This is Reportage Podcast

Really excited to have the fab Anna Rowland with us for episode 13! Based in the UK, Anna has been shooting for over ten years, winning awards left, right and centre, and was ranked tenth overall on our Top Photographers of 2018 list. Loved talking to Anna; she had so much to share, including: • her first camera and shooting her first wedding on film, • her thoughts on the way the industry has changed (or not) over the past 12 years, • why she thinks workshops and conferences are important, • being a bit of an introvert and why she often shoots with seconds, • tips for people wanting to get better with flash, • the importance of pushing through the fear zone, • a controversial 'last meal' choice, • her previous life as a phlebotomist, • some memorable moments from her experience of shooting over 600 weddings, • how to pronounce scone and Bath, • how she deals with anything that bugs her about this industry, • her experience of being the photographer for the Nine Dots Gathering 2019, • what she does in the quiet season, • how she balances being a mum and being a wedding photographer, • her most effective marketing avenue, • her soon-to-be-announced joint workshop with Nadine van Biljon, • the two days she would choose to live over and over again, • what she's afraid of, • her bucket list and love of Lemurs, • her top tips for better documentary wedding photography, • and much more... For a full transcript, and to join us at This is Reportage, head to our website at https://thisisreportage.com/

Honoured to have the fantastic Franck Boutonnet on the Podcast for Episode 12! Hailing from France, Franck has been winning a huge number of awards from all the different associations for the past ten years (including placing 7th overall in our Top 100 Photographers of 2019), and has SO much to share with us, including: • what keeps him entering awards specifically, • dealing with disappointment and re-submitting the images you truly believe in, • three major tips for submitting to awards in general, • how he went from teaching French in America to photojournalism and weddings, • his favourite TV series, • what makes him happy, • his relationship with a fellow (also very talented!) wedding photographer (Rocio Vega), • how they work together sometimes, pushing each other and getting better, • looking at the first Fearless Awards at 2am in Amersterdam, • the subjectivity of 'success', • his own doubts and the difficulty of the market, • how the industry has changed and how we need to adapt, the 'ghosting' trend and how this affects him and photographers all over the world, • how he gains his clients' trust and why that's so vital, • the importance of honesty, • how he built his business around his philisophy of life, • how he deals with stressful situations, • a memorable mistake he made at a wedding and how he learned from it, • what makes a good wedding photographer, • and much more... For a full transcript, and to join us at This is Reportage, head to our website at https://thisisreportage.com/

So excited to be bringing you the fantastic Philippe Swiggers for Episode 11 of the Podcast! Hailing from Belgium, winner of no less than 15 TiR Awards (he's fifth overall, in terms of Lifetime Awards), Philippe is a brilliant photographer and has so much to share, including: the number of weddings he shoots per year, what he gets up to in the quiet season, the importance of getting someone to photograph his own family, seeing what certain images mean to him and how that helps his own photography, his love for teaching, how he second shot to get into the industry, how he still gets nervous before every wedding, being an introvert in the extrovert world of weddings, the importance of being himself, family and what makes him happy, what success means for him, advice for people who have been shooting for some time but are not happy with their current work, his personal project on social workers which became a book and exhibition, how specifically not thinking with social media in mind helped him, building trust, what he's awful at, his tips (as a previous judge and winner of five Story Awards himself) for submitting to the Story Awards, how you should never stop believing in your own images and should re-submit what you believe in, photographing Steven Defour's wedding as a second shooter, the Mind the Moment Collective that he's part of, why you need to have passion to teach, what skills wedding photographers should have, and more... For a full transcript, and to join us at This is Reportage, head to our website at https://thisisreportage.com/

For the tenth episode of our This is Reportage Podcast we're thrilled to be bringing you the fantastic Linda Bouritius! Based in the Netherlands, Linda was ranked 28th in the World in our Top 100 Photographers of 2019 and has won 7 Lifetime TiR Awards (including 3 Story Awards). Her work is full of life; vibrant, exciting and dynamic - it was an honour to interview her for the Podcast. Linda covers lots of really interesting subjects, including: dealing with the unpredictability of our industry, what she used to do before being a wedding photographer and how some people were surprised at her change in direction, setting an example for her daughter, shooting concerts and music, why she specifically got into weddings (They're "like a mini-festival, but on a personal level" - love that quote!), what it was like choosing a wedding photographer - and the day itself - from a bride's perspective (Linda was recently married), how important it was to have her husband involved in the decision as much as possible, the important realisation that people have busy lives, how she becomes part of the party in order to capture it intimately, "being as much of a guest as possible", one of her most recent favourite TV series, how she balances being a mum and working, how one of her Reportage Award-winning images caused some controversy; how she dealt with this and how it affected her career and outlook, which day she would choose to 'do a Groundhog Day', the reasons why she chooses to deliver her images in a certain way and timeframe, her circle of booking to feedback, a memorable mistake and how she learnt from it, what makes a good wedding photographer, and more... For a full transcript, and to join us at This is Reportage, head to our website at https://thisisreportage.com/

So excited to have the fantastic Andrew Keher on the Podcast for Episode 9! Eight-time TiR Award winner, Andrew has made our Top Photographers of the year for both 2018 and 2019, which is a remarkable feat. Our interview with Andrew for this Podcast is extremely interesting, with Andrew talking openly and honestly about such things as: how to pronounce his surname, his school life growing up in Liverpool, wanting to be a police officer, the story of how he went from a 9 to 5 office job to becoming a wedding photographer (a really great story, involving a viral video and a film crew!), teaching himself photography through YouTube and the internet, how workshops really helped him, approaching his first bride, how having passion and energy for something means you can make it a career, inheriting his Dad's sense of humour, Evil Dead and being Ash, how a recent regret of his photography career changed his attitude, the story of how he took a very funny Reportage Award, his top tips for getting better at documentary wedding photography, shooting through the moment, making each frame as interesting as possible, how much he likes and values the Story Awards, how they help him in his own blogging, and much more... For a full transcript, and to join us at This is Reportage, head to our website at https://thisisreportage.com/

Welcome to Episode 8 of the This is Reportage Podcast! Honoured to bring you the wonderful Denise Motz today - hailing from Holland, winner of 9 TiR Awards and joint 6th in our Top 30 Photographers of last year, Denise shares so much great info and stories, including: her work with Camper Retreats, her background in fine art, how she got into weddings, her favouite TV series, the most important thing in life, doing what you love doing and not thinking about the money, photographing her own life, how street photography has impacted her weddings, her reasons for submitting to awards, being in a group to judge each others' work before submitting, tips from being a judge herself, the power of cropping, her wedding in Uganda, how she get her first destination, her love of travel, the album she'd choose on her desert island, how/why she gets so many alternative weddings, the power of networking with people, attending her first conference, capturing the inbetween moments, kids at weddings, behind the scenes of a specific Reportage Award of hers, travelling through time, social media, sharing her personal life, Instagram Stories, what makes a good wedding photographer, and much more... For a full transcript, and to join us at This is Reportage, head to our website at https://thisisreportage.com/

So excited to have the absolutely fantastic Pedro Vilela on episode 7 of the This is Reportage Podcast! Based in Lisbon, Portugal, Pedro is one of my personal all-time favourite photographers, and has been a constant inspiration for my own career. Joint third in our Top 30 Photographers of 2018, and winner of 16 TiR Awards in total, Pedro's work is constantly creative - and he's a super lovely guy, too. Tune in to this episode as Pedro talks about: keeping physically fit and fresh, working with his wife, growing up in Portugal, his background in photojournalism, his thoughts on creativity, composition and light, creating portraits that show his clients' personality, the importance of meeting his couples beforehand, films that make him cry, life with twin girls, advice on reportage photography in general, how he shot a couple/family from engagement and wedding, all the way through to maternity, family and birth, staying true to ourselves and not following trends, speaking at Fearless Conference recently, good times with friends, turning points in his life and career, the essential skills a wedding photographer should have, his thoughts on the future, on TiR, and much more... For a full transcript, and to join us at This is Reportage, head to our website at https://thisisreportage.com/

We're really excited to bring you a brand new episode of our Podcast: Episode 6 with the absolutely fantastic Elena Haralabaki! Hailing from Greece, Elena is the winner of no less than nine This is Reportage Awards (six Reportage and three Story Awards) and has more than 150 award-winning photos from other organisations. But as you'll hear from the Podcast, she's also incredibly humble, and has so much to share with us, including info about: growing up in Athens, how she went from fashion to weddings, finding her original clients, speaking at Inspiration conference, what makes her happy, the friendliness of the photography community, how she captured a specific Reportage Award, how Greek priests are more relaxed, wanting a wedding with umbrellas, studying photography, what has worked for her in terms of marketing, social media, associations and awards, top tips for getting better at the documentary side, tips on shooting close, her inspirations, what she listens to on the way to a wedding, the most challenging aspect of wedding photography, not shooting specifically for awards, tips for people just starting out, the last movie that made her cry, Ouzo (!), the first thing she does after a wedding, her editing, people who have impacted her life, the future, and more... For a full transcript, and to join us at This is Reportage, head to our website at https://thisisreportage.com/

Honoured to bring you the brilliant Paul Fox for episode 5 of the This is Reportage Podcast! Hailing from Cornwall, UK, Paul was one of our Top 30 Photographers of 2018, and has a real skill of creative, intimate documentary wedding photography. We talk about lots of subjects in this episode, including: his love of Sony and mirrorless in general, tips on how to shoot really close, not being silent, educating your clients, growing up in Cornwall, from landscape to weddings, second shooting, his dogs (his "four legged little furry children"), a very surprising favourite film, why he personally enters awards, his use of social media, how he gets his bookings, the power of referrals, the 'food subject', what annoys him, how to really capture the fun and joy, how to get fun weddings, advice about client meetings, the importance of people skills and how that enables you to capture moments better, the most challenging aspect of wedding photography, why he doesn't like to use a lot of flash, shooting a lot of images, being Arnie, his own wedding and being on the other side of the camera, the first thing he does after shooting a wedding, what he does in the quiet season, online training, top tips for people just starting out in the industry, and much more... For a full transcript of this episode, and to find out more about joining This is Reportage, head to https://thisisreportage.com

Thrilled to bring you the next episode of the This is Reportage Podcast! For Episode 4 we have the brilliant Sanne De Block from Antwerp, Belgium. Sanne has won a staggering 17 Awards (11 Reportage and 6 Story Awards), and is currently ranked third in the world in terms of Lifetime Awards. The things we talk about in the episode include: her childhood, how she wanted to be anything but a photographer (!), her original inspiration, studying photography in college, being the 'Master of Party', creating on the fly, documentary wedding photography tips, the story behind one of her specific Reportage Awards, lying on the ground for a reason, Game of Thrones, her one-eyed cat, Doc Day, nerves, hating the business-side, having a strong community of Belgium wedding photographers, Story Award tips, what being succesful means to her, capturing the First Dance, the most challenging part of our job, composition, light and moment, the future, and more... For a full transcript of this episode, and to find out more about This is Reportage, head to https://thisisreportage.com