Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast

Well, I'm back in the shed for this episode - love the acoustics in here.  Also, the peace and quiet as no-one disturbs me.

This week's episode is inspired by an email we received from Bob and Sylvia (two of our lovely listeners) who described how they dragged out their wedding album and what they felt when going through it after fifty years of marriage.

Enjoy!

Cheers P.

If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Master...

This episode was recorded in a bar - possibly my favourite but, in contrast to our studio garden - not the quietest place to record audio.  But it makes me happy.  It was at this year’s incredible Societies of Photographers Convention in London where I spent the week judging and, well, generally feeling liberated from the previous two years of lockdown!

The interview is with one of the nicest guys in the industry - Ross Grieve - w...

It's late and I'm driving back from a beautiful spring wedding, shot in uncharacteristic April sunshine.  I am, to put it mildly, hot and tired.  in spite of this, I thought it would be an idea to record a quick podcast on my way home, so here it is - various musings on finding freedom in the studio and the joy of using the Z9  as a wedding photographer. Oh, and I got to photograph some fireworks which is always a lot of fu...

I think I may have mentioned this before, but I LOVE creating portraits.  The past couple of days have been all about headshots - part corporate, part creative branding.  Either way, these are just portraits.

And that is something that I cannot stress enough: if you're a portrait photographer, creating cool, engaging headshots is no different to creating fine-art portraits - and you get to meet some incredibly interesting peopl...

So it's been a month since recording the last podcast.  A busy month. A very busy month.  But during that time I did manage to get some time out with Sarah and our trusty spaniel, Rufus, and go for a walking holiday in South Wales.  

Wales is my home country so it is always a real joy to be back - there is something about the country, its ruggedness and its friendliness in equal measure: a week of walking, enjoying the sights a...

If there is one skill I have, it's recognising an opportunity when it bops me on the nose.  Today was one of those moments.  Helen May actually came to the studio to update her headshots but the minute we sat and talked about her work on diversity and inclusion, I knew she would be perfect to have on the podcast. 

Luckily both of our diaries had some time after her session and so we sat, chatted and laughed about her life, her ...

It's 2022 and I have to say it's starting off in a very positive mood!  Admittedly New Year didn't go quite to plan, thanks to Covid and family injury, but other than that all good.

And besides, my Nikon Z9 has arrived and I am now having a ball with what can only be described as the best camera I've ever had the pleasure to use.  More on that in this and future podcasts!

We had a wonderful email today from a client...

Well, this is the last episode of 2021.  Unless I find a moment to drag myself away from the turkey, pigs in blankets, roast potatoes, cheese, Quality Street, sherry, wine, stuffing, more turkey, more cheese and maybe just a tad more sherry.  Oh go on then, if I must, best make it a small one.

In this episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with Grays Of Westminster - a legendary shop of all things Nikon.  I am speaking with Becky...

Suck, squeeze, bang, blow: four words that drive an engine.  OK, so maybe an obtuse analogy but a business is much like a power unit - once it's running, it doesn't take too much to keep it going but you need to keep it fuelled and maintained.  Ignore these things at your own peril!

Enjoy!

Cheers P.

If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography, where there are articles and videos about this ...

So it's Sunday as I both record and write this and I'm having a frankly chilled day.  Not that this is in any way your worry, but I thought I'd tell you.

This episode is a rebuttal of my own grumpy podcast (EP113) when I seem to have spent most of it muttering about my Z7ii and how it isn't quite there yet.  Well, this one is the other extreme - here are the reasons I think mirrorless and, by extension, the Nikon Z9...

When I first set out in this crazy, camera-carrying career, I had mixed views about working in the studio - I much preferred being outside in natural light with the environment as my backdrop.  Over the years, that changed as I realised much of my cynicism was partly because I didn't understand it and partly because many of those who had taught me didn't excite me.

Now?  Well, now I think of studio portrait photography as s...

Switching to a mirrorless system was always going to happen - SLRs (and their requisite mirrors) are slowly heading the same way as film, dark rooms, Black Forest gateaux, prawn cocktail and sandals with socks. Though I happen to love Black Forest gateaux. And film.  And the darkroom.  Prawn cocktails and sandals with socks, well they can stay in the history books!

Anyway, James Keen DM'd me on Instagram and asked for an update...

Have you ever stood back and thought about how you feel when your suppliers forget that, while you may be one of the thousands of customers to them, they are the ONLY supplier to you?  It has always irritated me that companies forget themselves and send out blanket messages that remind me that I am just one of their masses, yet another annoying customer - possibly the worst message you can possibly receive.   

The asymmetry of that...

As a kid, I hated polishing my shoes.  Every week, on a Sunday evening before school, I would be sent out, brushes in hand, to put some shine on my trusty (and boring) Clarke's shoes.

These days, I do it religiously before each and every wedding.  And I do it willingly.

In this episode, I muse about that and why such inconsequential details matter so much.

Enjoy!

Cheers P.

If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Master...

In this episode, sponsored by Panasonic eneloop Pro Rechargeable Batteries, I am pondering on the difference between being 'proud' and 'taking pride' in everything you do.  A subtle but important distinction - particularly if you're British and have been brought up that pride always comes before a fall!

Some ideas about how to get around that familiar feeling of not wanting to brag about your images - tell the c...