Well, it's the day after The Socieities Of Photographers Convention in London. What a blast!
Judging, laughing, making friends, presenting workshops, representing Elinchrom Lighting and Evoto Ai, learning, exploring, creating and very little sleeping! The Convention is quite something to be a part of!
In this episode, I try and explain what it feels like to be a small part of it whether judging the print competition, presenting or mixing with the trade - the various stages I pretty much always go through from fear to elation and everything in between.
Enjoy!
Cheers P.
If you enjoy this podcast, please head over to Mastering Portrait Photography, for more articles and videos about this beautiful industry. You can also read a full transcript of this episode.
PLEASE also subscribe and leave us a review - we'd love to hear what you think!
If there are any topics, you would like to hear, have questions we could answer or would like to come and be interviewed on the podcast, please contact me at paul@paulwilkinsonphotography.co.uk.
Transcript
Introduction and Post-Convention ExhaustionSo late last night, we returned from the societies of photographers convention in London, and you can hear him. My voice. I'm exhausted. The convention is such an incredible thing. 3 4, 5 days. Of mixing with the trade running workshops, attending workshops. And one of the most important print competitions in the industry, and that is anywhere. In the world, it's been a blast. You can hear just how tired I am.
But in this episode I thought I'd battled through the fatigue and talk to what it's like to be a judge, a presenter, and a delegate. At this incredible convention firsthand. I'm Paul, and this is a slightly weary. Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast.
Well, hello, one and all. I hope you're all. Well, it's been a busy store to January.
If I'm honest. Uh, we were hectic all the way up to the convention. And even today, the day after it's all over, I've just been photographing a family.
Roles and Responsibilities at the ConventionUh, this year at the convention, um, I was a print judge, a presenter, and an ambassador for Elinchrom Lighting. Uh, the company that I just adore using their products.
And so to everybody who I've met, everybody, I've talked to everybody who I've laughed with, shared a drink with shared an idea with. Maybe argued over print score with thank you. Thank you for making the Convention such a pleasure. However, as I was sitting on the train coming home, it struck me. That there are definitely stages stages to how you feel. When, at least in the role I have. Uh, your attending. The convention.
The Nine Stages of Convention ExperienceUm, sort of like the five stages of grief, I suppose these are the nine stages that I go through each and every time I attend the convention.
It's the thought processes, it's the things that make me tick. Uh, it's how I feel. It's how I feel before is how I feel through it, doing it in this, how I feel afterwards. So let me step through them. Um, as usually when I come to the end of a judging process, I'll talk to all of the things I heard during the judging and give tips on producing. Uh, competition level prints, but I've done that so many times, this year, I just thought I go through the emotions, the various stages. Did I feel every time. Um, I attend the convention.
Stage 1: ExcitementSo let's start with the obvious stage one. Excitement.
This kicks in the minute that, uh, the convention confirm. That you're going to be attending. They confirm that you're going to be running some talks. They confirm that you're going to be a judge.
Um, there's a real kick, a real thrill when that comes in. And then you start to think about wha
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
So late last night, we returned from thesocieties of photographers convention
(00:03):
in London, and you can hear him.
My voice.
I'm exhausted.
The convention is suchan incredible thing.
3 4, 5 days.
Of mixing with the trade runningworkshops, attending workshops.
And one of the most importantprint competitions in the
industry, and that is anywhere.
In the world, it's been a blast.
(00:26):
You can hear just how tired I am.
But in this episode I thought I'dbattled through the fatigue and
talk to what it's like to be ajudge, a presenter, and a delegate.
At this incredible convention firsthand.
I'm Paul, and this is a slightly weary.
Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast.
(01:03):
Well, hello, one and all.
I hope you're all.
Well, it's been a busy store to January.
If I'm honest.
Uh, we were hectic all theway up to the convention.
And even today, the day afterit's all over, I've just
been photographing a family.
Uh, this year at the convention, um,I was a print judge, a presenter, and
an ambassador for Elinchrom Lighting.
(01:24):
Uh, the company that I justadore using their products.
And so to everybody who I've met,everybody, I've talked to everybody
who I've laughed with, shared adrink with shared an idea with.
Maybe argued over printscore with thank you.
Thank you for making theConvention such a pleasure.
However, as I was sitting on thetrain coming home, it struck me.
(01:46):
That there are definitelystages stages to how you feel.
When, at least in the role I have.
Uh, your attending.
The convention.
Um, sort of like the five stages ofgrief, I suppose these are the nine
stages that I go through each andevery time I attend the convention.
It's the thought processes, it'sthe things that make me tick.
(02:11):
Uh, it's how I feel.
It's how I feel before is howI feel through it, doing it in
this, how I feel afterwards.
So let me step through them.
Um, as usually when I come to the endof a judging process, I'll talk to
all of the things I heard during thejudging and give tips on producing.
Uh, competition level prints, butI've done that so many times, this
(02:31):
year, I just thought I go throughthe emotions, the various stages.
Did I feel every time.
Um, I attend the convention.
So let's start with the obvious stage one.
Excitement.
This kicks in the minute that,uh, the convention confirm.
That you're going to be attending.
(02:51):
They confirm that you're goingto be running some talks.
They confirm that you'regoing to be a judge.
Um, there's a real kick, areal thrill when that comes in.
And then you start to think about whatyou'll do you start to, you've already had
to put some ideas in, so those are goingto be the titles of the talks, but you
start to really plan out what that mightlook like, and that's six months out.
(03:14):
We will start to put in, um,our applications for the 2026
convention in the next few months.
So you have big ideas.
You clear the diary.
Of course, you make sure thatthose dates are available.
And at that stage, there isnothing more than excitement.
Obviously a little bit of pressureto get some social media out and
tell the world you're going, butit's all about the excitement.
(03:38):
And then you roll up closer andcloser and closer to the day.
And you're sitting on the train,heading into London, stage two.
Nerves.
I don't know if everybodygoes through this.
But I do.
I start to worry thatI've got all of the kit.
I need that.
I've got enough of a planof what the workshops and
presentations are going to be.
I start to worry about that momentyou walk into a room full of people
(04:01):
that for some reason, in my mind,I assume I'm not going to know.
Of course it's never likethat, but that's how it feels.
Um, also there's a reallyimportant to this year.
It was a three o'clock deadline, you haveto be in the judges room by three o'clock.
Don't turn up.
You're not judging and that's an Intuit.
(04:21):
You have to be at the judges.
Briefing.
Meeting.
And Terry Jones from the societies,she will talk through all of
us as judges as to what she'sexpecting, how are we going to be.
Uh, scheduled, what the runtimes are,what sort of language it's, uh, just an
update and refresh on a language we'regoing to use how it's going to work.
(04:42):
And if we're not in thatroom, You're not judging.
And of course, the bit whereI get the most nervous is as I
walk in now I'm an extrovert.
I love being in a crowd of people, butI've always had this fear of walking
into a crowded room and not knowinganyone and having to sit in a corner.
Uh, sort of minding my ownbusiness, finding people to talk
(05:05):
to not being certain of myself.
Now, luckily for me these days,I've been in the industry for
so long that I know probably twothirds of the people in the room.
Um, so it's not as bad as itused to be, but I used to be
terrified and I'm still nervous.
I'm still trepidatious.
I'm still uncertain of myself.
(05:25):
Um, but I walked in this year andof course it was just brilliant.
And that brings me on to, Ithink, Uh, stage number three.
A sense of belonging,
a sense of being part of the family.
There were so many hellos and handshakesand hugs and laughter and faces.
(05:46):
I recognize some, I don't.
I was introduced to new people.
There's just this wonderfulsense of coming back home.
I love the convention for that.
Of all the things that it brings,I think to all photographers.
There's a sense of beingpart of something bigger.
I think there are about 50, maybe 60judges in the room, plus the print and
(06:08):
handlers and all of the teams around us.
And it is the most incredible feelingof belonging and for the next sort of
12 hours or so, um, after the briefing,there'll be socializing some food, um,
maybe have a drink with a few people.
It's a real sense of family.
But then we come on to stage four.
(06:29):
We're walking in to begin theprocess of judging the next morning.
So this is the premier printcompetition in the world.
So stage four is pressure.
And even though I've been doingthis a long time, I've been a judge.
I can't remember how many years it is now.
Probably 15 years.
Um, there's still this sense.
(06:52):
Of responsibility.
Because each and every print,we will see hundreds of prints.
But every single printis unique to the author.
Every author has puteverything they have into it.
And trust me, you do not entera print unless you think it
stands a chance of winning?
You might not say that to peopleyou might say, oh, I don't know.
(07:14):
I just thought he might try my arm,but you haven't entered a print.
You haven't paid for it to be printedmounted and then the entry fees.
For you not to think itstands a chance of winning.
And as a judge, you really dofeel that sort of pressure.
You feel the responsibility asyou sit there, the print comes up
(07:36):
and you have to go through all ofthe elements, the 10 elements that
were giving us, given us judges.
Um, Um, on which to base ourassessment and ultimately a score.
And there are five judges on every panel.
And these are some of the best.
Photographers in the world.
So if you put in a score and itcomes on the screen, And you're
(07:57):
wildly different to the other judges.
Of course you feel that moment?
Have I got that wrong?
And there's a process forthis as the challenge process.
Um, and each of us know how to do it.
Each of us have our ownparticular way of doing it.
Uh, I had to run a fewchallenges this year.
Um, and you're looking at the scoresand there was one in particular where
(08:19):
it was quite a long way out of line withthe other judges, my school was higher
and I'd seen things in that image thatat least based on my assessment of it,
my experience warranted a higher score.
And every judge by the way hashad exactly this happened to them.
This is not just me.
But I'm sitting there lookingat the scores and I'm thinking.
(08:39):
How hard have I got to work to tryand get the other judges to see what I
see, to feel what I feel, to evaluatethe image in a similar way to me, or
at least come closer to where I am.
And these are photographers thatsome of them I've never met before.
(09:00):
Some of whom I have met before everyonehas their own style and their own
way, but you then have to talk to theimage and talk to the other judges.
And see if you can convince them.
That possibly there are things in theimage that this time round, they may
have missed that you, um, have seen.
It goes the other way as well, by the way.
So if somebody else putsin a score and minds lower.
(09:23):
The same process will happen.
But now it's me trying to listen, tryingto understand where maybe I've missed
some key factors in an image and that'sparticularly important when images
come up, that aren't in your wheelhousethings that you don't specialize
in when it comes to portraiture andweddings, or maybe photographing dogs.
I of course know what I'm looking at.
I understand that process really well.
(09:45):
That doesn't mean I will always haveseen everything, but it does mean that
probably I'm in the right ballpark,but sometimes you get an image that
challenges you tries, you tests you, itforces you to think in a different way.
And while I might understand the printprocess, I'll understand the creation
process, I'll understand the presentation,there may be things about that moment or
(10:06):
about that imagery or about that styleof photography that I might have missed.
And so I'm eagerly listening to theother judges to see if it's something
where I've just mostly get my scorea little bit out and I need to be.
Um, come a little bit closer tothe overall score that's been, uh,
the first round score that's beencalculated or maybe just maybe
(10:26):
I'll hold my ground and say no.
I hear you.
I understand what you're sayingcompletely, I just feel for these
reasons I've got my score about, right.
So can you imagine the pressure whenyou raise a challenge or you're involved
in a challenge with really well-knownphotographers from all corners of the
world, um, the pressure is immense.
(10:47):
It really is at that moment, themost important job in the world.
And on top of that, we'vegot a live audience.
So it's not even justthat you're having to do.
Um, or having to think on your feetand figure out your scoring, but
you also then have to articulatethat in a way that is clear.
It's polite.
It's respectful to the print, newauthor and the rest of your judges,
(11:11):
but it's also educational, interestingentertaining, maybe because to hold
an audience in the room, as judgeswe have, not just the responsibility.
Of creating the right scoresor appropriate scores for
the images and bear in mind.
Bear in mind, if you have adifferent judge on a different
day, the chances are you going toget a slightly different score?
(11:32):
So don't think that theseare absolute objective.
We feel all the time,the pressure of that.
But during that process, we are also forthe people in the room, entertainment.
With air to be interesting, aswell as educational we're there
to help them understand, butalso for them not to be asleep.
In the room, the rooms are prettydark because of course we've
(11:52):
got the prince lit at the front.
Um, We have a microphone, butour backs are to the audience.
And somehow we have to be not onlyknowledgeable and skilled and respectful,
but also to a degree entertaining.
There's a lot of pressure on it.
And it's not just the pressure ofjudging the prints because of course.
Um, for me and most of the judges.
(12:13):
I was also running two workshops or twomasterclasses, and doing presentations
on the Ellen Crum lighting stage.
So during the rest of the convention,even once the judging is done.
I'm still feeling a huge amount ofpressure to be the very best I can
be to represent Elinchrom and thebrand, to the best of my ability.
And again, that's part education,but mostly entertainment.
(12:36):
If you're stood on the stage, creatingpictures, it's not really about
the technicals, that techniques,that care moonlighting modifies.
It's really about being interesting andentertaining and giving people things.
To go home and try themselves.
And the workshops are almost exactlythe same, just on a much longer format.
(12:58):
So you really do feel the pressure tomake sure everything's working, and
when the audience are in there, that yougive the very, very best of yourself.
Even yesterday, I had what weeuphamistically called the graveyard
shift, which is the last set ofpresentations, not just of the
day, but of the whole convention.
The trade show by now is closed.
(13:18):
There's nowhere else fordelegates to go, except home.
And nearly everybody youspeak to is like, right.
It shows done.
I'm going to go catch my train.
So you rock up to a room and Ihad, for the final session, I
had the biggest workshop room.
There is, um, I don't knowhow many people it can hold.
But I was expecting two or threepeople to stay behind, maybe.
(13:38):
Uh, we've got the last,uh, workshop I ran.
This year was on high-key and low-key,uh, studio lighting, um, and going
through the process of how you thinkabout these things, how you evaluate.
Um, the person in front of you, howyou react to them, how you decide what
you're going to shoot and how you thengo through the stages of shooting it.
(14:00):
I'd put together.
A pretty good idea.
And I assumed I'd be presenting it to twoor three people who are going to brave
the last trains home and stick around,even though there's a gap after the trade
show, closing and the workshop starting.
Well, the room was packed.
It was an absolute thrill to be there.
And the last few.
(14:20):
Minutes or hour the hour anda half of the day, with a full
room and incredible model.
Uh, Eloise Hare was our model andplaying with these beautiful Elinchrom
lights and just showing differentideas and not just with a full room,
but it's a room full of people whoreally interactive, really engaged.
And so thankfully all that pressureI'd felt throughout the five days.
(14:42):
Uh, dissipated in the last workshop.
And of course at the end of that, youget to stage five, which is elation.
And that for me, at least a sort ofcelebration, um, uh, almost a euphoria.
Um, I've been meeting peopleand I'm an extrovert, so being
around people really recharges me.
I've been talking sharp.
I've been talking photography.
I've been talking lighting.
(15:04):
I've been catching upwith people's businesses.
And we've been creating images and I'vejust been feeling like I'm at home.
These are my people.
Every minute of every day, it'sjust a sense of recharging.
It's a sense of, um, joy and conversation.
It has been absolutely brilliant.
(15:26):
And that's that sense of elationand you close everything down.
You finished your last presentation,you put everything into its bags and
then you get to stage six, which for me.
Is sort of, I've called it regret.
It's a sort of insecurity, a paranoia.
That's always been with me.
I've never got rid of it, which iswhere I panic about all the things I've
said that possibly I shouldn't have.
(15:48):
The people I wished I'd had a chanceto say hello to, but I only waived.
Waved over a room.
Um, You know, there are alwayspeople at the convention.
I just would, I went there thinkingI'm definitely going to see them.
And the closest I got was towave at them across a bar maybe.
And I regret not having had enough timeto see everybody, but that isn't enough
(16:09):
time to see everything or everybody.
I regret that maybe.
I didn't give the best to me.
I've given everything I can everysingle moment, but there's still
that slight insecurity that maybeI didn't quite get to everyone.
And maybe of course my scoresof the images were off.
Now, of course, when you're judging.
(16:30):
You have a panel of five people,um, and that's there deliberately.
That's there.
To stop it, any outliers,really railroading and the show.
And that's really, really good.
It means that even if I'mone image, I scored it.
S off slightly too high,a slightly too low.
Maybe there are four other judges tomake sure that that doesn't really
matter, but you still worry about it.
(16:51):
You worry about whether when, um, thechair of judges is looking at you.
Uh, whether the person who createdthe images, looking at you, or whether
the people that run the competitionare looking at you, they're thinking.
Oh, Wilkinson's a bit off this year.
Isn't it?
You worry.
And that's always part of this.
Sort of coming down from the, allof the energy and the adrenaline.
Um, and then the fatigue and thegrief regret, start to really kick in.
(17:15):
And that leads us on to state seven.
The fatigue, the utter tiredness.
And you can hear that.
in my voice.
I can hear that in my voice andit kind of speaks for itself.
Um, I got home, I think at about10 o'clock last night, I was in bed
by 11 I was asleep by five past.
And Sarah myself.
Woke up at about 11 o'clock this morning.
(17:38):
I don't remember being quite so tired.
I was so tired.
I am still so tired.
And of course today I've had a familyin the studio and I've had to go back
to giving a hundred percent and allthat meant is now I'm even more tired.
The fatigue is part of it.
And yet that's not the whole storybecause there's also now beginning
(17:59):
to, to kick in a sense of stageeight, which is opportunity.
I've made new friends,some incredible friends.
Um, Chris and mark in particular.
Uh, really made me laugh.
If they're listening, they'llknow exactly who they are.
Two monumental photographersfrom Australia, monumental
creators, monumental.
(18:20):
Um, intellects and I've lovedsitting on the panel with them and
listening and learning from them.
It's refreshed existing friendships.
It's refreshed all old friendships.
Um, we've had new ideas, new thoughts.
Um, new challenges, new things tothink about new ideas for creativity.
And of course, being a judge, I geta double pronged chance at that.
(18:42):
I get to not only mix with themost knowledgeable and in pressive
photographers in the world, but also tosee images, competition images up close
and personal from some of the greatest.
Um, talent's there to thepeople that have entered in.
Not necessarily people I never getto meet by get to see their images.
And that in itself gives you newideas and new things to test you.
(19:07):
Today, in my family shoot, oneof the four people, it turned out
through chatting with them thatthey heavily into steam punk.
I did not know this what a brilliant idea.
And she's quite keen to come anddo some photography she's into
cosplay, um, and steam punk.
And she would like me to createsome pictures for her too.
But that really is it a developmentof some of the images I've
(19:29):
seen over the past four days.
And that leads me on to whatI think is the final stage.
And that's a sense of energy.
Now for me.
I'm an extrovert.
So being in this huge crowd energizesme on its own, but being in the
judging, seeing these images,seeing these photographers, talking
to the other, the other judges,um, just being in that space.
(19:54):
Is energizing for me.
And there's enough energyout of the convention.
Every January to last me agood six months it'll fade.
Of course it'll fade.
This is a tough industry, right?
We all know that.
2024, I think was brutal.
Um, I don't know if anybody feels thesame way as me, but that's how it felt.
We hit our numbers just about,um, our revenue figures, but of
(20:17):
course, Our costs have gone up.
And so we really had to battle.
To, um, get the numbersin and get our clients in.
Um, 2024 is a year thatI think on the whole I'm.
I'm not glad it's gone.
You should never, ever be gladthat at the passing of time,
but let's just say that 2025.
(20:39):
Is a whole new year brand new, fresh.
Um, full of opportunity, full of optimism.
And the energy that I get outof the convention, having met
all these incredible people willdrive me for a good six months.
And that's really important.
Uh, Sarah and I are about to spend.
Seven weeks working for cruise company.
(21:00):
Uh, around south America.
So at the end of this month, um, weleave half the team running here.
And myself and Sarah willgo and, uh, travel abroad.
Um, and so I need the energy.
I need the optimism.
I'm going to need the drive becauseeven though that is the opportunity
of a lifetime to spend seven weekstraveling, including five days, uh,
(21:21):
attending and working at the, um,Working on the cruise ship while
it's docked at the Rio de Janeiro.
Carnival is, um, just theopportunity of our lifetime.
Um, but I'm going to need every bitof energy I can find because we've
had to clear the diary for those sevenweeks or at least reduce the amount
of work in it and had to do an awfullot of work in the run up to it.
(21:42):
And I'll have to do an awful lot of work.
Um, when we come back from it andparticularly on the customer side,
but also a Mastering PortraitPhotography, still creating
the videos and the articles.
But that stage nine, is that sense?
Of energy.
And then before I know it, it'll be backto the sense of excitement when we're
trying to, um, get our talks and ourworkshops booked in for next year, 2026.
(22:07):
So to everybody who I've met, everybodywho I've talked with, everybody
who I've laughed with, it has beenthe most incredible five days.
The first two, I was on my own.
And then Sarah thankfully joinedme, um, for the, the, the end of it.
As no fun.
Sarah being though, when we're judging,we are literally down in the basement,
(22:27):
um, judging for from nine o'clock.
I did the one day we'd judgedfrom nine o'clock, till seven
o'clock in the evening, nine in themorning to seven in the evening.
Um, it was the thrill of a lifetime,not just to be judging the rounds.
Um, but this year I was one of thejudges I'm looking after the final, final
selection, um, which is such an honor.
But it was no fun for Sarah, if she was.
(22:49):
L on our own.
Um, and so she joined mefor the last, uh, few days.
Um, thank you to everybody that madeit such a joy, made it such a thrill.
Thank you to the Societies.
And of course, in particular,To Terry Jones and her team
on the competition side.
But everybody on the tradeshow, everyone at Elinchrom.
Everybody who I met every delegate,every single delegate, those of
(23:12):
you that came and were quiet.
And didn't say word those of youwho came constantly ask questions.
Um, all of it.
Just made me laugh too.
The two models I worked with.
Um, to Marissa and Eloise.
Thank you for just being beautiful, notjust photogenic, but beautiful as souls.
Um, thank you to every single one of you.
(23:33):
And on that happy note,it's a Sunday night.
Apparently I've got some cottagepie waiting for me back at home.
So I'm going to round this.
round this.
podcast off, and wish youall well for the coming year.
And I hope.
I hope.
you're as energized as I amfor the coming 12 months.
Take it easy and whateverelse be kind to yourself.
(23:55):
Take care.
So late last night, we returned from thesocieties of photographers convention
(00:03):
in London, and you can hear him.
My voice.
I'm exhausted.
The convention is suchan incredible thing.
3 4, 5 days.
Of mixing with the trade runningworkshops, attending workshops.
And one of the most importantprint competitions in the
industry, and that is anywhere.
In the world, it's been a blast.
(00:26):
You can hear just how tired I am.
But in this episode I thought I'dbattled through the fatigue and
talk to what it's like to be ajudge, a presenter, and a delegate.
At this incredible convention firsthand.
I'm Paul, and this is a slightly weary.
Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast.
(01:03):
Well, hello, one and all.
I hope you're all.
Well, it's been a busy store to January.
If I'm honest.
Uh, we were hectic all theway up to the convention.
And even today, the day afterit's all over, I've just
been photographing a family.
Uh, this year at the convention, um,I was a print judge, a presenter, and
an ambassador for Elinchrom Lighting.
(01:24):
Uh, the company that I justadore using their products.
And so to everybody who I've met,everybody, I've talked to everybody
who I've laughed with, shared adrink with shared an idea with.
Maybe argued over printscore with thank you.
Thank you for making theConvention such a pleasure.
However, as I was sitting on thetrain coming home, it struck me.
(01:46):
That there are definitelystages stages to how you feel.
When, at least in the role I have.
Uh, your attending.
The convention.
Um, sort of like the five stages ofgrief, I suppose these are the nine
stages that I go through each andevery time I attend the convention.
It's the thought processes, it'sthe things that make me tick.
(02:11):
Uh, it's how I feel.
It's how I feel before is howI feel through it, doing it in
this, how I feel afterwards.
So let me step through them.
Um, as usually when I come to the endof a judging process, I'll talk to
all of the things I heard during thejudging and give tips on producing.
Uh, competition level prints, butI've done that so many times, this
(02:31):
year, I just thought I go throughthe emotions, the various stages.
Did I feel every time.
Um, I attend the convention.
So let's start with the obvious stage one.
Excitement.
This kicks in the minute that,uh, the convention confirm.
That you're going to be attending.
(02:51):
They confirm that you're goingto be running some talks.
They confirm that you'regoing to be a judge.
Um, there's a real kick, areal thrill when that comes in.
And then you start to think about whatyou'll do you start to, you've already had
to put some ideas in, so those are goingto be the titles of the talks, but you
start to really plan out what that mightlook like, and that's six months out.
(03:14):
We will start to put in, um,our applications for the 2026
convention in the next few months.
So you have big ideas.
You clear the diary.
Of course, you make sure thatthose dates are available.
And at that stage, there isnothing more than excitement.
Obviously a little bit of pressureto get some social media out and
tell the world you're going, butit's all about the excitement.
(03:38):
And then you roll up closer andcloser and closer to the day.
And you're sitting on the train,heading into London, stage two.
Nerves.
I don't know if everybodygoes through this.
But I do.
I start to worry thatI've got all of the kit.
I need that.
I've got enough of a planof what the workshops and
presentations are going to be.
I start to worry about that momentyou walk into a room full of people
(04:01):
that for some reason, in my mind,I assume I'm not going to know.
Of course it's never likethat, but that's how it feels.
Um, also there's a reallyimportant to this year.
It was a three o'clock deadline, you haveto be in the judges room by three o'clock.
Don't turn up.
You're not judging and that's an Intuit.
(04:21):
You have to be at the judges.
Briefing.
Meeting.
And Terry Jones from the societies,she will talk through all of
us as judges as to what she'sexpecting, how are we going to be.
Uh, scheduled, what the runtimes are,what sort of language it's, uh, just an
update and refresh on a language we'regoing to use how it's going to work.
(04:42):
And if we're not in thatroom, You're not judging.
And of course, the bit whereI get the most nervous is as I
walk in now I'm an extrovert.
I love being in a crowd of people, butI've always had this fear of walking
into a crowded room and not knowinganyone and having to sit in a corner.
Uh, sort of minding my ownbusiness, finding people to talk
(05:05):
to not being certain of myself.
Now, luckily for me these days,I've been in the industry for
so long that I know probably twothirds of the people in the room.
Um, so it's not as bad as itused to be, but I used to be
terrified and I'm still nervous.
I'm still trepidatious.
I'm still uncertain of myself.
(05:25):
Um, but I walked in this year andof course it was just brilliant.
And that brings me on to, Ithink, Uh, stage number three.
A sense of belonging,
a sense of being part of the family.
There were so many hellos and handshakesand hugs and laughter and faces.
(05:46):
I recognize some, I don't.
I was introduced to new people.
There's just this wonderfulsense of coming back home.
I love the convention for that.
Of all the things that it brings,I think to all photographers.
There's a sense of beingpart of something bigger.
I think there are about 50, maybe 60judges in the room, plus the print and
(06:08):
handlers and all of the teams around us.
And it is the most incredible feelingof belonging and for the next sort of
12 hours or so, um, after the briefing,there'll be socializing some food, um,
maybe have a drink with a few people.
It's a real sense of family.
But then we come on to stage four.
(06:29):
We're walking in to begin theprocess of judging the next morning.
So this is the premier printcompetition in the world.
So stage four is pressure.
And even though I've been doingthis a long time, I've been a judge.
I can't remember how many years it is now.
Probably 15 years.
Um, there's still this sense.
(06:52):
Of responsibility.
Because each and every print,we will see hundreds of prints.
But every single printis unique to the author.
Every author has puteverything they have into it.
And trust me, you do not entera print unless you think it
stands a chance of winning?
You might not say that to peopleyou might say, oh, I don't know.
(07:14):
I just thought he might try my arm,but you haven't entered a print.
You haven't paid for it to be printedmounted and then the entry fees.
For you not to think itstands a chance of winning.
And as a judge, you really dofeel that sort of pressure.
You feel the responsibility asyou sit there, the print comes up
(07:36):
and you have to go through all ofthe elements, the 10 elements that
were giving us, given us judges.
Um, Um, on which to base ourassessment and ultimately a score.
And there are five judges on every panel.
And these are some of the best.
Photographers in the world.
So if you put in a score and itcomes on the screen, And you're
(07:57):
wildly different to the other judges.
Of course you feel that moment?
Have I got that wrong?
And there's a process forthis as the challenge process.
Um, and each of us know how to do it.
Each of us have our ownparticular way of doing it.
Uh, I had to run a fewchallenges this year.
Um, and you're looking at the scoresand there was one in particular where
(08:19):
it was quite a long way out of line withthe other judges, my school was higher
and I'd seen things in that image thatat least based on my assessment of it,
my experience warranted a higher score.
And every judge by the way hashad exactly this happened to them.
This is not just me.
But I'm sitting there lookingat the scores and I'm thinking.
(08:39):
How hard have I got to work to tryand get the other judges to see what I
see, to feel what I feel, to evaluatethe image in a similar way to me, or
at least come closer to where I am.
And these are photographers thatsome of them I've never met before.
(09:00):
Some of whom I have met before everyonehas their own style and their own
way, but you then have to talk to theimage and talk to the other judges.
And see if you can convince them.
That possibly there are things in theimage that this time round, they may
have missed that you, um, have seen.
It goes the other way as well, by the way.
So if somebody else putsin a score and minds lower.
(09:23):
The same process will happen.
But now it's me trying to listen, tryingto understand where maybe I've missed
some key factors in an image and that'sparticularly important when images
come up, that aren't in your wheelhousethings that you don't specialize
in when it comes to portraiture andweddings, or maybe photographing dogs.
I of course know what I'm looking at.
I understand that process really well.
(09:45):
That doesn't mean I will always haveseen everything, but it does mean that
probably I'm in the right ballpark,but sometimes you get an image that
challenges you tries, you tests you, itforces you to think in a different way.
And while I might understand the printprocess, I'll understand the creation
process, I'll understand the presentation,there may be things about that moment or
(10:06):
about that imagery or about that styleof photography that I might have missed.
And so I'm eagerly listening to theother judges to see if it's something
where I've just mostly get my scorea little bit out and I need to be.
Um, come a little bit closer tothe overall score that's been, uh,
the first round score that's beencalculated or maybe just maybe
(10:26):
I'll hold my ground and say no.
I hear you.
I understand what you're sayingcompletely, I just feel for these
reasons I've got my score about, right.
So can you imagine the pressure whenyou raise a challenge or you're involved
in a challenge with really well-knownphotographers from all corners of the
world, um, the pressure is immense.
(10:47):
It really is at that moment, themost important job in the world.
And on top of that, we'vegot a live audience.
So it's not even justthat you're having to do.
Um, or having to think on your feetand figure out your scoring, but
you also then have to articulatethat in a way that is clear.
It's polite.
It's respectful to the print, newauthor and the rest of your judges,
(11:11):
but it's also educational, interestingentertaining, maybe because to hold
an audience in the room, as judgeswe have, not just the responsibility.
Of creating the right scoresor appropriate scores for
the images and bear in mind.
Bear in mind, if you have adifferent judge on a different
day, the chances are you going toget a slightly different score?
(11:32):
So don't think that theseare absolute objective.
We feel all the time,the pressure of that.
But during that process, we are also forthe people in the room, entertainment.
With air to be interesting, aswell as educational we're there
to help them understand, butalso for them not to be asleep.
In the room, the rooms are prettydark because of course we've
(11:52):
got the prince lit at the front.
Um, We have a microphone, butour backs are to the audience.
And somehow we have to be not onlyknowledgeable and skilled and respectful,
but also to a degree entertaining.
There's a lot of pressure on it.
And it's not just the pressure ofjudging the prints because of course.
Um, for me and most of the judges.
(12:13):
I was also running two workshops or twomasterclasses, and doing presentations
on the Ellen Crum lighting stage.
So during the rest of the convention,even once the judging is done.
I'm still feeling a huge amount ofpressure to be the very best I can
be to represent Elinchrom and thebrand, to the best of my ability.
And again, that's part education,but mostly entertainment.
(12:36):
If you're stood on the stage, creatingpictures, it's not really about
the technicals, that techniques,that care moonlighting modifies.
It's really about being interesting andentertaining and giving people things.
To go home and try themselves.
And the workshops are almost exactlythe same, just on a much longer format.
(12:58):
So you really do feel the pressure tomake sure everything's working, and
when the audience are in there, that yougive the very, very best of yourself.
Even yesterday, I had what weeuphamistically called the graveyard
shift, which is the last set ofpresentations, not just of the
day, but of the whole convention.
The trade show by now is closed.
(13:18):
There's nowhere else fordelegates to go, except home.
And nearly everybody youspeak to is like, right.
It shows done.
I'm going to go catch my train.
So you rock up to a room and Ihad, for the final session, I
had the biggest workshop room.
There is, um, I don't knowhow many people it can hold.
But I was expecting two or threepeople to stay behind, maybe.
(13:38):
Uh, we've got the last,uh, workshop I ran.
This year was on high-key and low-key,uh, studio lighting, um, and going
through the process of how you thinkabout these things, how you evaluate.
Um, the person in front of you, howyou react to them, how you decide what
you're going to shoot and how you thengo through the stages of shooting it.
(14:00):
I'd put together.
A pretty good idea.
And I assumed I'd be presenting it to twoor three people who are going to brave
the last trains home and stick around,even though there's a gap after the trade
show, closing and the workshop starting.
Well, the room was packed.
It was an absolute thrill to be there.
And the last few.
(14:20):
Minutes or hour the hour anda half of the day, with a full
room and incredible model.
Uh, Eloise Hare was our model andplaying with these beautiful Elinchrom
lights and just showing differentideas and not just with a full room,
but it's a room full of people whoreally interactive, really engaged.
And so thankfully all that pressureI'd felt throughout the five days.
(14:42):
Uh, dissipated in the last workshop.
And of course at the end of that, youget to stage five, which is elation.
And that for me, at least a sort ofcelebration, um, uh, almost a euphoria.
Um, I've been meeting peopleand I'm an extrovert, so being
around people really recharges me.
I've been talking sharp.
I've been talking photography.
I've been talking lighting.
(15:04):
I've been catching upwith people's businesses.
And we've been creating images and I'vejust been feeling like I'm at home.
These are my people.
Every minute of every day, it'sjust a sense of recharging.
It's a sense of, um, joy and conversation.
It has been absolutely brilliant.
(15:26):
And that's that sense of elationand you close everything down.
You finished your last presentation,you put everything into its bags and
then you get to stage six, which for me.
Is sort of, I've called it regret.
It's a sort of insecurity, a paranoia.
That's always been with me.
I've never got rid of it, which iswhere I panic about all the things I've
said that possibly I shouldn't have.
(15:48):
The people I wished I'd had a chanceto say hello to, but I only waived.
Waved over a room.
Um, You know, there are alwayspeople at the convention.
I just would, I went there thinkingI'm definitely going to see them.
And the closest I got was towave at them across a bar maybe.
And I regret not having had enough timeto see everybody, but that isn't enough
(16:09):
time to see everything or everybody.
I regret that maybe.
I didn't give the best to me.
I've given everything I can everysingle moment, but there's still
that slight insecurity that maybeI didn't quite get to everyone.
And maybe of course my scoresof the images were off.
Now, of course, when you're judging.
(16:30):
You have a panel of five people,um, and that's there deliberately.
That's there.
To stop it, any outliers,really railroading and the show.
And that's really, really good.
It means that even if I'mone image, I scored it.
S off slightly too high,a slightly too low.
Maybe there are four other judges tomake sure that that doesn't really
matter, but you still worry about it.
(16:51):
You worry about whether when, um, thechair of judges is looking at you.
Uh, whether the person who createdthe images, looking at you, or whether
the people that run the competitionare looking at you, they're thinking.
Oh, Wilkinson's a bit off this year.
Isn't it?
You worry.
And that's always part of this.
Sort of coming down from the, allof the energy and the adrenaline.
Um, and then the fatigue and thegrief regret, start to really kick in.
(17:15):
And that leads us on to state seven.
The fatigue, the utter tiredness.
And you can hear that.
in my voice.
I can hear that in my voice andit kind of speaks for itself.
Um, I got home, I think at about10 o'clock last night, I was in bed
by 11 I was asleep by five past.
And Sarah myself.
Woke up at about 11 o'clock this morning.
(17:38):
I don't remember being quite so tired.
I was so tired.
I am still so tired.
And of course today I've had a familyin the studio and I've had to go back
to giving a hundred percent and allthat meant is now I'm even more tired.
The fatigue is part of it.
And yet that's not the whole storybecause there's also now beginning
(17:59):
to, to kick in a sense of stageeight, which is opportunity.
I've made new friends,some incredible friends.
Um, Chris and mark in particular.
Uh, really made me laugh.
If they're listening, they'llknow exactly who they are.
Two monumental photographersfrom Australia, monumental
creators, monumental.
(18:20):
Um, intellects and I've lovedsitting on the panel with them and
listening and learning from them.
It's refreshed existing friendships.
It's refreshed all old friendships.
Um, we've had new ideas, new thoughts.
Um, new challenges, new things tothink about new ideas for creativity.
And of course, being a judge, I geta double pronged chance at that.
(18:42):
I get to not only mix with themost knowledgeable and in pressive
photographers in the world, but also tosee images, competition images up close
and personal from some of the greatest.
Um, talent's there to thepeople that have entered in.
Not necessarily people I never getto meet by get to see their images.
And that in itself gives you newideas and new things to test you.
(19:07):
Today, in my family shoot, oneof the four people, it turned out
through chatting with them thatthey heavily into steam punk.
I did not know this what a brilliant idea.
And she's quite keen to come anddo some photography she's into
cosplay, um, and steam punk.
And she would like me to createsome pictures for her too.
But that really is it a developmentof some of the images I've
(19:29):
seen over the past four days.
And that leads me on to whatI think is the final stage.
And that's a sense of energy.
Now for me.
I'm an extrovert.
So being in this huge crowd energizesme on its own, but being in the
judging, seeing these images,seeing these photographers, talking
to the other, the other judges,um, just being in that space.
(19:54):
Is energizing for me.
And there's enough energyout of the convention.
Every January to last me agood six months it'll fade.
Of course it'll fade.
This is a tough industry, right?
We all know that.
2024, I think was brutal.
Um, I don't know if anybody feels thesame way as me, but that's how it felt.
We hit our numbers just about,um, our revenue figures, but of
(20:17):
course, Our costs have gone up.
And so we really had to battle.
To, um, get the numbersin and get our clients in.
Um, 2024 is a year thatI think on the whole I'm.
I'm not glad it's gone.
You should never, ever be gladthat at the passing of time,
but let's just say that 2025.
(20:39):
Is a whole new year brand new, fresh.
Um, full of opportunity, full of optimism.
And the energy that I get outof the convention, having met
all these incredible people willdrive me for a good six months.
And that's really important.
Uh, Sarah and I are about to spend.
Seven weeks working for cruise company.
(21:00):
Uh, around south America.
So at the end of this month, um, weleave half the team running here.
And myself and Sarah willgo and, uh, travel abroad.
Um, and so I need the energy.
I need the optimism.
I'm going to need the drive becauseeven though that is the opportunity
of a lifetime to spend seven weekstraveling, including five days, uh,
(21:21):
attending and working at the, um,Working on the cruise ship while
it's docked at the Rio de Janeiro.
Carnival is, um, just theopportunity of our lifetime.
Um, but I'm going to need every bitof energy I can find because we've
had to clear the diary for those sevenweeks or at least reduce the amount
of work in it and had to do an awfullot of work in the run up to it.
(21:42):
And I'll have to do an awful lot of work.
Um, when we come back from it andparticularly on the customer side,
but also a Mastering PortraitPhotography, still creating
the videos and the articles.
But that stage nine, is that sense?
Of energy.
And then before I know it, it'll be backto the sense of excitement when we're
trying to, um, get our talks and ourworkshops booked in for next year, 2026.
(22:07):
So to everybody who I've met, everybodywho I've talked with, everybody
who I've laughed with, it has beenthe most incredible five days.
The first two, I was on my own.
And then Sarah thankfully joinedme, um, for the, the, the end of it.
As no fun.
Sarah being though, when we're judging,we are literally down in the basement,
(22:27):
um, judging for from nine o'clock.
I did the one day we'd judgedfrom nine o'clock, till seven
o'clock in the evening, nine in themorning to seven in the evening.
Um, it was the thrill of a lifetime,not just to be judging the rounds.
Um, but this year I was one of thejudges I'm looking after the final, final
selection, um, which is such an honor.
But it was no fun for Sarah, if she was.
(22:49):
L on our own.
Um, and so she joined mefor the last, uh, few days.
Um, thank you to everybody that madeit such a joy, made it such a thrill.
Thank you to the Societies.
And of course, in particular,To Terry Jones and her team
on the competition side.
But everybody on the tradeshow, everyone at Elinchrom.
Everybody who I met every delegate,every single delegate, those of
(23:12):
you that came and were quiet.
And didn't say word those of youwho came constantly ask questions.
Um, all of it.
Just made me laugh too.
The two models I worked with.
Um, to Marissa and Eloise.
Thank you for just being beautiful, notjust photogenic, but beautiful as souls.
Um, thank you to every single one of you.
(23:33):
And on that happy note,it's a Sunday night.
Apparently I've got some cottagepie waiting for me back at home.
So I'm going to round this.
round this.
podcast off, and wish youall well for the coming year.
And I hope.
I hope.
you're as energized as I amfor the coming 12 months.
Take it easy and whateverelse be kind to yourself.
(23:55):
Take care.
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