The Nerdy Photographer Podcast

Street and portrait photographer Tom Hoops joins us to talk about his unplanned path into photography, why he builds his portrait style around rawness instead of polish, and why he founded The Underexposed Community. In this episode: Tom's origin story: picking up a camera to shoot reference photos for paintings — and never going back to painting The early Flickr community (including photographers like Jack Davidson and Brett Walker) that shaped his eye Why he tells photographers starting out to avoid Instagram, other photographers' work, and how-to books until they've built their own body of work His case against the "corporate headshot" look and what he's chasing instead Shooting underexposed on purpose, working on location, and why he sets his lights once and then forgets about them What actually separates working photographers from hobbyists (hint: it's not the gear) The industry problem of shrinking access time on assignments — and what publishers get wrong Why he started The Underexposed Community and what it offers photographers looking for real peer connection Timestamps: 3:33 — Introduction and dice-breaker question 4:41 — Tom's background and path into photography 9:09 — The moment he knew photography was his profession 10:54 — Looking back at early work, and the fashion photography learning curve 16:52 — Why he tells new photographers to avoid studying other photographers early on 23:22 — Why lighting setups matter less than people think 25:05 — Rejecting the corporate headshot look; shooting subjects "powerful" instead of polished 30:55 — Where the "raw" feel actually comes from: direction, location, editing 39:01 — Advice on turning photography into a full-time living 44:15 — Founding The Underexposed Community 56:55 — Tom's advice to photographers just starting out (or to his younger self) Episode Promos Nerdy Photographer Contract Templates - https://nerdyphotographer.com/product-category/contracts/ On1 Software - https://nerdyphotographer.com/recommends/on1/ Format, websites for creatives - https://format.partnerlinks.io/nerdy Retouch4Me - https://retouch4.me/ - remember to use promo code "nerdy" to get 20% off About My Guest Tom Hoops is a portrait and fashion photographer known for his distinctive, emotive style and ability to capture raw human character. Working between studio and location, Tom's images blend strong composition with a cinematic use of light, creating work that feels both contemporary and timeless. His photography has been featured internationally, and he is recognised for his intuitive approach to directing subjects and uncovering authentic, powerful moments. Tom is also the founder of Wild Dogs in Paris, Wild Dogs Editions and Underexposed. The Underexposed Community: https://underexposedcommunity.com Website: https://TomHoops.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/TomHoops About The Podcast The Nerdy Photographer Podcast is written and produced by Casey Fatchett. Casey is a professional photographer in the New York City / Northern New Jersey with more than 20 years of experience. He just wants to help people and make them laugh. You can view Casey's work at https://caseyfphoto.com   If you have any questions or comments about this episode or any other episodes, OR if you would like to ask a photography related question or have ideas for a topic for a future episode, please reach out to us at https://nerdyphotographer.com/contact

Photography culture treats technical perfection as the goal and any deviation from it as failure. This episode argues that some of the medium's most resonant images come from exactly the opposite — and explores where the line is between a mistake worth fixing and a "failure" worth keeping. In this episode: The wedding reception story: a dead flash transmitter, a dozen unusable frames, and the one accidental low-light portrait that became a favorite Why photography's fear of technical failure is a holdover from the film era's real economic costs — and why that instinct outlived its original reason How editing tools (noise reduction, sharpening, highlight recovery) reinforce the assumption that all technical deviation is a problem to solve The aesthetics of error: lens flare, film grain, vignetting, and uncorrected chromatic aberration as characteristics photographers deliberately chase rather than mistakes to eliminate Dragging the shutter, explained: combining a slow shutter speed with flash to capture both a frozen subject and streaking ambient motion First curtain sync versus second curtain sync, and why second curtain tends to look more natural The difference between unintentional failure (worth minimizing) and intentional failure (a deliberate, informed choice to break a technical rule) — and why mastery is the prerequisite for the latter Homework from this episode: The Broken Session Go out with the specific intention of making technically incorrect images. Use a shutter speed that's too slow, manually focus past your subject, shoot straight into a light source. Try to come home with three images that are technical failures but emotional successes — where the flaw is doing some of the work — then ask honestly whether a "correct" version of the same shot could have done the same thing. Support The Nerdy Photographer Sign Up for The Power Up - https://nerdyphotographer.com/newsletter Get some artwork from the print shop - https://art.caseyfphoto.com Buy some Nerdy Photographer Merch - https://nerdyphoto.dashery.com Use our link to buy new gear from Adorama - https://nerdyphotographer.com/recommends/adorama Use our link to buy used gear from KEH - https://nerdyphotographer.com/recommends/keh Follow along with us on social media @thenerdyphoto About The Podcast The Nerdy Photographer Podcast is written and produced by Casey Fatchett. Casey is a professional photographer in the New York City / Northern New Jersey with more than 20 years of experience. He just wants to help people and make them laugh. You can view Casey's wedding work at https://fatchett.com or his non-wedding work at https://caseyfatchettphotography.com    If you have any questions or comments about this episode or any other episodes, OR if you would like to ask a photography related question or have ideas for a topic for a future episode, please reach out to us at https://nerdyphotographer.com/contact  

Host Casey Fatchett talks with alternative process photographer Britt Bradley, known professionally as Nitrate Fox, about wet plate collodion photography, the history and politics baked into a 170-year-old medium, and Bradley's self-published photo book Jamnesia, which documents the roller derby community in tintype. In this episode: Why Bradley chose a non-gender-specific artist name — and how it changed their exhibition acceptance rate Collodion's history as "a perpetual representation of the white male gaze," and how seating, standing, and exposure time shaped who was centered in 19th-century photographs How collodion's UV sensitivity affects the rendering of different skin tones Sharing copyright and physical plates with sitters as a way of redistributing power in the photographer/subject relationship The physical demands of wet plate: working within feet of a darkroom, racing the clock before a plate dries, and a 120-degree, quarter-mile sprint story from shooting on Fremont Street in Las Vegas What "truth" in photography really means — from treaty photographs to Dorothea Lange's contact sheets to Pete Souza's approach to documenting the White House Museum and archive access: how members of the public can actually request to view historic photographic collections Studio rules: "no negative self-talk" and "we always ask for consent" — and the story of photographing derby skater Aveda after her double mastectomy Why Bradley shoots roller derby "from the inside out" as a skater themself, rather than as an outside documentarian What three years, six states, 50+ leagues, and 500+ tintypes taught Bradley about derby community, care, and identity Embracing collodion's unpredictable artifacts as part of the story, not a flaw to eliminate Advice for anyone starting out in alternative process photography Episode Promos On1 Photo RAW - https://nerdyphotographer.com/recommends/on1 Nerdy Photographer Contract Templates - https://nerdyphotographer.com/product-category/contracts/ Siteground Web Hosting - https://siteground.com/go/nerdy Survey Monkey - https://get.surveymonkey.com/nerdy About My Guest Britt Bradley (Nitrate Fox) alternative process photographer and artist. Her work explores identity, empowerment, subculture, and personal narrative through hand-crafted photographic processes that bridge contemporary storytelling with 19th-century techniques. Bradley's work has been exhibited nationally and was recognized as a Photolucida Critical Mass Top 50 photographer and a LensCulture Critics' Choice selection. She is the author of Jamnesia, a monograph documenting the world of roller derby through Wet Plate Collodion. Website: nitratefox.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/Nitrate_Fox TikTok: https://tiktok.com/Nitrate_Fox Book: Jamnesia: The Alternative Art of Athleticism — self-published, limited edition, available now at nitratefox.com Follow the Nerdy Photographer Podcast: Instagram - https://instagram.com/thenerdyphoto Reddit - https://reddit.com/u/thenerdyphoto Threads - https://threads.com/thenerdyphoto Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/thenerdyphoto.bsky.social TikTok - https://tiktok.com/@thenerdyphoto About The Podcast The Nerdy Photographer Podcast is written and produced by Casey Fatchett. Casey is a professional photographer in the New York City / Northern New Jersey with more than 20 years of experience. He just wants to help people and make them laugh. You can view Casey's wedding work at https://fatchett.com or his non-wedding work at https://caseyfatchettphotography.com    If you have any questions or comments about this episode or any other episodes, OR if you would like to ask a photography related question or have ideas for a topic for a future episode, please reach out to us at https://nerdyphotographer.com/contact

In this nerdlet, Casey makes the case for deliberately slowing down — and why the unlimited frame rates of modern cameras and phones may be quietly working against better photography. In this episode: Why cheap, abundant frames change the psychology of shooting: when a missed shot costs nothing, the incentive to study each one disappears How high-volume shooting shifts the real creative decision from the moment of capture to the moment of culling Where burst shooting genuinely earns its place (sports, wildlife) versus where it works against you Henri Cartier-Bresson's The Decisive Moment (1952) and what "proactive" attention to a scene actually looks like The cognitive science angle: stimulus-driven (reactive) attention versus goal-directed (deliberate) attention, and why slow photography demands the latter Ansel Adams' concept of pre-visualization — forming the finished image in your mind before you shoot — and Casey's two ways of using it, including prepping mentally the day before a shoot The "film mindset": simulating the constraints of a 24 or 36-exposure roll with a digital camera, including no chimping and no in-field deletions Homework from this episode: Pick a hard limit — 12, 24, or 36 frames — for your next outing. No deleting in the field, no chimping, no exceptions. Before every shot, pause for a few seconds and ask what the photograph is actually about. When you review the results, pay attention not just to which images worked, but to how differently you moved, waited, and looked. Support The Nerdy Photographer Sign Up for The Power Up - https://nerdyphotographer.com/newsletter Get some artwork from the print shop - https://art.caseyfphoto.com Buy some Nerdy Photographer Merch - https://nerdyphoto.dashery.com Use our link to buy new gear from Adorama - https://nerdyphotographer.com/recommends/adorama Use our link to buy used gear from KEH - https://nerdyphotographer.com/recommends/keh Follow along with us on social media @thenerdyphoto About The Podcast The Nerdy Photographer Podcast is written and produced by Casey Fatchett. Casey is a professional photographer in the New York City / Northern New Jersey with more than 20 years of experience. He just wants to help people and make them laugh. You can view Casey's wedding work at https://fatchett.com or his non-wedding work at https://caseyfatchettphotography.com    If you have any questions or comments about this episode or any other episodes, OR if you would like to ask a photography related question or have ideas for a topic for a future episode, please reach out to us at https://nerdyphotographer.com/contact  

In this episode, Casey Fatchett sits down with award-winning photographer Ari Espay, who splits his time between New York City and Santiago, Chile. Ari discusses his decade producing and teaching at National Geographic's photography workshops alongside legends like David Alan Harvey, Ed Kashi, Bob Sacha, Ira Block, and Maggie Steber; his approach to street photography and portraiture with subjects ranging from presidents to Broadway performers; his long-term humanitarian project documenting the EB (Epidermolysis Bullosa) community; and his nonprofit Statement Arts, which has run photography workshops and donated more than 100 cameras to young and at-risk photographers in Myanmar and Laos, including activists documenting human rights abuses in their own communities. Topics Covered: Lessons from a decade at National Geographic's photography workshops Why "serendipity" changed how Ari approaches every shoot Reading a scene: light, subject, and background as visual problem-solving Building trust with strangers on the street Studio portraiture with presidents and public figures vs. street portraiture Photographing vulnerability: the Faces of EB project Where to draw the line between bearing witness and intruding Statement Arts: teaching photography and donating cameras in Myanmar and Laos Why the people living a crisis should be the ones documenting it The throughline across Ari's career: humanity Episode Promos On1 Photo RAW - https://nerdyphotographer.com/recommends/on1 Nerdy Photographer Contract Templates - https://nerdyphotographer.com/product-category/contracts/ Siteground Web Hosting - https://siteground.com/go/nerdy Survey Monkey - https://get.surveymonkey.com/nerdy ABOUT MY GUEST Award-winning photographer, Ari Espay, splits his time between New York City and Santiago, Chile. Ari has shot documentary pieces, campaigns and editorial essays for magazines in the US and all over South America including; Architectural Digest, Vogue Latin America, Que Pasa, and ED. He has worked for Maybelline, Gillette, Corpbanca, Ferouch, New Man, Kohana Rum, Amazon/AWS, Australis Cruise to name a few and has shot portraits for Presidents, internationally known actors, Emmy Award winning directors, Broadway performers, politicians and high profile business people. With numerous gallery exhibitions, Ari's recent show, "A Glimpse of Southeast Asia" was featured at the Galleria d'Arte Moderna, a museum in Cento, Italy (2018 – 2019). Other exhibitions include; 2026 "Rostros, El Mar De Cultura" Valencia Photo Festival, Spain. 2025 "FACES / VISAGES" , Art-Icon Collective Exhibition Arles, France. 2024 "Corporeality" Art-Icon Collective Exhibition - Paris, 2024 "Moments in Time" Art on the Avenue - New York City, New York, 2021 Art on the Avenue - New York City, New York "Art on the Avenue" (New York City 2021), "Mingalabar Myanmar"(Rome and Bologna, Italy - 2016) and "The Faces of EB" in New York City (2015). In 2012, he was named as Artistic Director of International Projects for Galeria64, the only gallery in Chile exhibiting photography exclusively. Ari has won Chile's prestigious Fondart Grant, was a 2026 Finalist Lucie Foundation On The Block Street Photography, a 2026 Selected Winner American Photography AI-AP 42, a 2024 Portraiture Bronze Winner Prix de la Photographie Paris PX3, Short Listed "EB" State of the World Project Prix de la Photographie Paris PX3, Street Photography Honorable Mention Prix de la Photographie Paris PX3 and 4 Portraiture Honorable Mention Prix de la Photographie Paris PX3, a 2024, 2022 BIFA Budapest International Foto Award Silver winner in Book / Documentary, 2022 MIFA Moscow International Photo Award Winner for our book, 2020Unmasked, in the Documentary Book category. He was the photo editor for "2020 Unmasked" book which won 2 Honorable Mentions at the IPA/International Photography Awards for Documentary and Self-published book.  For 10 years, he taught photography workshops for National Geographic and their legendary photographers including, Joe McNally, Bob Sacha, Ira Block, VII's agency Ed Kashi and Magnum's David Alan Harvey. He has worked and traveled in more than 40 countries. Ari speaks 3 languages and enjoys spending time in the mountains. Find Ari Espay: Website: https://ariespayphotography.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/ari_espay Photography Workshops: https://fancygirlstreetboy.com Nonprofit: https://StatementArts.org Follow the Nerdy Photographer Podcast: Instagram - https://instagram.com/thenerdyphoto Reddit - https://reddit.com/u/thenerdyphoto Threads - https://threads.com/thenerdyphoto Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/thenerdyphoto.bsky.social TikTok - https://tiktok.com/@thenerdyphoto About The Podcast The Nerdy Photographer Podcast is written and produced by Casey Fatchett. Casey is a professional photographer in the New York City / Northern New Jersey with more than 20 years of experience. He just wants to help people and make them laugh. You can view Casey's wedding work at https://fatchett.com or his non-wedding work at https://caseyfatchettphotography.com    If you have any questions or comments about this episode or any other episodes, OR if you would like to ask a photography related question or have ideas for a topic for a future episode, please reach out to us at https://nerdyphotographer.com/contact