Master Photography

Learn about Brian's big project involving roundabouts, his interest in showcasing his art and Brent wants to talk about respecting places we travel to for various types of photography.

Jeff and Brent share 4 tips to help photographers get the most out of photography conferences and workshops.

Brent and Connor talk about what they've been up to and all about some privacy issues surrounding the new RAISE platform that Canon is creating and we get into a bit of what the future of photography might look like as we discuss what the YN450 offers us now and potentially what this means for the future.

Quick Side Notes Before we get into our topic today we have two small things we don’t want to spend much time on but need to just do a little follow-up on at the top of the show. * Canon EOS RP Spec Reaction: As we thought we would, we had some listeners contact us about our reaction to the specs of the new Canon EOS RP full frame mirrorless camera.  Don’t want to go over any of it again here, go check out the previous episode to hear that, but wanted to say here that some took away from the episode that Nick and I seemed really happy that would could kind of tear down the RP and could have a negative reaction.  That somehow we had an inner excitement that Canon released something we didn’t like. Nothing could be further from the truth. I can’t speak for Nick but I think he would agree when I say I want to see Canon put out good cameras. I very much want to see Canon succeed, that would be the very best thing for me.  I am a very happy Canon shooter. The cameras I have are truly wonderful tools that I can use to make photos I am proud of, tools that enable me to realize my creative vision. No matter what camera you are using as you listen to this episode, get out there and shoot! It doesn’t really matter which camera you choose, anything you buy right now is going to be plenty of camera to do a whole lot of amazing work.* Improve Photography Questions* It has almost been a year now since our very good friend Jim Harmer was extremely generous and turned the podcast over to the 5 co-hosts who had been on many episodes with Jim for several years.  The podcast was called the Improve Photography podcast originally and it was something Jim created through a lot of hard work. Jim decided that he wanted to make a significant career shift and focus on something different and I will forever be grateful to him for taking a massive chance on me as a hobbyist photographer and mentoring me as a podcaster.  * All of that said, we get questions from long-time listeners about Jim’s websites and services and need to take a moment here to let you know that the only thing we took over from Jim was the podcast.  He still owns and operates those websites independently of our team running the Master Photography Podcast Network. We love Jim, he is a great friend, but we don’t have a business relationship any longer. Camera Features Saved a Shoot Brent, I want to talk about a couple of camera features that saved a shoot for me this week.  These are two features I haven’t used as much of until this week when they both became really important.  There is more to the story that we will get to at the end of the episode today, but to kind of outline why it is we did an episode reacting to the specs/features of the Canon RP full frame camera last week I wanted to talk about two features of the Canon 80D that saved my bacon at my last shoot. This was a portrait shoot for a couple and we were shooting in a pretty small room in a house.  It was the room for an infant, about 10 feet by 15 feet. There was a crib and a rocking chair and a diaper changing station in the room that we had to move around to get a small bench into the room for the couple to sit on.  After we got things kind of situated I setup my Canon 80D on a tripod using my Tamron 24-70 lens, putting the focal length at 24mm to get as wide as I could in the tight quarters and I still had to put the camera and tripod all the way up against the wall of the room which means I couldn’t be behind the camera.  Fortunately the Canon 80D has a fully articulating touch LCD screen. So that is the first feature that saved the sho...

Today we are going to talk a little more about mirrorless cameras.  Nick, we had you on a little bit ago to talk about the Nikon Z and Canon R cameras that were announced and released late in 2018.  I don’t know about you, but I took plenty of heat from that episode. In prepping for it I sourced a few of the technical specs from some sources that had been pretty solid previously and a few of them turned out to not be quite right.  Plus, I heard it from the fanboys out there for both brands. They are sooooo loyal to their brands that they could be stealing candy from babies or robbing banks and they would be in favor of it! Nick, I thought I should have you back to talk about the new Canon EOS RP camera that was announced here in early 2019 because I wanted a buddy to be in the quicksand with me!  So thanks for agreeing to join me! Before we dive into the specs of the RP, I want to talk about brand loyalty. Camera Brand Loyalty We have talked about brand loyalty on the podcast before.  I am AMAZED at how much brand loyalty there is for cameras.  There has to be some kind of psychology that explains this phenomenon that I have seen up close very regularly.  If there is someone trained in that area that could help me make sense of this kind of absurd loyalty to a camera brand, drop me a line because I would love to have you come on the show and talk about it.  It is insane to me. It doesn’t make sense. We have talked on the show before about brand loyalty, or at least how we are all “victims” of marketing at the very least.  There are ads in everything these days, and yes I realize the irony that I am saying this on a podcast episode supported by ads – thank you Squarespace for sponsoring this episode!  Still, I want to talk about how marketing leads to brand loyalty. Nick, do you feel like you have loyalty to a particular brand of anything?  I am not talking about being sponsored by a brand, that is something I think is a little different.  I am talking about being so enamored with a brand that if you are truly honest with yourself you might be a little blinded by it?  Doesn’t have to be camera gear, but it would make this part of the episode more interesting if it was. Nick: Honestly, the bigger the company, the less likely I am to feel brand loyalty.  In my experience the smaller companies out there, always have better customer service, and tend to just care more about the customers.  When it comes to camera brands, or lens brands, those are large companies I dont feel and loyalty to at all, but some of the smaller companies out there, like Shimoda, Breakthrough Photography etc, these are the companies I am loyal to.  But it has to be based on the product. Luckily these companies have amazing products which makes loyalty a whole lot easier. Jeff: The biggest photography related brand loyalty I think I have right now is Godox/Flashpoint.  I am in love with that flash equipment. The XPro controller, the TT600 entry level flashes, the AD200 flash strobes.  I love it all. I don’t think I would take it all the way to fanboy level, but the brand has earned my respect and I have to admit the only reason I gave any of it a chance was seeing pretty much all of my photographer friends switch to it. I would like to think that I tried it out over the Yongnuo branded equipment, which I was very happy with, because of that gentle push I felt from the photography communities I engage with but I chose to switch because the product was that impressive.  It made it worth repeat investing my small hobbyist budget for photography in flash equipment and I just love ...

Please support the show by filling out the listener survey at http://podsurvey.com/master Jeff and Levi Sim talk about the various things photographers need to know about syncing their flash with their shutter.

Jeff and Mark Morris talk about the features/options in tripod legs and ball heads along with the best value options for both. Episode Sponsor Squarespace. Head over to squarespace.com/IMPROVE and use the offer code IMPROVE at checkout to get 10% your first website or domain! How and Why Choose Your Top Ten Annually Check out the latest Photo Taco Podcast episode where Jeff Harmon talks about how to use Lightroom Classic CC to go through the process of choosing your Top Ten images for a year as well as why any photographer should do that. Tripods For the Rest of Us! In this episode we are going to talk about practical recommendations for tripod legs and ball heads.  Not the usual thing you get where a professional photographers, who may be sponsored by a manufacturer, tells you that you must spend thousands of dollars on a tripod and ball head.   Not to say that doing so isn’t worth the investment, because I believe it is. It just isn’t something practical for me to even think about spending that kind of money on a tripod and I think that resonates with a lot of listeners of the show. What Does Mark Morris Know About Tripods? So what does Mark Morris, the guest on this episode, know about tripods? Why is he qualified to talk about them? Mark: Several years ago I did a large scale review project for Improve Photography.  I worked with a vast array of the different tripod and ball head manufacturers. After spending several months with an absurd number of tripods and ball heads, I actually took the show on the road, and presented “The Tripod Roadshow” at a number of different venues across the eastern United States.   Before we jump into any specifics, I’ll share one general observation that I made back when I was working with so many different products: * The manufacturers all have a VERY good idea of what quality and features are presented at different price points.  It’s very rare that you find an enormous inconsistency between brands. If you are looking at $250 legs from Brand X, and $250 legs from Brand Y, there is a strong likelihood that they are going to be quite similar in build and value. * Another overarching truth: You are going to place a very large amount of trust in a Tripod and Ball Head.  Sometimes I look at my setup and realize that there is nearly $10,000 worth of equipment on top of a ball head and tripod.  Just something to seriously consider: don’t be penny wise and pound foolish. Get a support system that you really trust, and that is STURDY.  Saving $100 because you feel that good tripod equipment is over-priced just doesn’t make sense, in my opinion. Learning the hard way can be VERY expensive. What Are the Best Value Tripod Legs? The best value tripod legs for photographers in 2019 are the Benro TAD27C that run about $230 (does not include ball head). A close second is the

In this episode I want to talk about the lies camera companies tell photographers. I have to say right up front I stole the idea from Tony and Chelsea Northrup and their Picture This podcast. I love Tony and Chelsea and the way they approach producing their content. Really resonates with me. They came up with a list of 5 lies that camera companies tell photographers that we will go through and I have a couple I want to add to the list.

Jeff, Connor, and Erica talk about photographers using Instagram in 2019

Jeff and Connor talk about keeper rates as a tool to get better, how photographers can figure out pricing for their services, how photographers can do bookkeeping, and gels for softboxes!

Getting good prints out of a personal printer at home is getting pretty easy. But if you want to go a bit further and really dial in your printing approach then this episode is for you. Brent Bergherm and Jeff Harmon talk about many of the nitty gritty details to get the ultimate quality prints out of our printers or online printers.

Jeff and Greg Benz talk through the why, what, and how of RAID for photographers. Check out the full show notes over at phototacopodcast.com.

Selecting your Best 9 (or 10, or 11) of the year is a good idea to help photographers reflect on their accomplishments, but also to review what can be done better moving forward. Brent Bergherm and Levi Sim talk about reviewing your own images and portfolio reviews.

Episode Sponsor HoneyBook Save time and money working on your photography business using HoneyBook. You can manage your shoot calendar, client communications, and your accounting needs like eSignatures and invoicing all in a single tool. Go to https://www.honeybook.com/ and use offer code IMPROVE to get 50% off your first year! Follow Up on 2018 and New Goals for 2018 Let’s start off the episode with the goals.  First, we have to do a little accountability for last year, and to start things off we get to bring in a voice you haven’t heard in a long while – Mr. Jim Harmer!  Jim set for himself four goals for 2018. Jim’s Goals For 2018 No New Photography Gear: Jim wanted to go through the entire 2018 year without buying any still photography gear. I checked in with Jim to ask how he did.  He didn’t buy a single still photography item all year!  He did buy a video camera and lens for doing YouTube videos, but he didn’t buy any still cameras.  I didn’t think he would make it even half way through the year. Branch Out:  Jim wanted to focus more on other types of photography over landscape.  He wanted to branch out into things like time-lapse and miniatures. Jim did indeed spend some time on some other forms of photography.  He went down and shot with Felix Hernandez of https://www.hernandezdreamphography.com/ and made a video training course on how to shoot miniatures. Shoot Maine:  In manually reviewing the photos and spots people were tagging in his Really Good Photo Spots app, he saw a flood of them come in from Maine and it made him want to go and shoot there. I checked with Jim on this too, he didn’t make it out to Maine to shoot.  He really wishes he could have but never made it out there. More Focus on Income School: Jim’s last goal was to spend more time with his Income School business where he teaches people how to create and successfully monetize blogs. This is a goal Jim absolutely met.  In fact, he decided after putting more time in here that after a decade of blogging and podcasting about photography he was going to switch to having Income School be his primary focus.  He was so kind to let the other hosts of what was then the Improve Photography podcast take over the podcast network. We love Jim.  It has been a while since he has come on the show.  I invited him to join this episode but he was spending time with his family so we will see if we can get him on a different episode really soon. Brent’s Goals From 2018 My goals for 2018 were mostly met. I wanted to go somewhere awesome. I thought I might make it to NE India, but that fell through. So I went to Hong Kong instead. I wanted to reduce my overload at my day job and that has largely happened. I no longer am solely responsible for our school’s only Macintosh Lab on campus, but I’m training someone in for that. So light is there at the end of the tunnel! I wanted to get out more, and I’ve been able to accomplish that a bit, but not enough. I need to get out more and shoot more. 2019 is looking promising. Connor’s Goals From 2018 Connor, did you have any goals?

Jeff, Brian, and Brent offer suggestions on gifts for that photographer in your life this holiday season.