better,watching them improve makes you
want to improve too.
It makes you realize you can doit because they started out, a
beginner just like you and you,you saw their work, you saw when
they were a beginner.
it's not some professional, youknow, or some.
crazy advanced artists tellingyou, Oh yeah, sure.
I was a beginner at one point.
You're like, yeah, sure.
You were born with a camera inyour hand, but these are people
(31:19):
that we have seen their workprogress, you know, in real
time, right in front of us.
And that has been super cool tosee in the community.
And then the community is justso, so supportive.
Oh my gosh, there's not a nicerFacebook community or Facebook
group out there.
so that's been a huge source ofinspiration.
Also connecting with localphotographers and local models
and seeing the work that they'reputting out, has been another
(31:40):
really great source ofinspiration to so I would say I
don't have like a favoritephotographer that's kind of
like.
Out there some, you know, well,no name or some other influencer
like you, um, Some other famousphotographer.
for me, it's really Yeah, thepeople that have grown kind of
(32:01):
alongside of me and the localpeople that I kind of look up to
and the people on Facebook, likeboth of those Facebook
communities that we have a localphotographer and model.
Facebook community that peopleshare work.
And then, the beginnerphotography podcast, Facebook
community.
I would say that though, thepeople in those communities have
actually been my biggestinspiration.
Raymond Hatfield (32:19):
I mean, first of all, I don't even know where
to begin with that.
because that's exactly how Ifeel about.
like you, you know, you were init pretty much from the
beginning.
You got to see people, and theirskills develop as a
photographer.
And that's how I feel about youand so many others as well.
I mean, it's been so much fun tosee you.
develop and your progressionfrom, I mean, everything, even
(32:42):
that we've talked about todayfrom portraits of friends,
family, you know, you've donesome street photography, some
astrophotography, nightphotography.
I think you did some selectivecoloring there in the beginning,
like we all do some slow shuttershots.
I
Erika Greco (32:55):
will still, hey, I will still, that is a hill I
will die on.
Selective coloring is stillappropriate in some situations.
Raymond Hatfield (33:02):
I agree, I agree.
I'm right there with you.
But it's a very, it's a verysmall list of appropriate
situations, I believe.
But, you know, over all thattime, I feel like, especially
now, because gone on to shootingmodels and birds as well.
Over all of that, I want to knowyou can go back in time and tell
yourself something earlier, whatpiece of advice would you give
(33:24):
your, greener self about theworld of photography?
Erika Greco (33:28):
Just dive in.
Just, don't be so nervous.
Don't feel like you have to knowit all before you put a toe in.
I think that I was hesitant toshare work because it wasn't
exactly where I wanted to be orbecause I saw work that I
thought was better than mine andso I wouldn't share.
and what do you have to lose?
Dive in, get to know people.
(33:49):
Like, there are really coolpeople in these communities,
online and in real lifecommunities.
I mean, the, the photographygroup around here, like, meets
for lunch once a month.
dive in, get to know people,whether it's in real life or
online and share your work andjust, don't be afraid.
What do you have to be afraidof?
What do you have to lose?
Raymond Hatfield (34:06):
That's perfect.
Oh my gosh, that is so good.
I feel like you're one of thoselike, super wise photographers
talking to me.
I'm like, on every word.
I'm like, this is so great.
This is so great.
Especially because, you know,it's one of those things where,
when it comes to photography,every like, And as you know,
when it comes to art, it's verysubjective, but that means that,
you have to project a lot ofyourself onto the art itself for
(34:30):
it to have meaning.
And I feel like just in thisconversation with you, I'm
getting like this backstage,understanding more of your work
and how you put yourself intoyour work here.
And it's almost as if.
All of your photos that I'veseen in the past make more sense
now after this conversation withyou, which I love, and I think
really lends itself to youwanting to dive in and make
(34:52):
those connections and probablyone of the reasons why, you are,
so trusted within the group isbecause I can tell that you
obviously have a passion forthis and that, uh, that you
truly do enjoy this.
So this has been a ton of fun.
I still got a few more questionsfor you.
If you still got time.
Yeah,
Erika Greco (35:08):
of course.
Raymond Hatfield (35:08):
Awesome.
I kind of want to go back to theFacebook group for a moment
because this is an area where, Ilove talking to you.
I love talking to other membersof the group, but there's a few
things that I guess being on theoutside of it, I'm still always
kind of like, I don't understandwhy it works like this.
So for you, you said earlierthat you think that it's one of
the friendliest places on theinternet for new photographers.
(35:29):
Why do you think that is?
There are so many Facebookgroups out there with hundreds
of thousands of people.
I think we only have.
5, 000 people in the group.
I don't even think it's that,but there are groups with
hundreds of thousands of people.
Why do you think the beginnerphotography podcast, Facebook
group works as well as it does?
Erika Greco (35:44):
I'm not just saying this to flatter anything.
It's because of you and theculture that you set and.
you're such a nice person andyou made it clear from the
beginning that like, no jerksallowed.
This is going to be a niceplace.
This is going to be a safeplace.
It's going to be a supportiveplace.
And people who are cocky andarrogant, like you're going to
get a warning and then like,you're not going to post
(36:04):
anymore.
And I don't even think it tookthat many.
I haven't even seen, the lovely,the lovely admins Give too many
warnings to people because Ithink it, since you started the
group, it's been very clear thatwas going to be the culture of
the group.
So I think that your personalityand your intentionality around
that, really built a great, agreat community.
I think you've selected greatpeople to be admins and people
(36:26):
who are like, just as, It'sawesome and supportive and
active and, thriving and seeingother people thrive.
Like you, you've got a great, agreat team of people, that are
helping you out with that.
Yeah, it's the culture that youguys set a hundred percent.
I
Raymond Hatfield (36:40):
think I podcast out.
That felt really weird.
Don't you
Erika Greco (36:44):
dare.
Don't you dare.
It's true.
It's true.
It's true.
And, and, you know, cause I knowlike, Kim Irish, Kimberly Irish,
right?
Is, one of the admins and she,and she's just a rock star.
Like once she's the person thatwe have seen grow so much since
the beginning.
So I'll shout her out too.
And she does such a great jobwith, she's always active in the
community and it's alwayspositive and it's always
(37:05):
constructive and it's alwayssupportive.
And so I think that, yeah, justthe influence that, you know,
the group's creator and then thegroup's leadership has just
really keeps it and it keeps itin a really good, really good
direction.
And it does work really well.
Raymond Hatfield (37:19):
I okay.
Maybe I'll keep that in therebecause you have to,
Erika Greco (37:22):
because now you'd be cutting out Kim shout out.
So, right.
Raymond Hatfield (37:25):
I know.
Yeah.
I know.
Once you did that, I was like,well, this has got to stay in
the episode now.
Geez.
You kind of tied my arm behindmy back on that one.
But no, I mean, really, it's,and I know that I've said this
before, but it's like, I hatewhen, like, it's put on me
because it's like, I'm not, I'mnot the one posting all the
time, I'm not the one, you know,it's, I really think that it's
you, and that it's all themembers of the group, because
(37:47):
y'all have to essentially signsome sort of social contract
saying that we're going to benice to each other, and y'all
abide by those rules, and y'allmake the community what it is,
if it was just me.
it would just be me talking toan empty void.
And that's just, that's justweird.
Erika Greco (38:01):
Well, I think you're, I mean, you still
participate in the group, youknow, whenever you have time,
like you record videos to givepeople feedback and stuff.
And so that people can see thatand, see that that's always,
always friendly and nice.
And then I think that that isalso a place that people really
crave on the internet.
The internet is so wild rightnow and is such a rough place.
(38:23):
And so I think that peoplereally crave that much like
softer, nicer community.
and so I think that, that thathelps, the continuation of that
kind of culture becauseeverybody is willing to be a
gatekeeper of that because it'sso important and so rare and so
needed on the internet.
right now.
(38:43):
So I think, yeah, I think thatthat because everybody really
loves it.
No one wants to see
Raymond Hatfield (38:48):
it spoiled.
Right, huh?
That's an interestingperspective that I had not
thought of.
I'm gonna have to think aboutthat for a little bit, because
that is something that it'slike, as it continues to grow, I
try to figure out like, how canwe keep it this way without
getting too crazy?
Because anything too big, Ithink can go south real fast.
And I'd rather have a muchsmaller community of friendly
photographers, then absolutely,A community of a million people
(39:10):
and it just like the Wild West,like you said, but, another
question that I got for you is,is that when it comes to the
podcast, I know that you've beenlistening for a number of years,
long time.
You have a lot of range when itcomes to your photos, as I said,
Astro portraits street, not allthese things.
Erika Greco (39:26):
They're very all over the place.
So it's good that you say theymake sense now.
And it's, it's really becauseit's like different phases of my
life.
I mean, from.
I did some event photography andthen COVID happened.
So there was no more eventphotography.
So I did a lot of naturephotography and because I do
don't do this as a career and Ijust do this as a passion, I
(39:47):
can, that's the great thing is Ican just go and meander any
direction I want.
And, and I have the bandwidth todo it.
I don't have to, you know, worryabout my Instagram look or my
niche or whatever.
I can do whatever suits thatphase, that point in life.
so I'm to hear that, My superrandom, super all over the place
phases of photography make alittle bit of sense now.
(40:09):
Oh,
Raymond Hatfield (40:09):
100%, 100%.
but I would love to know justbecause you've shot so many
different genres and you'vetried so many different things.
Has there been a standoutepisode of the podcast for you?
Erika Greco (40:22):
one thing that I can't remember who it was on the
episode.
but one thing that really had alasting impact on me was the
people who.
The idea of using yourphotography to serve,
Raymond Hatfield (40:34):
could have been the blooms Philip and I
Erika Greco (40:36):
think that was it.
That's that.
I think that was it.
That's what I was going to say,but then I didn't want to be
wrong.
There's my lack of confidence.
So yeah, they talked about usingyour photography to serve and
that stuck with me so much.
And that's another thing that I,I think you have the opportunity
to do, like whether or not youmake this, a career or a
business, but for me, even whenI am taking pictures of a family
(40:58):
and stuff, it's a lot of times,well, all the time.
I don't shoot people, I don'tknow.
it's a family I know and I don'tcharge because I just, do this
for fun and I'm not out there,like, nobody at me.
I'm not out there advertisingfree sessions or anything like
that.
I know that that gets a lot,working for free gets a lot of
hate in the comments.
Photography community sometimes,but
Raymond Hatfield (41:19):
screw it.
Clean.
I shoot for free.
Do it.
Erika Greco (41:23):
These are people in my life and I can, you know,
serve them by like, I have fundoing it.
I enjoy doing it.
And I've got this camera, I'vegot these skills.
And so even on a very smallscale, it doesn't have to be
some like mission trip aroundthe world.
where it can be, you can bringawareness to really important
causes through photography, butyou can also just like, Serve
(41:45):
your neighbor, you know, I'vehad friends that need a headshot
for, their med schoolapplications or, whatever, and
they need it, and they need itcheap, and they need it the very
last minute.
I'd be like, yeah, I can do thatfor you.
so I think using yourphotography to serve in small
ways and in bigger ways reallystuck with me and made an impact
on what I do.
Even, you know, with connectingwith local models, like that, a
(42:06):
lot of that is like TFP tradefor time for prints or trade for
prints, or everybody has theirown variation of that, uh, that
acronym.
but I can, you know, have funand help a model, have a local
model, you know, get someportfolio shots or.
You know, somebody who maybelacks a little bit.
It's just getting into the gamelacks a little bit of confidence
can make them feel reallybeautiful and feel like, you
(42:27):
know, a rock star or I've alsovolunteered for nonprofits and
done photos for philanthropiccauses and things like that.
So using your photography toserve as has permeated
throughout a lot of what I do.
Raymond Hatfield (42:40):
I don't know how to end it any better than
that.
That is such a great takeaway.
I think that you are going tochange a lot of people's minds
and their ideas aboutphotography, after hearing, this
little chat that we had heretoday.
So I'm really excited for thisnow, before I let you go, we
know that you're in the group,but can you share anywhere else
where we can find you online?
Erika Greco (43:03):
So I haven't updated my Instagram in a while,
but the best place wouldprobably be Instagram.
It's Erica with a K E R I K A DGreco G R E C O.
So Instagram.
com slash Erica D Greco.
I'll get some more photos upthere sometime.
Raymond Hatfield (43:20):
no promises though, right?
Yeah.
Um,
Erika Greco (43:23):
don't know.
So like I said, the internet'sthe wild west right now.
So social media has kind oftaken a little, backburner time,
but when I do post it's there orin the community
Raymond Hatfield (43:33):
or in the community.
Let me ask you one lastquestion, the
Erika Greco (43:35):
community,
Raymond Hatfield (43:36):
just join, just join the community.
I didn't say it.
Erica did.
Is there anything that I didn'task you today that you want to
make sure that those new tophotography or those in the
community, Know about it.
Erika Greco (43:52):
Gosh, I, I had these things planned out in my
head and then I didn't writethem down.
So I, I feel like we've covereda lot of it, but I would say
like one, you're never too oldto pick it up.
a lot of the people you see onInstagram are going to be
younger than you.
And you're going to be like,these kids, these, these young
kids are so good.
I'm never going to catch up, butone, you're never too old to
pick it up.
And two, you don't have to have,business aspirations to pick up
(44:16):
photography.
you can just do it.
For fun and you'll have andyou'll have a lot of fun.
doing it.
So just take the pressure offyourself.
One to, be as good as someoneelse or two you have to make a
business or you have to havethis piece of gear.
Take the pressure off yourself.
Have fun.
Your journey is your journey.
Thank you for listening totoday's interview.
(44:36):
Remember, come join us in thefree and amazing community of
photographers just looking tolearn and grow their skills,
just like you, by heading overto beginnerphotopod.
com forward slash group now.
Thanks again for listening totoday's episode.
And remember, the more that youshoot today, the better of a
photographer you will betomorrow.
Talk soon.
I think sometimes being limited can actually be
(00:01):
kind of a good thing because itpushes you out of the box and
makes you be more creative andmakes you work on yourself
instead of just working onupgrading your gear.
Having to work with somewhatlimited capabilities actually
makes you more creative andmakes you learn how to do things
yourself instead of relying onsome new piece of gear to fix
the problem for you.
(00:23):
Hey, welcome to the beginnerphotography podcast.
I'm your host, Raymond Hatfield.
And each week I interview one ofthe world's most interesting
photographers to learn what itreally takes to capture
beautiful images so that you canstart to do the same.
In today's rewind episode, weare chatting with community
member Erica Greco about findingthat balance between art and
commerce.
(00:44):
Now, if you have ever felt maybeoverwhelmed by the pressure to
turn your photography into abusiness, trust me, you're not
alone.
Many photographers struggle withmaintaining their passion for
photography, with the pressureto, you know, this hustle
culture that glorifies workingyourself to the bone at an
unreasonable pace.
(01:06):
Today's guest and communitymember Erica Greco shares her
journey of rediscovering the joyof photography without
commercial pressure, right?
Balancing a day job and usingphotography as a form of
artistic expression, to keep itfun.
So in today's episode, you willlearn why you should prioritize
passion over profit, how tovalue your artistic expression
(01:30):
and how to use photography toserve others.
And as I mentioned, Erica is amember of the amazing and
supportive beginner photographypodcast community.
And I would love to invite youto come and join us.
You can join the community forfree by heading over to
beginnerphotopod.
com forward slash group.
Again, that's beginnerphotopod.
com forward slash group.
(01:51):
We'd love to have you.
So with that, let's go ahead andget on into today's interview.
Raymond Hatfield (01:57):
I think for these community spotlight
interviews, I think it justworks best to just kind of start
off by just let me know who youare, where you are and what it
is that you do.
Erika Greco (02:07):
Yeah, well, my name is Erica Greco.
I live in Charleston, SouthCarolina.
So luckily, very beautiful spotto be into photography.
And what I do full timeprofessionally during the days I
manage the box office and ticketsales for South Carolina's
largest professional theatercompany but by night and
(02:28):
weekend, I guess say amateurhobbyist photographer I love to
shoot Families, couples, models,and then recently, thanks to
COVID, I've gotten a lot moreoutdoor time and gotten kind of
into like shooting birds andthings like that, too.
So, Yeah, that's kind of how Ispend a lot of my time right
now.
Raymond Hatfield (02:48):
You know what I think is so cool is that,
like, you've been in the groupfor so long that I feel like
I've really seen quite theprogression in what it is that,
you know, you shoot and evenkind of how you think, sometimes
when it comes to gear and theshots that you take and your
editing that you do.
So I really have a lot ofquestions for you today.
I'm super excited to chat.
(03:08):
But before we get into that, youdo theater now.
You love photography.
Where did it start?
How did photography become,important to you?
Erika Greco (03:17):
Yeah.
So I actually went to, a magnethigh school for the arts.
I didn't go to like my localhigh school.
I went to a special school for,my specialty that there that I
studied was theater and acting.
But they also had a great visualarts program and it gave me, it
opened up the opportunity totake, art classes in different
(03:37):
disciplines and I picked it forphotography class.
And really loved it.
And then, to prepare for thephotography class, I had to get
an SLR film SLR for us, predigital kids.
Um, and yeah, so it was reallyin high school.
I knew that I wanted to go tothis great high school for the
arts.
And I thought I was just goingfor theater.
(03:57):
Little did I know it was goingto open me up to this other
artistic passion that I wasgoing to hold on to for the rest
of my life as well.
So.
Definitely started at good oldPatapsco High School in
Baltimore, Maryland, where Igrew up.
Raymond Hatfield (04:09):
What was that?
Patapsco?
Patapsco.
Erika Greco (04:13):
That was a mouthful
Raymond Hatfield (04:14):
right there.
It's
Erika Greco (04:15):
the name of a river.
Raymond Hatfield (04:17):
Oh, okay.
I got it.
I got it.
So, what happens next?
Because, I think many of us getinterested in photography,
oftentimes in high school,whether it be the dark room,
whatever it is, but how doesthat grow into, or I guess, let
me step back.
What sorts of things were youshooting?
Mm hmm.
Back then.
And was that what interested youin photography the most
Erika Greco (04:36):
so back then?
I think it was, I did probablymore like street photography in
high school, just walking aroundBaltimore taking pictures of,
you know, just random scenesthat looked cool or random
people that looked cool.
didn't do a lot of, staged photoshoots or anything back then.
it was more kind of whatever wasfound in my environment.
(04:58):
yeah, so that's, that's prettymuch what I was shooting back
then, and then, sorry, I forgetthe rest of the question.
Raymond Hatfield (05:03):
Haha, like, how does that grow into the rest
of your life?
Because after high school, wejust kind of forget a lot of the
things.
What was it about photography?
Erika Greco (05:10):
Yeah, so I actually did for a while, my path wanders
quite a bit.
even though I went to this artshigh school, I was the first
person in my family to go tocollege.
didn't see theater orphotography as a real career
field.
I didn't really think that thatwas a way that I could.
Grow up and make a living.
So I kind of put both of themaway for a while to study the
(05:33):
highly practical field ofpolitical science.
Oh, yeah.
Um, yeah.
Spent my four years at collegestudying political science,
thought I was going to go to lawschool, thought I was going to
work in politics, got close tothe end of graduation, realized
I in no way wanted to go to lawschool or work in politics, not
in a million billion years, notwith a 10 foot pole.
Um, So I taught, I worked ineducation, I kind of did all
(05:57):
sorts of different things, butmeanwhile, still really needing
something to, some sort ofartistic and creative outlet.
so even in college, I still havemy little film camera with me.
Sometimes it would take picturesaround campus, but I did kind of
get away from it for a whilebecause I had this incorrect
(06:18):
mindset that I didn't need to,or that I shouldn't be spending
my time with theater or withphotography if it wasn't going
to be a business.
If it wasn't going to be a joband why would I continue doing
it or why should I continue,honing my skills or like
investing in my practice.
Things like that.
So I kind of put it down for awhile because I had this mindset
(06:39):
that if it wasn't going to be ajob or at least a side hustle,
then it didn't have value and Ishouldn't be pursuing it
anymore.
That's not what a grownup doeswith their time, you know, um,
And if you weren't going to tryto, and it was impractical.
You couldn't make a living beingan artist, of course.
So of course we all know that.
Right.
Right.
Which is completely incorrect,but I had that mindset.
(07:01):
and so I, I put it away and Ididn't, do it for a while, even
for enjoyment until later inlife when I realized that I was
missing that, that piece, thatcreative outlet that I really
wanted and needed and enjoyedand had learned learned that
there is value in just that insomething, not necessarily being
(07:23):
a business because I do not dophotography as a business.
I already monetized one of my,one of my artistic passions.
There's, I wanted to keepsomething just for myself.
I still do want to keepsomething just for myself and
just for my enjoyment.
And I think that for a lot ofyears, I didn't realize that.
I could, um, that that was okay.
(07:44):
That that wasn't stupid.
so yeah, then I eventually foundmy way actually back to, you
know, a career in theater, whichwas like my first artistic love
and, but still spend a lot oftime on photography as well,
even though I don't do it, as abusiness or I not aiming to make
a business out of it, justbecause it's, you know, fulfills
me.
Raymond Hatfield (08:04):
now tell me if I'm wrong here, but it seems
like you struggled with thatquite a bit because I know that
in the group you have hadconversations about charging,
you've had conversations aboutthe business side of things, and
then it seemed like not too longago you were just like, wait a
second, No, I'm taking a stand.
I'm not going to do that.
I do really just lovephotography for what it is and I
(08:26):
guess what it provides for youand in the artistic sense.
You know, I know that you justkind of explained that there.
But can you walk me through thata little bit more?
Like, was it because you werefeeling like the business side
was taking away some of theenjoyment?
Because I know that that'ssomething that a lot of
listeners also struggle with.
So you share your thoughts onthat?
Erika Greco (08:46):
Yeah.
I think that, like you said, thebusiness side takes away from
the enjoyment.
I mean, as a business owner, youknow that a lot of your time is
not spent shooting and doing thethings you love.
More of your time is spent onthe business side of things.
and I don't enjoy that part.
My day job revolves a lot aroundcustomer service.
And even my last job did, And soI didn't, I don't want to go, go
(09:09):
home and do customer service onthe weekends.
I just have no, I have nothingleft for that.
No energy left for that at theend of the week.
So yeah, it was really aboutthat.
Like, how did I want to spend, Ilove my full time job.
I'm not going to leave it.
you know, until they kick meout.
So how do I want to spend mytime outside of that?
Is it still, dealing withcustomers and clients.
(09:32):
And dealing with the businessside of things when I work
really hard at that kind ofstuff all week and it just, it
just wasn't, it wasn't how Iwanted to spend my free time and
I felt like if I tried to pushmyself to fit my photography
journey into this box That Ifelt like I was just supposed to
do.
Like if you do photography, youshould make it your job or you
(09:52):
should make it at least a sidehustle.
You should make it income,income generating.
And I was just doing thatbecause I felt like I should, I
felt like I was supposed to, Ifelt like that was the normal
thing to do.
but it wasn't for me.
and I realized, yeah, that whyfit my journey into this box
that I don't like.
So it doesn't fit.
(10:13):
It just doesn't fit for me.
And like I said, I, I workreally hard at one of my
artistic passions and turn thatinto a job.
And that can take some of thelike fun and magic out of it
sometimes.
so I needed something that wasjust, like I said, just for me.
And I finally saw the value inthat and realized.
It's not everything has to bemonetized, not everything has to
be a hustle like art can just beart, and you can just do it for,
(10:38):
your artistic expression itdoesn't have to be.
Because you're going to make ita business one day, you can.
And if you do great, fantastic,but that's not for me, at least
not right now.
Raymond Hatfield (10:49):
I love that so much.
That's absolutely okay.
And you're right.
I feel like that is alsosomething that gets pushed
really hard on people is that ifyou're doing this, like you
might as well just turn it intoa side hustle, you might as well
make that money.
Erika Greco (11:02):
Yeah, I feel like we live in this culture of like
hustle, hustle, hustle, grind,grind, grind, get a hundred
thousand followers, make yourfirst million, retire at
whatever age, like, and unlessyou, hit that standard, or if
you're not at least striving forthat standard, then your life
isn't good enough, or what youractivities aren't good enough,
or you're not working hardenough, or you're, you know,
you're not this or that enough.
(11:22):
But at the end of the day, yeah,that's just someone else's path
and someone else's box.
And you don't have to fityourself or your journey or your
hobbies or your passions into,you know, someone, the mold,
someone else.
created.
I just, yeah, pure rejection ofthat.
Like hustle, hustle, hustle,grind, grind, grind culture.
We gotta have some fun too.
Raymond Hatfield (11:42):
Yeah, we do gotta have, okay, so then let
me, play devil's advocate herefor you.
Can I ask what your otherartistic endeavor is that you
said that you've monetized?
Erika Greco (11:51):
Oh, well, I work full time in theater.
Raymond Hatfield (11:53):
Oh, I see.
Okay.
I was thinking, I don't know,pottery or, I don't know,
something else that you weredoing.
And I guess the question that Iwas going to ask was, why did
you choose to keep photographythe passion, and then whatever
the other thing is as the profitgenerator?
But that makes more sense,because you can't really do the
all of live performance on yourown.
Erika Greco (12:12):
Yeah.
So no, we've got a, we've got aquite large theater company.
I do not perform anymore.
I sell tickets and do customerservice and stuff like that.
So, but I, work in a theater.
I'm very lucky.
I work in a theater that Istarted as a fan of.
So,
Raymond Hatfield (12:28):
Oh, that's so cool.
Erika Greco (12:30):
I was going, you know, as I've lived in
Charleston for like 10 yearsnow, and as soon as I got to
town, I found this theater.
it's called Charleston Stage.
We're out of the historic DockStreet Theater, which anybody
who has visited Charleston hasseen.
It's a beautiful historicbuilding.
And as soon as I got to town, Ijust, I started seeing their
shows there.
I loved it.
I love the theater.
I love the company.
the director that I work fornow, He's the direct founder of
(12:52):
the company, so he's been therefor a billion years, and, he
writes a lot of the shows, too.
So the first show, the firstplay I saw in Charleston was an
original work by our directorJulian Wiles.
And so he was just this largerthan life character to me, and
then a job opened up.
I saw it when I was ready toleave an old job.
a job there opened up and I waslike, this is it.
(13:13):
So that's how I, how I chose tolike, which of my passions to
follow a career in and which todo on the side is just that the
opportunity presented itself.
And I jumped on it and Hey, ifthere was a photography
opportunity that just wasperfect and presented itself the
way this theater opportunitydid, then maybe I'd be in
photography full time.
Since I am in theater full timenow.
(13:34):
It's awesome to get to work withall these creative, amazing
people that I admired from afarfor so long.
but it does sometimes take, youknow, if you're working in a
field that you love, itsometimes takes, a job.
It becomes work, it's not justfun and play and passion
anymore.
it becomes work and I didn'twant to do that to photography
too.
Raymond Hatfield (13:54):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, I think it's great becauselike, I can hear it in your
voice as you were describingthis to me, just how, how much
you do like your job, I thinkmore than the majority of
people.
So, that's always exciting whenyou get to be able to say
something like that, or just inthe way that you say it.
I think that that is going tohelp you, long term, but back to
photography.
that I think about kind of your,earliest days back in high
(14:17):
school shooting there, I want toknow, because you said that you
were shooting film.
time, the camera that you had,was that full manual or were you
shooting an auto?
Or what was that learning curvelike for you?
Erika Greco (14:28):
yeah, so we were shooting on manual.
I'm pretty sure.
it's been a while now.
It's been a minute.
We talked about what year wewere born and what year I
graduated.
Yeah, so we were shooting inmanual.
We learned about the exposuretriangle and all that stuff.
And I loved that a lot.
loved the dark room, loved blackand white, like swore I would
(14:48):
never go digital, never godigital.
That's not real photography.
That's cheating.
You never know when a photo hasjust been edited to look that
good.
Like, but now I do not own afilm camera anymore.
So
Raymond Hatfield (15:01):
that is too funny.
So then I guess in those earlydays, was there something that
you remember that wasparticularly challenging for you
to grasp or understand or putinto practice.
Erika Greco (15:13):
I feel like it was harder once I picked it back up
years later in digital than itwas the first time around.
I think because the first timearound I was in a class.
it was pre, instagram and socialmedia age.
So just developing a picturethat you took yourself and
developed yourself and you know,had any sort of like artistic
flair to it.
(15:34):
Was like impressive.
The bar wasn't so high
Raymond Hatfield (15:37):
as it is now.
Erika Greco (15:37):
And now you see, you can just, immerse yourself
in crazy talented artists justby scrolling your Instagram
feed.
There's just so much good workout there that I feel like it
really raised everybody'sstandards.
so I didn't feel like Istruggled with a lot.
Back in high school, but I thinkit was because the bar was a
little bit lower.
It was like, Oh, man, I tookthis picture of a flower and I
(16:00):
developed it myself.
And this is so I mounted on someblack cardboard.
And this is so cool.
where once I picked it back upin the age of, digital
photography and you know, socialmedia and just being exposed to
a lot more good photography.
That's when the challenges camebecause my standards.
had been changed.
Raymond Hatfield (16:19):
Wow, so let me think about that for a second.
So the standards had beenchanged, so photography got
harder for you.
In terms of, was it a personalthing?
Were you just feeling like, ohwait, I'm not as good of a
photographer as I think I am?
Or were you trying somethingthat you were seeing and
realizing that it was harderthan you expected?
How so?
Erika Greco (16:37):
Yeah, so I think that they're the part of it was
part of it is insecurity becauseyou play the comparison game,
even though you know, you're notsupposed to compare your journey
or your life to someone else'slike we still all do it.
And I think that there's a placefor that.
It made me improve.
It definitely made me improve.
where If you just, don't look atanybody else's work or don't
compare yourself ever, do youreally know in which direction
(17:00):
to go to improve your work, butthere can be joy lost in
comparison for sure.
So, yeah, I think that part ofit is just all of a sudden I
realized all the problems or allthe shortfalls or all the, all
the areas I could improve when Istarted seeing people who were,
more advanced and more skilledand more experienced than me.
And was really exposed to themjust on a, regular basis versus
(17:24):
like I said, in high school, itwas just like, wow, I developed
a picture.
This is awesome.
Raymond Hatfield (17:28):
Yeah.
Erika Greco (17:29):
But, and I think part of it was also making the
transition to digital.
and relearning some of thebasics after I put it.
Put the camera down for a littlewhile and then the transition to
digital and there's just a lotmore options.
There's a lot more buttons tolearn.
So there was some kind ofpersonal growth that had to be
made as far as, being secureenough to have some confidence
in my work.
That's confidence is always anissue for me.
(17:51):
and then, but then there wastechnical growth to be made to
to make that transition todigital and just kind of get
back in the group of things.
Raymond Hatfield (17:57):
was there anything from a technical
standpoint in particular thatyou can think of?
Erika Greco (18:02):
Oh, gosh, like.
Focus.
I think having things beingfocused was like a whole an
adventure.
isn't that funny?
Take you take a picture on yourlittle tiny little screen.
You're like, yes, I nailed it.
Then you get it to a computerand make it bigger and you're
like, oh man, that's that'scompletely out of focus.
Um, so yeah, focus lightinglearning flash.
I never did flash, in highschool and Yeah, I think those
(18:26):
are probably the biggest thingsis consistent focus consistent
lighting and then with part ofconsistent lighting being how to
use artificial lighting, youknow, when that natural light.
is an option, or is it your bestoption?
Or isn't the vision you have inyour head?
Raymond Hatfield (18:40):
Yeah, right.
Yeah, all three of those.
Yeah, exactly.
And I think when it comes tofocus, I don't think that you're
alone.
That's definitely something thatis very challenging.
And then I think the world ofmirrorless kind of changed
everything again.
I feel like everybody really gotused to Oh, you haven't made the
switch yet?
Erika Greco (18:54):
No, no, no, my camera is still it's still big
and heavy.
I just I can't do it.
Look, I resisted digital For awhile, the list is going to, is
going to take even longer.
So, no, I feel like I'm just.
Raymond Hatfield (19:06):
If it works though, you know, if it works,
like why change it up?
And if you don't rely on thesetools for, you know, so one of
the reasons why I switched fromCanon to Fuji was just simply I
felt like it helped me do my jobbetter.
And that was it, right?
It was a smaller camera.
It kind of helped me blend in alittle bit.
I could be a little lessconspicuous, and on a dance
(19:27):
floor, like, that's what youwant.
You don't wanna, at least Ididn't want to be the guy with
the giant camera and the flashin everybody's face, right?
I don't think that, if it wasjust me personally and my
personal photography, I'm notsure that I ever would've
changed systems.
So I don't blame you there.
I would, I would stick with ituntil the shutter just falls
right off the camera.
Erika Greco (19:47):
Basically, basically.
And plus I'm like, I've spentenough money on all this stuff.
I'm going to keep it for awhile.
But I think that that really,it's actually to like some
really good advice that helpedme that came from your podcast
and it was about like, not gearchasing, like making sure if
there, if you're buyingsomething new that you know
exactly why you're buying andexactly what hole it's going to
(20:09):
fill for you, what gap it'sgoing to fill for you.
And to me, like mirrorless atthis point, I don't even have a
full frame camera.
I have a crop sensor camera.
And the only reason I wouldchange it, it just because like,
I don't know, like an illogical,like Little itch for some new
technology.
And that's not a good reason tospend a bunch of money.
It's, it doesn't feel a need forme.
(20:30):
It doesn't feel like gap.
And that was really good advice.
I got actually from your podcastthat really helped.
So every piece of gear, everylens that I bought and every
piece of gear that I bought, Iwanted for months, at least
months, and I know exactly why Ibought it.
And that was because of you.
Raymond Hatfield (20:46):
Yes.
I love to hear that.
That is so awesome.
That is so awesome.
Yeah, I mean, that is such ahard thing.
And I think about that too, inthe same sense that a lot of
people get told that if you'reinto photography, turn it into a
side hustle.
I think that today, a lot ofpeople are told once you get
into photography, got to go fullframe.
Got to get it, get it, got toget all the big lenses.
(21:06):
And I don't necessarilysubscribe to that.
I went, cause that's kind of thepath that I took.
I went, the Canon XT and thenthe Canon 40D.
And then I was like, I got to gofull frame.
You know, if you're going to beshooting weddings all the time.
So I went to the 5D Mark II andit was amazing at how fast I
realized, wow.
My photos didn't change at all.
(21:27):
Like, yeah, expect thismonumentous monumentous
monumental change to shift inyour images, but really, you're
still exact same photographer asyou were before.
And there are some technicaldifferences, obviously, some
better low light capabilities.
But I think overall, it's notgoing to transform your
photography.
And I love I absolutely lovethat you are like, nope,
(21:50):
sticking on to this thing.
And if I do upgrade, I gottaknow why.
So then let me ask you, whatwould it take for you to upgrade
to full frame?
Erika Greco (21:59):
The thing that gets me sometimes tempted for full
frame is the low lightcapability.
And another thing that I'veheard from, excuse me, your
feedback in the group and otherpeople's feedback in the
Facebook group, which is anamazing community by the way, is
like, Oh, just up your ISO, upyour ISO.
But I don't know what it is,whether it's my camera or just
(22:19):
my taste.
I don't like it and it drives mecrazy.
And so the only thing that Ithink would, that would make me
upgrade to full frame is It'sjust that the low light
capabilities, but right now Iwork around it and maybe learn
flash, which I think is a realasset, which is really fun.
so yeah, I think that sometimeslimitations and having to work
(22:42):
with somewhat limitedcapabilities actually makes you
more creative and makes youlearn how to do things yourself
instead of just relying on somenew piece of gear to fix the
problem for you.
so sometimes what is this?
Like scarcity is the mother ofinvention or something like
that.
Oh yeah.
Raymond Hatfield (23:00):
Something like that.
necessarily.
Erika Greco (23:02):
Yeah.
So like, I don't have this greatlow light camera, so I had to
learn flash.
Well, flash is actually reallyfun and really cool.
It can really like step up yourphotos and just change the way,
you know, you can make, youknow, pictures.
There's as an artistic layer, tothe things that you're able to
produce.
So, yeah, I think sometimesbeing limited is, can actually
be kind of a good thing becauseit pushes you out of the box and
makes you be more creative andmakes you work on yourself
(23:25):
instead of just working on,Upgrading your gear.
Raymond Hatfield (23:27):
Right.
And it's a whole lot cheaperthat way too.
So let me ask you what, likepersonally, just for you, what's
the highest that you would go asfar as ISO when you're shooting
with your camera?
Erika Greco (23:37):
Oh, gosh, I started to get annoyed above like.
400.
Raymond Hatfield (23:42):
400.
Hold on.
Oh, can I ask what camera youhave?
Erika Greco (23:46):
A Canon 80D.
Raymond Hatfield (23:47):
80D.
What?
Erika Greco (23:49):
80D.
I actually started on a, Istart, you mentioned that you
had a 40D and I started my firstdigital, not film, I don't know
what my film was, but my firstdigital camera was a 40D and
then I upgraded to an 80D.
and I love that camera.
Raymond Hatfield (24:06):
But 800 is the max for you, huh?
Erika Greco (24:09):
I mean, no, I will, but it starts to bother me.
Raymond Hatfield (24:14):
Wow.
Well, yeah, you know what, thenI think, because the 80D is,
still a relatively very newcamera.
I think there's only one modelnewer than it, which means that.
Essentially going full frame,you're only going to get about a
stop more performance out ofyour ISO.
So that means 1600, you know?
So then I guess the question is,would you be willing to spend
(24:36):
two grand to go up to ISO 1600?
Erika Greco (24:40):
Absolutely not.
And my bank account, thanks youfor pointing that out.
Raymond Hatfield (24:43):
Yeah, well, hopefully that was a, was very
rough and dirty, I guess, answerto that question, I guess, that
you'd be thinking.
But no, I mean, it sounds to melike, like you got to figure it
out and that, that you're happywith it.
So yeah.
Erika Greco (24:56):
Yeah.
And instead I bought some killerlenses that I really had a good
time with.
The first one that I, so rightnow I have a, Tamron G2 24 to 70
and 70 to 200.
And then I have a Sigma 150 to600, which is my newest
purchase.
Raymond Hatfield (25:12):
Wow.
Erika Greco (25:13):
And that's for birds and that has been so cool
and so fun.
And, it's funny how likephotography has actually made
me, made me get more exercise
Raymond Hatfield (25:21):
because
Erika Greco (25:22):
yeah, I'll put on like miles and miles and miles
with that lens.
And it's like six pounds.
Um, it's not light.
So I get a bit of a workout.
I have figured out that my, thehand I support that lens with,
like you can visibly see thatthe muscle on that, that arm is
stronger, even though it's myleft hand, even though it's my
non dominant hand.
So I was like, why is my, my, mybicep on my left arm stronger
(25:45):
when I'm very much right handedand we're like, oh, it's because
I hold that.
That big lens, that big, heavylens.
Raymond Hatfield (25:50):
that is so funny with my left
Erika Greco (25:52):
hand.
but yeah, it's like.
It's helping me get outsidemore.
It gives me more exercise.
So there's so much value, youknow, in my photography, even if
I, don't, try to turn it into abusiness.
And yeah, instead of investingin that, full frame camera, just
because I was supposed to,because it's somebody else's
business.
journey that they made upsomebody else's box that I don't
have to or somebody else's plan.
(26:14):
I don't have to subscribe tobecause I didn't do that.
I was able to, you know, yeah, Iguess I get some killer lenses
instead that I've had a greattime with.
I mean, started to find likewhere all the bald eagles are
locally.
And that's been really fun andreally cool to see and gotten,
yeah, super into birds guts.
Oh, I, um, I had a painter, anartist, a painting artist,
(26:35):
contact me for about a picture.
I took of a group of Rosie atSpoonbills, which are crazy
looking pink birds that are so,so cool.
asking me if she could paint it.
Raymond Hatfield (26:48):
And she said, if
Erika Greco (26:49):
the painting sells, she'll send me a commission.
So yeah, like I couldn't have, Iwouldn't.
And it was because I got outbecause I had this super cool
new lens.
I couldn't have done that witha, you know, just because I
upgraded to a full frame camerabecause somebody else said I
should.
Raymond Hatfield (27:03):
Right, right.
And because of the crop factor,you'd actually be further away.
So the photo wouldn't be asimpactful with a full frame
camera.
So that's even better.
Erika Greco (27:12):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I love all the Investedin, but like I said, I, I made
sure I wanted them.
They were in my Amazon cart fora very long time before I,
pulled the trigger.
And that, so that was reallygood advice.
I use.
Um, take them everywhere.
And really, yeah, really get alot of enjoyment out of the
(27:32):
things that I have chosen toinvest in.
Raymond Hatfield (27:35):
That's good.
I love to hear that.
One of the things I see oftenis, in like buy set camera bag,
Or photography buy sell tradegroups is always like people
think that it's this badge ofhonor when they go to sell a
camera and it's like, there'sonly 1000 shots on it.
And it's like, what?
Like, how is that a good thing?
That means that you didn't useit at all.
We should be praising the peoplewho have 600, 000 shots on their
(27:58):
cameras.
You know what I mean?
But
Erika Greco (27:59):
one of my one of my gears, it's probably not good.
But one of my gears sticks alittle bit because it's got sand
in it, because I've taken it tothe beach.
Raymond Hatfield (28:07):
On one of your lenses.
Erika Greco (28:09):
oh my camera.
Raymond Hatfield (28:10):
Oh
Erika Greco (28:11):
Oh my camera.
I do take I don't think i'veever taken one of my more
expensive lenses to the beach Mycamera and a cheap lens we'll go
on the beach.
I've done a model shoot out ofthe beach and, as well as done
some astrophotography out therewhere the Milky Way has been
visible.
So that was super fun.
and yeah, it still has some,there's a little bit of
sandiness in one of the gears onmy camera.
(28:34):
But I, but I wear that like abadge of honor.
It means that I have used it.
Oh my gosh.
My, when I did the, um.
the beach shoot where I wasshooting models.
I was, it was the craziest site.
I had my camera in one hand, butwe were in the waves.
So I had a flash on a flashstand in the other hand.
And I was just trying to balancemyself like in a low squat
(28:56):
position because the model waslike kneeling on the ground, low
squat position.
And I'm trying to get hergetting hit by a wave, like the
wave, like crashing over her.
But that also means that I'mgetting hit by a wave.
I've one time at one point wipedout, got knocked over by one of
these waves, luckily was able tolike hold the camera and the
flash stand high enough up inthe air to save the camera and
(29:17):
stuff.
But yeah, I mean, if you, whichsome people, you know, would
think is crazy.
Like, why are you standing inthe water with your camera?
You could get your gear wet.
And I'm like, well, what am Igoing to do with it?
If not, like I didn't buy it toleave it in the bag and sit on
the shelf.
So I definitely, yeah, mycamera's gone to the beach and
the water, like.
in and out of suitcases.
(29:37):
I'm a little rough on it,
Raymond Hatfield (29:39):
probably.
Well, thank goodness for those,those big lens muscles that
helped you, you know, holdeverything out of the water.
Yeah, it all works itselftogether.
That's hilarious.
know, when it comes tophotography, I love to know,
especially in this day where Ifeel like Instagram is well,
Instagram has come out and saidthat they're no longer photo
focused or photo forward,whatever the word was there.
(30:02):
Yeah, exactly.
Right.
So it's like, I'm alwaysinterested to know, like as a
photographer, where do you findyour inspiration from?
Erika Greco (30:10):
I mean, I mean, I never thought that I would like
Instagram.
I was very late to the Instagramgame.
but I do like Instagram thesedays.
as far as seeing, work outsideof the people around me, but I
would say actually the mostinspiration that I have found is
from local photographers.
And, local photographers andthen like Facebook communities
(30:33):
because two examples to twothings that I think would or a
huge motivational point for meand inspiration to me.
one was the beginner photographypodcast Facebook group because I
can name people that I feel likehave been in the group for years
and we have watched theirjourney and we've watched them
grow so much and it's a littlebit of not competition.
(30:56):
But it just motivates you tolike, Oh, they're getting
better.
Like I should get better,watching them improve makes you
want to improve too.
It makes you realize you can doit because they started out, a
beginner just like you and you,you saw their work, you saw when
they were a beginner.
it's not some professional, youknow, or some.
crazy advanced artists tellingyou, Oh yeah, sure.
I was a beginner at one point.
You're like, yeah, sure.
You were born with a camera inyour hand, but these are people
(31:19):
that we have seen their workprogress, you know, in real
time, right in front of us.
And that has been super cool tosee in the community.
And then the community is justso, so supportive.
Oh my gosh, there's not a nicerFacebook community or Facebook
group out there.
so that's been a huge source ofinspiration.
Also connecting with localphotographers and local models
and seeing the work that they'reputting out, has been another
(31:40):
really great source ofinspiration to so I would say I
don't have like a favoritephotographer that's kind of
like.
Out there some, you know, well,no name or some other influencer
like you, um, Some other famousphotographer.
for me, it's really Yeah, thepeople that have grown kind of
(32:01):
alongside of me and the localpeople that I kind of look up to
and the people on Facebook, likeboth of those Facebook
communities that we have a localphotographer and model.
Facebook community that peopleshare work.
And then, the beginnerphotography podcast, Facebook
community.
I would say that though, thepeople in those communities have
actually been my biggestinspiration.
Raymond Hatfield (32:19):
I mean, first of all, I don't even know where
to begin with that.
because that's exactly how Ifeel about.
like you, you know, you were init pretty much from the
beginning.
You got to see people, and theirskills develop as a
photographer.
And that's how I feel about youand so many others as well.
I mean, it's been so much fun tosee you.
develop and your progressionfrom, I mean, everything, even
(32:42):
that we've talked about todayfrom portraits of friends,
family, you know, you've donesome street photography, some
astrophotography, nightphotography.
I think you did some selectivecoloring there in the beginning,
like we all do some slow shuttershots.
I
Erika Greco (32:55):
will still, hey, I will still, that is a hill I
will die on.
Selective coloring is stillappropriate in some situations.
Raymond Hatfield (33:02):
I agree, I agree.
I'm right there with you.
But it's a very, it's a verysmall list of appropriate
situations, I believe.
But, you know, over all thattime, I feel like, especially
now, because gone on to shootingmodels and birds as well.
Over all of that, I want to knowyou can go back in time and tell
yourself something earlier, whatpiece of advice would you give
(33:24):
your, greener self about theworld of photography?
Erika Greco (33:28):
Just dive in.
Just, don't be so nervous.
Don't feel like you have to knowit all before you put a toe in.
I think that I was hesitant toshare work because it wasn't
exactly where I wanted to be orbecause I saw work that I
thought was better than mine andso I wouldn't share.
and what do you have to lose?
Dive in, get to know people.
(33:49):
Like, there are really coolpeople in these communities,
online and in real lifecommunities.
I mean, the, the photographygroup around here, like, meets
for lunch once a month.
dive in, get to know people,whether it's in real life or
online and share your work andjust, don't be afraid.
What do you have to be afraidof?
What do you have to lose?
Raymond Hatfield (34:06):
That's perfect.
Oh my gosh, that is so good.
I feel like you're one of thoselike, super wise photographers
talking to me.
I'm like, on every word.
I'm like, this is so great.
This is so great.
Especially because, you know,it's one of those things where,
when it comes to photography,every like, And as you know,
when it comes to art, it's verysubjective, but that means that,
you have to project a lot ofyourself onto the art itself for
(34:30):
it to have meaning.
And I feel like just in thisconversation with you, I'm
getting like this backstage,understanding more of your work
and how you put yourself intoyour work here.
And it's almost as if.
All of your photos that I'veseen in the past make more sense
now after this conversation withyou, which I love, and I think
really lends itself to youwanting to dive in and make
(34:52):
those connections and probablyone of the reasons why, you are,
so trusted within the group isbecause I can tell that you
obviously have a passion forthis and that, uh, that you
truly do enjoy this.
So this has been a ton of fun.
I still got a few more questionsfor you.
If you still got time.
Yeah,
Erika Greco (35:08):
of course.
Raymond Hatfield (35:08):
Awesome.
I kind of want to go back to theFacebook group for a moment
because this is an area where, Ilove talking to you.
I love talking to other membersof the group, but there's a few
things that I guess being on theoutside of it, I'm still always
kind of like, I don't understandwhy it works like this.
So for you, you said earlierthat you think that it's one of
the friendliest places on theinternet for new photographers.
(35:29):
Why do you think that is?
There are so many Facebookgroups out there with hundreds
of thousands of people.
I think we only have.
5, 000 people in the group.
I don't even think it's that,but there are groups with
hundreds of thousands of people.
Why do you think the beginnerphotography podcast, Facebook
group works as well as it does?
Erika Greco (35:44):
I'm not just saying this to flatter anything.
It's because of you and theculture that you set and.
you're such a nice person andyou made it clear from the
beginning that like, no jerksallowed.
This is going to be a niceplace.
This is going to be a safeplace.
It's going to be a supportiveplace.
And people who are cocky andarrogant, like you're going to
get a warning and then like,you're not going to post
(36:04):
anymore.
And I don't even think it tookthat many.
I haven't even seen, the lovely,the lovely admins Give too many
warnings to people because Ithink it, since you started the
group, it's been very clear thatwas going to be the culture of
the group.
So I think that your personalityand your intentionality around
that, really built a great, agreat community.
I think you've selected greatpeople to be admins and people
(36:26):
who are like, just as, It'sawesome and supportive and
active and, thriving and seeingother people thrive.
Like you, you've got a great, agreat team of people, that are
helping you out with that.
Yeah, it's the culture that youguys set a hundred percent.
I
Raymond Hatfield (36:40):
think I podcast out.
That felt really weird.
Don't you
Erika Greco (36:44):
dare.
Don't you dare.
It's true.
It's true.
It's true.
And, and, you know, cause I knowlike, Kim Irish, Kimberly Irish,
right?
Is, one of the admins and she,and she's just a rock star.
Like once she's the person thatwe have seen grow so much since
the beginning.
So I'll shout her out too.
And she does such a great jobwith, she's always active in the
community and it's alwayspositive and it's always
(37:05):
constructive and it's alwayssupportive.
And so I think that, yeah, justthe influence that, you know,
the group's creator and then thegroup's leadership has just
really keeps it and it keeps itin a really good, really good
direction.
And it does work really well.
Raymond Hatfield (37:19):
I okay.
Maybe I'll keep that in therebecause you have to,
Erika Greco (37:22):
because now you'd be cutting out Kim shout out.
So, right.
Raymond Hatfield (37:25):
I know.
Yeah.
I know.
Once you did that, I was like,well, this has got to stay in
the episode now.
Geez.
You kind of tied my arm behindmy back on that one.
But no, I mean, really, it's,and I know that I've said this
before, but it's like, I hatewhen, like, it's put on me
because it's like, I'm not, I'mnot the one posting all the
time, I'm not the one, you know,it's, I really think that it's
you, and that it's all themembers of the group, because
(37:47):
y'all have to essentially signsome sort of social contract
saying that we're going to benice to each other, and y'all
abide by those rules, and y'allmake the community what it is,
if it was just me.
it would just be me talking toan empty void.
And that's just, that's justweird.
Erika Greco (38:01):
Well, I think you're, I mean, you still
participate in the group, youknow, whenever you have time,
like you record videos to givepeople feedback and stuff.
And so that people can see thatand, see that that's always,
always friendly and nice.
And then I think that that isalso a place that people really
crave on the internet.
The internet is so wild rightnow and is such a rough place.
(38:23):
And so I think that peoplereally crave that much like
softer, nicer community.
and so I think that, that thathelps, the continuation of that
kind of culture becauseeverybody is willing to be a
gatekeeper of that because it'sso important and so rare and so
needed on the internet.
right now.
(38:43):
So I think, yeah, I think thatthat because everybody really
loves it.
No one wants to see
Raymond Hatfield (38:48):
it spoiled.
Right, huh?
That's an interestingperspective that I had not
thought of.
I'm gonna have to think aboutthat for a little bit, because
that is something that it'slike, as it continues to grow, I
try to figure out like, how canwe keep it this way without
getting too crazy?
Because anything too big, Ithink can go south real fast.
And I'd rather have a muchsmaller community of friendly
photographers, then absolutely,A community of a million people
(39:10):
and it just like the Wild West,like you said, but, another
question that I got for you is,is that when it comes to the
podcast, I know that you've beenlistening for a number of years,
long time.
You have a lot of range when itcomes to your photos, as I said,
Astro portraits street, not allthese things.
Erika Greco (39:26):
They're very all over the place.
So it's good that you say theymake sense now.
And it's, it's really becauseit's like different phases of my
life.
I mean, from.
I did some event photography andthen COVID happened.
So there was no more eventphotography.
So I did a lot of naturephotography and because I do
don't do this as a career and Ijust do this as a passion, I
(39:47):
can, that's the great thing is Ican just go and meander any
direction I want.
And, and I have the bandwidth todo it.
I don't have to, you know, worryabout my Instagram look or my
niche or whatever.
I can do whatever suits thatphase, that point in life.
so I'm to hear that, My superrandom, super all over the place
phases of photography make alittle bit of sense now.
(40:09):
Oh,
Raymond Hatfield (40:09):
100%, 100%.
but I would love to know justbecause you've shot so many
different genres and you'vetried so many different things.
Has there been a standoutepisode of the podcast for you?
Erika Greco (40:22):
one thing that I can't remember who it was on the
episode.
but one thing that really had alasting impact on me was the
people who.
The idea of using yourphotography to serve,
Raymond Hatfield (40:34):
could have been the blooms Philip and I
Erika Greco (40:36):
think that was it.
That's that.
I think that was it.
That's what I was going to say,but then I didn't want to be
wrong.
There's my lack of confidence.
So yeah, they talked about usingyour photography to serve and
that stuck with me so much.
And that's another thing that I,I think you have the opportunity
to do, like whether or not youmake this, a career or a
business, but for me, even whenI am taking pictures of a family
(40:58):
and stuff, it's a lot of times,well, all the time.
I don't shoot people, I don'tknow.
it's a family I know and I don'tcharge because I just, do this
for fun and I'm not out there,like, nobody at me.
I'm not out there advertisingfree sessions or anything like
that.
I know that that gets a lot,working for free gets a lot of
hate in the comments.
Photography community sometimes,but
Raymond Hatfield (41:19):
screw it.
Clean.
I shoot for free.
Do it.
Erika Greco (41:23):
These are people in my life and I can, you know,
serve them by like, I have fundoing it.
I enjoy doing it.
And I've got this camera, I'vegot these skills.
And so even on a very smallscale, it doesn't have to be
some like mission trip aroundthe world.
where it can be, you can bringawareness to really important
causes through photography, butyou can also just like, Serve
(41:45):
your neighbor, you know, I'vehad friends that need a headshot
for, their med schoolapplications or, whatever, and
they need it, and they need itcheap, and they need it the very
last minute.
I'd be like, yeah, I can do thatfor you.
so I think using yourphotography to serve in small
ways and in bigger ways reallystuck with me and made an impact
on what I do.
Even, you know, with connectingwith local models, like that, a
(42:06):
lot of that is like TFP tradefor time for prints or trade for
prints, or everybody has theirown variation of that, uh, that
acronym.
but I can, you know, have funand help a model, have a local
model, you know, get someportfolio shots or.
You know, somebody who maybelacks a little bit.
It's just getting into the gamelacks a little bit of confidence
can make them feel reallybeautiful and feel like, you
(42:27):
know, a rock star or I've alsovolunteered for nonprofits and
done photos for philanthropiccauses and things like that.
So using your photography toserve as has permeated
throughout a lot of what I do.
Raymond Hatfield (42:40):
I don't know how to end it any better than
that.
That is such a great takeaway.
I think that you are going tochange a lot of people's minds
and their ideas aboutphotography, after hearing, this
little chat that we had heretoday.
So I'm really excited for thisnow, before I let you go, we
know that you're in the group,but can you share anywhere else
where we can find you online?
Erika Greco (43:03):
So I haven't updated my Instagram in a while,
but the best place wouldprobably be Instagram.
It's Erica with a K E R I K A DGreco G R E C O.
So Instagram.
com slash Erica D Greco.
I'll get some more photos upthere sometime.
Raymond Hatfield (43:20):
no promises though, right?
Yeah.
Um,
Erika Greco (43:23):
don't know.
So like I said, the internet'sthe wild west right now.
So social media has kind oftaken a little, backburner time,
but when I do post it's there orin the community
Raymond Hatfield (43:33):
or in the community.
Let me ask you one lastquestion, the
Erika Greco (43:35):
community,
Raymond Hatfield (43:36):
just join, just join the community.
I didn't say it.
Erica did.
Is there anything that I didn'task you today that you want to
make sure that those new tophotography or those in the
community, Know about it.
Erika Greco (43:52):
Gosh, I, I had these things planned out in my
head and then I didn't writethem down.
So I, I feel like we've covereda lot of it, but I would say
like one, you're never too oldto pick it up.
a lot of the people you see onInstagram are going to be
younger than you.
And you're going to be like,these kids, these, these young
kids are so good.
I'm never going to catch up, butone, you're never too old to
pick it up.
And two, you don't have to have,business aspirations to pick up
(44:16):
photography.
you can just do it.
For fun and you'll have andyou'll have a lot of fun.
doing it.
So just take the pressure offyourself.
One to, be as good as someoneelse or two you have to make a
business or you have to havethis piece of gear.
Take the pressure off yourself.
Have fun.
Your journey is your journey.
Thank you for listening totoday's interview.
(44:36):
Remember, come join us in thefree and amazing community of
photographers just looking tolearn and grow their skills,
just like you, by heading overto beginnerphotopod.
com forward slash group now.
Thanks again for listening totoday's episode.
And remember, the more that youshoot today, the better of a
photographer you will betomorrow.
Talk soon.
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