The Beginner Photography Podcast

#135 Today's guest is Rachel Brenke, a licensed attorney in Virginia and Texas focusing on small business law including contracts, business formation and intellectual property such as copyright and trademarks. She is also the face behind The Law Tog which is the only dedicated legal resource for photographers. I can not wait to get into todays interview With Rachel BrenkeIn This Episode You'll Learn:How Rachel got started with Law and photographyWhat is a photography contractWhere to get a free portrait photography contractWhen do you need to an LLCDo children need to sign a model releaseWhat needs to be on a photography contract for minorsCurrent laws about shooting street photography and selling photosWhen is it legal to start charging moneyWhen does photography change from a hobby to a businessThe most common legal issues photographers faceHow to make a photography contractWhat a wedding photography contract should includeWhy a photography contract and model release should be two separate documentsThe benefits of being a legal entityWhat to do if someone steals the photos off your websiteWho needs to sign a wedding contract if parents payCan you cancel your contract if are in unsafe working conditionsResources:The Law Tog Website.Download the free portrait photography contractGrab your free 52 Lightroom Presets athttp://freephotographypresets.com/Connect with Raymond! Go from Confused to Confident behind the camera with The Ultimate Photography Education Bundle - https://beginnerphotopod.com/bundle Join the free Beginner Photography Podcast Community at https://beginnerphotopod.com/group Grab your free camera setting cheatsheet - https://perfectcamerasettings.com/ Thanks for listening & keep shooting!

#134 Dealing with imposters syndrome is no joke. It can hold you back for years. But how do you know if you are dealing with Imposter syndrome or just a case of beginners nerves? In todays episode you will find out!Grab your free 52 Lightroom Presets athttp://freephotographypresets.com/Connect with Raymond! Go from Confused to Confident behind the camera with The Ultimate Photography Education Bundle - https://beginnerphotopod.com/bundle Join the free Beginner Photography Podcast Community at https://beginnerphotopod.com/group Grab your free camera setting cheatsheet - https://perfectcamerasettings.com/ Thanks for listening & keep shooting!

#133 Today's guest is Valerie Jardin. World Renowned Street photographer with more than 20 years of experience. A born artist, her bio says "while other kids had posters of rockstars on their walls, I had framed photos from my favorite photographers" She is also the host of the popular "Hit The Streets" Podcast, Today I'm excited to find out what those 20 years have taught her about shooting the streets.In This Episode You'll Learn:How Valerie got her start in Street photographyWhy Street photography is Black and WhiteThe hardest aspect of street photography to learnWhat the job of a street photographer isWhy shoot street photographyHow to study and learn street photographythe must have gear for street photographersIs Street photography legalThe most important piece of gear a street photographer can haveWhat lens for street photographyWhen to call it quits at a locationHow to build photographic intentHow to market street photographyHow to sell street photographyHow to make money with street photographyResources:Valerie Jardin’s WebsiteValerie Jardin on FacebookValerie Jardin on InstagramGrab your free 52 Lightroom Presets athttp://freephotographypresets.com/Connect with Raymond! Go from Confused to Confident behind the camera with The Ultimate Photography Education Bundle - https://beginnerphotopod.com/bundle Join the free Beginner Photography Podcast Community at https://beginnerphotopod.com/group Grab your free camera setting cheatsheet - https://perfectcamerasettings.com/ Thanks for listening & keep shooting!

#132 Today's return guest is Corey Potter. The Best SEO Specialist for Photographers. Focusing on helping photographers understand search engine optimization and proving an incredible amount of help Corey is here to day to talk about mistakes photographer make when blogging and expert SEO tips for your photography website.In This Episode You'll Learn:Which photography website builder to use and whyWhy have a photography websiteWhy blogging is so importantWhat to blog if you don’t have any recent shootsWhat is cornerstone content and why it is critical to googleWhat google wants to see from a photography websiteWhat to put on a photography websiteThe hardest thing for beginners to understand about SEOHow to SEO Photography WebsiteHow to promote your photography websiteHow often to blogWhy blogging frequently could be bad for your google rankingWhat to do with your content after you hit publishHow to use Keyword Research to discover what topics to talk aboutThe one blog every photographer needs to have on their websiteResources:Corey’s Photography SEO Services Website, Fuel Your PhotosFuel Your Photos Facebook GroupGrab your free 52 Lightroom Presets athttp://freephotographypresets.com/Connect with Raymond! Go from Confused to Confident behind the camera with The Ultimate Photography Education Bundle - https://beginnerphotopod.com/bundle Join the free Beginner Photography Podcast Community at https://beginnerphotopod.com/group Grab your free camera setting cheatsheet - https://perfectcamerasettings.com/ Thanks for listening & keep shooting!

#131 Today's Guest is Alison Winterroth. A Tampa Florida newborn, maternity, and family photographer. She’s a self-proclaimed Baby Whisperer who loves to photograph the newest and tiniest human to help preserve the hectic time of life having a child is. Today I'm excited to talk to her about getting started working with newborns! In This Episode You'll Learn:The hardest aspect of photography for Alison to learnWhat the job description of a newborn photographer isWhy Newborn photography is importantHow to convey the power of newborn photography to potential clientsHow Alison got her first clients and how it wentHow to practice newborn PhotographySigns of an amateur newborn photographerWhat gear you need for newborn photographyWhat lens to use for newborn photographyThe importance of knowing how to lightBad info thats commonly taught to new photographersWhat Alison would do differently if she had to start all over againHow to attract new newborn clients when the opportunity to photograph them is so shortWhen to take newborn photographyHow to start a newborn photography businessHow to know when is the right time to open a studioHow to keep business coming after you have opened a studioAlison's best tips for editing newborn skin in photosResources:Tampa Newborn Photographer Alison Winterroth’s WebsiteAlison Winterroth’s InstagramAlison Winterroth’s FacebookPortraiture plug inGrab your free 52 Lightroom Presets athttp://freephotographypresets.com/Connect with Raymond! Go from Confused to Confident behind the camera with The Ultimate Photography Education Bundle - https://beginnerphotopod.com/bundle Join the free Beginner Photography Podcast Community at https://beginnerphotopod.com/group Grab your free camera setting cheatsheet - https://perfectcamerasettings.com/ Thanks for listening & keep shooting!

#130 Today's guest is Chris Mar-quart. A photographer, author, and host of the Future of photography podcast. What better time to talk about the future of photography than the start of a new year? In This Episode You'll Learn:A brief history of photographyWhy we humans cant be happy with the camera technology we have todayWhat misconceptions people think about the future of photographyWhat specifications would be in the perfect camera for Chris MarquardtThe worst thing Chris hears being taught to new photographersThe best investment Chris has made in his photographyWhat advice Chris would give to himself if he was just starting outIs post production a thing of the pastWhat is the allure of photography and how technology pushes itWhat current technology will explode in popularity in the coming yearsWhy we will still need competent photographers in the futureResources:Chris Marquardt WebsiteThe Future of Photography PodcastChris Marquardt Photography booksChris Marquardt Photography ToursGrab your free 52 Lightroom Presets athttp://freephotographypresets.com/Connect with Raymond! Go from Confused to Confident behind the camera with The Ultimate Photography Education Bundle - https://beginnerphotopod.com/bundle Join the free Beginner Photography Podcast Community at https://beginnerphotopod.com/group Grab your free camera setting cheatsheet - https://perfectcamerasettings.com/ Thanks for listening & keep shooting!

#129 For all of December I like to do these personal episode where I talk about things I learned throughout the year or things I think could help you in the new year and as usual I had a blast. But this is the last episode of 2018 so next week we will be back to our regularly scheduled interviews. Which I’m sure is welcome news to those sick of listening to my voice.The end of the year is a perfect time to reflect on the past year and look to the future. Last year I made a list of 5 way to jump start your photography in 2018. And although I called it a jumpstart, I felt like the tips were more foundational.Last year I suggested toShare your photosExperiment moreBe the dumbest person in the roomDon’t buy any new gearAnd print your photos. all this last year I think I did really well with this list.Share your photosThe idea here is that you’re a photographer, you should be taking and sharing photos. But I think I took less personal photos this year than most. I started using an app called 1 second a day which is short 1 second video clips which you can compile into a month long chunks and then year long videos too. I love it. But I realized too late that I really don’t have to put in a ton of effort making the videos great. I use it to document my kids and just hearing their voices from a year ago has been a crazy progression. I don’t have to worry too much about lighting and composition and making it an event to get the 1 second because then its kinda fake. I should spend that energy in 2019 to create more family photos.Experiment moreI did do a lot of experimenting this year. From video with a GoPro on top of my camera, to trying out new lighting techniques, and even with the core of my business. In this area I really excelled this year and will not be stopping in 2019Be the dumbest person in the roomAt the beginning of the year I was in a mastermind group with some other photographer and it was doing great things for my business and just having some support. It fell apart and through the chaos of the summer just kept myself busy. Once weddings slowed down I was asked to join a 1 day in person mastermind with business owners of other fields (fitness, automotive, real estate, copy editing) and I even though they didn’t have any knowledge of photography the had practical tips for my problems and I felt like I had some helpful tips for their problems. It really ignited an excitement in me and I will be putting more value to that in 2019.Don’t buy any new gearI aced this. I didn’t buy any new gear in 2019 except for like batteries or expendables. Pens, memory cards, I had to replace a flash. But no new cameras (well except a GoPro that I bought for our trip to Iceland which was so worth it). I really fell like I became much better acquainted with the abilities of my camera and lenses by being forced to stick with them. I wanted to upgrade to an xt3 but I didn’t. I wanted to get a 70-200 but I didn’t. I made what I had, work. My bank account thanked me too as I was able to bring home more money because of it.Print your photosI printed more photos. Thanks to Grab your free 52 Lightroom Presets athttp://freephotographypresets.com/Connect with Raymond! Go from Confused to Confident behind the camera with The Ultimate Photography Education Bundle - https://beginnerphotopod.com/bundle Join the free Beginner Photography Podcast Community at https://beginnerphotopod.com/group Grab your free camera setting cheatsheet - https://perfectcamerasettings.com/ Thanks for listening & keep shooting!

#128 The overarching theme this month is obviously winter. The extra time we have from not shooting out in 4 feet of snow. Now maybe you are out shooting in 4ft of snow. That’s awesome and you’re stronger than me for sure.But if you’re not shooting in 4ft of snow (like me) I don’t want you to get lazy or think that you cant do anything photography related for a whole season.If you have been listening for the past 2 weeks you will know that winter is an opportunity. And I want to help you take advantage of it!So I made a little list of things you should take care of this winter to better set yourself up for success this in 2019.1: Your Social MediaI know, I can hear the collective groans from you all.But it's not as in YOU HAVE TO DO IT to be a photographer. if photography is just a hobby and you don’t share your photos you don’t have to have a FB or instagram but there are a lot of photographers out there listening right now who use both, and they do it poorly. This tip is for them.I remember when I first made my FB and insta I didn’t post a lot. I thought I could I only post new content. I could never post the same photo twice. That’s just not the case. There are no instagram cops who will close your account if you post the same photo twice. Dont do it in a row of course but if you post the same photo once a month, no one will care as they will have forgot about it from the last time you posted it.Most photographers also forget that Social media is suppose to be social. It’s not an online classified ad. Too many photographers go on and just post sales and promotions.No one wants to ONLY be sold to. Make social media social. Tell the story of how you took a photo. Why you love shooting what you do. Ask questions. Have polls. A or B? That sort of stuff. Entertain your audience.Your photos don’t speak a thousand words and they don’t need to. People are so use to aimless scrolling, give them a reason to stop. Give them a reason to interact with your posts.the life of a photo is like 6 mins on instagram. You should be posting your work a minimum of once a day. “But I don’t have time for that!”I get it social is addicting and time consuming. I cant tell you how many times Ive needed to get on FB or Instagram to check something specific like an ad and then 20 mins later forgot why I was on there. That’s why I schedule out all of my social media. So that I don’t fall behind getting lost watching everyones stories and what not. And I can also strategically curate my brand through my captions.I use a program called Planoy which lets me schedule out my instagram posts for a whole month for free. It’s integral to sharing my message without getting too distracted and start scrolling. And if you have a Facebook business page you have the ability schedule your posts built it!2: OrganizationNext thing to work on is Organization. This can be so much more than just the photos on your computer which are everywhere and in random folders names "Untitled Folder 7" But lets talk about photos first.Use a dedicated hard drive just for work files. A Grab your free 52 Lightroom Presets athttp://freephotographypresets.com/Connect with Raymond! Go from Confused to Confident behind the camera with The Ultimate Photography Education Bundle - https://beginnerphotopod.com/bundle Join the free Beginner Photography Podcast Community at https://beginnerphotopod.com/group Grab your free camera setting cheatsheet - https://perfectcamerasettings.com/ Thanks for listening & keep shooting!

#127 I'm looking out my window right now and its snowing. It’s 27degrees. This isn’t prime time for weddings. The winter months offer a lot more time freedom for wedding photographers than the warm summer months. These winter months although you may not be shooting as much as you were when you could walk out the front door with your camera at a moments notice, can still prove to be a time of growth for the next year. I honestly love this time of year as a photographer. Too many times you go out to shoot with high expectations that this is going to be the day that you take the best shot of your life but quickly fall upon the same ole routine without even noticing you’re doing it. After a while, your photos start to feel stale and boring, and slowly you stagnate and lose that passion you once had for photography. Well luckily winter is here to help!Since we are inside for winter, we have the perfect opportunity for reflection. Reflect on the previous year. You should be using some sort of photo organizational tool. For some its Lightroom or apple photos or google photos, whatever you use to store and organize your photos take a day, a whole day to go through the photos you have taken over the year and try to find patterns. Maybe you framed things a certain way, maybe you like the moodiness of a good underexposed photo, maybe you stuck with a telephoto lens for most of the year.Once you recognize patterns you can easily make changes to achieve what you want. Look at your photo and try to figure out what worked. What photos do you love? Try to figure out why. look at some of your favorites from other photographers. Figure out why you love those photos. What could you do to close the gap between their photos and yours?What do you shoot? Do you shoot portraits? Family portraits? Focus on interacting with children. Look online for some family photographer groups and ask what works for them when connecting with kids or getting them to laugh.Wedding photographer? Maybe you’re happy with your posing but wish your reception shots were better, specifically the dancing photos, more specifically, getting focus in the near pitch black reception. Search youtube for tips and make a youtube watchlist.Narrow down what you want to work on so you know if you are getting better. If you just want to get better at "photography" it won't work.When you laser focus on what you want to get better at, it makes it easier to learn and practice.What are you going to focus on this winter? For me, last year I focused on adding more emotion in my photos by making sessions more fun, it worked, now this year I will continue my quest towards more emotive photos by getting closer. Both with a tighter lens and by physically getting closer.This year Im sure I will pick up a 70-200 which for a long time I felt was only for the ceremony now I want to use it for portraits too.What are you going to work on this year? I want to know! Share it in the BPP FB group. Keep everyone accountable.Connect with Raymond! Go from Confused to Confident behind the camera with The Ultimate Photography Education Bundle - https://beginnerphotopod.com/bundle Join the free Beginner Photography Podcast Community at https://beginnerphotopod.com/group Grab your free camera setting cheatsheet - https://perfectcamerasettings.com/ Thanks for listening & keep shooting!

#126 It's winter! Here in the states its getting cold, we are doing less sessions, taking less photos. Perfect time to reflect on the past year figure out what worked best, what didn't work so you can do more of the stuff that worked at future sessions.My biggest lessons I learned this year were....Don't assume what people can pay for your work. - kinda business-y. We assume that since photography is a "luxury" the people who can truly afford is must be well off. Upper middle class. But this year I found that a couples economic status does not mean they will value your work any more or less than someone with lower economic status. I had a couple this year who seemed perfect! A Dr and a Lawyer, came from a history of past professional family members, super nice and thoughtful, getting married at a beautiful venue, had one of the cities top planners to make sure everything was just as they wanted it, but they were just hiring a wedding photographer because they knew they needed a wedding photographer at their wedding. The booked my base package and just went that into it on the day. Again super nice couple, I truly enjoyed my time but their personal value of photography was low.And just few weeks later I shot a wedding where the bride told me at our meeting that her photo budget was less than half of my base package but she was going to "make it work somehow" because she loved my photos and could see herself in every one of the images on my website. she booked my middle package which is almost $1000 more than my base package and they were totally involved in the photography. So don't just assume when you get that email or FB stalk them. Give everyone the best experience possible. The power of the long lens. Ive always be drawn in towards ultra wides but I felt I couldn't get the same amount of context that I loved so much. So I started using a longer lens a bit more at the beginning of the year and this year have fell in love with it. I start the day with it now. Ive said this forever but Photos just have so much more emotion when you can get close to people! Whatever emotion they are going through is dialed up an extra notch.Its ok to take the same shots as everyone else. When I graduated from film school I had this huge invisible weight on me that I should be able to create something really unique and at the drop of a hat. But that is just not me. Some people can do it but even then it comes from a lot of practice. Its ok to walk in and get the "easy shots" if anything it will help you be MORE creative. When you allow yourself to get the easy shot first, its easier for your brain to be on the look out for more creative shots. If you tell yourself you have to get the most creative shot ever, right away, your brain will blow a fuse.Lastly that photography is a really bad business model. At first you think about how cool it would be to make $100 in an hour at a session to do something you love! Then when you have to make the business legal and file taxes you realize you can't survive charging $100 per session. You do the math and figure you would have to shoot 1000 sessions per year just to make what your day job pays. Thats almost Grab your free 52 Lightroom Presets athttp://freephotographypresets.com/Connect with Raymond! Go from Confused to Confident behind the camera with The Ultimate Photography Education Bundle - https://beginnerphotopod.com/bundle Join the free Beginner Photography Podcast Community at https://beginnerphotopod.com/group Grab your free camera setting cheatsheet - https://perfectcamerasettings.com/ Thanks for listening & keep shooting!