The Image Salon Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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.

www.phaito.com

Music and Sound Production by Philip Creamer

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.

www.phaito.com

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.

www.imagesalon.com

Music and Sound Production by Philip Creamer

This conversation was recorded in September 2020.

Mandee is a Photographer and a Producer of comedy, who recently released her first photo book - Super Serious: An Oral History of Los Angeles Independent Stand-up comedy www.mandeejohnson.com

Image Salon is a Montreal-based photography & retouching studio. Your high touch creative partner. Outsource without compromise. www.imagesalon.com

Music and Sound Production by Philip Creamer

This conversation was recorded on Nov 18, 2020.

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

This conversation was recorded on Nov 24, 2020. Oli will be speaking at Conference + Chill on Dec 13, 2020 www.olisansom.com www.conferenceandchill.com

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

www.imagesalon.com

Music and Sound Production by Philip Creamer

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.

Imagesalon.com Music and Sound Production by Philip Creamer

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.

---

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

Music and Sound Production by Philip Creamer

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.

imagesalon.com

 Music and Sound Production by Philip Creamer

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."

If I can spend less time at the computer doing my post-process work, then I can spend more time making sure that I get more bookings - 36:50 "I think I sort of realized that, if I can spend less time at the computer doing my post-process work, that'd be blogging or selecting my images or whatever, then I can spend more time making sure that I get more bookings, or shooting more, or just doing other stuff that I want to be doing." --- Image Salon is a Montreal-based photography & retouching studio. Your hight touch creative partner. Outsource without compromise. imagesalon.com Music and Sound Production by Philip Creamer

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.

imagesalon.com

 Music and Sound Production by Philip Creamer