August 12, 2025 • 40 mins
#587 In this episode of the podcast, I dig into what baseball has taught me about becoming a better photographer. At first glance, these two worlds might seem unrelated, but I quickly realized that the secret to growth in both comes down to the quiet, persistent practice—those thousands of unseen reps that prepare us for our “big game” moments. I share stories from the baseball world, like Dodgers legends Freddie Freeman and Cody Bellinger, as well as insights from head photographer Jon Soohoo, drawing parallels to our photographic journey.
KEY TOPICS COVERED
- The Importance of Consistent Practice (Reps) - Drawing inspiration from baseball, Raymond explains that greatness comes not from isolated performances, but from thousands of unseen, intentional repetitions. Photographers should practice regularly—not just at special events—to develop instinct and technical fluency.
- Learning From Failure and Tracking the Right Stats - Baseball legends, who "fail" most of their at-bats, exemplify that success includes and even requires frequent failure. Similarly, not every photo will be a winner, and that's normal. Raymond recommends tracking progress by the number of photos taken or personal growth, not likes or follows.
- Growth Through Community and Feedback - Community is vital, just as team dynamics support baseball players. Photography communities (like the podcast’s Facebook group) offer constructive feedback and support, accelerating learning compared to going solo. Having a mentor or a coach provides targeted insight for growth.
IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS & CONCEPTS
- Reps (Repetitions): Intentional practice sessions, drills, or photographic exercises done consistently. In the context of photography, "reps" mean repeatedly shooting in diverse scenarios to build technical competence, instinct, and creative resilience.
- Utility Player: In baseball, a player proficient in multiple positions; used here to describe photographers experimenting with various genres to build versatility and discover their niche.
DISCUSSION & REFLECTION QUESTIONS
- How can you integrate intentional photography "reps" into your everyday routine?
- In what areas do you find yourself waiting for the "perfect" moment rather than practicing in less exciting conditions?
- What “stats” matter most to your personal growth as a photographer? How might you measure improvement beyond social media engagement?
- How could participating in a community or seeking coached feedback support your progress?
Sign up for your free CloudSpot Account today at www.DeliverPhotos.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 (00:01):
Baseball is about the thousands, thousands
of quiet unseen reps that gointo making greatness possible.
And I think that we asphotographers should start to
think that way too.
We shouldn wait for the quoteunquote perfect photo op.
(00:23):
We shouldn't wait for a sceniclocation or vacation or a styled
shoot before we even startpracticing.
We should be ready to go when weget to these places, We should
be practicing in the boringmoments because that's where
things like instinct as aphotographer are built.
(00:44):
Hey, welcome to the BeginnerPhotography Podcast, brought to
you by Cloud Spot.
The number one way to deliverand sell your photos for
photographers.
I am your host, RaymondHadfield, and today we're gonna
dig into something a little bitdifferent.
on the surface it may seem likeit has less to do with
photography, but I promise you,it has everything to do with
(01:05):
your growth as a photographer.
So let me throw a quick stat outthere for you.
Did you know that in baseball, aplayer who can consistently get
a hit just three out of every 10at bats is considered elite,
like Hall of fame level.
Amazing.
(01:26):
That means that they fail 70% ofthe time and they're still going
to make history.
So here's what I've beenthinking.
Maybe we've been looking atphotography all wrong.
As photographers, whether you'rea hobbyist or even a
professional, we look at goingout and shooting, as our game,
right?
(01:46):
We have to be fantastic duringour performance.
We have to, nail every shot.
We have to get focused everytime, every moment.
Every pose has to be stellar.
We're aiming for perfection,that's a normal thing to want to
do, to strive towards, but maybewhat we actually need here is
(02:07):
just simply some more swings,some more at bats.
So in today's episode, that iswhat we're gonna talk about.
We're gonna talk about how wecan relate baseball to
photography and what baseballcan teach us about photography,
getting up to the plate, takingyour swings, learning from the
(02:27):
misses, and of coursecelebrating our wins.
You know, sports are nowherenear as fun if we're not
celebrating our wins.
and I'm not talking about.
Simply the amount of likes thatyou get on your photos.
So today we're talking baseball.
We're talking photography, andif you like the two things, I
really hope that you enjoy thisepisode.
(02:48):
If you like photography, butmaybe you're not into baseball,
that's fine.
I'm not gonna get into all thecrazy stats, that.
baseball is known for, I'm gonnatry to share some stories that I
know about baseball that aregonna help, you honestly to grow
your skills as a photographerand start to change your mindset
around how, you approachphotography and how you shoot.
(03:11):
Now when we think of baseball,we usually think of a baseball
game, right?
that's typically how, if you'rean adult, that's how you're
going to see baseball beingplayed is during a game.
But there is a lot more tobaseball than just the game.
A few years ago I interviewedDodgers head photographer, John
(03:31):
Sue, who here on the podcast,and he said that for a 6:00 PM
game, he will show up to thestadium around noon.
That seems crazy, right?
like why would you show up thatearly?
Truth is the players do as well,and that's why they have batting
practice.
The players who you see on tv,right?
(03:52):
The professional baseballplayers, they're spending hours
in the cages or doing fieldingdrills before they step into a
real game.
they don't just show up and hopethat the crowd or the lights are
gonna, get them pumped up andready to go.
They're gonna show up early,they're going to swing.
(04:14):
They're gonna adjust.
And then they're gonna swingagain before every single game.
That's how it works.
That's how you prepare for thesebig moments.
In fact, let me share a storywith you about Dodgers first
baseman, Freddie Freeman.
Okay.
maybe you've heard of FreddieFreeman.
Maybe you haven't.
Freddie Freeman has been aprofessional baseball player for
(04:35):
more than 14 years.
He's a golden glove firstbaseman.
That means he's the best.
He's played more than twothousand games.
This guy, Freddie Freeman, heknows how to catch a ball,
right?
he's probably one of the bestpeople in the world at catching
a baseball yet before everysingle game.
(04:55):
Do you know what he does?
He practices.
He practices his fieldingdrills.
He practices catching balls, andhe's not doing it because he's
trying to learn how to catchanymore, like he knows.
What he's doing is preparing forthe moment.
He's preparing for when the ballcomes his way, he'll be able to
(05:16):
catch it because baseball is notjust about, showing up in the
postseason and then hoping forgreatness.
That's what people become knownfor because the stakes are so
high, but that's not whatbaseball is about.
Baseball players play 162 gamesin a season.
That's not even including thepostseason.
They play a lot.
(05:37):
Baseball is about the thousands,thousands of quiet unseen reps
that go into making greatnesspossible.
And I think that we asphotographers should start to
think that way too.
We shouldn.
wait for the quote unquoteperfect photo op.
(06:00):
We shouldn't wait for a sceniclocation or vacation or a styled
shoot before we even startpracticing.
We should be ready to go.
When we get to these places,what we should be doing is.
Practicing in our yard.
We should be practicing in ourliving room.
We should be practicing on ourlunch break.
We should be practicing in theboring moments because that's
(06:23):
where things like instinct as aphotographer are built.
So if you're feeling stuck, Idon't want you to wait for
inspiration.
I don't want you to wait for anupcoming trip before you get out
your camera.
I want you to get in your repsnow.
So that when that time comes,you are ready to go.
(06:46):
But I get it right.
it's kind of hard to startthinking that way again because
all we see from baseball playersis the game that they're
playing.
Right?
and when we think aboutphotography, think we buy a
camera hoping that we're gonnatake photos of beautiful scenes.
We're gonna take photos ofbeautiful moments.
(07:07):
But we don't really think of ourcamera as a tool that we need
consistent practice with.
My wife and I play on an adult,softball league together.
And, before you get too excited,last season we went oh, for
eight.
So like, don't be impressed,thinking that I'm like super
athletic or anything.
Oh, for eight is not, we do itfor the fun, right?
(07:28):
But we do play against teams whoare not there just for fun.
They're there to play.
and they take themselves veryseriously.
some teams are, graduatedpost-collegiate baseball
players.
They're intimidating.
and.
The last thing that you want todo is walk up to the plate and
just totally embarrass yourself.
(07:49):
swing, huge swing and justcompletely miss it.
or do something dumb.
there are different rules, insoftball as well, so you gotta
know those.
But anyway, point is sometimesyou do stand at the plate and
you feel, the doubt starts tocreep in.
Maybe I'll miss it.
maybe I'll look dumb.
And honestly, after eightconsecutive losses, you start to
(08:11):
think, maybe I'm just bad atthis.
that's a perfectly normalthought to have in your head.
And that's not uncommon forprofessional baseball players
too.
They go through slumps.
We go through slumps.
People go through slumps.
We all go through slumps ineverything that we do, even the
(08:35):
pros.
In baseball, a slump might be,you just can't connect with the
ball.
Or every time a ball is fieldedtowards you, it just gets
passed, right?
There's a hole in your glove orsomething.
But in photography it can looksimilar.
you feel like.
everything you take is justgarbage.
In fact, it was either 2016 or2017.
I don't remember exactly whatyear, but I felt like every
(08:58):
single photo I took was trash.
I mean, I did not like thephotos I took during those
years, and that sucks when youknow that couples are paying
you.
And you want to delivergreatness, right?
Not only do you want to makethis couple happy with their
(09:20):
wedding photos, which, is kindof a, a big event in somebody's
life and something that theydon't do often.
For many people, this could bethe only time they get wedding
photos taken.
You want to deliver somethinggreat, but on top of that, you
also want to create somethinggreat.
Very few people get intophotography for the business
(09:42):
side of it, like just to makemoney.
Most people get into photographybecause they want to create
something amazing.
And I felt like I wasn't able todo that.
And again, it sucks.
But having been through it andmaking it out on the other side,
I can tell you that goingthrough that slump doesn't mean
that you're broken.
(10:03):
It means that you're learning ifyou're the kind of like picture
perfect parent trying tocapture, life with your kids and
they refuse to smile, likethat's okay.
That's okay.
Maybe they didn't smile on thatshot, but you took it with an
intentional composition thatlooked nice.
(10:24):
Maybe you're diving intophotography after retirement and
you can't remember where the ISObutton is.
That's fine.
You're not behind.
That is something that you can.
I mean, it's easier to learntoday than ever before.
with things like YouTube andjust being able to search the
internet, maybe you're trying tobalance a a day job with a
(10:46):
family, and you have creativedreams to start a business
yourself.
Every image you take stillcounts, whether it's your kids,
whether it's a a family session.
Whether it's just your personallife, every photo you take still
counts.
And here's the thing, you don'thave to love every swing.
(11:09):
It doesn't have to connect, butyou do have to take it.
A baseball player who goes up tothe plate and swings and strikes
out every time has a betterchance of not being traded then
a player who just goes up to theplate and watches every pitch go
by them.
You have to try, even if youdon't like it.
(11:30):
and on top of that, I'm gonnaadd something else.
You have to practice how youplay.
Again, if a baseball player wentup there and just kind of super
weakly, just kind of, swung thebat around just, yeah, whatever.
Here you go.
I'm just going through themotions.
That's not going to work.
You have to practice how youplay.
Meaning you have to do it withintention.
Yes, every shot you take counts.
(11:52):
If you're paying attention tothings like light, you're
looking for moment.
You're trying to frame up agreat composition.
If the moment is garbage, if thelight didn't work the way that
you were hoping, if thecomposition has too much
headroom, well guess what?
You still tried and that counts.
But that doesn't mean that everyphoto is going to be a winner.
(12:16):
Just like in baseball, not everyhit is gonna get you on the
sports center.
In photography, not every imageis gonna go viral or even, get
six likes.
That's not promised and that'snot the point of a photo anyway.
a photo that you love might getsscrolled past.
You could take this greatmoment, great composition,
(12:37):
beautiful light.
Doesn't really connect with alot of people.
And then you're probably gonnafind photos.
In fact, I can guarantee thatyou'll find photos on Instagram
that everybody else loves, butyou don't get it.
It doesn't mean anything to you.
So what stats, like the amountof likes that you get on a
photo, don't define your growth.
(12:58):
You are not guaranteed morelikes because you have more
experience.
The algorithm doesn't know howfar you've come.
It doesn't mean anything.
Your best photo might be the onethat only you understand, and
that's still a win.
In fact, I have another Dodgerstory for you here.
Past Dodger Center fielder, CodyBellinger had one of the
(13:19):
weirdest batting stances I'veever seen.
It looks like he just doesn'tcare that he's there to be in
the batter's box.
I mean, he looks like he'sstanding like stiff as a board,
tall, straight up, straightback, and yet when the ball
would come to him.
He would hit it, not only often,but he would hit it hard.
Lemme paint another picture foryou.
(13:40):
It's the 2020 World Seriesagainst the Tampa Bay Rays.
This is game seven, right?
It's a Tide series.
So winner takes all here, and atthis point.
It's a tie game.
Cody Bellinger comes up to bat.
No one on base.
He swings, he connects and hegets a home run.
So now the Dodgers have takenthe lead.
(14:03):
This is a huge moment, right?
After crossing home plate on hisway back to the dugout, he does
one of those like jump and bumpinto each other's celebrations
that, you just do with anotherteammate when you hit a home run
in the World Series, making yourteam take the lead.
And when he does that, the waythat he hits the other player,
he dislocates his shoulder now.
(14:24):
You don't have to be aprofessional baseball player to
know that the shoulder isactually a pretty important part
to the mechanics of swinging abat, which is his livelihood.
Unfortunately, the Dodgers lethim go after a very
non-productive, 2021 seasonbecause he couldn't get his
shoulder to work for his styleof swing.
(14:48):
Now, does that suck?
Yes.
Do I love Cody Bellinger?
Of course.
Belly's the best.
Did I hate to see him go toanother team like the Cubs?
Of course I did, But he showedup every single day after that
injury to get better and betterand better.
It took him three years beforehe finally started to look like
he was getting his swing back.
(15:10):
Now the stats on paper say thatCody Bellinger is not doing
well, but he and the coachescould see the progress that he
was making, right?
So while he's not hitting thebombs that he once was, he was
celebrating different types ofwins.
(15:30):
And for those first few gamesback, maybe just lasting an
entire game is a win, even if hedidn't get any hits.
So sometimes the stats thatyou're tracking are simply the
wrong stats for where you're at.
Maybe the stats that you trackshould be the number of shots
that you've taken each month,rather than the number of likes
(15:53):
that you get on each post.
For me personally, I keep all ofmy photos within Lightroom and I
organize them all of my, mypersonal work, I organize them
by month and year so I can seehow many photos each month I am,
keeping.
(16:13):
I can see the number of keepersthat I'm capturing.
Each month, and typically, I'mnot gonna lie, it'll correlate
to the number of things thatwe're doing that month, right?
If we have a busy month withlots of interesting things that
we're doing, yeah.
I'm gonna take a lot of photos.
Typically, in the wintertime,that number starts to dip.
(16:33):
Should a dip?
No, but it does.
I'm human.
You're human.
I hope you're human.
I hope that you're not just ai,just reading a transcript.
Trying to copy me and mypersonality to take over this
podcast, but I'm gonna assumethat you're human.
That's what humans do.
But because I can see how manyphotos are in each monthly
folder, I can gauge, oh, do Ineed to?
(16:56):
Take more photos next month.
Do I need to try to be more,aware of each moment?
Because if I see a month with600 photos, I'm like, wow, that
was a good month.
If that next month I see a photoor a folder with 115 photos, I'm
gonna think I need to startbeing more aware of light, of
moment, and just be moreconscious of having a camera on
(17:18):
me so that I can have more plateappearances so that I can have
more swings so that when thetime comes in, we do have a lot
of things planned.
Maybe it's a trip, maybe it's aspecial event.
I'm going to be camera ready.
So I know that I've shared, somestories, obviously Freddy, Cody
Bellinger as well, and these areprofessional baseball players.
(17:38):
Now, you may be thinking toyourself, all right, Raymond, we
get it.
You love the Dodgers.
Woo-hoo.
Everybody loves the Dodgers.
Go Dodgers.
But baseball is a team sport.
if you were to fail seven outta10 times, well there's somebody
else who's going to pick up theslack, who's gonna come up to
play right after you.
And in a game, I would saythat's true.
(18:01):
But if you listen to interviewsfrom other professional baseball
players, they talk about howthey learned from former
teammates, how they learn frommaybe a minor league coach or
how there's a player on anotherteam who played.
That's actually a great example.
Mookie bets also on the Dodgers.
Played right field, right,played right field phenomenally
(18:24):
for years, four, five yearsmaybe on the Dodgers, but all
throughout high school he playedshortstop.
He was put into right fieldbecause, well, Dodgers needed a
right field player and Mookiebets was the bat that the
Dodgers also needed.
Well, when the opportunity camefor Mookie bets to move from
right field to shortstop, whichis what, he loved playing in
(18:48):
high school.
Do you know what he did?
He didn't just say, Hey, I'm oneof the highest paid players I
am.
on paper, one of the best MOBplayers that there is.
What he did was he called othershortstop, players from other
teams who he admired, who heliked, and he asked them
questions.
He's played shortstop.
Having a team and having othersaround you is not just to
(19:10):
progress you in a game, it'salso to help you, help you get
better at the things that youlack or that you don't see, or
that you don't notice, so thatyou can grow because yeah, you
know, while.
It is only you who's behind thecamera when you're taking a
photo.
Photography can also feel like ateam sport, right?
(19:31):
Sure.
It can be solo.
It can also be a communityexperience if you wish.
You can absolutely take thoseswings on your own, but if you
really, really want to grow, yougotta be around other people.
Other photographers, otherpeople taking messy swings and
then cheering you on.
That is why we started theBeginner Photography podcast,
(19:53):
Facebook group.
That's why we do challenges.
That's why this podcast exists.
So if you've been lurking,you've been thinking about
posting in the group, but younever do, well, this is your
nudge.
Okay.
Get in the game, sharesomething, even if it's not
quote unquote your best, shareit and then ask a question.
(20:14):
Leave a comment on somebodyelse's win.
You will be surprised at whatkind of progress you can make
and what community does for yourmomentum.
So if you wanna join theBeginner Photography podcast
Facebook group, then we'd loveto have you.
Just head over to beginner photopod.com/group and come join us.
(20:34):
Now in baseball, mechanics isreally important to look at.
Mechanics are, the things thatyou do like with your body,
right?
Like how you move your body todo the thing.
Different hitters swing the batdifferently than each other.
Different fielders, havedifferent ways of catching a
ball, but they all move theirbody, and that's the mechanics
(20:55):
of it, right?
So just like how, infielderslearn how to react to the ball
without thinking, photographersneed to work on their mechanics.
That's not so much the physicalaspect of it, but it's, It's
reacting to light.
I can tell you sometimes I walkinto a room or I'm just driving
down the road and I see somelight and I'm like, holy cow,
(21:16):
that is beautiful.
Right?
Even if I don't have a cameraand my wife will look and be
like, what are you talkingabout?
It's the way that you see andcan anticipate a moment.
you hear somebody say somethingand you know that there's gonna
be a reaction to it, so you'reready for it.
It's the way that you build acomposition.
Your world is in a 360 degreeview you can turn in any
(21:40):
direction that you want, look atanything that you want, but a
camera has to be pointed atsomething specific.
So the way that you point andframe your shot is incredibly
important.
So how do you go through theworld and look at it almost in a
four by three aspect ratio tofigure out what would look good
in a frame, even if you don'thave the camera to your eye?
(22:03):
Those types of things are onlypossible through reps.
And there's this phrase thatyou've heard me say all the
time, right moment matters most,moment matters most.
Look, you can capture a greatmoment with terrible settings,
and it's still gonna be a photothat connects with people.
That's why a moment mattersmost, but when you know your
(22:26):
settings.
When you know how to read light,when you know how to build a
composition, and then you waitfor the moment so that you can
combine the two, right, thesettings, the technical, the
mechanics, and the moment.
Holy cow, you have pure magic.
Anybody can take a technicallyperfect photo.
(22:48):
But when you combine it withmoment, it all comes together.
But getting to the point towhere you know your settings,
like it's just you know, secondnature when you do that, then
you're free to be able tocapture the moment with more
ease and more intention.
The same way a baseball playerdoesn't think about their swing
mid-swing.
(23:09):
They've done it a million times,it becomes second nature.
You shouldn't have to bepanicking about your ISO when
your kid starts blowing outtheir candles, right by that
point, it's too late.
That's where getting in the repsbeforehand is going to prepare
you for whatever happens.
The more you shoot with purpose,even in short bursts, the faster
(23:32):
this all becomes second nature.
If you shoot a lot of weddings,well, you've gotta get really
good at being able to read lightand see light so that you know
where to be to capture photos inthe best.
That's something that you shouldbe practicing everywhere you go.
Looking for pockets of light andfiguring out, okay, what would I
do in this situation?
(23:52):
Like maybe set a timer on yourphone it'll go off every 10
minutes or, or 20 minutes, oreven, I don't know, twice a day.
And at those times when thetimer goes off, you have to
stop, look around you and say,okay, where's the light?
If I was at a wedding right now,where would I place my couple to
get the best photo that I couldto get the best light that I
can?
And sometimes it's not gonna bea great photo, but looking
(24:15):
around and being conscious oflights direction, the source of
the light is going to help youdo those reps, even if you don't
have a camera in your hand.
But again, practice how youplay.
Now, let me tell you aboutanother one of my favorite
Dodgers, Kike Hernandez.
This dude is amazing.
(24:37):
Now, you might be askingyourself, oh, okay, Raymond Kike
Hernandez.
That's a cool name.
What position does he play?
And I would tell you, oh, kikeHernandez plays shortstop.
Okay.
He also plays second base.
He's also played, left field aswell as center.
He's played third base.
He's played right field.
He's played first base.
He's even pitched in multiplegames.
(24:57):
In fact, the only position thatKike Hernandez has not played on
the field is catcher.
In baseball, there's a rolecalled utility player.
A utility player is somebody whocan play a bunch of different
positions, and they're valuablein all those spots.
He's not the best at any onething, but he's really good at
(25:20):
all of these different things.
And maybe you've heard me on thepodcast say, you gotta find a
niche in photography becauseit's the best way to go deeper
into a style of photography andget really good at it.
Get known for it, and get paidwell for it because it's what
you specialize in.
I absolutely still believe thatto be the case, but there are
(25:40):
some photographers like JoeMcNally, who consider themselves
a generalist.
They don't hold themselves toone style of photography, and
Joe McNally is really good atwhat he does.
It can be done.
It is really hard if you want tobe successful and make a living
that way, but it can be done.
(26:02):
So if you're thinking toyourself right now, I don't know
what I wanna shoot.
I'm still trying to figure itall out.
That's fine.
In fact, that's good.
You should be trying outeverything.
Try portraits.
Try macro.
Try streets.
Try pets.
Try weird shadows on the wall.
Try food.
Try everything because everytype of photography will teach
(26:26):
you something.
That year 20 16, 20 17, where Ifelt like I was really in a
slump, I remember.
trying to get out of it.
And I remember thinking, whatcan I do to get outta the slump?
And it was winter time.
And, I must have seen a video onYouTube.
Maybe it was about a productphotographer who was
(26:47):
photographing beer.
And it looked prettychallenging, but I thought, I
think I can do that.
So that's exactly what I did.
I set up a stool in my kitchen.
I set up a little backdrop.
I placed the beer on the stool.
I had a little spritz of waterto make it look like it's
sweating, like it's nice andcold.
I set up some lights.
I took the photos.
(27:08):
I tried to get better at it.
I tried to at differentapertures to get a different
depth of field.
I did some blending.
And that photo, I can stillpicture the photo in my head.
I like the photo a lot.
I'm proud of that photo.
but more importantly, and what Ididn't know at the time is that
that photo helped me to bettercreate ring photos.
It helped me to understand thatwhen you're shooting something
(27:30):
really close up, the backgroundis so much more out of focus,
but you can add certain elementsto make it look really
interesting.
Before I was shooting, rings andstuff at f like 2.8 to try to
get like this really creamydepth of field.
But when you're shootingsomething extremely close up, I
mean, your depth of field islike the width of two or three
(27:50):
hairs.
It's extremely thin.
So shooting, this bottle of beerhelped me to realize, oh, if
you're shooting at F eight, F11, you can still get an out of
focus background if you.
do it the right way where yourbackground is far enough, away
and it becomes out of focus.
So again, try something new.
Try something that you've nevershopped before, because every
(28:13):
photo that you take will teachyou something and your thing
will more than likely come,right?
Your niche, your style.
Or maybe it won't.
I don't know, but the point is,every position that you play
makes you better.
Now here's a name that you mayhave heard of, even if you're
not really into baseball.
If you haven't heard of thisname and you have kids, more
(28:33):
than likely they have heard ofit.
It is Shhe Tani In 2024, shhe Ohit 54 home runs for the
Dodgers.
Now.
For comparison, if you don'tknow much about baseball, the
average number of home runs hitper player.
That season was just 18, hetripled it.
(28:56):
He is arguably the best hitterin professional baseball and
maybe, you're Yankee fan.
I'm sure that you're gonna sendme an email about Aaron Judge,
but Aaron Judge has way lessoverall hits and strikes out way
more often.
Soge Tani is a better all aroundhitter.
I will fight you anyway.
Shhe Tani, again, arguably thebest hitter in baseball.
(29:19):
Guess what he has?
He has a hitting coach.
He has somebody to coach him onhow to hit the ball.
Shhe Tani is the best and hestill has a coach.
Why?
Why?
We think of coaches as peoplewho teach us or help us do
(29:42):
something that we haven't donethat we don't normally do.
But I promise you Shhe Tani hasmore hits than his batting
coach.
Shhe Tani understands that youcan swing a thousand times on
your own and hope that youfigure it out, or you can swing
a hundred times with feedbackand grow infinitely faster.
(30:05):
Shhe Tani's batting coach isactually just the Dodgers
batting coach is Aaron Bates.
Aaron Bates says that, of coursehe looks for things like
mechanics, to see what's what'sworking and what's not working,
of course.
But what he's also looking at iswhat kind of pitches shhe is
swinging at, what kind ofpitches he's passing up, what
kind of pitches he's connectingwith.
(30:27):
Just for example, maybe, youhate swinging when the ball is
up and away.
A coach can look, objectivelyand say, well, actually, you hit
the ball the hardest when itcomes up and away, and 43% of
your home runs are pitchedthere.
So maybe even though you don'tlike'em, try swinging at them
(30:51):
more.
A coach is gonna help you grow.
That's their job, right?
It doesn't mean that they haveto be the best in the world at
the thing that you're trying toachieve.
They're there to help you grow.
In photography, I want you tofind people who will look at
your photos and actually helpyou improve, not just say, oh,
(31:12):
nice shot.
Or a good job, but well, what ifyou tried this next time?
Or have you thought about whatthis might look like?
That's the kind of critique thatis a shortcut to growth, and
that's what being a part of theBeginner Photography podcast
community is, is not only is itphoto challenges, not only is it
(31:33):
group post, it's the commentsection as well.
So if you're in there, don't beafraid to ask for feedback.
And if you're not, again, we'dlove to have you beginner photo
pod.com/group.
So, I know that I'm talking alot about professional baseball
players.
Professional baseball playershave tons of resources they've
experience of course.
(31:54):
But we all know that nobodywalks onto the field and becomes
a pro day one.
Right?
Where do they start?
They gotta start in littleleague.
In Little League.
They got these little wobblyswings, you know, they're just
swinging at everything.
Maybe they get a hit and thenthey'll run to third, right?
That's what little League isfor.
We as photographers, maybe we'retaking weird exposures.
(32:15):
Maybe we have compositions thatdon't work, right?
Everything's directly in themiddle of the frame.
Tons of headroom.
Logically, we know that you'renot supposed to be great right
away the first time you pick upsomething, but I think that we
also forget that photography isa journey and to get really
good.
You gotta go through thatjourney, right?
(32:36):
That's the whole point oflearning something new.
You go through this journey.
So whether you're picking up acamera for the first time, or
you're coming back after a longbreak, don't worry.
You are in the perfect place tostart.
But, also know that the startingline is not, Even if you're
really good at Little League,what am I trying to say here?
(32:57):
If you're really good at LittleLeague, that doesn't mean that
you're ready for the pros.
I mean, like the best person inlittle league in the country
isn't ready to go pro.
So what I'm trying to say hereis that maybe you're thinking
about charging for your work ordoing some sort of big creative.
A project or something.
(33:18):
I know a lot of photographerswant to get into weddings
because it can be good moneywith a relatively low time
investment, but know thatweddings are a huge undertaking.
They're like the world series ofphotography.
Very high risk, but very highreward if you're prepared.
And guess what?
(33:39):
When you show up to a wedding.
The confidence doesn't justmagically appear, right.
You don't get confidence just bybeing around a wedding.
You have to trust in all of the,meaningless, that you took when
nobody was watching.
That's how you're gonna gainconfidence on a wedding day.
(34:00):
In fact, remember FreddieFreeman, who I talked about
earlier?
Here's something wild.
If you go to YouTube and yousearch his name, the top result
is his walk-off Grand Slam inthe 2024 World Series.
Remember, he's been playingprofessional baseball for 14
years.
I mean, he's had some amazingplays.
(34:22):
He's had some amazing moments.
He has had some amazing at bats.
But this one moment is the topresult.
Why?
I want you to picture it.
Okay.
Close your eyes.
Just kidding.
Don't do it if you're driving.
Okay.
But just imagine this in yourhead.
At the end of the ninth inningof game one of the 2024 World
(34:44):
Series, the game was tied, whichmeant that the game went into
extra innings.
It went into the 10th inning,the top of the 10th inning, jazz
Chisholm.
is on third for the Yankees.
Now Anthony Loppe hits agrounder, which allows Jazz
(35:05):
Chisholm to score, and then theYankees take the lead.
This is the 10th inning.
that gives the Dodgers onechance to score, otherwise they
lose the game.
But you know what I love aboutour boys in blue is that they
got that dog in them, and theynever, ever quit, ever.
(35:26):
So here we are, it's the bottomof the 10th.
The bases are loaded.
We got two outs, and FreddieFreeman takes the plate.
Could you imagine that theweight of the world is on your
shoulders.
It's the last out in the WorldSeries, and the world is looking
at you to be productive rightnow.
(35:51):
And the bases will be loadedhere for Freddy Freeman with the
Dodgers down three to two anddown to their last out in game
one.
Now the kind of at bat thatevery kid that plays baseball
dreams a one day happen.
You tell yourself, right?
All right, bottom of the tentbases loaded.
World Series one Run Game.
Dodgers, Yankees, reality forFreddie Freeman right here.
(36:16):
Cortez delivers Freeman hits theball in the right field, sea is
gone.
Hobble Game One Hero for theDodgers, Freddy Freeman with a
walk-off Grand Slam to Win Gameone of the World Series six
three over the Yankees.
Unbelievable.
(36:38):
I mean, there's just no way todescribe it.
Would you say you don't believewhat you just.
Saw.
Yeah.
Freddie Freeman is now a hero.
Now, that moment, it's not justluck.
What was it?
It was the right wing at theright moment, but it was backed
by years of repetition in thatgame.
(37:02):
Let me share with you some statsreal quick.
In that game, Freddie Freemanhad five at bats and saw a total
of 13 pitches.
Now, he only made contact withtwo of them.
That means that he missed 11times, and yet it was just one
(37:22):
swing in the one right momentand he made history.
He then went on to become theWorld Series MVP, like imagine
that not only do you go on towin the World Series, but you're
the most valuable player of theWorld Series.
(37:43):
Like it can't get any betterthan that.
And he did that despite having2,521 pitches thrown at him that
entire season.
Trust me, I went back and Icounted.
I watched every game, watchedevery pitch.
I'm just kidding.
But out of those 2,521 pitches,he only got 256 hits.
(38:07):
And that means that on average,he was only productive once for
every 10 pitches thrown at him.
And there is no doubt thatFreddie Freeman is gonna make it
into the Hall of Fame.
So when you're out there andyou're taking photos and you're
feeling like, man, nothing isworking.
Remember Freddie Freeman, you'renot gonna get a hit.
(38:29):
With every shot you take, youmight not get a hit in every
nine shots that you take.
You know, Freddy's aprofessional, but you need those
misses because the more swingsthat you take, the better
prepared you are when your grandslam opportunity shows up.
That's what practice does.
(38:50):
That's what reps are for.
That is what photography is.
It is a game of showing up overand over again.
When you shoot the same streetcorner 10 times when you miss
focus, but you keep going.
That's the foundation thatsupports the pressure later on.
(39:12):
If you wanna prep for thepostseason, right?
If you wanna be the hero, youhave to do it now, and you do
that by building your photomuscle while the stakes are low.
That's all I got for you today.
So go ahead, get out there andshoot, because as you know, the
more that you shoot today, thebetter of a photographer you
will be tomorrow.
Go Dodgers.
Baseball is about the thousands, thousands
of quiet unseen reps that gointo making greatness possible.
And I think that we asphotographers should start to
think that way too.
We shouldn wait for the quoteunquote perfect photo op.
(00:23):
We shouldn't wait for a sceniclocation or vacation or a styled
shoot before we even startpracticing.
We should be ready to go when weget to these places, We should
be practicing in the boringmoments because that's where
things like instinct as aphotographer are built.
(00:44):
Hey, welcome to the BeginnerPhotography Podcast, brought to
you by Cloud Spot.
The number one way to deliverand sell your photos for
photographers.
I am your host, RaymondHadfield, and today we're gonna
dig into something a little bitdifferent.
on the surface it may seem likeit has less to do with
photography, but I promise you,it has everything to do with
(01:05):
your growth as a photographer.
So let me throw a quick stat outthere for you.
Did you know that in baseball, aplayer who can consistently get
a hit just three out of every 10at bats is considered elite,
like Hall of fame level.
Amazing.
(01:26):
That means that they fail 70% ofthe time and they're still going
to make history.
So here's what I've beenthinking.
Maybe we've been looking atphotography all wrong.
As photographers, whether you'rea hobbyist or even a
professional, we look at goingout and shooting, as our game,
right?
(01:46):
We have to be fantastic duringour performance.
We have to, nail every shot.
We have to get focused everytime, every moment.
Every pose has to be stellar.
We're aiming for perfection,that's a normal thing to want to
do, to strive towards, but maybewhat we actually need here is
(02:07):
just simply some more swings,some more at bats.
So in today's episode, that iswhat we're gonna talk about.
We're gonna talk about how wecan relate baseball to
photography and what baseballcan teach us about photography,
getting up to the plate, takingyour swings, learning from the
(02:27):
misses, and of coursecelebrating our wins.
You know, sports are nowherenear as fun if we're not
celebrating our wins.
and I'm not talking about.
Simply the amount of likes thatyou get on your photos.
So today we're talking baseball.
We're talking photography, andif you like the two things, I
really hope that you enjoy thisepisode.
(02:48):
If you like photography, butmaybe you're not into baseball,
that's fine.
I'm not gonna get into all thecrazy stats, that.
baseball is known for, I'm gonnatry to share some stories that I
know about baseball that aregonna help, you honestly to grow
your skills as a photographerand start to change your mindset
around how, you approachphotography and how you shoot.
(03:11):
Now when we think of baseball,we usually think of a baseball
game, right?
that's typically how, if you'rean adult, that's how you're
going to see baseball beingplayed is during a game.
But there is a lot more tobaseball than just the game.
A few years ago I interviewedDodgers head photographer, John
(03:31):
Sue, who here on the podcast,and he said that for a 6:00 PM
game, he will show up to thestadium around noon.
That seems crazy, right?
like why would you show up thatearly?
Truth is the players do as well,and that's why they have batting
practice.
The players who you see on tv,right?
(03:52):
The professional baseballplayers, they're spending hours
in the cages or doing fieldingdrills before they step into a
real game.
they don't just show up and hopethat the crowd or the lights are
gonna, get them pumped up andready to go.
They're gonna show up early,they're going to swing.
(04:14):
They're gonna adjust.
And then they're gonna swingagain before every single game.
That's how it works.
That's how you prepare for thesebig moments.
In fact, let me share a storywith you about Dodgers first
baseman, Freddie Freeman.
Okay.
maybe you've heard of FreddieFreeman.
Maybe you haven't.
Freddie Freeman has been aprofessional baseball player for
(04:35):
more than 14 years.
He's a golden glove firstbaseman.
That means he's the best.
He's played more than twothousand games.
This guy, Freddie Freeman, heknows how to catch a ball,
right?
he's probably one of the bestpeople in the world at catching
a baseball yet before everysingle game.
(04:55):
Do you know what he does?
He practices.
He practices his fieldingdrills.
He practices catching balls, andhe's not doing it because he's
trying to learn how to catchanymore, like he knows.
What he's doing is preparing forthe moment.
He's preparing for when the ballcomes his way, he'll be able to
(05:16):
catch it because baseball is notjust about, showing up in the
postseason and then hoping forgreatness.
That's what people become knownfor because the stakes are so
high, but that's not whatbaseball is about.
Baseball players play 162 gamesin a season.
That's not even including thepostseason.
They play a lot.
(05:37):
Baseball is about the thousands,thousands of quiet unseen reps
that go into making greatnesspossible.
And I think that we asphotographers should start to
think that way too.
We shouldn.
wait for the quote unquoteperfect photo op.
(06:00):
We shouldn't wait for a sceniclocation or vacation or a styled
shoot before we even startpracticing.
We should be ready to go.
When we get to these places,what we should be doing is.
Practicing in our yard.
We should be practicing in ourliving room.
We should be practicing on ourlunch break.
We should be practicing in theboring moments because that's
(06:23):
where things like instinct as aphotographer are built.
So if you're feeling stuck, Idon't want you to wait for
inspiration.
I don't want you to wait for anupcoming trip before you get out
your camera.
I want you to get in your repsnow.
So that when that time comes,you are ready to go.
(06:46):
But I get it right.
it's kind of hard to startthinking that way again because
all we see from baseball playersis the game that they're
playing.
Right?
and when we think aboutphotography, think we buy a
camera hoping that we're gonnatake photos of beautiful scenes.
We're gonna take photos ofbeautiful moments.
(07:07):
But we don't really think of ourcamera as a tool that we need
consistent practice with.
My wife and I play on an adult,softball league together.
And, before you get too excited,last season we went oh, for
eight.
So like, don't be impressed,thinking that I'm like super
athletic or anything.
Oh, for eight is not, we do itfor the fun, right?
(07:28):
But we do play against teams whoare not there just for fun.
They're there to play.
and they take themselves veryseriously.
some teams are, graduatedpost-collegiate baseball
players.
They're intimidating.
and.
The last thing that you want todo is walk up to the plate and
just totally embarrass yourself.
(07:49):
swing, huge swing and justcompletely miss it.
or do something dumb.
there are different rules, insoftball as well, so you gotta
know those.
But anyway, point is sometimesyou do stand at the plate and
you feel, the doubt starts tocreep in.
Maybe I'll miss it.
maybe I'll look dumb.
And honestly, after eightconsecutive losses, you start to
(08:11):
think, maybe I'm just bad atthis.
that's a perfectly normalthought to have in your head.
And that's not uncommon forprofessional baseball players
too.
They go through slumps.
We go through slumps.
People go through slumps.
We all go through slumps ineverything that we do, even the
(08:35):
pros.
In baseball, a slump might be,you just can't connect with the
ball.
Or every time a ball is fieldedtowards you, it just gets
passed, right?
There's a hole in your glove orsomething.
But in photography it can looksimilar.
you feel like.
everything you take is justgarbage.
In fact, it was either 2016 or2017.
I don't remember exactly whatyear, but I felt like every
(08:58):
single photo I took was trash.
I mean, I did not like thephotos I took during those
years, and that sucks when youknow that couples are paying
you.
And you want to delivergreatness, right?
Not only do you want to makethis couple happy with their
(09:20):
wedding photos, which, is kindof a, a big event in somebody's
life and something that theydon't do often.
For many people, this could bethe only time they get wedding
photos taken.
You want to deliver somethinggreat, but on top of that, you
also want to create somethinggreat.
Very few people get intophotography for the business
(09:42):
side of it, like just to makemoney.
Most people get into photographybecause they want to create
something amazing.
And I felt like I wasn't able todo that.
And again, it sucks.
But having been through it andmaking it out on the other side,
I can tell you that goingthrough that slump doesn't mean
that you're broken.
(10:03):
It means that you're learning ifyou're the kind of like picture
perfect parent trying tocapture, life with your kids and
they refuse to smile, likethat's okay.
That's okay.
Maybe they didn't smile on thatshot, but you took it with an
intentional composition thatlooked nice.
(10:24):
Maybe you're diving intophotography after retirement and
you can't remember where the ISObutton is.
That's fine.
You're not behind.
That is something that you can.
I mean, it's easier to learntoday than ever before.
with things like YouTube andjust being able to search the
internet, maybe you're trying tobalance a a day job with a
(10:46):
family, and you have creativedreams to start a business
yourself.
Every image you take stillcounts, whether it's your kids,
whether it's a a family session.
Whether it's just your personallife, every photo you take still
counts.
And here's the thing, you don'thave to love every swing.
(11:09):
It doesn't have to connect, butyou do have to take it.
A baseball player who goes up tothe plate and swings and strikes
out every time has a betterchance of not being traded then
a player who just goes up to theplate and watches every pitch go
by them.
You have to try, even if youdon't like it.
(11:30):
and on top of that, I'm gonnaadd something else.
You have to practice how youplay.
Again, if a baseball player wentup there and just kind of super
weakly, just kind of, swung thebat around just, yeah, whatever.
Here you go.
I'm just going through themotions.
That's not going to work.
You have to practice how youplay.
Meaning you have to do it withintention.
Yes, every shot you take counts.
(11:52):
If you're paying attention tothings like light, you're
looking for moment.
You're trying to frame up agreat composition.
If the moment is garbage, if thelight didn't work the way that
you were hoping, if thecomposition has too much
headroom, well guess what?
You still tried and that counts.
But that doesn't mean that everyphoto is going to be a winner.
(12:16):
Just like in baseball, not everyhit is gonna get you on the
sports center.
In photography, not every imageis gonna go viral or even, get
six likes.
That's not promised and that'snot the point of a photo anyway.
a photo that you love might getsscrolled past.
You could take this greatmoment, great composition,
(12:37):
beautiful light.
Doesn't really connect with alot of people.
And then you're probably gonnafind photos.
In fact, I can guarantee thatyou'll find photos on Instagram
that everybody else loves, butyou don't get it.
It doesn't mean anything to you.
So what stats, like the amountof likes that you get on a
photo, don't define your growth.
(12:58):
You are not guaranteed morelikes because you have more
experience.
The algorithm doesn't know howfar you've come.
It doesn't mean anything.
Your best photo might be the onethat only you understand, and
that's still a win.
In fact, I have another Dodgerstory for you here.
Past Dodger Center fielder, CodyBellinger had one of the
(13:19):
weirdest batting stances I'veever seen.
It looks like he just doesn'tcare that he's there to be in
the batter's box.
I mean, he looks like he'sstanding like stiff as a board,
tall, straight up, straightback, and yet when the ball
would come to him.
He would hit it, not only often,but he would hit it hard.
Lemme paint another picture foryou.
(13:40):
It's the 2020 World Seriesagainst the Tampa Bay Rays.
This is game seven, right?
It's a Tide series.
So winner takes all here, and atthis point.
It's a tie game.
Cody Bellinger comes up to bat.
No one on base.
He swings, he connects and hegets a home run.
So now the Dodgers have takenthe lead.
(14:03):
This is a huge moment, right?
After crossing home plate on hisway back to the dugout, he does
one of those like jump and bumpinto each other's celebrations
that, you just do with anotherteammate when you hit a home run
in the World Series, making yourteam take the lead.
And when he does that, the waythat he hits the other player,
he dislocates his shoulder now.
(14:24):
You don't have to be aprofessional baseball player to
know that the shoulder isactually a pretty important part
to the mechanics of swinging abat, which is his livelihood.
Unfortunately, the Dodgers lethim go after a very
non-productive, 2021 seasonbecause he couldn't get his
shoulder to work for his styleof swing.
(14:48):
Now, does that suck?
Yes.
Do I love Cody Bellinger?
Of course.
Belly's the best.
Did I hate to see him go toanother team like the Cubs?
Of course I did, But he showedup every single day after that
injury to get better and betterand better.
It took him three years beforehe finally started to look like
he was getting his swing back.
(15:10):
Now the stats on paper say thatCody Bellinger is not doing
well, but he and the coachescould see the progress that he
was making, right?
So while he's not hitting thebombs that he once was, he was
celebrating different types ofwins.
(15:30):
And for those first few gamesback, maybe just lasting an
entire game is a win, even if hedidn't get any hits.
So sometimes the stats thatyou're tracking are simply the
wrong stats for where you're at.
Maybe the stats that you trackshould be the number of shots
that you've taken each month,rather than the number of likes
(15:53):
that you get on each post.
For me personally, I keep all ofmy photos within Lightroom and I
organize them all of my, mypersonal work, I organize them
by month and year so I can seehow many photos each month I am,
keeping.
(16:13):
I can see the number of keepersthat I'm capturing.
Each month, and typically, I'mnot gonna lie, it'll correlate
to the number of things thatwe're doing that month, right?
If we have a busy month withlots of interesting things that
we're doing, yeah.
I'm gonna take a lot of photos.
Typically, in the wintertime,that number starts to dip.
(16:33):
Should a dip?
No, but it does.
I'm human.
You're human.
I hope you're human.
I hope that you're not just ai,just reading a transcript.
Trying to copy me and mypersonality to take over this
podcast, but I'm gonna assumethat you're human.
That's what humans do.
But because I can see how manyphotos are in each monthly
folder, I can gauge, oh, do Ineed to?
(16:56):
Take more photos next month.
Do I need to try to be more,aware of each moment?
Because if I see a month with600 photos, I'm like, wow, that
was a good month.
If that next month I see a photoor a folder with 115 photos, I'm
gonna think I need to startbeing more aware of light, of
moment, and just be moreconscious of having a camera on
(17:18):
me so that I can have more plateappearances so that I can have
more swings so that when thetime comes in, we do have a lot
of things planned.
Maybe it's a trip, maybe it's aspecial event.
I'm going to be camera ready.
So I know that I've shared, somestories, obviously Freddy, Cody
Bellinger as well, and these areprofessional baseball players.
(17:38):
Now, you may be thinking toyourself, all right, Raymond, we
get it.
You love the Dodgers.
Woo-hoo.
Everybody loves the Dodgers.
Go Dodgers.
But baseball is a team sport.
if you were to fail seven outta10 times, well there's somebody
else who's going to pick up theslack, who's gonna come up to
play right after you.
And in a game, I would saythat's true.
(18:01):
But if you listen to interviewsfrom other professional baseball
players, they talk about howthey learned from former
teammates, how they learn frommaybe a minor league coach or
how there's a player on anotherteam who played.
That's actually a great example.
Mookie bets also on the Dodgers.
Played right field, right,played right field phenomenally
(18:24):
for years, four, five yearsmaybe on the Dodgers, but all
throughout high school he playedshortstop.
He was put into right fieldbecause, well, Dodgers needed a
right field player and Mookiebets was the bat that the
Dodgers also needed.
Well, when the opportunity camefor Mookie bets to move from
right field to shortstop, whichis what, he loved playing in
(18:48):
high school.
Do you know what he did?
He didn't just say, Hey, I'm oneof the highest paid players I
am.
on paper, one of the best MOBplayers that there is.
What he did was he called othershortstop, players from other
teams who he admired, who heliked, and he asked them
questions.
He's played shortstop.
Having a team and having othersaround you is not just to
(19:10):
progress you in a game, it'salso to help you, help you get
better at the things that youlack or that you don't see, or
that you don't notice, so thatyou can grow because yeah, you
know, while.
It is only you who's behind thecamera when you're taking a
photo.
Photography can also feel like ateam sport, right?
(19:31):
Sure.
It can be solo.
It can also be a communityexperience if you wish.
You can absolutely take thoseswings on your own, but if you
really, really want to grow, yougotta be around other people.
Other photographers, otherpeople taking messy swings and
then cheering you on.
That is why we started theBeginner Photography podcast,
(19:53):
Facebook group.
That's why we do challenges.
That's why this podcast exists.
So if you've been lurking,you've been thinking about
posting in the group, but younever do, well, this is your
nudge.
Okay.
Get in the game, sharesomething, even if it's not
quote unquote your best, shareit and then ask a question.
(20:14):
Leave a comment on somebodyelse's win.
You will be surprised at whatkind of progress you can make
and what community does for yourmomentum.
So if you wanna join theBeginner Photography podcast
Facebook group, then we'd loveto have you.
Just head over to beginner photopod.com/group and come join us.
(20:34):
Now in baseball, mechanics isreally important to look at.
Mechanics are, the things thatyou do like with your body,
right?
Like how you move your body todo the thing.
Different hitters swing the batdifferently than each other.
Different fielders, havedifferent ways of catching a
ball, but they all move theirbody, and that's the mechanics
(20:55):
of it, right?
So just like how, infielderslearn how to react to the ball
without thinking, photographersneed to work on their mechanics.
That's not so much the physicalaspect of it, but it's, It's
reacting to light.
I can tell you sometimes I walkinto a room or I'm just driving
down the road and I see somelight and I'm like, holy cow,
(21:16):
that is beautiful.
Right?
Even if I don't have a cameraand my wife will look and be
like, what are you talkingabout?
It's the way that you see andcan anticipate a moment.
you hear somebody say somethingand you know that there's gonna
be a reaction to it, so you'reready for it.
It's the way that you build acomposition.
Your world is in a 360 degreeview you can turn in any
(21:40):
direction that you want, look atanything that you want, but a
camera has to be pointed atsomething specific.
So the way that you point andframe your shot is incredibly
important.
So how do you go through theworld and look at it almost in a
four by three aspect ratio tofigure out what would look good
in a frame, even if you don'thave the camera to your eye?
(22:03):
Those types of things are onlypossible through reps.
And there's this phrase thatyou've heard me say all the
time, right moment matters most,moment matters most.
Look, you can capture a greatmoment with terrible settings,
and it's still gonna be a photothat connects with people.
That's why a moment mattersmost, but when you know your
(22:26):
settings.
When you know how to read light,when you know how to build a
composition, and then you waitfor the moment so that you can
combine the two, right, thesettings, the technical, the
mechanics, and the moment.
Holy cow, you have pure magic.
Anybody can take a technicallyperfect photo.
(22:48):
But when you combine it withmoment, it all comes together.
But getting to the point towhere you know your settings,
like it's just you know, secondnature when you do that, then
you're free to be able tocapture the moment with more
ease and more intention.
The same way a baseball playerdoesn't think about their swing
mid-swing.
(23:09):
They've done it a million times,it becomes second nature.
You shouldn't have to bepanicking about your ISO when
your kid starts blowing outtheir candles, right by that
point, it's too late.
That's where getting in the repsbeforehand is going to prepare
you for whatever happens.
The more you shoot with purpose,even in short bursts, the faster
(23:32):
this all becomes second nature.
If you shoot a lot of weddings,well, you've gotta get really
good at being able to read lightand see light so that you know
where to be to capture photos inthe best.
That's something that you shouldbe practicing everywhere you go.
Looking for pockets of light andfiguring out, okay, what would I
do in this situation?
(23:52):
Like maybe set a timer on yourphone it'll go off every 10
minutes or, or 20 minutes, oreven, I don't know, twice a day.
And at those times when thetimer goes off, you have to
stop, look around you and say,okay, where's the light?
If I was at a wedding right now,where would I place my couple to
get the best photo that I couldto get the best light that I
can?
And sometimes it's not gonna bea great photo, but looking
(24:15):
around and being conscious oflights direction, the source of
the light is going to help youdo those reps, even if you don't
have a camera in your hand.
But again, practice how youplay.
Now, let me tell you aboutanother one of my favorite
Dodgers, Kike Hernandez.
This dude is amazing.
(24:37):
Now, you might be askingyourself, oh, okay, Raymond Kike
Hernandez.
That's a cool name.
What position does he play?
And I would tell you, oh, kikeHernandez plays shortstop.
Okay.
He also plays second base.
He's also played, left field aswell as center.
He's played third base.
He's played right field.
He's played first base.
He's even pitched in multiplegames.
(24:57):
In fact, the only position thatKike Hernandez has not played on
the field is catcher.
In baseball, there's a rolecalled utility player.
A utility player is somebody whocan play a bunch of different
positions, and they're valuablein all those spots.
He's not the best at any onething, but he's really good at
(25:20):
all of these different things.
And maybe you've heard me on thepodcast say, you gotta find a
niche in photography becauseit's the best way to go deeper
into a style of photography andget really good at it.
Get known for it, and get paidwell for it because it's what
you specialize in.
I absolutely still believe thatto be the case, but there are
(25:40):
some photographers like JoeMcNally, who consider themselves
a generalist.
They don't hold themselves toone style of photography, and
Joe McNally is really good atwhat he does.
It can be done.
It is really hard if you want tobe successful and make a living
that way, but it can be done.
(26:02):
So if you're thinking toyourself right now, I don't know
what I wanna shoot.
I'm still trying to figure itall out.
That's fine.
In fact, that's good.
You should be trying outeverything.
Try portraits.
Try macro.
Try streets.
Try pets.
Try weird shadows on the wall.
Try food.
Try everything because everytype of photography will teach
(26:26):
you something.
That year 20 16, 20 17, where Ifelt like I was really in a
slump, I remember.
trying to get out of it.
And I remember thinking, whatcan I do to get outta the slump?
And it was winter time.
And, I must have seen a video onYouTube.
Maybe it was about a productphotographer who was
(26:47):
photographing beer.
And it looked prettychallenging, but I thought, I
think I can do that.
So that's exactly what I did.
I set up a stool in my kitchen.
I set up a little backdrop.
I placed the beer on the stool.
I had a little spritz of waterto make it look like it's
sweating, like it's nice andcold.
I set up some lights.
I took the photos.
(27:08):
I tried to get better at it.
I tried to at differentapertures to get a different
depth of field.
I did some blending.
And that photo, I can stillpicture the photo in my head.
I like the photo a lot.
I'm proud of that photo.
but more importantly, and what Ididn't know at the time is that
that photo helped me to bettercreate ring photos.
It helped me to understand thatwhen you're shooting something
(27:30):
really close up, the backgroundis so much more out of focus,
but you can add certain elementsto make it look really
interesting.
Before I was shooting, rings andstuff at f like 2.8 to try to
get like this really creamydepth of field.
But when you're shootingsomething extremely close up, I
mean, your depth of field islike the width of two or three
(27:50):
hairs.
It's extremely thin.
So shooting, this bottle of beerhelped me to realize, oh, if
you're shooting at F eight, F11, you can still get an out of
focus background if you.
do it the right way where yourbackground is far enough, away
and it becomes out of focus.
So again, try something new.
Try something that you've nevershopped before, because every
(28:13):
photo that you take will teachyou something and your thing
will more than likely come,right?
Your niche, your style.
Or maybe it won't.
I don't know, but the point is,every position that you play
makes you better.
Now here's a name that you mayhave heard of, even if you're
not really into baseball.
If you haven't heard of thisname and you have kids, more
(28:33):
than likely they have heard ofit.
It is Shhe Tani In 2024, shhe Ohit 54 home runs for the
Dodgers.
Now.
For comparison, if you don'tknow much about baseball, the
average number of home runs hitper player.
That season was just 18, hetripled it.
(28:56):
He is arguably the best hitterin professional baseball and
maybe, you're Yankee fan.
I'm sure that you're gonna sendme an email about Aaron Judge,
but Aaron Judge has way lessoverall hits and strikes out way
more often.
Soge Tani is a better all aroundhitter.
I will fight you anyway.
Shhe Tani, again, arguably thebest hitter in baseball.
(29:19):
Guess what he has?
He has a hitting coach.
He has somebody to coach him onhow to hit the ball.
Shhe Tani is the best and hestill has a coach.
Why?
Why?
We think of coaches as peoplewho teach us or help us do
(29:42):
something that we haven't donethat we don't normally do.
But I promise you Shhe Tani hasmore hits than his batting
coach.
Shhe Tani understands that youcan swing a thousand times on
your own and hope that youfigure it out, or you can swing
a hundred times with feedbackand grow infinitely faster.
(30:05):
Shhe Tani's batting coach isactually just the Dodgers
batting coach is Aaron Bates.
Aaron Bates says that, of coursehe looks for things like
mechanics, to see what's what'sworking and what's not working,
of course.
But what he's also looking at iswhat kind of pitches shhe is
swinging at, what kind ofpitches he's passing up, what
kind of pitches he's connectingwith.
(30:27):
Just for example, maybe, youhate swinging when the ball is
up and away.
A coach can look, objectivelyand say, well, actually, you hit
the ball the hardest when itcomes up and away, and 43% of
your home runs are pitchedthere.
So maybe even though you don'tlike'em, try swinging at them
(30:51):
more.
A coach is gonna help you grow.
That's their job, right?
It doesn't mean that they haveto be the best in the world at
the thing that you're trying toachieve.
They're there to help you grow.
In photography, I want you tofind people who will look at
your photos and actually helpyou improve, not just say, oh,
(31:12):
nice shot.
Or a good job, but well, what ifyou tried this next time?
Or have you thought about whatthis might look like?
That's the kind of critique thatis a shortcut to growth, and
that's what being a part of theBeginner Photography podcast
community is, is not only is itphoto challenges, not only is it
(31:33):
group post, it's the commentsection as well.
So if you're in there, don't beafraid to ask for feedback.
And if you're not, again, we'dlove to have you beginner photo
pod.com/group.
So, I know that I'm talking alot about professional baseball
players.
Professional baseball playershave tons of resources they've
experience of course.
(31:54):
But we all know that nobodywalks onto the field and becomes
a pro day one.
Right?
Where do they start?
They gotta start in littleleague.
In Little League.
They got these little wobblyswings, you know, they're just
swinging at everything.
Maybe they get a hit and thenthey'll run to third, right?
That's what little League isfor.
We as photographers, maybe we'retaking weird exposures.
(32:15):
Maybe we have compositions thatdon't work, right?
Everything's directly in themiddle of the frame.
Tons of headroom.
Logically, we know that you'renot supposed to be great right
away the first time you pick upsomething, but I think that we
also forget that photography isa journey and to get really
good.
You gotta go through thatjourney, right?
(32:36):
That's the whole point oflearning something new.
You go through this journey.
So whether you're picking up acamera for the first time, or
you're coming back after a longbreak, don't worry.
You are in the perfect place tostart.
But, also know that the startingline is not, Even if you're
really good at Little League,what am I trying to say here?
(32:57):
If you're really good at LittleLeague, that doesn't mean that
you're ready for the pros.
I mean, like the best person inlittle league in the country
isn't ready to go pro.
So what I'm trying to say hereis that maybe you're thinking
about charging for your work ordoing some sort of big creative.
A project or something.
(33:18):
I know a lot of photographerswant to get into weddings
because it can be good moneywith a relatively low time
investment, but know thatweddings are a huge undertaking.
They're like the world series ofphotography.
Very high risk, but very highreward if you're prepared.
And guess what?
(33:39):
When you show up to a wedding.
The confidence doesn't justmagically appear, right.
You don't get confidence just bybeing around a wedding.
You have to trust in all of the,meaningless, that you took when
nobody was watching.
That's how you're gonna gainconfidence on a wedding day.
(34:00):
In fact, remember FreddieFreeman, who I talked about
earlier?
Here's something wild.
If you go to YouTube and yousearch his name, the top result
is his walk-off Grand Slam inthe 2024 World Series.
Remember, he's been playingprofessional baseball for 14
years.
I mean, he's had some amazingplays.
(34:22):
He's had some amazing moments.
He has had some amazing at bats.
But this one moment is the topresult.
Why?
I want you to picture it.
Okay.
Close your eyes.
Just kidding.
Don't do it if you're driving.
Okay.
But just imagine this in yourhead.
At the end of the ninth inningof game one of the 2024 World
(34:44):
Series, the game was tied, whichmeant that the game went into
extra innings.
It went into the 10th inning,the top of the 10th inning, jazz
Chisholm.
is on third for the Yankees.
Now Anthony Loppe hits agrounder, which allows Jazz
(35:05):
Chisholm to score, and then theYankees take the lead.
This is the 10th inning.
that gives the Dodgers onechance to score, otherwise they
lose the game.
But you know what I love aboutour boys in blue is that they
got that dog in them, and theynever, ever quit, ever.
(35:26):
So here we are, it's the bottomof the 10th.
The bases are loaded.
We got two outs, and FreddieFreeman takes the plate.
Could you imagine that theweight of the world is on your
shoulders.
It's the last out in the WorldSeries, and the world is looking
at you to be productive rightnow.
(35:51):
And the bases will be loadedhere for Freddy Freeman with the
Dodgers down three to two anddown to their last out in game
one.
Now the kind of at bat thatevery kid that plays baseball
dreams a one day happen.
You tell yourself, right?
All right, bottom of the tentbases loaded.
World Series one Run Game.
Dodgers, Yankees, reality forFreddie Freeman right here.
(36:16):
Cortez delivers Freeman hits theball in the right field, sea is
gone.
Hobble Game One Hero for theDodgers, Freddy Freeman with a
walk-off Grand Slam to Win Gameone of the World Series six
three over the Yankees.
Unbelievable.
(36:38):
I mean, there's just no way todescribe it.
Would you say you don't believewhat you just.
Saw.
Yeah.
Freddie Freeman is now a hero.
Now, that moment, it's not justluck.
What was it?
It was the right wing at theright moment, but it was backed
by years of repetition in thatgame.
(37:02):
Let me share with you some statsreal quick.
In that game, Freddie Freemanhad five at bats and saw a total
of 13 pitches.
Now, he only made contact withtwo of them.
That means that he missed 11times, and yet it was just one
(37:22):
swing in the one right momentand he made history.
He then went on to become theWorld Series MVP, like imagine
that not only do you go on towin the World Series, but you're
the most valuable player of theWorld Series.
(37:43):
Like it can't get any betterthan that.
And he did that despite having2,521 pitches thrown at him that
entire season.
Trust me, I went back and Icounted.
I watched every game, watchedevery pitch.
I'm just kidding.
But out of those 2,521 pitches,he only got 256 hits.
(38:07):
And that means that on average,he was only productive once for
every 10 pitches thrown at him.
And there is no doubt thatFreddie Freeman is gonna make it
into the Hall of Fame.
So when you're out there andyou're taking photos and you're
feeling like, man, nothing isworking.
Remember Freddie Freeman, you'renot gonna get a hit.
(38:29):
With every shot you take, youmight not get a hit in every
nine shots that you take.
You know, Freddy's aprofessional, but you need those
misses because the more swingsthat you take, the better
prepared you are when your grandslam opportunity shows up.
That's what practice does.
(38:50):
That's what reps are for.
That is what photography is.
It is a game of showing up overand over again.
When you shoot the same streetcorner 10 times when you miss
focus, but you keep going.
That's the foundation thatsupports the pressure later on.
(39:12):
If you wanna prep for thepostseason, right?
If you wanna be the hero, youhave to do it now, and you do
that by building your photomuscle while the stakes are low.
That's all I got for you today.
So go ahead, get out there andshoot, because as you know, the
more that you shoot today, thebetter of a photographer you
will be tomorrow.
Go Dodgers.
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