

F-Stop Collaborate and Listen
Matt Payne
This photography podcast takes you well beyond camera gear each week with weekly interviews and panel discussions with professional photographers, industry insiders, enthusiasts, and hobbyists alike. Our candid but laid-back conversations deeply explore the craft of photography and psychological drivers relating to creativity, motivation, inspiration, and workflow. We also discuss social media, photography business practices, marketing, sales, and hot topics impacting photographers from all genres, with a particular focus on landscape, nature, and wildlife photography. The show is hosted by Matt Payne, a professional full-time nature photographer and the co-founder of the internationally renowned photography competition, the Natural Landscape Photography Awards. Matt is also a mountaineer, climbing the highest 100 mountains in Colorado. Matt leverages skills he gained in pursuit of his Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology to dig deeply into the hearts and minds of his passionate guests, revealing secrets and inspiration in every episode.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jan 8, 2020 • 1h 11min
142: A Panel Discussion on Landscape Photography Education And Creativity
Welcome to Episode 142 of the F-Stop Collaborate and Listen podcast. This week's episode is a special one! I assembled a cadre of some of the most well-respected landscape photographers in North America (our UK and Australian guests could not make it, unfortunately) for a discussion on photography education and creativity. This particular conversation really got me thinking and is full of interesting perspectives that will hopefully cause anyone listening to pause and think about their own photography. For this episode, I invited Guy Tal, Suzanne Mathia, Sean Bagshaw, David Cobb, and Alex Noriega.Thanks to listener and former guest, Len Metcalf for the idea of this week's podcast!
Our incredible panel shared their thoughts on a wide variety of topics this week, including:
Thoughts on the current philosophies of teaching photography.
How current teaching approaches encourage or discourage creativity in photography.
What do workshop customers demand and expect from their teachers.
Defining and measuring creativity.
and a lot more...
Being the awesome guy that he is (hehe), Guy Tal is offering 10% off any order through 2020 on his website using the code FSTOP10 and he is also offering $50 off any workshop offering in 2020 or 2021 - just use the code FSTOP50 by the end of 2020.
Be sure to check out the full liner notes for great photos from our guests!
Also, here are some links to topics discussed on the podcast:
The Creativity Crisis
Desirable difficulties in learning
Box experiment
Guy Tal's article on photography education pedagogy
NPN 2019 Editor's picks
NPN Ask Me Anything / AMA
Donate to the Landscape Conservation Award
Secrets from the stars - Kickstarter Campaign
Please consider supporting the podcast on Patreon! There's a ton of bonus content over there for subscribers!

Jan 1, 2020 • 1h 18min
141: Luka Esenko - Slovenia & Responsible Photo Location Sharing on PhotoHound
Welcome to Episode 141 of the F-Stop Collaborate and Listen podcast. This week's episode features a landscape photographer and software developer from Slovenia, Luka Esenko. Luka is the creator of the new photo location app, PhotoHound. Luka also runs photography workshops in Slovenia and you can learn more about those here.
Luka and I covered some fun topics this week, including:
Luka's upbringing as the son of a published naturalist and the influence of that on his photography.
Stories about photographers and the positive impact they are having.
Differences between European photography locations and U.S. locations.
How to responsibility share photo locations using PhotoHound.
Leading tours in Europe and the changes Luka has seen there over the past decade.
and a lot more...
I wanted to let you know about an exciting online course being offered by my friend and former podcast guest, Shane McDermott. You might remember Shane from episode 108 where he shared his thoughts on "visual centricity," "awareness," and "constant creative flow" and how this approach to photography can change how you interact with the natural world through your photographs. Shane has created a 6-week online course all about post-processing your images in a way that ensures the final result reflects your actual experience in the field. Shane calls the course, "Transforming your Passion into Pixels - The Art of Enlightened Image Editing." In his course, Shane talks about how you can take creative control, learn to make the look and feel of every finished image as unique and vibrant as the moment you captured it.
As an exclusive offer to podcast listeners, if you register in the next week, you will receive a 25% off this 6-week online course. Use the code FStop25 at the time of purchase to receive your discount.
Please consider supporting the podcast on Patreon! There's a ton of bonus content over there for subscribers!
Here are the photographers Luka recommended for the podcast:
1. Guy Edwardes: https://www.guyedwardes.com/
2. Jeremy Woodhouse: https://www.pixelchrome.com/

Dec 24, 2019 • 1h 10min
Jonathan Tilley - Personal Branding for Landscape Photographers
Welcome to Episode 140 of the F-Stop Collaborate and Listen podcast. This week's episode features a "personal brand strategist" - Jonathan Tilley. Jonathan works with individuals to create customized branding and marketing strategies for their business, whether it be actors, photographers, artists, or small businesses. He helps with web design, web copy, and has proven real world strategies to get you in front of the clients you want to do business with.
Jonathan and I covered some fun topics this week, including:
Personal branding for creative people.
How to feel 100% like you online.
Authentic marketing - how to market without looking like a spam bot.
How to build your brand on Instagram one day at a time.
Practical tips for photographers looking to
Sell workshops.
Sell prints.
Land big clients.
and a lot more...
Over on Patreon this week, Jonathan shares all of his secrets for successful e-mail marketing and list building. Jonanthan offers a really awesome service on his other website called League of List Builders. There are some incredibly powerful tips in that bonus episode if you plan on doing any targeted marking whatsoever for your photography so I highly recommend you head over to Patreon, sign-up, and listen.
As mentioned on the podcast, listeners of the podcast are also entitled to a 60-day trial on Nature Photographer's Network, the internet's premier community for landscape and nature photographers.
Head to our full liner notes to learn a lot more!

Dec 18, 2019 • 1h 15min
Jeff Bartlett - Adventure Photography in the Canadian Rockies
Welcome to Episode 139 of the F-Stop Collaborate and Listen podcast. This week's episode features an adventure and landscape photographer living in Canmore, Alberta near Banff National Park, Jeff Bartlett.
Jeff and I covered some fun topics this week, including:
What exactly is adventure photography?
Authenticity in photography.
Minimizing our impact on nature.
Shooting what you love.
Why do you take photographs?
and a lot more...
Over on Patreon this week, Jeff and I talk about his relationship with the Instagram platform.
Also, I wanted to let you know about an exciting online course being offered by my friend and former podcast guest, Shane McDermott. You might remember Shane from episode 108 where he shared his thoughts on "visual centricity," "awareness," and "constant creative flow" and how this approach to photography can change how you interact with the natural world through your photographs. Shane has created a 6-week online course all about post-processing your images in a way that ensures the final result reflects your actual experience in the field. Shane calls the course, "Transforming your Passion into Pixels - The Art of Enlightened Image Editing." In his course, Shane talks about how you can take creative control, learn to make the look and feel of every finished image as unique and vibrant as the moment you captured it.
As an exclusive offer to podcast listeners, if you register in the next 72 hours, you will receive a 25% off this 6-week online course. Use the code FStop25 at the time of purchase to receive your discount.
Please consider supporting the podcast on Patreon! There's a ton of bonus content over there for subscribers!
Here is who Jeff recommended for the podcast:
1. Jack Fusco.
2. John Marriott.
3. Sarah Lindsey.

Dec 11, 2019 • 58min
Maria Grace - Search Engine Optimization for Landscape Photography
Welcome to Episode 138 of the F-Stop Collaborate and Listen podcast. This week's episode features a former photographer turned SEO and Marketing expert, Maria Grace.
Maria and I had a wonderful conversation and explored several interesting topics this week, including:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Keyword research.
Image re-sizing and re-naming.
Google Analytics.
Blogging and SEO.
Guest bloggers.
SEO services.
SEO tools, such as Moz, and Maria's free guide to Google.
and a lot more...
Over on Patreon this week, Maria gives us tons of tips on how to succeed over on Instagram. There's lots of useful nuggets there!
For the full liner notes, head over to my website.

Dec 4, 2019 • 1h 46min
Paul Reiffer - Phase One, Instawrecking, and Landscape Photography Icons
Welcome to Episode 137 of the F-Stop Collaborate and Listen podcast. This week's episode features a landscape photographer from the United Kingdom, Paul Reiffer. Paul uses Phase One digital backs as his camera of choice and produces some absolutely stunning work. I was first drawn to Paul through a blog post he wrote this summer entitled "Photographers, Instagrammers - Stop Being So Damn Selfish and Disrespectful."
Paul and I had a wonderful conversation and explored several interesting topics this week, including:
Why and how Paul got into photographing with Phase One medium format cameras.
Paul's journey into photography from the corporate world.
His article on how photographers are trashing locations; Nature First Photography.
Social comparison theory.
Why Paul takes photos and his take on compositing.
Paul's take on iconic locations.
and a lot more...
Over on Patreon this week, Paul explains why he uses Capture One as his RAW editor of choice.
Please consider supporting the podcast on Patreon! There's a ton of bonus content over there for subscribers!
For the full liner notes - head on over to my blog.

Nov 27, 2019 • 1h 1min
Carl van den Boom - Winter Landscape Photography
Welcome to Episode 136 of the F-Stop Collaborate and Listen podcast. This week's episode features a photographer who created a niche product designed for winter photographers - the founder and owner of Vallerret Photography Gloves, Carl van den Boom.
Carl and I had a wonderful conversation and explored several interesting topics this week, including:
What Carl loves about winter photography.
Starting a photography business, including:
How to start
Picking a niche
Standing out
Finding clients
Challenges
Over on Patreon this week, Carl answers the question - "should you start a photography business?"
For the full liner notes with links to so many awesome things - check out this link.

Nov 20, 2019 • 1h 1min
Mandy Lea - The Truth Behind Travel Photography
Welcome to Episode 135 of the F-Stop Collaborate and Listen podcast. This week's episode features a photographer who has been travelling North American in a teardrop trailer for the past 3.5 years - Mandy Lea.
Mandy and I had a wonderful conversation and explored several interesting topics this week, including:
How Mandy started on her journey to travel the continent in her teardrop trailer.
Her epic trip from the northern-most point of Alaska to the southern-most point of Mexico.
What life is really like on the road.
How social media has glamorized the travel lifestyle.
Her quest to climb 14 Colorado 14ers in 14 days.
Her YouTube channel.
and a lot more.
Over on Patreon this week, Mandy talks all about how her strategy for monetization of her travel photography lifestyle.
For the full liner notes, head on over to my blog.

Nov 13, 2019 • 1h 35min
Michael Frye - In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters
Welcome to Episode 134 of the F-Stop Collaborate and Listen podcast. This week's episode features a nature and landscape photographer from Mariposa, California near Yosemite National Park - Michael Frye! Michael is the author and/or principal photographer of five books, including Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters; The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite; and three books in the Yosemite Meditations series. He's also written three e-books, including Exposure for Outdoor Photography, and Landscapes in Lightroom 5: The Essential Step-by-Step Guide.
Michael and I had a wonderful conversation and explored several interesting topics this week, including:
His early career as a photographer.
Photographers that influenced his work and whether or not having photographers that influence our work is beneficial or not.
The pros and cons of photographing the same places over and over again.
Things that get in the way of creativity and how to avoid them.
Creating depth in your landscape photography.
and a lot more.
Over on Patreon this week, Michael and I talk all about his use of Lightroom as his primary editing platform and how he processes images for feeling.
Be sure to join in on the conversation about each podcast episode over on Nature Photographer's Network. Not only is NPN the best place to get critiques on your landscape and nature photography, it is also home to some of most informative, thought-provoking, and inspiring articles on landscape photography I've found. I highly recommend you become a member today.
Women photographers - I want to tell you about another one of our Patreon supporters, Dani Lefrancois, the amazing photographer behind Banff Photo Workshops & Tours in the beautiful Canadian Rockies. Dani is hosting a Women's Winter Adventure workshop in January that I think sounds like a lot of fun. This Women's Adventure is a 5-day, 5-night workshop based primarily in Banff National Park. Sounds amazing to me. To learn more about it - head to www.banffphotoworkshops.com/women-series
Please consider supporting the podcast on Patreon! There's a ton of bonus content over there for subscribers!
Also, check out the full liner notes!

Nov 6, 2019 • 1h 6min
Dylan Fox - Western Australia Landscape Photography
Welcome to Episode 133 of the F-Stop Collaborate and Listen podcast. This week's episode features a nature and landscape photographer from Western Australia - Dylan Fox. Dylan is the 2018 Australian Geographic Landscape Photographer of the Year.
Dylan and I explored several interesting topics this week, including:
How he got into photography.
Gathering inspiration from other art forms.
Doing what you want vs. seeking approval from others.
How to get inspired by other photographers without copying them.
How to respond to unsolicited critique.
His motivation as a photographer.
and a lot more.
Over on Patreon this week, Dylan and I talk for an extra 30+ minutes about how to get started in drone photography, using tripods (or not), New Zealand, and a lot more!
Be sure to join in on the conversation about each podcast episode over on Nature Photographer's Network. Not only is NPN the best place to get critiques on your landscape and nature photography, it is also home to some of most informative, thought-provoking, and inspiring articles on landscape photography I've found. I highly recommend you become a member today.
One last announcement - I really need your help picking the winner of our inaugural Landscape Conservation Award. We are still accepting nominations until December 31. If you're interested in helping, please send me a note!
Please consider supporting the podcast on Patreon! There's a ton of bonus content over there for subscribers!
Here are the photographers that Dylan recommended for the podcast:
1. Ricardo Da Cunha.
2. Tania Malkin.
For the full liner notes and to see Dylan's work - see this link.


