May 6, 2025 • 25 mins
#560 In this special “Workshop Episode” of the podcast, I, Raymond Hatfield, share my thoughts and experiences fresh off hosting our very first in-person workshop in Chicago. After nine years of connecting with listeners online, I finally brought together members of our community for a full day focused on photography, education, and camaraderie. This episode is a personal reflection on how meaningful it was to see faces behind the names, and why getting together in person can be a game-changer for learning and growth.
KEY TOPICS COVERED
- The Power of In-Person Workshops - Bringing listeners together in Chicago broke down the walls of digital connection. Everyone experienced firsthand how learning alongside others, asking questions in real time, and building bonds can accelerate growth in ways online learning rarely can. I saw people relax, open up, and walk away with real friendships and new confidence.
- Foundational Skills: Light, Composition, and Camera Settings - I designed the content to help both beginners and experienced photographers by focusing on the essentials—how to use your camera, how to “see” light, and how to compose compelling images. I shared personal images, good and bad, to spark discussion, and guided everyone through hands-on practice, including a photo walk with a model.
- Streamlining Editing with Imagen AI - I talked about my early struggles with editing and how it almost made me quit at the start. Now, with tools like Imagen AI—which learns your editing style and speeds up post-processing—I can spend more time doing what I love: shooting. The workshop gave attendees hands-on exposure to this workflow, empowering them to consider new tech solutions to old challenges.
IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS & CONCEPTS
- “Getting it Right in Camera”: For me (and now for Kim!), this means achieving the look I want straight out of the camera, not just aiming for the “perfect” exposure meter reading. It’s about matching your image to your style and not being afraid to shoot for your own vision.
- Quality of Light: Quality isn’t just about how bright the light is; it’s about its softness, direction, and how it shapes your subject. Understanding and controlling these qualities, even when using flashes or dealing with tough outdoor light, can level up any photo.
DISCUSSION & REFLECTION QUESTIONS
- How have your experiences learning photography in person differed from learning online?
- What does “getting it right in camera” mean for your own style, and how do you apply this when shooting?
- Can you share a breakthrough moment you’ve had with light or composition?
- What’s your biggest editing headache, and could something like Imagen AI help you enjoy photography more?
RESOURCES:
Check out Imagen AI - beginnerphotopod.com/imagen
See Behind-the-Scenes Workshop Photos - https://adobe.ly/44oOIxe
Learn What Camera Settings to Use in our free guide!
https://perfectcamerasettings.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!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Raymond Hatfield (00:00):
It's not until you get in person and can meet
(00:03):
with others, meet with otherswho share the same passion as
you being photography.
Meet with others who share thesame struggles as you, that you
feel like, oh wow, okay, maybeI'm not alone.
I can do this.
Hey Raymond here from theBeginner Photography Podcast and
I'm currently driving on my wayhome from the very first
(00:26):
beginner photography podcastworkshop up in Chicago.
I thought that maybe I'd waituntil I got home to record this
episode, but I still have somany thoughts and, really
exciting moments that I wantedto share, and they're still
fresh in my mind that I thought,you know what?
Screw it.
I'm just gonna hit record on mylittle dj, I Mike here, and
we're gonna make an episode.
(00:46):
And that kind of fits inperfectly to my philosophy of
photography as well, which iseven if you don't have the
perfect setup, if you don't haveall the right gear right at that
moment, you know who cares?
Try to make something happen.
And you might be delightfullysurprised, but you won't know
unless you try.
So we hosted the first workshopup in Chicago, and I chose
(01:11):
Chicago for a few reasons.
One, because of its proximity tome, it's, it's not too far.
It's about a three and a half,four hour drive from Indy Two.
I've been there before, so Ihave some familiarity with the
city.
Three being that when I look inthe back end of ConvertKit, my
(01:31):
email platform.
There are more than 300subscribers from Chicago, so I
thought, if I'm gonna getstarted, let's try to make this
as easy as possible and just doit that way.
So I guess let me share why Idecided to host a workshop for
the first time after nine yearsof hosting the podcast.
(01:53):
In all honesty, workshops aresomething that listeners have
been requesting, for years, but,It seemed like such a, big task,
and I wasn't entirely sure whatit was that I would teach, that
I would educate on.
And then when I was ready topull the trigger on my first
workshop, COD happened, so thatkind of, you know pumped the
(02:16):
brakes and I had to, I had towait on the workshop.
And then after Covid is when Idecided I was gonna get outta
weddings.
And if I'm being completelycandid with y'all, I kind of
have this slight identitycrisis.
Like, who am I to be hostingthis podcast if I'm not
currently a working professionalphotographer?
(02:36):
So I kind of, dug in my heelsand, played this, what if game,
who am I game?
Would people even show up?
All of those self-doubts thatyou have when you go to, to try
something new.
But as I continued on with thepodcast, it continued to grow
more people, continued to, tolisten, continue to show up.
The community continues to grow.
(02:58):
And I realized that, even thoughI'm not currently a working
professional shooting weddingsfull time, I did that for 10
years and I still have a lot ofinformation that I can give to
you and if I can help you onyour journey in photography, why
would I not do that?
Like, why would I stop doingthat?
So at the end of last year, Iput out this big survey where I,
I want to know more about you.
(03:20):
I wanna know more about you, thelistener, as far as, what do you
shoot?
How long have you been shooting?
What are the things that youstruggle with?
And also, what do you want moreof from the podcast?
And I was really shocked at howmany people said they wanted an
in-person workshop.
They wanted to get together inperson, they wanted to build
these connections with thepeople who they've spoke with in
(03:41):
the community for years.
And they wanted to advance theireducation, get some more
hands-on help with theirproblems.
And the things that theystruggle with and they wanted to
have a great experience doingso.
So that got me thinking moreabout the workshops again, and I
thought, okay, if I'm gonna dothis, I'm really going to do
this.
(04:02):
I don't just want to dip my toesin the water and just kind of,
you know, half as it.
I really wanna make sure thatI'm prepared and that what I
deliver is of value because Idon't wanna waste your time, and
I know that because I also don'twanna waste my time.
So when it came to figuring out.
What was I gonna talk aboutduring this workshop?
That was also difficult.
(04:22):
I had people in the workshop whohad been shooting for a few
years, you know, they've taken anumber of, paid professional
gigs, and there's also some ofthose who have only been
shooting for less than a yearhere.
So one of the things that I canteach that are applicable to
every photographer.
No matter where, where you're atin photography, So I know that
camera settings are obviouslysomething that.
(04:43):
Even if you're proficient inshooting a manual, sometimes you
still got some questions.
So I wanted to talk about that.
I wanted to make sure that wehad time to answer those
questions and figure thosethings out for you.
But the two biggest things thatI wanted to make sure that we
talked about were light andcomposition, because light and
composition are the two things.
That you have to learn how tosee as a photographer, like
(05:06):
starting from scratch andthere's a lot of ambiguity in
them.
So I started off by goingthrough my entire library of,
photos from weddings andpersonal work, and I started
looking for examples.
Examples of moments where I tookphotos in good light.
Examples of when I took photosin bad light So that I would
(05:27):
have something to share and showoff why you would do it one way,
why you would do it another.
And how you can take, quoteunquote bad light being, harsh
light, I guess you would callit, and still create a great
image because when you'recomfortable shooting in your
least desirable light to you,then you can shoot in any
(05:49):
conditions and be able to getsomething that you're really
proud of.
And when it comes tocomposition.
How you compose a frame is somuch you want to draw in the
viewer's attention to where youwant it to go.
You're directing that attentionthrough your composition.
(06:09):
And again, composition can bekind of ambiguous.
But also compositions can bestacked on top of each other to
create an even more compellingimage.
So I knew that I wanted to talkabout that.
I wanted to talk about my threefavorite compositions, but then
also.
Two, that they're notnecessarily traditional
compositions, but I use them alot in my photography and
(06:32):
specifically when looking for,how to place my couples or my
subject.
So the planning for thisworkshop, I mean, it took a lot
more work than I was.
anticipating because I thinkone, because I went through a
lot of my, backlog of images,images that, I guess you'd call
it a catalog, images that I'vetaken years ago, I think I went
(06:56):
through over a hundred thousandimages to find the ones that I
included, in the presentation,in the educational part of the
workshop.
But I also knew that I didn'tjust want to sit and speak at,
this y'all, this group ofphotographers, and that there
had to be an interactiveelements to it or a
(07:16):
demonstration element.
So I knew that I wanted to do aphoto walk with a model so that
after we go through thiseducation, we we learn about
these core concepts, then we cango out and actually put them to
practice.
But then also, even though thiswasn't a workshop about flash.
I wanted to bring out the flashwithin the educational part when
(07:38):
we're talking about light, sothat I could show off some core
examples.
And man, I was blown away.
Everybody was so excited aboutthe, that portion.
About, you know, when I broughtout the flash, I had my trustee
assistant, Jim, who's also amoderator in the Facebook group,
who, by the way, Jim.
Such a huge help man.
I I really, truly do appreciateall of your help.
(08:02):
Jim walked like two city blockswith like two giant cardboard,
bins full of Chipotle that wehad catered for lunch.
That's a questionable thing todo in the part of Chicago that
we were at, and he did it.
Huge support.
So again, Jim, thank you somuch, man.
But I used Jim as my, standinmodel while we were working with
(08:25):
flash, and we covered somereally great core concepts of
how to use and manipulate lightto achieve what it is that
you're looking for specificallyin dealing with the quality of
life because with a flash, Ithink most people think that
you're just adding quantity oflight, but they don't really
think about the element ofquality of light.
(08:47):
So being able to kind of showthat off I think was a huge help
too.
A lot of the students.
So after going through theeducational portion, we had our
model come in.
Her name was Becca.
She did a phenomenal job.
Super easy to work with and hada lot of great ideas too.
And then we went out on ourphoto walk and we just kind of
(09:07):
shot around the streets of, thiswicker park neighborhood of
Chicago.
And it was really cool for me, Ithink, to, to see what the
participants were able toachieve.
You spend the whole morningtalking about these concepts
being camera settings, light andcomposition, and, you ask for
questions and there are, thereare some really good questions
(09:29):
that come up, but at least forme personally, I know that I can
be taught something, right?
I can go through the education,but it's not until I actually
put the camera to my face and Itry it.
That the knowledge, theeducational portion really hits
and then I understand it.
So being able to go out andagain, see the, you know,
(09:52):
everybody who was involved, workwith this model, find some good
light and try new things, was,it was fulfilling, honestly.
But I think probably one of thecoolest moments that I have
throughout the day came from anaha moment from Kim Carpet.
While we were going through theeducational portion, we were
talking about camera settings.
(10:14):
We were talking about light, wewere talking about composition,
and Kim brings up how she likesher photos a little bit darker,
a little bit moodier, but everytime she goes to edit them that
way, sometimes they fall flat.
And I had just mentioned like,well, a lot of it is more about
light.
Like you can't take a, a flatphoto and edit it as dark and
(10:34):
moody, within Lightroom.
It's really in the way that youshoot it and getting it right in
camera.
And I'll say it seemed like sheunderstood what I said.
And then we moved on.
Later when we went out to thephoto walk portion, there was
this seam of, intense shadowwith this like spotlight of, of
(10:56):
sunlight coming through.
And I had told Kim, I said, HeyKim, this is like a great moment
to get that.
This is great light to get thatdark and moody look that you're
talking about.
So I said, try to black out thebackground.
So she goes through her camerasettings and that's what she
does.
She blacks out the background.
(11:16):
So now it's a very dark framewith this model who's being hit
with this, almost like aspotlight of light.
And she shows me the photo andI'm like, yeah, that's great.
There you go.
And she says, wait, this isgetting it right in camera.
And I was like, yeah, for you,for your style of editing,
that's getting it right incamera.
(11:36):
And she had this aha moment of,oh my gosh, I always thought
that getting it right in camerameant getting it properly
exposed.
Like, get the meter at zero.
So unlocking this moment ofrealizing that quote unquote,
getting it right in camera issubjective to each photographer
and what it is that they shoot,and in her case it's probably
(11:59):
getting it underexposed incamera to expose and, make the
highlights stand out.
That same photo with those samecamera settings would not be
getting it right in camera for aphotographer who shoots more of
a lighter style of images.
Getting it right in camera isdependent on, on you, your
(12:24):
preferences, in your editingstyle, how you want the photo to
look.
And that was great to seebecause you can tell that for
years she's been struggling'cause she thinks that she's
quote unquote, getting it rightin camera all these years.
But really she's just getting a,a middle of the road exposure
and then she's trying to make itwork in the edit.
But now that she knows whatgetting it right in camera looks
(12:45):
like for her, which is probablya stop to a stop and a half
under what she would normallyshoot a seen, now she's gonna
have an easier time achievingthat dark and moody look that
she likes most in her images.
So again, like that for me wasso cool to see like, these are
the things that like, I don'teven think of, like, I'm so
(13:06):
close to the knowledge that Ihave that sometimes I don't
understand what it is that youas a listener, as a student, as
a community member are missing.
So having this time where weare, well, we're not one-on-one,
but we're in a small groupsetting, and you're going
through these things with thecamera up to your face, and you
(13:29):
have a question and I can answerit for you, and you can walk
away with this moment of, oh mygosh, I've been shooting.
against what it is that I likeall these years.
I, I haven't been happy with myimages for years and this is the
thing that is gonna kind of turnit around for me.
That, again, such an amazingmoment and I.
(13:50):
maybe I'm not missing something.
Maybe that's just something thathas to be done in person.
So again, so cool to see, soincredible to be a part of that
moment.
Honestly, to see her eyes likewiden and it is like, it's like
that shot from Requiem for adream where the eyes, go dilated
(14:11):
and it's like the whole worldchanges for you in that moment
was again really, reallyamazing.
So now that the workshop isover.
I've had some time to reflect.
I'm thinking about what changescan I make?
Where can I take this next?
What are those next steps toreally help you on your photo
(14:33):
journey?
Another big thing I learned wasI wanted to take everybody
through my editing workflow, andI've shared this story on the
podcast before.
The first wedding that I editedtook me an entire month to edit.
I was so nervous trying to makesure that every single photo
was, was perfect, that therewere no blown out highlights or,
(14:57):
shadows that were too dark.
Zero clipping.
I wanted the colors to beperfect.
I wanted them to be accurate.
I wanted them to also bestylized.
I would, I mean, stress over a10th of a stop of exposure.
Is this too bright?
Is this too dark?
What is perfect?
I don't know how many of you gothrough the same thing, but
(15:17):
editing was a real struggle forme in the beginning.
I.
And it took me a long time tofind a workflow that I became
comfortable with.
I became quick with and wasproficient in being able to edit
a wedding, relatively quick.
I mean, I got to the point towhere I would guarantee a couple
of their wedding images within30 days of their wedding.
(15:40):
And that was a huge draw,honestly, like I saw the amount
of bookings that I got once Iimplemented that guarantee,
really take off because that'ssomething that a lot of clients,
a lot of families, brides, youknow what have you.
That's something that they'renervous about.
Oftentimes working with them,it's the first time that they've
(16:01):
worked with a professionalphotographer and everybody's
heard stories of, you know, ittaking forever for a couple or,
for somebody to get theirphotos.
And nobody wants to invest moneyand be excited about hiring a
photographer and then feelinglike the photographer forgot
about them going six, eightweeks just to get their photos
(16:24):
back from like a senior session.
And worse, if you know they'reon a deadline to get those
photos to the yearbook or Thankyou.
Cards out or what?
Whatever.
It's Christmas cards.
So early on in my journey, likefiguring out, I'll be honest,
like it took me so long to editthat one wedding.
I thought to myself, I don'tknow if I can do this.
(16:46):
Because on top of it, takingforever, it just wasn't fun.
I got into photography because Ilove shooting.
I love capturing moments.
I love creating something that,somebody is blown away by
something that they can'tcapture on their cell phone.
That's an exciting moment forme, not the editing.
So always I was, I'm constantlyon this journey to figure out
(17:11):
how can I reduce my editing timeso that I can, maximize my
shooting time cause that's whereI get the most amount of joy.
Some people like the editingprocess.
Me, not so much.
And that's why I was excited towork with Imagine AI on this
workshop.
So Imagine AI actually sponsoreda portion of the workshop.
(17:32):
They provide their lunch.
And they paid for our model to,to go out on our photo walk.
And imagine AI is an AI photoeditor, so the way that it works
is that when you sign up, youcan upload a number of your
photos from your Lightroomcatalog so that it can be
trained on how you edit yourimages.
(17:55):
So it's not just gonna applysome filter and say that it's
done.
It's gonna look at the.
You know, your, your raw photoof how you took the image and
then how you edited it, and thencompare the difference between
the two photos and figure outhow you like your images edited.
So next time you go out on ashoot.
When you come back, you justupload the raw or the JPEG
(18:15):
photos to imagine AI throughLightroom, and it will edit them
in the same way that you wouldedit them.
And the best part is that itwill complete this lightning
fast.
Hope Taylor, who has been on thepodcast before, she uses Imagine
AI and she said that she's ableto get back an entire senior
session edited in under an hour.
(18:37):
Like imagine coming home from ashoot, uh, uploading your photos
and an hour later.
They're done.
And what I think is really coolthat, I haven't heard a lot of
other companies do is that whenyou get the photos back and then
they go into your Lightroomcatalog, one, it's not like you
just get JPEGs back that are,finished and that's it.
(18:59):
The edits go back in theLightroom.
So you still have full controlof being able to edit these
images if you wanna make anytweaks.
So if you make these tweaks, ifyou realize, oh, actually I like
my shadows a little bit pulleddown.
I like my images a little bitwarmer than this.
Once you are done making thoseminor tweaks to the rest of the
(19:19):
images, you can then re-uploadthat to Imagine AI as the
finished photo.
And it will recognize theupdates that you made and then
go to refine your editingprofile to, again, make it
closer to how you edit.
So the next time you go toupload a shoot, it continues to
edit just like you.
(19:40):
So why I was excited about thisis because I know a lot of
listeners, a lot of you maybehave a full-time job and you
think, well, I can't leave thatto be a full-time photographer.
Or, I have time for shoots, butit's the editing that takes so
long and, I don't want to giveup my weekends for that.
Well, imagine AI can help youget there faster because it's
(20:03):
taking one thing, it's taking alarge portion of a photo shoot
off of your plate.
So if it can help you to achieveyour goals faster, why not do
that?
Why not give it a shot?
If you could go out and shoot asession on a Saturday and then
have it finished by Sunday orSaturday night?
Why not give it a try?
(20:24):
And if you're still relativelynew to photography and editing
and working with clients andyou're not a hundred percent on
what your editing style is,well, no worries.
They have built in profiles thatyou can use from some of the
world's top photographers andthen you can make more tweaks
yourself.
Re-up, upload those to imagineand create your own style.
(20:44):
Imagine AI is a huge time saverand something that will help you
spend more time behind thecamera instead of behind the
computer screen, and I am allfor that.
If you want to check out ImagineAI for yourself, they gave me a
special link to give to you.
Just head to beginner photopod.com/imagine.
(21:06):
That's beginner Photo Pod slashimagine.
They're gonna give you a bunchof free credits and you can try
it out for yourself.
So now that the workshop isover, man, it's crazy because,
being a part of the beginnerphotography podcast community, I
knew all of the names of thepeople who were coming, but you
don't really know who they areuntil you meet them face to
(21:28):
face.
You talk with them, you learnabout what it is that they
shoot, how they shoot theirstruggles.
And it, I'll say it builds thisconnection.
Whenever I see Wendy's name popup in the group, I'm gonna have
a deeper connection with her.
Whenever I see RJ post a realestate photo in the group, I'm
gonna have a betterunderstanding of how he shoots
and the struggles that he faces.
(21:50):
Whenever I see Jim post in thegroup, I'm probably just gonna
roll my eyes and say, oh, Jim.
No, I'm just kidding.
In fact, Jim actually took somebehind the scenes photos.
I'm gonna post a link to thosein the show notes so so you can
check'em out for yourself.
Or whenever Delaney posts in thegroup, I'm gonna have a better
understanding of where she's atin her journey so that I'm gonna
be able to give her betteranswers for her questions, for
her struggles, and that again,is just like such, such a hard
(22:14):
thing to accomplish by justbeing online.
It's not until you get in personand can meet with others, meet
with others who share the samepassion as you being
photography.
Meet with others who share thesame struggles as you, that you
feel like, oh wow, okay, maybeI'm not alone.
I can do this.
(22:35):
And if I can provide that spacefor you to be able to connect
with others in person, to beable to go out and shoot
together, to be able to createnew photo friends, to be able to
directly help you with yourstruggles, I want to do that.
Because sometimes just sittingbehind a computer or here in my
car behind a microphone, itdoesn't feel like enough.
(22:58):
But just being together inperson for just this one day.
It felt like I made more of animpact than I have in the past
nine years of hosting thepodcast.
And I heard from others who haveliterally listened to every
episode of the podcast say thatit wasn't until getting together
here in person that thingsreally started to click.
(23:19):
So going forward, I wannaprovide more of those things for
you, more of thoseopportunities, more of those
spaces for you to be able to gettogether and connect and make
progress on your photo journey.
Where's the workshop coming tonext?
I'm not sure.
But if you live in a city wherethe Dodgers come to play your
local baseball team, there's agood chance that the workshop
(23:40):
will be coming to you, but ifyou want to be updated on where
workshops are happening, If youwant to take part of the
workshops in the future.
Then come join us in theBeginner Photography podcast
community, which you'll bejoined right now by heading over
to beginner photo pod.com/again,beginner photo pod.com/group.
(24:02):
That is it for today.
Until next time.
Remember, the more that youshoot today, the better of a
photographer you'll be tomorrow.
Talk soon.
It's not until you get in person and can meet
(00:03):
with others, meet with otherswho share the same passion as
you being photography.
Meet with others who share thesame struggles as you, that you
feel like, oh wow, okay, maybeI'm not alone.
I can do this.
Hey Raymond here from theBeginner Photography Podcast and
I'm currently driving on my wayhome from the very first
(00:26):
beginner photography podcastworkshop up in Chicago.
I thought that maybe I'd waituntil I got home to record this
episode, but I still have somany thoughts and, really
exciting moments that I wantedto share, and they're still
fresh in my mind that I thought,you know what?
Screw it.
I'm just gonna hit record on mylittle dj, I Mike here, and
we're gonna make an episode.
(00:46):
And that kind of fits inperfectly to my philosophy of
photography as well, which iseven if you don't have the
perfect setup, if you don't haveall the right gear right at that
moment, you know who cares?
Try to make something happen.
And you might be delightfullysurprised, but you won't know
unless you try.
So we hosted the first workshopup in Chicago, and I chose
(01:11):
Chicago for a few reasons.
One, because of its proximity tome, it's, it's not too far.
It's about a three and a half,four hour drive from Indy Two.
I've been there before, so Ihave some familiarity with the
city.
Three being that when I look inthe back end of ConvertKit, my
(01:31):
email platform.
There are more than 300subscribers from Chicago, so I
thought, if I'm gonna getstarted, let's try to make this
as easy as possible and just doit that way.
So I guess let me share why Idecided to host a workshop for
the first time after nine yearsof hosting the podcast.
(01:53):
In all honesty, workshops aresomething that listeners have
been requesting, for years, but,It seemed like such a, big task,
and I wasn't entirely sure whatit was that I would teach, that
I would educate on.
And then when I was ready topull the trigger on my first
workshop, COD happened, so thatkind of, you know pumped the
(02:16):
brakes and I had to, I had towait on the workshop.
And then after Covid is when Idecided I was gonna get outta
weddings.
And if I'm being completelycandid with y'all, I kind of
have this slight identitycrisis.
Like, who am I to be hostingthis podcast if I'm not
currently a working professionalphotographer?
(02:36):
So I kind of, dug in my heelsand, played this, what if game,
who am I game?
Would people even show up?
All of those self-doubts thatyou have when you go to, to try
something new.
But as I continued on with thepodcast, it continued to grow
more people, continued to, tolisten, continue to show up.
The community continues to grow.
(02:58):
And I realized that, even thoughI'm not currently a working
professional shooting weddingsfull time, I did that for 10
years and I still have a lot ofinformation that I can give to
you and if I can help you onyour journey in photography, why
would I not do that?
Like, why would I stop doingthat?
So at the end of last year, Iput out this big survey where I,
I want to know more about you.
(03:20):
I wanna know more about you, thelistener, as far as, what do you
shoot?
How long have you been shooting?
What are the things that youstruggle with?
And also, what do you want moreof from the podcast?
And I was really shocked at howmany people said they wanted an
in-person workshop.
They wanted to get together inperson, they wanted to build
these connections with thepeople who they've spoke with in
(03:41):
the community for years.
And they wanted to advance theireducation, get some more
hands-on help with theirproblems.
And the things that theystruggle with and they wanted to
have a great experience doingso.
So that got me thinking moreabout the workshops again, and I
thought, okay, if I'm gonna dothis, I'm really going to do
this.
(04:02):
I don't just want to dip my toesin the water and just kind of,
you know, half as it.
I really wanna make sure thatI'm prepared and that what I
deliver is of value because Idon't wanna waste your time, and
I know that because I also don'twanna waste my time.
So when it came to figuring out.
What was I gonna talk aboutduring this workshop?
That was also difficult.
(04:22):
I had people in the workshop whohad been shooting for a few
years, you know, they've taken anumber of, paid professional
gigs, and there's also some ofthose who have only been
shooting for less than a yearhere.
So one of the things that I canteach that are applicable to
every photographer.
No matter where, where you're atin photography, So I know that
camera settings are obviouslysomething that.
(04:43):
Even if you're proficient inshooting a manual, sometimes you
still got some questions.
So I wanted to talk about that.
I wanted to make sure that wehad time to answer those
questions and figure thosethings out for you.
But the two biggest things thatI wanted to make sure that we
talked about were light andcomposition, because light and
composition are the two things.
That you have to learn how tosee as a photographer, like
(05:06):
starting from scratch andthere's a lot of ambiguity in
them.
So I started off by goingthrough my entire library of,
photos from weddings andpersonal work, and I started
looking for examples.
Examples of moments where I tookphotos in good light.
Examples of when I took photosin bad light So that I would
(05:27):
have something to share and showoff why you would do it one way,
why you would do it another.
And how you can take, quoteunquote bad light being, harsh
light, I guess you would callit, and still create a great
image because when you'recomfortable shooting in your
least desirable light to you,then you can shoot in any
(05:49):
conditions and be able to getsomething that you're really
proud of.
And when it comes tocomposition.
How you compose a frame is somuch you want to draw in the
viewer's attention to where youwant it to go.
You're directing that attentionthrough your composition.
(06:09):
And again, composition can bekind of ambiguous.
But also compositions can bestacked on top of each other to
create an even more compellingimage.
So I knew that I wanted to talkabout that.
I wanted to talk about my threefavorite compositions, but then
also.
Two, that they're notnecessarily traditional
compositions, but I use them alot in my photography and
(06:32):
specifically when looking for,how to place my couples or my
subject.
So the planning for thisworkshop, I mean, it took a lot
more work than I was.
anticipating because I thinkone, because I went through a
lot of my, backlog of images,images that, I guess you'd call
it a catalog, images that I'vetaken years ago, I think I went
(06:56):
through over a hundred thousandimages to find the ones that I
included, in the presentation,in the educational part of the
workshop.
But I also knew that I didn'tjust want to sit and speak at,
this y'all, this group ofphotographers, and that there
had to be an interactiveelements to it or a
(07:16):
demonstration element.
So I knew that I wanted to do aphoto walk with a model so that
after we go through thiseducation, we we learn about
these core concepts, then we cango out and actually put them to
practice.
But then also, even though thiswasn't a workshop about flash.
I wanted to bring out the flashwithin the educational part when
(07:38):
we're talking about light, sothat I could show off some core
examples.
And man, I was blown away.
Everybody was so excited aboutthe, that portion.
About, you know, when I broughtout the flash, I had my trustee
assistant, Jim, who's also amoderator in the Facebook group,
who, by the way, Jim.
Such a huge help man.
I I really, truly do appreciateall of your help.
(08:02):
Jim walked like two city blockswith like two giant cardboard,
bins full of Chipotle that wehad catered for lunch.
That's a questionable thing todo in the part of Chicago that
we were at, and he did it.
Huge support.
So again, Jim, thank you somuch, man.
But I used Jim as my, standinmodel while we were working with
(08:25):
flash, and we covered somereally great core concepts of
how to use and manipulate lightto achieve what it is that
you're looking for specificallyin dealing with the quality of
life because with a flash, Ithink most people think that
you're just adding quantity oflight, but they don't really
think about the element ofquality of light.
(08:47):
So being able to kind of showthat off I think was a huge help
too.
A lot of the students.
So after going through theeducational portion, we had our
model come in.
Her name was Becca.
She did a phenomenal job.
Super easy to work with and hada lot of great ideas too.
And then we went out on ourphoto walk and we just kind of
(09:07):
shot around the streets of, thiswicker park neighborhood of
Chicago.
And it was really cool for me, Ithink, to, to see what the
participants were able toachieve.
You spend the whole morningtalking about these concepts
being camera settings, light andcomposition, and, you ask for
questions and there are, thereare some really good questions
(09:29):
that come up, but at least forme personally, I know that I can
be taught something, right?
I can go through the education,but it's not until I actually
put the camera to my face and Itry it.
That the knowledge, theeducational portion really hits
and then I understand it.
So being able to go out andagain, see the, you know,
(09:52):
everybody who was involved, workwith this model, find some good
light and try new things, was,it was fulfilling, honestly.
But I think probably one of thecoolest moments that I have
throughout the day came from anaha moment from Kim Carpet.
While we were going through theeducational portion, we were
talking about camera settings.
(10:14):
We were talking about light, wewere talking about composition,
and Kim brings up how she likesher photos a little bit darker,
a little bit moodier, but everytime she goes to edit them that
way, sometimes they fall flat.
And I had just mentioned like,well, a lot of it is more about
light.
Like you can't take a, a flatphoto and edit it as dark and
(10:34):
moody, within Lightroom.
It's really in the way that youshoot it and getting it right in
camera.
And I'll say it seemed like sheunderstood what I said.
And then we moved on.
Later when we went out to thephoto walk portion, there was
this seam of, intense shadowwith this like spotlight of, of
(10:56):
sunlight coming through.
And I had told Kim, I said, HeyKim, this is like a great moment
to get that.
This is great light to get thatdark and moody look that you're
talking about.
So I said, try to black out thebackground.
So she goes through her camerasettings and that's what she
does.
She blacks out the background.
(11:16):
So now it's a very dark framewith this model who's being hit
with this, almost like aspotlight of light.
And she shows me the photo andI'm like, yeah, that's great.
There you go.
And she says, wait, this isgetting it right in camera.
And I was like, yeah, for you,for your style of editing,
that's getting it right incamera.
(11:36):
And she had this aha moment of,oh my gosh, I always thought
that getting it right in camerameant getting it properly
exposed.
Like, get the meter at zero.
So unlocking this moment ofrealizing that quote unquote,
getting it right in camera issubjective to each photographer
and what it is that they shoot,and in her case it's probably
(11:59):
getting it underexposed incamera to expose and, make the
highlights stand out.
That same photo with those samecamera settings would not be
getting it right in camera for aphotographer who shoots more of
a lighter style of images.
Getting it right in camera isdependent on, on you, your
(12:24):
preferences, in your editingstyle, how you want the photo to
look.
And that was great to seebecause you can tell that for
years she's been struggling'cause she thinks that she's
quote unquote, getting it rightin camera all these years.
But really she's just getting a,a middle of the road exposure
and then she's trying to make itwork in the edit.
But now that she knows whatgetting it right in camera looks
(12:45):
like for her, which is probablya stop to a stop and a half
under what she would normallyshoot a seen, now she's gonna
have an easier time achievingthat dark and moody look that
she likes most in her images.
So again, like that for me wasso cool to see like, these are
the things that like, I don'teven think of, like, I'm so
(13:06):
close to the knowledge that Ihave that sometimes I don't
understand what it is that youas a listener, as a student, as
a community member are missing.
So having this time where weare, well, we're not one-on-one,
but we're in a small groupsetting, and you're going
through these things with thecamera up to your face, and you
(13:29):
have a question and I can answerit for you, and you can walk
away with this moment of, oh mygosh, I've been shooting.
against what it is that I likeall these years.
I, I haven't been happy with myimages for years and this is the
thing that is gonna kind of turnit around for me.
That, again, such an amazingmoment and I.
(13:50):
maybe I'm not missing something.
Maybe that's just something thathas to be done in person.
So again, so cool to see, soincredible to be a part of that
moment.
Honestly, to see her eyes likewiden and it is like, it's like
that shot from Requiem for adream where the eyes, go dilated
(14:11):
and it's like the whole worldchanges for you in that moment
was again really, reallyamazing.
So now that the workshop isover.
I've had some time to reflect.
I'm thinking about what changescan I make?
Where can I take this next?
What are those next steps toreally help you on your photo
(14:33):
journey?
Another big thing I learned wasI wanted to take everybody
through my editing workflow, andI've shared this story on the
podcast before.
The first wedding that I editedtook me an entire month to edit.
I was so nervous trying to makesure that every single photo
was, was perfect, that therewere no blown out highlights or,
(14:57):
shadows that were too dark.
Zero clipping.
I wanted the colors to beperfect.
I wanted them to be accurate.
I wanted them to also bestylized.
I would, I mean, stress over a10th of a stop of exposure.
Is this too bright?
Is this too dark?
What is perfect?
I don't know how many of you gothrough the same thing, but
(15:17):
editing was a real struggle forme in the beginning.
I.
And it took me a long time tofind a workflow that I became
comfortable with.
I became quick with and wasproficient in being able to edit
a wedding, relatively quick.
I mean, I got to the point towhere I would guarantee a couple
of their wedding images within30 days of their wedding.
(15:40):
And that was a huge draw,honestly, like I saw the amount
of bookings that I got once Iimplemented that guarantee,
really take off because that'ssomething that a lot of clients,
a lot of families, brides, youknow what have you.
That's something that they'renervous about.
Oftentimes working with them,it's the first time that they've
(16:01):
worked with a professionalphotographer and everybody's
heard stories of, you know, ittaking forever for a couple or,
for somebody to get theirphotos.
And nobody wants to invest moneyand be excited about hiring a
photographer and then feelinglike the photographer forgot
about them going six, eightweeks just to get their photos
(16:24):
back from like a senior session.
And worse, if you know they'reon a deadline to get those
photos to the yearbook or Thankyou.
Cards out or what?
Whatever.
It's Christmas cards.
So early on in my journey, likefiguring out, I'll be honest,
like it took me so long to editthat one wedding.
I thought to myself, I don'tknow if I can do this.
(16:46):
Because on top of it, takingforever, it just wasn't fun.
I got into photography because Ilove shooting.
I love capturing moments.
I love creating something that,somebody is blown away by
something that they can'tcapture on their cell phone.
That's an exciting moment forme, not the editing.
So always I was, I'm constantlyon this journey to figure out
(17:11):
how can I reduce my editing timeso that I can, maximize my
shooting time cause that's whereI get the most amount of joy.
Some people like the editingprocess.
Me, not so much.
And that's why I was excited towork with Imagine AI on this
workshop.
So Imagine AI actually sponsoreda portion of the workshop.
(17:32):
They provide their lunch.
And they paid for our model to,to go out on our photo walk.
And imagine AI is an AI photoeditor, so the way that it works
is that when you sign up, youcan upload a number of your
photos from your Lightroomcatalog so that it can be
trained on how you edit yourimages.
(17:55):
So it's not just gonna applysome filter and say that it's
done.
It's gonna look at the.
You know, your, your raw photoof how you took the image and
then how you edited it, and thencompare the difference between
the two photos and figure outhow you like your images edited.
So next time you go out on ashoot.
When you come back, you justupload the raw or the JPEG
(18:15):
photos to imagine AI throughLightroom, and it will edit them
in the same way that you wouldedit them.
And the best part is that itwill complete this lightning
fast.
Hope Taylor, who has been on thepodcast before, she uses Imagine
AI and she said that she's ableto get back an entire senior
session edited in under an hour.
(18:37):
Like imagine coming home from ashoot, uh, uploading your photos
and an hour later.
They're done.
And what I think is really coolthat, I haven't heard a lot of
other companies do is that whenyou get the photos back and then
they go into your Lightroomcatalog, one, it's not like you
just get JPEGs back that are,finished and that's it.
(18:59):
The edits go back in theLightroom.
So you still have full controlof being able to edit these
images if you wanna make anytweaks.
So if you make these tweaks, ifyou realize, oh, actually I like
my shadows a little bit pulleddown.
I like my images a little bitwarmer than this.
Once you are done making thoseminor tweaks to the rest of the
(19:19):
images, you can then re-uploadthat to Imagine AI as the
finished photo.
And it will recognize theupdates that you made and then
go to refine your editingprofile to, again, make it
closer to how you edit.
So the next time you go toupload a shoot, it continues to
edit just like you.
(19:40):
So why I was excited about thisis because I know a lot of
listeners, a lot of you maybehave a full-time job and you
think, well, I can't leave thatto be a full-time photographer.
Or, I have time for shoots, butit's the editing that takes so
long and, I don't want to giveup my weekends for that.
Well, imagine AI can help youget there faster because it's
(20:03):
taking one thing, it's taking alarge portion of a photo shoot
off of your plate.
So if it can help you to achieveyour goals faster, why not do
that?
Why not give it a shot?
If you could go out and shoot asession on a Saturday and then
have it finished by Sunday orSaturday night?
Why not give it a try?
(20:24):
And if you're still relativelynew to photography and editing
and working with clients andyou're not a hundred percent on
what your editing style is,well, no worries.
They have built in profiles thatyou can use from some of the
world's top photographers andthen you can make more tweaks
yourself.
Re-up, upload those to imagineand create your own style.
(20:44):
Imagine AI is a huge time saverand something that will help you
spend more time behind thecamera instead of behind the
computer screen, and I am allfor that.
If you want to check out ImagineAI for yourself, they gave me a
special link to give to you.
Just head to beginner photopod.com/imagine.
(21:06):
That's beginner Photo Pod slashimagine.
They're gonna give you a bunchof free credits and you can try
it out for yourself.
So now that the workshop isover, man, it's crazy because,
being a part of the beginnerphotography podcast community, I
knew all of the names of thepeople who were coming, but you
don't really know who they areuntil you meet them face to
(21:28):
face.
You talk with them, you learnabout what it is that they
shoot, how they shoot theirstruggles.
And it, I'll say it builds thisconnection.
Whenever I see Wendy's name popup in the group, I'm gonna have
a deeper connection with her.
Whenever I see RJ post a realestate photo in the group, I'm
gonna have a betterunderstanding of how he shoots
and the struggles that he faces.
(21:50):
Whenever I see Jim post in thegroup, I'm probably just gonna
roll my eyes and say, oh, Jim.
No, I'm just kidding.
In fact, Jim actually took somebehind the scenes photos.
I'm gonna post a link to thosein the show notes so so you can
check'em out for yourself.
Or whenever Delaney posts in thegroup, I'm gonna have a better
understanding of where she's atin her journey so that I'm gonna
be able to give her betteranswers for her questions, for
her struggles, and that again,is just like such, such a hard
(22:14):
thing to accomplish by justbeing online.
It's not until you get in personand can meet with others, meet
with others who share the samepassion as you being
photography.
Meet with others who share thesame struggles as you, that you
feel like, oh wow, okay, maybeI'm not alone.
I can do this.
(22:35):
And if I can provide that spacefor you to be able to connect
with others in person, to beable to go out and shoot
together, to be able to createnew photo friends, to be able to
directly help you with yourstruggles, I want to do that.
Because sometimes just sittingbehind a computer or here in my
car behind a microphone, itdoesn't feel like enough.
(22:58):
But just being together inperson for just this one day.
It felt like I made more of animpact than I have in the past
nine years of hosting thepodcast.
And I heard from others who haveliterally listened to every
episode of the podcast say thatit wasn't until getting together
here in person that thingsreally started to click.
(23:19):
So going forward, I wannaprovide more of those things for
you, more of thoseopportunities, more of those
spaces for you to be able to gettogether and connect and make
progress on your photo journey.
Where's the workshop coming tonext?
I'm not sure.
But if you live in a city wherethe Dodgers come to play your
local baseball team, there's agood chance that the workshop
(23:40):
will be coming to you, but ifyou want to be updated on where
workshops are happening, If youwant to take part of the
workshops in the future.
Then come join us in theBeginner Photography podcast
community, which you'll bejoined right now by heading over
to beginner photo pod.com/again,beginner photo pod.com/group.
(24:02):
That is it for today.
Until next time.
Remember, the more that youshoot today, the better of a
photographer you'll be tomorrow.
Talk soon.
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