The Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast

An Amateur Photographer (I Just Earn My Living This Way) It's 5am. The birds woke me, the sun was already up, and I couldn't get back to sleep — so this one's recorded on a laptop in the lounge with a cup of tea that went stone cold while I was talking. There's also some big news: after twenty years and two Defenders, the Land Rover has gone. We've leant firmly into the future with a very quiet, very electric VW ID.Buzz Cargo. Some call it a van. I call it a lifestyle choice — cheaper per mile, exempt from Oxford's congestion charge, fits in a normal car park, and my feet stay dry in the rain. Which turns out to be the whole point of this episode. Stand near a group of photographers for five minutes and you'll hear two things: the (humble) brag, and the war story — the blown sync, the client from hell, the lens that died mid-wedding. We are, as a tribe, absolutely magnificent at misery. And yet we do a job we genuinely love. So why does it never sound like it? This one's about negativity bias — the ancient wiring that has us scanning for the tiger and ignoring the sunshine — and why photographers have it worse than most. We're professionally trained to find fault: judging teaches you to spot the one soft eye, retouching is hours of hunting flaws, self-critique is how we improve. The very skill that makes us good is the skill that makes us miserable when we turn it on ourselves. A few things I'm going to try — and you might too: End every shoot by naming three good frames before you're allowed to mention what went wrong Retell your war stories as the win stories they usually are Drop the fake "so humbled" and just be honestly proud Keep a note of the day's good things Celebrate someone else's work, out loud Ask your clients what they loved Because we chose this. Nobody makes you a portrait photographer — it's a tough, precarious, extraordinary way to spend a life, making people look at themselves and feel better. The war stories aren't the truth of the job; they're just the loudest bit. The critical eye that makes you a great photographer isn't going anywhere — just don't let it edit the whole of your life. I'm an amateur photographer. I just earn my living this way. Come and shoot with me. I run small, hands-on Mastering Portrait Photography workshops - strictly limited to five people so there's plenty of time with each of you - as well as one-to-one masterclass days and a 12-month bespoke mentoring programme. If this episode struck a chord, come and spend a day chasing the light with me: https://masteringportraitphotography.com/academy-portrait-workshops-mentoring And if you've enjoyed the episode, please do subscribe wherever it is that you get your podcasts — a review on Apple Podcasts genuinely helps others find the show.   Transcript: ----more---- Paul [00:00:00] As an industry, have you ever wondered why really there are only two broad modes of conversation? There's the bragging, of course there's the bragging. Sometimes humble bragging, but nearly always bragging. Somebody quietly telling you how well they've done, and they didn't even know th- they were in for a prize. "I didn't even do any editing on that image." And then someone telling you it all went horribly wrong. If you've ever stood near a group of photographers for more than a few minutes, I promise you'll hear a couple of things. You'll hear someone quietly telling you how well they've done, and someone telling you in equal detail exactly how it all went wrong. The blown sync, the client from hell, the lens that died mid-wedding. We all have these war stories, and I guess right now, AI is firmly in the mix, how AI is robbing us of [00:01:00] our work. We are, I think, as a tribe, absolutely magnificent at misery. And the funny thing is, when you think about it, we all do a job we genuinely love. We all came into this industry for our love of people and our love of photography. So why, why does it never really seem to sound like it? I'm Paul, and this is the Mastering Portrait Photography podcast So let's do the big news first. I know it's gonna bring tears to your eyes, The Land Rover Defender has gone. After all these years, two Defenders, and [00:02:00] it's come to an end. So if you're used to the sound of a clattering Land Rover, that is no more. If you liked it, I'm really sorry. If you didn't, well, congratulations. Uh, we now have a very quiet, very, very electric Volkswagen ID.Buzz Cargo. Now, some might call it a van. Others, myself included, a lifestyle choice. Sarah and I decided if we're gonna get rid of the Land Rover, it was one project too many in this very busy life of ours. It needed a load of work. It has had a load of work. It has more or less been, um, rebuilt from the ground up, uh, but it was just too much. So we've leant firmly and squarely into the future. Now, I've mixed views about electric cars in as much as very big battery packs and the support systems around them, I'm not sure [00:03:00] are the long-term solution. What I do know is electric cars, electric vans, electric vehicles are the future. The combustion engine is gonna come to an end, except in the world of specialisms, the world of remote areas where you can't charge things. I'm sure there is probably many, many decades, if not a century more, of combustion engines left out there. But If you look down that telescope to the future, I think electric is the way to go. And if I'm honest, I love it. Don't tell other Defender owners that, but I do. It's quiet, it's clever, it is comfortable, it's quick. Blimey, does it go. I like the gadgets. And I did a gig down in Southampton the other day, which is a round trip of a couple of hundred miles from us up here, um, which meant I knew I had to stop and charge it, not [00:04:00] because it didn't have the range, but because the next morning I had to go straight out and do another gig, which I needed the miles on the battery for. So instead of in the old days, I'd just say, "Oh, I'll just fill up on my way to the job," now I have to think ahead. So on the way back from Southampton, I stopped at a service station, plugged it into a rapid charger, went and had a coffee, did some work which I needed to do on my laptop anyway. It had to be done at some point that evening, 'cause all the images had to be backed up and managed. Got a text message when it said the car was charged about 20 minutes later, climbed back in, and off I went. It's as simple as that. And truth be told, I kind of relished the idea that I knew I had to stop. Now, I know that's not gonna be ideal all the time, I understand that, but when you bake the simplicity of it in with the fact that it's a good idea to stop, have a stretch, do some work, maybe drink an iced coffee, life isn't bad. And of course, with everything [00:05:00] going on with fuel prices at the moment, uh, the thing runs at about a quarter of the price of the Land Rover Defender per mile. So there we go. It's gone. The Defender's gone. Welcome the future, uh, VW ID Buzz. And those of you on social media, you will have seen us asking for ideas for how to brand the thing up, 'cause it's a whole new body shape. And having had Land Rovers for about 20 years, uh, it's a, a whole new style of logoing. So, um, I'm relishing it. It's quiet, it's comfortable, it's cheaper, it bypasses Oxford's congestion charges, I can park it in a normal car park, and for once, when it rains, I won't be driving with wet feet. So there we go. That's the big news. On to the topic, really, of this subject. By the way, I hope you're well. It's been a while since I've recorded one of these. Um, I'm sitting, it's 5:00 o'clock in the morning. I have a cup of tea. I have a laptop in front [00:06:00] of me. I haven't got the right microphone, so I'm hoping that the AI cleanup does a decent job of it. Uh, but I woke up, the sun was up already. The birds were singing. It's the middle of the summer, and I just could not get back to sleep, so I thought I'd take the opportunity- Of sitting and recording a, a podcast, something I love doing and haven't found time to do for, well, it seems like ages. So let's talk about the natural ability of... I mean, to be fair, it's a human trait, but photographers seem to land on it, which is to focus on the negative. You do hear photographers... I, I'm always a bit cautious 'cause I ... Here's the thing I know I do. I humblebrag. I don't mean to, I try not to, but I do it. I do that thing where, really I'm trying to talk myself up, but I make it sound like I'm not. But I can't help it. Um, I try not to do it. Um, my kids are really good at [00:07:00] spotting it and laughing at me, and I try to keep an eye on it, but it's not the easiest thing. And the other thing I do, as all photographers do, is I dwell on the negative. Now, why does it happen in this industry so much? I'm not sure I understand why. The thing is, it's called a negativity bias, right? It has a proper name. It's designed, I think, evolutionarily speaking, to help protect us from things that might kill us. We look for the bad, we ignore the good. Unfortunately, in the photography industry, I think we're hyper-focused, to use the to use the, um, word, uh, in a very particular way. I think we're hyper-focused on it. I think we look for things. I think, I think as creatives, I think as creatives, we are so used to looking for fault in the images. Partic- I think judges do this, and I think [00:08:00] because judges do this, as the photography industry, we look for it, too. We look for the little things. We spend our time analyzing our own work in a, in a way that probably someone who, I don't know, does spreadsheets maybe, or... I, I don't know. I don't... I... Maybe, does a driver at the end of the day look at how well they stopped at red lights and things? Does it... I don't know. I honestly don't know, because I'm none of those things. But it does feel that our industry, our industry in particular, is focused and al

I recorded this episode in my second favourite place on earth - the local pub - with a pint in hand and a genuinely fascinating guest across the table. David Finch spent most of his career in marketing and creative agencies, most recently selling Purple Frog, a marketing consultancy. He now runs Thinking In Fields, which focuses on decision architectures - helping businesses bring AI into their operations in a coherent, orchestrated way rather than a scatter-gun approach. David introduced me to two ideas I hadn't heard before, and I was quietly furious about that. The first is the Book of Remarkability - a framework for understanding what makes your business distinctive. The spine of the book is your emotional hook, the cover unpacks it, and the bulk of the content is 24 short stories from clients describing the value you created for them, in their words. Only six pages are yours to explain how you do it. It's based on the Canterbury Tales, and it's a genius analogy. The second is the swimming pool with five lanes - customers in lane one, your people in lane five, your processes in lane three. AI sits in lane two (improving the customer journey) and lane four (improving internal efficiency). Most businesses focus on lane four and quietly destroy the customer experience. Some nail lane two but then drown their team with demand they can't fulfil. The whole point is keeping the business moving coherently through all five lanes at once. We talked about AI as a team member rather than a tool - the most intelligent five-year-old you've ever met! Knows everything, but doesn't know what to do with it. David's view is you want to train it to be a teenager and never let it become an adult, because a teenager still has a bit of creative spark and a spiky opinion. Train it to full adulthood and it homogenises everything - it's a probability engine, and probability gives you 80% of the answer, perfectly averaged. The conversation moved into what AI genuinely can't do - and that comes down to human experience. It has never had a first kiss, lost someone it loved, or stood in a field at a beer festival. Any task that depends on that kind of felt, embodied knowledge is still ours. The challenge is that a lot of what we thought required that - writing, design, commercial photography, music composition - turns out not to need it as much as we assumed. For photographers specifically, David's view is that weddings and portraits are relatively safe for now, because the human interface is the whole point. Commercial photography is more exposed - brands are bringing production in-house, and that overcapacity will push talented commercial photographers into our market. The answer isn't to chase efficiency. It's to charge for value, not hours. Ask clients what they genuinely value, attach a price to that, and let the production tasks flow through the tools that do them best. David ended with a metaphor I loved - the future of creative business isn't a pyramid or even an obelisk. It's going to be full of jazz bands. Highly talented people jamming together, creating something that no algorithm could have predicted. I hope he's right. ----more----If you have enjoyed the episode, please do subscribe wherever it is that you get your podcasts!   Transcript Paul: [00:00:00] Let's hit record both channels. Recording. At which point I put my podcast voice on. You've gotta forgive me. Alright. David: Okay. Paul: Uh, alright, well cheers David. David: Cheers. Paul: Um, well today instead of being in the Land Rover, I thought I'd come and frequent my second favorite place on earth. Uh, the local pub. So I'm sitting here with a really interesting guy I've known for years, um, who will introduce himself in a moment. But if you can hear background noises, that's because there ARE background noises. David and I are sitting in a corner with two pints of beer , and we are gonna chat all things to do with the direction of travel in creative industries. I'm Paul and this is a very pub bound Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast. Uh, So David, thank you [00:01:00] for agreeing to come in and chatting with me. Um, this has been a conversation a long time in the making ever since the thought occurred to me. I think we crashed into each other at the end of a wedding. I think, I mean, I've known you for a long time, but I think it occurred to me at a wedding where you were in the back garden of the pub and it's like, yeah, you are the guy I want to talk to. So, before we get any further, could you to the people who don't know you, introduce yourself and give a little bit of background? David: Sure. Yeah. I'm So David Finch, my current, uh, incarnation in business is Thinking In Fields, which is, um, all about decision architecture. So. Having spent most of my life in the, in the marketing and creative sector, they recently sold Purple Frog. Yeah. Which was a, a marketing consultancy and prior to that, owned various other sales promotion companies and [00:02:00] quite, seems quite a long time ago now, but 20 years ago, a print group of all things. Yeah, I remember. Yeah. That was, uh, quite frightening. So, so yeah, so I, I sold that and I've sort of, I can't retire so the brain won't stop. So I've moved into "Thinking In Fields", which came, came about based initially on the fact that, as you well know, I walk a lot now. Paul: Yep. David: Um. I do a lot of thinking and talk to my phone on frequent basis to, to, to write things or di dictate things, which I then, which I then, I used to write from the actual listening to it. Now I give it to this strange thing called chat, GPT, and it, it transcribes it for me and, and it helps me assimilate thoughts. So, so that's what I do. But it is about decision architecture. So it's about actually helping, helping businesses understand how they, how they bring things like AI in, into a business.[00:03:00] And if you think about intelligence, humans are got intelligence, AI's got intelligence. So how do you bring them together coherently, Paul: right? David: So that's what the, that's what the business does and helps, helps CFOs and leadership teams understand how they bring in ai. In an orchestrated manner. Paul: Right. And was, is that when you set up Thinking And Fields, did you think it was going to be about ai or did, because you, you've stepped out of the agency world for a while now, and AI really has only erupted properly in the past 18 months. I'm gonna guess, you know, the latest ChatGPT and Claude and some of these big LLMs and processing models slightly more complex. I always see the word thinking, but they're not thinking. But David: they don't, they don't think No, they'll tend, Paul: they don't David: think, they don't think, yeah. No. Paul: But you can force 'em into a pseudo analytical mode. David: Yeah. Paul: Um, prompting, but was it AI that drew you to create Thinking In Fields or [00:04:00] has that come about since going into Thinking In Fields? David: Since, since So when I, so when, so when I started Thinking In Fields, it was, it was related quite a lot to. To what Purple Frog did. Paul: Yeah. David: It wasn't exactly the same. It was associated to it. So it was, it was about remarkability and how'd you create a decent value proposition and a value statement, which interestingly is, is focused on aligning your customer value proposition with your employee value proposition. Paul: Right. David: So that's what I've been working on with, with, with some clients. But what I found was that in order to be able to, for them to be able to own, own, the thinking themselves is either they can spend a lot of time with me and I'll board them to tears, or what we did is we've created, I've got the mortar creator, a chat, GPT, and a project where we stored all the information we were talking about, which enabled them and I, and I'm sure I must have mentioned this before, the Booker[00:05:00] Remarkability, have I ever mentioned the Booker Remarkability to you? You shake your head with disappointment. Paul: So, sorry, I should be more open to the things you mentioned to me. I, yeah. I don't think you've ever meant it to me. David: No, it's, so, the book of Remarkability is, it's really, it's really a concept of how you dis distinguish your yourself from, from other people. So it's really interesting in the photography field is how, what, what is you looking at, what value you bring to those you serve and, and what value you bring. Is, is, is really by asking them how you make them feel. Paul: Yeah. David: What the, what emotional resonances you have with people. But the idea of the book of Remarkability very simply is that you create a spine which is compelling, which is emotion based. Yeah. And imagine people walk into the British library Paul: Yeah. David: And they're gonna find a photographer wedding, or for photographer for portraits or commercial photographer, they're gonna go to the section and there's 200 books. Paul: Yeah. [00:06:00] David: You're gonna be one of three. They pick out. Paul: Yeah. David: You better have a good spine. Yeah. Yeah. So that's the concept of the spine. Paul: Yeah. David: You unpack that with the cover. Paul: Yeah. David: And it's compelling enough to get people to want to read further. And then your standard Harvard Business Review, um, value proposition is your prologue. So we do this for these people by doing this. Right. That's your, your prologue, so it gets people in. Paul: Yeah. David: But the real answer of the book of Remarkability is it's, Paul: how have I never heard of this? David: Yeah, there you go. You don't remember these years. But the art of the book of Remarkability is, it's based on the concept of the Canterbury Tales. So, so there's 30 short stories. 24, Paul: yeah. David: Are your customers and clients speaking about speaking about the value you created? Paul: Yeah. David: In their eyes. Well, the value you think you created. Paul: Yeah. David

Embracing Positivity on a Challenging Day: Insights from the Mastering Portrait Photography Podcast It's Friday the 13th, a day often associated with superstition, but instead of dwelling on the negatives, let's focus on the positives that have brought joy over the past week. In this episode, I share my experiences, from the challenges of a busy schedule to the joy of working with families in the studio. Join me as I reflect on the importance of community and giving back to the photography industry. Getting stuff off my chest: - The significance of staying positive amidst challenges - Insights from recent judging experiences at photography competitions - The importance of community support and paying it forward in the photography industry - Tips for preparing your prints for competitions and avoiding common mistakes - Updates on upcoming workshops and events in portrait photography Join me as I delve into these topics and more, encouraging you to embrace the joy of photography and the connections we build along the way. Read on or listen to the episode for a dose of inspiration!   Transcript Friday the 13th Reflections It's Friday the 13th of February, and while I might be tempted to think twice about recording a podcast today, I choose to focus on the positives. It has been one of those weeks where many little things have driven me to distraction. Sarah's car needed a new wheel bearing, and I had a video recorder malfunction. You know how it is—those little annoyances can really pile up. However, I want to concentrate on everything that has made me smile this week and the joy we've experienced over the past couple of weeks. I'm Paul, and this is the Mastering Portrait Photography podcast. Please bear with me; I have a cough that lingers from a cold. The team in the office thinks it started back in November. I rarely get colds, but this season has been different. Even after receiving the flu jab, I've caught colds just far enough apart that I think I'm getting better, yet close enough that the cough remains. But in a few weeks, Sarah and I will be off on our travels again, working around the world with Crystal Cruises, so I know this will sort itself out.   Recent Updates As usual, I want to share a little update on where we are. I often wonder why I do this, but perhaps it's cathartic. You'll notice there's no video this time. I tried recording a video for the last episode, but Katie only watched a couple of minutes before suggesting that unless I tidied my desk and did it properly, it probably wouldn't look right. The podcast is something I enjoy doing whenever I find a moment. It provides a chance to share information and reflect on the business we run, the photography we create, and the clients we celebrate. Each time I do this, I feel better about my work. I've had to admit defeat, at least for now, on the video podcast front. Most of the feedback I receive is from people who listen while editing or commuting, so I've decided to return to audio. It was a one-time trial, and I didn't try very hard. I recorded one video, and it didn't turn out well, so I've chosen to stick with what I love most: simply chatting.   Busy Diary The past couple of weeks have been busy, but not necessarily with fee-paying work. For those just starting out, I remember looking forward to all the opportunities I now have, such as judging, mentoring, and creating content. I love it all, but ultimately, the core of our business is with our clients. Tomorrow, I have a full day scheduled with families in the studio, and I'm really excited about that. It has rained incessantly, but the weather forecast for tomorrow predicts a clear and cold Valentine's Day. I hope we can take some photographs outside, which would be wonderful. We've had many headshot shoots recently, which are less affected by the weather since we can find shelter when photographing one person. Most clients looking for personal branding prefer studio-based sessions, so that's manageable. However, with families, we want to get outside, even if it's cold.   Judging Experience In the past week, Sarah and I chaired the UK PPA print competition at the Guild's photo hub, which was an incredible experience. Thank you to everyone who participated; it was truly amazing. While we don't get paid for judging, it is a wonderful opportunity. Sarah organized everything and ensured it ran smoothly, while I served as the voice of the judging panel. The judging process was fantastic. I want to express my gratitude to the judges who participated. It was an honor to sit among such talented photographers. The audience was the most engaged I've ever experienced, asking questions and quizzing us. This interaction made the judging process more enjoyable and valuable for everyone involved. Typically, judging is done in silence to maintain focus, but this can sometimes feel isolating. We need to concentrate, but we also want to engage with the audience. If we can make the process interesting and entertaining, more photographers will stay until the end, which benefits everyone. A good judging team is essential. If judges feel comfortable with one another, they can cooperate, challenge each other, and support one another. This camaraderie leads to better outcomes and more considered scores. Each judge brings their unique perspective, whether it’s technical details, emotional connections, or composition. This diversity enriches the judging process.   Print Quality Insights During the judging, I noticed some common issues with print quality. For instance, we saw several prints with color banding. While we couldn't determine if the banding originated in the file, it was evident in the prints. If you're overlaying textures, ensure they only cover the intended areas. Some images had overlays that unintentionally covered the subjects, which detracted from the overall effect. When entering print competitions, pay attention to the mount size and ensure your prints meet the minimum requirements. The combination of your mount and print is what we judge, so it's crucial to have a cohesive look. If you're using an inset mount, make sure the paper and mount colors match to avoid any jarring contrasts. We also discussed the terminology we use, such as referring to creators as "authors" rather than just photographers. This term encompasses a broader range of creators, including illustrators and fine artists, and acknowledges their contributions.   Paying It Forward An email I received recently from a student sparked a reflection on the importance of paying it forward in our industry. He reached out with several questions about our business, and while I took a while to respond, his reply highlighted a concerning trend. He mentioned that many photographers either didn't respond or were rude in their replies. This saddened me. We often speak about the camaraderie and relationships in our industry, but it seems that the spirit of helping one another may be waning. Many of us have benefited from the kindness of others, and it's essential that we continue this tradition. I believe it's our responsibility to give back, whether through mentoring, judging, or sharing knowledge. The joy of watching someone else flourish because you've offered a helping hand can be incredibly rewarding.   Upcoming Workshops As we wrap up, I want to mention a couple of upcoming workshops. Our Bootcamp on the 11th and 12th of May has one space left. It was a fantastic experience last year, and we’re excited to run it again. We also have one space left for our Advanced Studio Lighting workshop on the 16th of March, which is one of my favorite workshops to run. If you're interested in either of these, please visit masteringportraitphotography.com for more details. Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe on your preferred platform and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Your support helps others find the podcast and grow our community. As we head into Valentine's weekend, remember to be kind to yourself and to those you love. Take care.

I’m back after a bit of a stop-start spell with the podcast, and I’m talking honestly about headspace, mojo, and how hard it can be to create when you’re just not feeling it. The main point I wanted to cover is this: there’s more than one way to do things in photography, and the “that’s wrong” comments (especially online) completely miss the point. I’m sharing why I try to frame everything as my way, not the way, and how clients, time, kit, and real-world constraints always shape what works. I also give you a quick update on upcoming workshops, where to find the new short-form video content, and what I’ll be covering next after a couple of judging days. Key links Mastering Portrait Photography Our Reels & Shorts Mastering Portrait Photography on YouTube Workshops mentioned Mastering Dogs With Their Owners workshop (9 Feb 2026) Mastering Advanced Studio Lighting (16 Mar 2026) Mastering Portrait Photography Bootcamp (11–12 May 2026) Transcript [00:00:00] So hello one and all. This is the Mastering Portrait Photography podcast, which hasn't, hasn't been the most frequent in the past few months, one reason or another. Um, I just haven't managed to find either the time or if I'm more honest, I guess the headspace, the difficulty with doing anything creative is that if you don't feel it, if you're not right into it, and you know this as photographers, it's really hard to do it. And every time I've sat down, it's just been incredibly difficult to find, I suppose the words, I'm not sure that last year was the greatest year on earth. We got there, we grafted, but we got there, um, massively busy year, but I don't know if the positivity that we've had over the past years was quite, quite the same. And so in that context, it's been quite hard, I think. To, uh, be a photographer, to be a portrait [00:01:00] photographer, and also to record this podcast. So when I talk to people and they say they're not feeling it, I totally understand. Somebody in a workshop the other day, we always, at the beginning of every workshop we run here, we ask the people on it what they'd like to get out of it. And I think on every single one last year, and certainly the one we ran a couple of weeks ago, there is someone who will simply say. I've lost my mojo. What an interesting line given I think I've been feeling the same way about the podcast. Not that I haven't wanted to do it. I love doing it. I love sitting here and chatting. It's sort of like having my own personal counselor, you, but I just haven't really found the energy and the headspace, um, to do it. And for a million reasons, some of it to do with just the mood, the news. Politics, the weather. Um, and then just to compound everything over Christmas, I completely lost my voice [00:02:00] and I do mean, completely caused a lot of hilarity amongst my family and my team. But I had to do a couple of workshops at the convention. And they were quite squeaky. I literally sounded like squeaky from the toy story. Anyway, you'd be pleased to hear it's all back. It's all firing on all cylinders. 2026 is a new year. I'd like to say it's the start of a new year, but given it's February, I'm not even certain. I can say Happy New Year to all of you, but here we are. I'm Paul, and this is the return of the Mastering Portrait Photography podcast. So, hello one and all. I hope you're well. I hope the weather, I dunno what the weather's like all around the world. Of course I don't. But right here, right now in this bit of the world, it is miserable. We had to drive a Land Rover over to get, um, to. I think it's called an eyebrow repaired an odd, an odd phrase, but it's the bit of the wing that pro [00:03:00] protrudes over the wheel on the front, front driver's side. Because the other day as I was about to head out and do a job for the hearing dogs and with my client, my client's climbing into the car next to me and somebody decided the gap between my front driver's side wing and the wall next to him was sufficient to get a very big Mercedes-Benz through it. It turns out it wasn't. And the only damage, sadly for me was that it put a, put a hole in the, uh, wheel arch. It's called an eyebrow, this thing. So anyway, today we must have, find someone to get it repaired. The guy's paid, it's fine. It'll all get fixed. Um, so, uh, drove over, but the weather. The weather was horrific, and it's cold and it's gray and there's just water everywhere. It's a miserable state of affairs and trying to, trying to be a portrait photographer in this. I'm glad we have a warm studio that I will say. Uh, so here we are. [00:04:00] Here we are. It is, what time is it? It's, uh, 10 past eight on a Tuesday evening. I'm still in the studio and this time. I am recording video for it Now. I don't know whether you'll see the video. This is the first time I've tried to do, what do they call it, A visualized podcast? I'm not sure. It's a video podcast. That would be, um, over egging it a little bit. It's me staring at one very small camera that I dug outta a drawer. To see if I can get this to work. If it works, then we'll throw something a little bit more sophisticated at it. But in our team at the moment, in the mastering portrait photography team, we have Katie, I've introduced you to Katie before. That's not news. But one of the things we have been doing is recording more and more and more and more content, mostly short reels, short videos of one sort or another. And it's, I mean, it's a huge amount of fun. I'm having a blast. I come in on a Monday and Katie will tell me the topics we're going to cover, uh, and we get on with it and we film small [00:05:00] videos of one form or another. Um, and it's, I'll be honest, I'm loving it because it gets, it gives us a chance to talk about this business die love. Um, however, some of the things that have popped up through that are that really the podcast also now needs to be on video. Here I am and if you take a look around me, if you are looking at this on the video and take a look around me, you can see that it's the first foray. 'cause even if, as I look around the screen here that I'm, I've got feeding information back to me, it does look like my desk has been burgled. It is pretty bad at the moment. There is stuff everywhere. Uh, which isn't great, but I will get that fixed and get it sorted. So it looks a little bit prettier. I'm not sure this is the right camera, uh, for this particular job, but, uh, if it works, like I said, we might just upgrade. Um, but off the back of these videos, this is the topic I wanted to talk about today. This is only gonna be a short podcast, uh, partly 'cause I am starving. I've been here all [00:06:00] day. I've had one banana, one sandwich, one pair. Um, and I really, really, really want to go and do a little bit of exercise, um, and maybe have some food. So this is gonna be a shorter podcast than perhaps you're used to. However, this is what I wanted to cover. I wanted to sort of cover a point that has arisen through doing these little reels and videos with Katie that there is definitely more than one way of doing things. Now I'm doing this unscripted. I've got my pen to make some notes in case I kind of lose track. Um, so forgive me if I ramble, but. There's more than one way of doing things in. When we do a workshop or I do a presentation, I will always, or nearly always put up a slide that simply has two words, opinion overload, and I put it up there to remind me, to remind the people watching me that just because I say this is a way of doing [00:07:00] it doesn't mean it's the. Way of doing it. It's just the way that I found works for me on the whole, sometimes it'll be two or three different ways I've discovered will work and I'll point out which one seems to give me the most consistent results, or is the least expensive in time and materials, or is just simply the, you know, the one I enjoy the most. Because if you, if you are attending workshops, if you are going through the process of learning, and we all do this every time the person in front of you says, this is how to do it, there's a tendency for us to believe them. There's a tendency for us to, in our head say, right, that's what we're gonna do. Their photography is what I like. That's how we're gonna do it. And that can't possibly. Be the case. There are too many different styles, too many different photographers for that to be the case, and so I try to remind people, this is just my opinion at this [00:08:00] moment in time. This is how I do it, or this is how I have done it tomorrow. It may well be different next year. It's highly likely to be different changes in technology. In equipment, in approaches in clients, your client drives an awful lot of this too. Remember, you know, if your client's demanding that you travel light, then you travel light. And so some of the techniques for lighting, for instance, won't be, uh, quite the same as if you have all the time in the world and a studio. There's always a way of doing something that works for you, and there are plenty of other ways that maybe don't work so well. And the point is, we've learned this through the reels and videos that we've been posting, but all too often I'll put something up and somebody will tell me quite, quite vigorously, that's not right. Whether it's clamshell, just use a reflector. You don't need two lights, whether it's white balance adjustments, differential white balance. I'll just do it all in night room in post, whether it's, and my favorite comment was, [00:09:00] you are three times my age. Maybe that's right for you, which I thought was entertaining, if nothing else, and these are all valid by the way, I'm not worried about it. It just struck me that people seem to think that there is just one way of doing something. And of course there isn't, there's not one technique, there's not one aesthetic. If, if we all liked the same thing, if we all liked the same output, if we all liked the same pr

If you’ve ever stared at a “competition worthy” image and thought, “Is this actually any good, or am I just emotionally attached and mildly delusional?” then this episode is for you. In this one, I’m lifting the lid on what really happens inside a judge’s head when your prints hit the panel: the mindset you need, the mistakes we see over and over again, and the tiny details that can quietly kill an otherwise beautiful image. We’ll talk blown highlights, grubby greys, over sharpening, dodgy mounts, vignettes turned up to eleven, and why blindly following the latest photo trend might actually sink your chances. We’ll also get into mentors, titles, paper choice, time pressure (my personal kryptonite), and why the only real failure in competitions is not to enter at all. If you’re thinking about qualifications, print comps or you just want to finish your images to a higher standard, grab a drink, have a listen, and then go and do something brave with your work. Links from this episode Workshops & mentoring: Come and spend a day (or more) with us at the studio, learning lighting, posing, dogs, families, workflow and everything in between. 👉 View upcoming workshops One year mentoring programme: If you want ongoing support with competition entries, qualifications panels and growing your portrait business, this is where we dig in properly. 👉 Find out about one to one mentoring Mastering Portrait Photography – the book (new edition): The fully updated edition of the book, packed with new images, new sections and new stories. 👉 Buy the book on Amazon Signed copies from the studio: If you would like a signed copy straight from our studio (possibly with a bit of dog hair in the packaging courtesy of Rufus), order here. 👉 Order a signed copy Leave a review for the podcast: Reviews genuinely help more photographers find the show and it means the world to us when you leave one. 👉 Review the podcast on Apple Podcasts The Societies’ image competition: If this episode has nudged you towards entering, this is a great place to start. 👉 Enter The Societies’ image competition   Transcript [00:00:00] it's Thursday, late afternoon, early evening. It's gone dark. It's November. I've got what's left of a mug of coffee next to me. And I just thought I'd sit and record this podcast. It's been, it has to be said a really good day. We've had a lovely client in seeing their wedding pictures, which is always lovely when it goes the way it did. Lots of tears. Their's, not mine. Um, they love them. They've picked well for their album, cannot wait to produce that for them. It's been a really good week. Lots of nice clients, but over the next few days, Sarah and I are really hoping we get to step away from it just for a bit. We were hoping to get abroad, but it looks like with scheduling issues, that isn't gonna quite happen. But we live in an area stuck between London and Oxford, so at the very least we have a huge proportion of interesting things to go and have a look at. And that's my hope is we get away from this beautiful business that I love, but it really is all encompassing. So just for a day or [00:01:00] two time to take a bit of a break, I'm Paul and this is the Mastering Portrait Photography podcast. So, hello one and all. I hope you're all well in this particular podcast, um, because I'm hoping to get out the door and go for a drink tonight with some friends. Um, a little less waffle and a , slightly more to the point podcast. Probably some of you will prefer that some of you might miss the randomness. Um, however, if you listen to the last podcast, it was a little bit about what it's like to be a judge when you are assessing qualifications, panels, and print judging in general. Today what I wanted to do was go through some of the things that [00:02:00] occur to me that may be applicants either don't know or quietly ignore, which might be the truth. But basically the things that as judges we see, and I thought I just stepped through it from that point of view. Slightly less about the judges, slightly more about what to look for if you are entering a competition. Now, I've done this style of podcast. I think this might be my fourth, fifth, maybe sixth version of it over the years, can you believe it's been nearly 10 years I've been recording this. Um, either way, what I wanted to do was just update it, go through some of the things that are fresh in my mind from judging qualifications a few weeks ago, and then judging the Print Master's competition, um, just, uh, a couple of weeks ago. Both of those, you learn different things. You see different things, but I thought I'd just relay, if I can, the stuff that maybe you should consider if you are thinking about entering, in particular, print competitions, [00:03:00] but this extends out to really any image competition you can, you can think of. So with that, if that's not your shtick, then this isn't the episode for you. But if you fancy just having a listen and seeing if this echoes with you, that would be great. So. Listen up. Now. Firstly, I have to admit that from my point of view, entering competitions, I recognize as being both terrifying and slightly addictive. There really is something wonderful about finishing your images to a level that maybe you don't normally do. Maybe that, that tiny amount of perfection, those stray hairs, those eyebrows, lips, I mean, of course my portrait photographer, so I'm talking primarily people here, but that level of detail that maybe your regular, everyday Good Professional Practice, we call it, maybe your everyday work doesn't warrant because, in the end, every hour you spend on an image is cost. We [00:04:00] don't normally regard it as cost, 'cause we enjoy our job and it's time. You know what? It's like time. Who cares about time? Well, you should because it's your business. And so there's something really addictive about spending that time with a purpose on an image that you think you believe maybe, maybe just maybe will do well in a competition. Now that said, of course, every time you enter to, you don't know what the judges are gonna say. And let's get that right out in the open at the beginning, at the top of this podcast, a different day, a different judge, a different result. And that is just the way of it. So you cannot ever really totally predict what you're gonna do, how your images are gonna perform. You can't. You can have a guess, and you can predict within a boundary or two. But in the end, it is totally down to what the judges see on the day and you have to get used to that no matter how much effort you've [00:05:00] poured into an image. And I've had images where I was certain, certain it was going to do well and did nothing. And I've had other images where I was like, well, it's all right, but if I'm lucky in the right judges are on the panel, it might do okay and they've gone on to win. You really dunno. So just be aware of that because those disappointments shouldn't deter you. Yeah, they should just really drive you to do more of it. But that's very hard and I will admit that I too suffer from that sense of disappointment. The inferiority complex that comes with it. A degree of resentment, I suppose. What do the judges know when, when you win something? The judges amazing. I love them. They were brilliant. You could see how sharp their eyes were when the judges don't award you something or your images don't do well, of course, the judges were idiots. They didn't know what they were talking about. And as a judge, I'm completely aware of it. So in this podcast, we're gonna go through what you should look out for, the mindset, the, uh, technical side of it, [00:06:00] some of the presentation stuff, and some of the silly things really, that as a judge, we sit collectively and just groan. Um, there's sometimes you hear in the room that if only, if only. The, uh, image had this, if only the author had done that, those kinds of conversations. So let's work my way through the list. I put together a little bit of a list of things, um, and let's hope that some of this chimes with you. So first section is all about, uh, mindset. And at the end of the day, nearly everything about photography is what goes on in your head. So let's talk a little bit about your preparation and your mindset. First things first, you cannot, you cannot. Be objective about your own work. Alright? It's just not possible. And to be fair, no one can be truly objective about something that's creative. You can be subjective and you can be experienced, but you cannot ever be objective when it's your own work. The memory of the shoot, the memory of the [00:07:00] client, the memory of the moment will totally cloud your judgment. You cannot do it. You are, you are emotionally invested in your work. So be aware of that because you need to get a mentor now by a mentor. Ideally, it's someone who's been around a little bit, who's done a few things, knows their way around, competitions, the structures, the rules at the very least, um, hopefully, um, produces images that are of the standard you are hoping to produce, and preferably in a style that you wish to attain in a style that you wish to deliver. Because if you are in tune with that person, in tune with their work, you'll listen to them more. It doesn't necessarily mean they have more or less skill than another mentor, but if you like their work and respect what they do, you're more likely to pay attention to what they see and what they say to you. Now, if you can't get a mentor, at the very least, just pass it around some friends and see what people think and see [00:08:00] what they see. Be aware that your mom, or at least, my mom will always tell me my work is beautiful. Um, my mates are a little bit more brutal than that, but my mom will always tell me, but if you can find another photographer to give you a hand, it's the best thing you can do. Next thing, the only true failure about competitions in the sense