The Image Salon Podcast

Just as Davina and Daniel were preparing to embark on to the next new phase of their life, we were able to come together for a free-flowing chat.  Discussing their career as wedding photographers, what the craft means to them now, and the new life they were beginning to form.

This episode of The Image Salon Podcast is presented by PHAiTO. Ai photo editing for Lightroom. It's time to imagine a new kind of workflow. Get started with a 500 free image trial.

Lucy Alexandra McLachlan is a UK-based Music & EVents photographer. Her work has been featured in a number of music publications. In this episode, Lucy shares what it has been getting back to shooting after lockdown restrictions and how she goes about capturing the raw excitement of live music.

This episode of The Image Salon Podcast is presented by PHAiTO. Ai photo editing for Lightroom. It's time to imagine a new kind of workflow. Get started with a 500 free image trial.

Lauren Merrell is a published editorial and commercial photographer. In this episode, we spoke to Lauren as she was finishing production on her personal project -  Strength in Pride. Lauren shares her insights and what it takes to see a project through.

This episode of The Image Salon Podcast is presented by PHAiTO. Ai photo editing for Lightroom. It's time to imagine a new kind of workflow. Get started with a 500 free image trial.

Chris Garbacz is a wedding photographer as well as the CEO and Co-founder of Studio Ninja. In this episode, Chris opens up about what compelled him to build Studio Ninja. He also shares insights on how selective automation can allow photographers to be more human and present for their clients.

This episode of The Image Salon Podcast is presented by PHAiTO. Ai photo editing for Lightroom. It's time to imagine a new kind of workflow. Get started with a 500 free image trial.

Sabrina Gebhardt is a lifestyle photographer who captures the joyful chaos of families. This episode explores Sabrina's philosophy that planning ahead can set you free and help unleash your full creative potential.

Image Salon is a Montreal-based photography & retouching studio.

Your high-touch creative partner. Outsource without compromise.

George is a behind-the-scenes mover and shaker. An event organizer and producer who has been behind WPPI, Creative Live, and now Sue Bryce Education as well as the Portrait Masters.

Our interview with George was recorded back in September 2020 as the Portrait Masters Conference was pivoting into an online edition due to COVID restrictions. 

Image Salon is a Montreal-based photography & retouching studio.

Your high-touch creative partner. Outsource without compromise.

Wesley is a photographer and curator based in New York City and Amsterdam. His newsletter Process is a must-read. At the began of the pandemic Wesley found himself lockdown in a Vancouver suburb. Which spurred him to start taking daily photo walks. These walks slowly turned into his newly released photobook Notice.

Image Salon is a Montreal-based photography & retouching studio.

Your high-touch creative partner. Outsource without compromise.

Colie is a visual storyteller based in Boulder Colorado who documents the fleeting moments of family life through photography and video.

Joshua, along with his wife Anyeka, makes up the wedding photography studio Joshua Dwain Photography which is based out of New York.  

When the pandemic brought wedding bookings to a standstill, Joshua used the downturn as an opportunity to further explore his creative expression. Pushing his photography deep into portraits and editorial work.

www.joshuadwain.com

Image Salon is a Montreal-based photography & retouching studio.

Your high touch creative partner. Outsource without compromise.

Oli Sansom is a creative director and a picture maker. An artist through and through. 

Kirsten Lewis is one of the world's best documentary family photographers. A non-conformist who seeks to find her own way. This conversation was recorded in February 2020 at WPPI. Moments to listen for:

You're not getting to the picture fast enough because you're not willing to slow down.  - 15:53

“Shoot a lot. Keep practicing let your guard down. Don't be afraid that you're too close, or you're not good enough, or you're influencing the scene. Just be yourself within that moment and learn how to be a really good observer. I recently came up with this phrase that came out as I was working with a student, I think it not only applies to photography but to life. I said 'You're not getting to the picture fast enough because you're not willing to slow down', and I think in life, that's the case too, you're not getting to the answer fast enough because you're not willing to slow down.”

Picture making isn't always about pressing the shutter - 17:24

“Picture making isn't always about pressing the shutter. In fact, I think that's only 10% of being a good photographer. I think being a good photographer is being a good human being. It's being empathetic. It is being sensitive to situations. The best photographers are the ones that are able to take in every element of a scene and ask themselves what do I want to say about what's happening in front of me?” 

Be patient. Good wine takes a long time to age - 29:58

“Good wine takes a really long time to age. I feel the same way about life in general. You have to give yourself time to continue to mature and grow as a human being and your work as an artist. You have to give yourself grace and patience, that it's not going to happen overnight. Sure, you can learn all the technicals, but that doesn't make you a great storyteller. In my opinion, there are many out there that are beyond proficient in terms of execution and the crafting of a picture. But I'm not inspired by their work because they haven't exhibited patience in terms of actually becoming a photographer and thinking about what that means. In terms of injecting themselves in their work” ---

Image Salon is a Montreal-based photography & retouching studio. Your hight touch creative partner. Outsource without compromise.

Kim Hildebran is a Seattle family and Newborn photographer who shoots primarily with film. This conversation was recorded in March 2020 during the Click | Away photography conference.

Moments to listen for:

What is most true to you will make your business stronger - 13:26 

If you hone in on what you really, really love, and what you would really like to do and what is most true to you, that it makes your business stronger. I think a lot of photographers get really scared that they're going to lose a bunch of business if they get into a really specific niche, but it's actually the opposite, ironically. And it's scary, it is going to be scary.

Step away from the comparison game - 15:30

Definitely still working on it. And I have stepped away a bit from the comparison game, I think has helped me. Because I was it is about community over competition, but I think it is triggering for everybody to constantly be comparing their work with other people's. 

Shoot Film. Slow Down - 21:08 

I think just as people are looking for more face to face connection because we've been all about the technology, people are also looking towards slowing down. Getting out of this manic craziness of overshooting and everything else. And you know, maybe there's more burnout involved. But on the flip side, like there's this new film shop close to my house, and they've only been open a year and they already had to expand their they doubled their space. And every single time I go in there, there's a ton of this a whole younger generation Gen X is in there buying up all kinds of films. So it's not just my generation in the business right now. It's, it's like happening all over. And I attribute it to people wanting to you know, it's just like when vinyl started coming back, right? They're looking for something that is creative in a different sense. And something that helps them slow down and think about things a little bit differently.

---

Chanel is an Atlanta based photograph and UX Designer who encourages other artists to pursue their own creative path. This conversation was recorded in March 2020 during the Click | Away photography conference. Moments to listen for:

You need to recharge just like everything in life - 7:27 "Some people think you have to go go go,  but even the battery in your camera has to recharge. If your battery and your camera have to recharge, why do you think that you don't? You need to recharge just like everything in life. Everything goes through seasons. And I feel like we have to get more okay with saying this is the season of rest. This is the season where I need to sit back. This is a season for me to go. (...)  There are seasons and you just need to be okay with what season you're at and embrace it as much as possible."

Establish a morning routine - 9:57 "During that time, something that really helped me was establishing a morning routine (...)  I would wake up, I would make a cup of tea. I would stretch with this one song that really put me in a good space. I would read a Bible verse, I would journal I would write a positive affirmation, and then I would start my morning. It brought me so much peace during that time when things were so crazy."

You can do it bare bones - 21:40 "I don't want to shame anybody that has a lot of gear, because there's nothing wrong with that. It's just you don't need that to get started. Are there situations where you need more than a 50 mm? Of course.  I'm not gonna be at a concert with my 50, or a sports event (...) obviously but to get started and to learn the basics, I really feel like you can do that with the bare bones. And then as you get more specialized you might need more stuff." ---

Image Salon is a Montreal-based photography & retouching studio. Your hight touch creative partner. Outsource without compromise.

James Broadbent is the CEO and co-founder of Narrative, as well as one half of the photography duo Chasewild. This conversation was recorded in June 2020 as Narrative was prepping to launch Narrative Select. Moments to listen for:

You only book what you show - 8:59 “I mean, you've probably heard this before, but photographers will often say you only book what you show. So if you put yourself inside the head of a client who's reaching out to book photographer, the client isn't really objectively looking at your work and thinking how good of a photographer are you. They're really just looking at the photos and asking themselves,  Do I want my wedding, do I want my photoshoot to look like this? 

Which makes the content inside your images just as important as the photographic quality of what you've captured. 

So booking the kind of client that you want early on can be challenging because if you want couples who, like for us, were super adventurous, then you have to work out how to get that into portfolio without having any of that in there.”

 When you're always trying something you're always failing at something - 26:35 " I'm the kind of person who's always trying something. And when you're always trying something you're always failing at something. I think, a lot of people might try once or twice, with a new idea and then they fail and they feel quite rejected or demotivated."

Dave Moss is a business coach for creatives. This conversation was recorded on February 2020 at WPPI. Moments to listen for:

It's a practice to live in an emotionally available sort of way.  - 18:27 So easy to be like, it's, it's a practice to live in an emotionally available sort of way. Yeah, but also not just like, take on everybody shit all the time. Like, it's a very, very fine line, because a lot of people who are very emotional, you know, become very empathetic, and then they take on everybody else's crap. And it can become overwhelming.

The struggles are similar. The causes are what are different - 22:50 There are definitely similar struggles. And I mean, I think it's pretty obvious to say things like, you know, low self-worth, or lack of confidence, or imposter syndrome, like, those are things a lot of creative people struggle with. And so I see those come up. But often the causes are, what are different. 

Are you getting on the wrong bus - 34:34 Take a random Tuesday from five years from now, if everything were to go right in your life, and you were to have everything that you absolutely want. What does that Tuesday look like? From the moment you wake up until the moment you go to bed. Write as much detail as possible what art is on the walls. What do you eat for breakfast? Who do you see that day? How much do you work everything else like that, because it gives you a place to aim. You can then ask yourself, is it moving me closer or further away from that? Am I getting on the wrong bus, essentially. ---

Image Salon is a Montreal-based photography & retouching studio. Your hight touch creative partner. Outsource without compromise.

Bre Thurston is an award-winning photographer focused on capturing love stories.

Amina Mohamed is a photographer as well as the founder of Triple F Photo Tours and Cameras For Girls.

Triple F Photo Tours is a photo-tour company that showcases the beauty of Uganda while supporting Cameras For Girls - an organization that supplies woman studying journalism in Uganda with cameras and the knowledge on how to use them so that they can use photography as a tool to tell the stories that matter to them.

www.triplefphototours.ca

Moments to listen for:

Connect as a human - 19:42

Before I pick up my camera, I will always make eye contact and always ask for permission. I might not know the language because there are 54 different languages and 54 different tribes. I rely on my people in Uganda to ask for me 'can she take your picture.' and if it's a no, it's a no. Then I graciously thank them and walk away, right? More often than not they'll say 'yes, absolutely.' Because it's how you approach it, and how you have respect for them. Because life in our eyes is very different than in theirs. So I think that goes not just for Uganda, but anywhere you travel. It's that having respect for what you do as a photographer, versus how you portray them in the light they want to be portrayed.

Create a goal sheet - 41:46 

I just keep on looking at my goal sheet and the things that I outline and saying, Okay, this is where I want to be. I kind of visualize [...] what do I want it to look like? What are the steps that I'm going to have to do to get that visualization to come true? 

When you hit the wall, back off - 55:40

When you hit that back off, just leave it for a little while. Don't keep pushing down the door, because the more you push, the more resistance you're going to have. I think that's with anything. When I give it the space that it needs, it helps me to reset inside, reset my brain, reset my thoughts reset my momentum, and then when I go back at it, it's almost like the door was opened because I can see a different way through.

This podcast is brought to you by The Image Salon, a Montreal-based photography & retouching studio. Your hight touch creative partner. Outsource without compromise.

Stacey Krolow is Kamloops based photographer and the CEO and Founder of Pepper - Your Badass Business BFF Inc. Pepper will be hosting Conference + Chill, a worldwide virtual photo gathering, from July 29th - 31st 

Moments to listen for:

Perception is reality - 4:58 

"I think I would probably say, believing in yourself and believing in the work that you're doing and asking for what you deserve. And owning, owning that, and being confident in that. And perception is reality. so if people perceive you as confident, successful, you know what you're doing, you do good work. They're going to believe that is the truth and it is, but you can be a great photographer, amazing work, but you come across as maybe You're not confident, are you professional seems kind of wishy-washy on this, I'm going to perceive him as not as good. For so then that is the truth."

Go home and cry like a winner - 9:01

"My team is like go home and cry like a winner but they mean it in a good way. Cry like a winner because you're going to feel these things you're going to make mistakes you're going to have those doubts and it's okay you're allowed to feel those things and you are human like I'm not a robot, but that's also a part of the growth right? [...] There's going to be times where you feel like you're not showing up maybe as you want, but I think in just the very act of trying to show up as the person fully that you want to be you are doing it. You're getting there."

Know why you shoot - 16:23 

"I think knowing why you shoot in the first place. Why do you love photography in the first place? Do you and really understanding why you shoot the way you shoot?"

 Pretty good is not okay - 41:41

Megan is not your typical wedding photographer. Her work captures the raw, unscripted emotions of a wedding day. This conversation was recorded in January 2020 at Imaging USA.

Moments to listen for:

Going Viral Isn't the end-all to be all - 14:17 "You think you're gonna get all this notoriety because you're viral. At first, it's super cool. It's fun for a minute, but by the end of it, all I wanted was to go and take really cool photos for my couples. It doesn't matter. If you go viral or not, [what matters] is your content consistently good? Because you can take one really cool photo that pops off, but what are you doing the rest of the time?"

Set the client up for your vibe - 20:01  "I'm always wanting to meet [the clients] somewhere, we can just hang out because I'm very much a low key person, and I want them to know that. So if you're a type-A person, and you need a lot of hand-holding, I'm probably not the photographer for you. But I know a lot of amazing photographers who are, So I'm going to refer them to that. So right off the bat, I'm definitely setting them up in a low key situation where they're going to be able to know my vibe, and I'm going to bring a handful of albums, I'm going to bring some print products and we're just sitting there and chill and have a beer and just talk." 

At some point, you have to jump - 32:21 "At some point, you have to jump out of the plane and you have to go for it. You have to trust that chute gonna pull, and it's amazing when it does. [...] I knew I had a parachute. I knew it was gonna come out. I knew everything was gonna be fine. But he pops open that door and I looked down and he's like, time to jump. I'm like, No, nevermind. No, I'm fine. That's what I see people doing so often in the industry is like they have these opportunities if they'll just go after them. But they're like, Nah, I'll just wait. "

Olivia is a wedding photographer and the founder of Photo Fantastico, a prompt-based creative photo contest. This conversation was recorded February 2020 at WPPI

Moments to listen for: YOUR BRAIN DOESN'T NEED TO THINK OF ITS OWN STUFF, BECAUSE IT'S GETTING, FORCE-FED - 19:10 "Your poor brain wants to do what it does best, which is innovate and come up with new ideas and live to its full human potential. But when you're cramming it with content from other people, when you're cramming it with sound from every side, when you're cramming it with, screens and visual input all the time that's changing and busy. Your brain doesn't need to think of its own stuff, because it's getting, force-fed. And when it gets force-fed, it gets lazy."

FIND YOUR ACCOUNT-ABILLY-BUDDY - 25:10 "If you talk to your close friends and colleagues about feeling creatively stifled in your work, about how you shoot 30 weddings a year but never do anything creative. Ask them would you help me stay accountable to making one creative photo a week or a month or whatever, and put it in your schedule."

This conversation was recorded in January 2020 at the Friends Of Fearless Conference in Austin Texas. Hannah Farajpanahi is a photographer based out of Chicago and is the creative lead at All Hands and Hearts.

The Image Salon Podcast will be launching on March 18th.

Until then, here's another bonus episode. An in-depth interview with Sara Monika