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  • Education, Experience or both? What is the best way to develop skills as a photographer.
    2025/08/12

    This week, Marcus and Sam discuss the hotly debated topic of “Do you need a photography degree/qualification to be a commercial photographer” and what’s the alternative?


    This is the first ever episode of Shoot to the Top and we are sharing it with you as Marcus and Sam are taking a little summer break.

    Marcus, no surprise, being an ex senior Lecturer in photography comes down in favour! But for reasons that may not be obvious. Sam asks probing questions and has an alarming stat of the Day.

    This show is just perfect if you are trying to decide whether to spend your hard earned cash on going to university.

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    12 分
  • Using YouTube and Podcasts in your photography business with Kirsten Luts
    2025/08/05

    Kirsten Luts is a commercial portrait photographer on theoutskirts of London. He is also the host of the Camera Shake podcast. Kirsten uses podcasting and video (on YouTube) as a large part of his marketing.
    The first thing to think about before starting a podcast or YouTube channel, you’ve go to think about why you are doing it. It could be getting more clients, or it could be a passion project. For Kirsten, it was to give him something creative to do during the COVID lockdowns when all his photography work had stopped. He says he learned a lot from some of the best photographers of our time.
    Kirsten says that initially, he spent a lot of time and money on the podcast. It didn’t bring in money. But it has brought him a lot of opportunities, for example, speaking at photography shows. So the podcast has brought opportunities rather than directly making money. And those opportunities often lead to making money and to doing interesting things. Consistency is important when making a podcast of videos. There is a whole show about consistency here .

    Working with someone else is also very helpful. This canmotivate you and help you to be consistent. Kirsten started their podcast on YouTube as well as on Spotify and Apple. He says that his podcast was terrible at the start, but they learnt and got better, and it’s important, in any project, to make that start, and not wait for perfection. Kirtsen is amazed by the guests that he managed to get on the show. Before he started, he made a list of guests he would love to have, and he’s managed to have all of those guests on the show.
    Marcus asks Kirtsen for tips if you are going to start a podcast or YouTube channel. Kirsten says the first thing is to think about your audience and the topic. The topic has to be interesting and engaging for your target audience.
    We move on to video, and Kirtsen says that if you are not offering clients video as part of your work a using it as part of your marketing, you will end up behind other photographers that are offering this. He thinks video is much more of a threat to a still photographer than AI is. It’s not a big jump to go from stills to video. Much of the technique is similar, such as lighting and exposure.
    Speaking of video, Shoot to the Top is now on YouTube, and you can watch it here.

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    29 分
  • The Ultimate Flash Kit for a Commercial Photographer
    2025/07/29

    Marcus says that Flash used to be challenging many years ago. But now life is much simpler. Sam asks about Chinese copy brands, but Marcus says that with modern lighting, the Chinese equipment isn’t a copy; they are the originators. Marcus is going to be talking about Godox lighting, which is sometimes known by a couple of other brand names. He is going to give anideal kit to have with you. Marcus says you want your lighting all to be the same brand; otherwise, your lights will not communicate with each other, so this is essential.

    A handheld or on-camera mounted flash is what we are goingto talk about first. Sam digs out one of these from his cupboard. Marcus says these simple flashes are great and often five times cheaper than the camera brand flashes. Godox’s camera flash is called the V1. This is the basic start, and it goes onto the hot shoe of your camera. The next level up is to get aremote that goes onto your hot shoe. That allows you to put your flash where you want; it is no longer tied to the camera. Once you have a remote, all other flashes need to be the same brand to communicate with the remote.

    The next thing needed is a main light. Marcus recommends that if you get one, then a Godox pro light, which is near the top of the range, is worth getting. The flash head is very large on the Godox pro range, which Marcus likes. The flash head is also diffuse, and the glass is diffuse, not clear. Marcus also says he recommends going for a high-power flash. The main reason is that the batteries are so good and have almost no time to recharge between shots. Marcus also says that some of these lights can also separate the light and battery, so the lighter light can be on a stand without the battery being on the stand too.
    Finally, Marcus talks about a modifier. A modifier goes onto the light to modify it. Marcus says the best modifier to get is an umbrella. Marcus doesn’t recommend the Godox umbrella.He recommends going for a more expensive umbrella. He says they last longer, and reflective material is better. He recommends getting an umbrella that is at least 1 metre across. There is also an alternative to an umbrella, which Marcus describes.


    To get the Shoot to the Top Podcast in your inbox every week, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠click here ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


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    18 分
  • Find out about Commercial Photography in Mozambique with Jay Garrido
    2025/07/21

    Jay Garrido is a Mozambican photographer. He studied film inCape Town. However, the film industry in Mozambique is not very developed, so he turned to photography. He started with weddings but transitioned to magazine work and now wants to return to his creative roots. While in Cape Town, there was a diverse mix of people from various cultures.

    Marcus asks about photography in Africa. Jay talks about photographer Mario Macilau. He grew up in a poor neighbourhood. By chance, he got his hands on a camera that was donated to him because his photos were so good. He is now a top photographer. Jay says there is a lot of culture to present through photography. He says the market is growing exponentially. There is a school of photography in Cape Town where lots of experimental photography and he got to see lots of their work while in Cape Town.
    Jay says the commercial market in Mozambique is also growing. He had an opportunity to work with a high-level Portuguese magazine. He felt working with them forced him to level up his work. After that, he worked with Indico for 5years, which is the magazine of the Mozambican airline. This meant he didn’t just work for the magazine but also with the businesses advertising in the magazine. This helped him move into commercial photography. He says the commercial market is growing rapidly, as it is in many other African countrieslike Angola and Nigeria.
    Jay is sure that good photographers coming to Mozambique with their style would make a lot of money. Jay says that the photographers who do their own look are well ahead of everyone else and can pick who they work with. Jay has also worked for agencies here in Mozambique, both in photography and video work. He wants to eventually become a director of photography once the film industry starts to develop. He has managed to spend time shadowing a Portuguese director of photography.
    Jay has got a lot of work from word of mouth. His work with the magazine meant he met a lot of people in business. He has also found that wedding work has led to commercial work due to the people he has met at the weddings, who liked his work.
    Jay and Marcus also discuss weddings in Mozambique. Mozambique has some stunning beaches and five-star resorts, which are amazing for weddings. Marcus likes the sound of Mozambique and wonders if he should move out to join Jay and Sam.

    The podcast is now on YouTube, and you can see our YouTube channel here.

    You can reach out to Jay on Instagram here


    To get the Shoot to the Top Podcast in your inbox every week, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠click here ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


    And to join the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shoot to the Top Facebook group here.⁠⁠⁠

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    29 分
  • Learn from the Master of Headshots Nick Gregan
    2025/07/15

    Nick Gregan has been doing photography for thirty years and is a headshot photographer. Nick thinks working in a niche works well and helps build your business. For twenty years, Nick specialised in actors starting in their careers, so he worked in a niche within a niche. He says that with the camera technology, lots of people are entering the headshot market without necessarily having the relevant skills.
    Nick says headshots are something everyone can do, in terms of it’s a picture of the head and shoulders. But the subtle differences between taking headshots for different people with different roles make a big difference. Marcus asks how you differentiate those images. Nick says initially he needs to get to know the client and needs to know how the client wants to be seen. Nick says the thing he also does is give people options, so he might take some images people don’t expect but might like.
    Nick says acting headshots are really important; they can make the difference between getting auditions and good roles and not being noticed. He says he has helped many actors come to him when they are not getting auditions. He takes their headshot, and then they start to get auditions and roles.
    Nick explains that the first image people see of you makes a big difference to the way people see you. They will form an impression of you based on that message.So your LinkedIn profile image will make a big difference in how people see you and what they think about you. Nick says the LinkedIn profile photography market is growing as people are becoming more aware of this.
    Sam asks about his business model in terms of pricing and volume. Nick says he used to do ten or twelve people a week. However, he decided to put his prices up. So he photographs fewer people, but charges more for it. His ideal session is about 2 hours with an actor or an hour for a corporate headshot. Nick uses a technique called rapid rapport to quickly build a rapport with the client. The conversation starts as a conversation between him and the client, but it moves on to what is effectively a conversation between the client and the person viewing the photograph. Sometimes he does photographs for celebrities, and he has to work on these very quickly and build rapport within a minute or two. He also uses scenarios with clients to help them get into the right move and pose.

    Sam asks Nick how to convey his value. He says his images do, his website does, and his blogs do. Nick works hard on SEO, keeping his website at the top of Google Search. He doesn’t have an online booking system, so people talk to him before booking. He uses this opportunity to show he is an expert. He pitched himself as an artisan and an expert who gives a luxury service. He sends these messages out on LinkedIn, Google My Business and on his website. On his website, he has a lot of location-specific pages that generate work for him. For example, “Headshot photographer Wimbledon”.
    Nick is working on a book for photographers. Marcus asks if Nick can give us some tips for creating the perfect headshot.
    1. Look at the light. Don’t just set it up as standard, look at it for subtle adjustments.

    2. Get to know your client. Essentially, you need to let your client know that you are an expert and are confident.

    3. Capture the person's personality. Make sure they are showing emotion.


    You can reach out to Nick on ⁠⁠LinkedIn here⁠⁠

    Or⁠ ⁠⁠find his website here⁠.⁠⁠

    To get the Shoot to the Top Podcast in your inbox every week, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠click here ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


    And to join the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shoot to the Top Facebook group head here.⁠⁠⁠

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    28 分
  • Expert Corporate Photographer Stephanie Belton shares her business and photography experience and expertise with us.
    2025/07/08
    Stefanie has been a professional photographers for twenty years in the St.Albans area. Her focus is now 100% on commercial photography. Stefanie says it’s important to think about what motivates people to get photos. What are the triggers that make people want a photograph? This could be an event for a family, it could be being asked for a headshot as a business leader. Stefanie says it’s very important to make it very easy for people to work with you. For example if someone wants a corporate headshot she already has a blog ready that answers many of the questions they might ask about headshots. A few weeks ago Stefanie was working with a school on their marketing. She said the women at the school was convinced that she only did school photography as she had such a great landing page for school photography. Having specialised landing pages for areas you work in makes life simple for the lead which helps to convert them. Stefanie also ensures she responds to lead very quickly.Stefanie also wants to engage the local community as she wants to work locally. For example last year she went on a local Mum’s Facebook group and said she wanted to help those with a LinkedIn profile photo that they were embarrassed about. She offered a free headshot for three people who were happy with their before and after shots being shared publicly. She got a lot of queries and then worked out who she wanted to work with using various criteria, including making sure they were very different. So the posts on the Facebook group created abuzz. She then started sharing what she did on LinkedIn. She did some posts asking people to help people choose their new headshot and gave a few options. This got lots of engagement as so many people saw the post and so many people were willing to chip and and comment on which headshot should be used. This process has also been working on the triggers helping people realise they do need a headshot. Corporate photography UK is a Facebook group that Stephanie helps to run along with Martin Hobby (see our show with Martin here). Elise Marks setup the group. The group is about supporting each other and is Uk based. The group is also used for referrals, so for example if Stefanie does a photoshoot in London and the same company needs a photoshoot in Manchester, she would use the group to find someone to refer that work to. Stefanie says it’s vital that your website is excellent as it needs to appeal to photographers looking to refer work. Also she says she won’t refer work to photographers who don’t have a good website, even if she knows they are excellent, as she wants to ensure the person she is referring gets the right impression.Marcus asks about Stefanie’s use of artificial light. She says she uses artificial light nearly all the time. As she is a portrait photographer then light on the face needs to be right and an artificial light is essential for this. Stefanie’s advice for anyone moving to corporate photography is first of all to learn off camera flash. Understanding and creating light is a big differentiator between professional photographers and those shooting on phones. This skills means that during the day you may need to change your setup as the sun moves and comes in and out of clouds. Marcus asks about dealing with people and getting them comfortable. Stefanie says you need to work with your own personality or it won’t work. Stefanie says she is quiet, calm person. So she doesn’t work in a high energy way, which others might if this is their personality. It is important to also understand where the person is coming from who is having their photograph taking and having empathy with them. This is related to our past show on listening. You can reach out to Stephanie on LinkedIn hereOr ⁠find her website here⁠.To get the Shoot to the Top Podcast in your inbox every week, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠click here ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠And to join the ⁠⁠⁠Shoot to the Top Facebook group head here.⁠
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    27 分
  • Blogging: Why it is so essential to your marketing as a photographer.
    2025/06/30

    Why blog?

    1. It's amazing for SEO
    2. It gives you things to talk about on social
    3. It gives you content for your newsletter
    4. It’s good for authority marketing
    5. It increases engagement on your website

    Sam explains that if you only write your blog and don’t promote it, no one will ever find it. He says your blog needs to be about a theme. It needs to be about a topic and help to show that you are an expert in your field. For example, Samsuggests that a wedding photographer could review wedding venues. A blog without a theme or purpose is not much use. Also, consider what is valuable to your target audience and how the topic can demonstrate your expertise.
    Once you have a theme, we are then down to writing individual blogs. Marcus asks if your blog should be on your website or elsewhere. Sam says one of the points of a blog is helping with SEO. This does not happen if you use a blogging platform instead of your website.
    Blogs are words. Photographs only are not acceptable and don’t work on their own. A blog must be at least 500 words. 1000 words average. Once it gets much over 1500 words, it’s time to think about splitting into two smaller blogs. A mix of sizes is good, some longer, some shorter. For SEO, Google needs to understand who you are and what you do, and only words can do that. For social media, there is no point promoting your blog on social if it is only images, as they would expect to see the images on social anyway. Do use images in the blogs. But there should be plenty of text to go with the images. Do not fill space with photographs.

    Organise the writing in your blog. Make it easier for people to skim read. Use sub-headings, bullet-pointed lists, etc, to help people skim read it. This structure helps people and Google to understand your blog. Give value in your blog. The blog has to be useful to them, or it won’t be engaging.External and internal links are essential. Both to other websites (external links) and within your website to other pages and blogs (internal links).


    1. Marcus asks if Sam blogs and how he blogs. Sam says that inthe past, he has had copywriters blogging for him. This ensures that you get regular blogs created. But he also blogs himself, both written and video blogs. Sam says one key is ensuring you put time aside to create content. In terms of ideas, Sam often uses topics that have come up in conversations in the last fewweeks.
      Marcus asks about AI. Sam says it's good for some stuff. It is bad at writing blogs. Do not simply ask AI to write you a blog; it will be very generic and easy to spot. But it is useful. It is great for ideas. If you cannot think of anything to write, it can give you ideas. You can also ask for a blog structure. Don’t 100% stick to the structure, as it will be quite bland. Then write the blog yourself. But once you have written it yourself, put it backthrough AI and ask for improvements.
      How do you get people to your blog? First of all, no one will come if you don’t tell them about it. What can you do?
    1. Send out social media posts sending people to the blog
    2. Make an email newsletter and send people to the blog.


    Those are really good ways of getting people to your blog. As part of SEO, Google assess how popular your website is and how long people stay on the website. So by sending engaged people to the blog, you are helping with your website's SEO. Ensure that you have your website connected to Google Analytics so you can see who is visiting your blogs and where they are coming from.


    You can reach out to Sam on ⁠LinkedIn here⁠

    Or⁠ ⁠find his website here⁠.⁠

    To get the Shoot to the Top Podcast in your inbox every week, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠click here ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


    And to join the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Shoot to the Top Facebook group head here.⁠⁠

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    20 分
  • Could the Photographers United Pro Community help you as a commercial photographer?
    2025/06/24
    Phillip Noth Coombes started Photographers United as aFacebook group. Graham Diprose is also a part of this. He was a commercial photographer in the 70s to 90s. And then taught at the London College of Communication.He also wrote books about the River Thames, and one about Henry Taunt. You can find all Graham's books hereThe group is now called Photographers United Pro. The group started in 2018 from an idea Phil had on a dog walk. He thought photographers were all working alone at home, and he wanted photographers to be able to communicate. So he built a community of commercial photographers to help each other and help sustain the industry. Graham is a real help in bringing in the photography students with all his work with photographer education links. Sam asks if Phil has created a modern version of a photography association. Phil thinks that he has, but in some ways, this group is different. This group doesn’t charge; it’s about helping each other. There are also no grades within the group. Everyone is equal and has their skills and experience. There areabout 3,400 members on the Facebook group, and lots of members are sharing their ideas and helping each other. There are other parts of the group beyond the Facebook group. They try and arrange socials so people can meet in person. They also arrange in-person meetings where they bring people together, and some speakers give talks. The group also deals with education, which Graham is dealing with. The group also has a range of discounts for members. A member of the group got a job at an auction house. So some members put work into frames and put them into the auction, and lots were sold. The group don’t run courses themselves, but have a very good idea of what courses are on offer in theUK and can guide people to the right place. Lots of leaders of courses are in the group too, which is a great benefit to student members. Marcus asks if they have some advice for photographers.Graham says Be prepared. He says when working with film, a lot less gets edited post-shoot, so the shot had to be perfect. This meant planning had to be spot on, and that is a really useful skill even with digital photography. Graham saysthat being able to complete a risk assessment is vital to protecting yourself. Phil says Get out there and meet people. Be bold, creative and make connections. Phil says he started by literally knocking on doors. His second idea is to keep fresh, keep re-inventing yourself and keep clients. He says these things are linked, as having new ideas means you havesomething new to offer your regular clients. Phil asks Marcus the same question.Marcus says ideas are very important. Phil says building a great team is also very important, and as part of this, an assistant is very helpful. Graham says as part of this that many photography courses have students in their second andthird year who are looking for experience. And they can make amazing assistants. Graham says he is happy for photographers to contact him to get help with this.Graham has been doing quite a lot of work on neuro-diversityand looking at how this can be seen as an asset in some areas rather than a problem. To join the Photographers United Pro group, you have to have :A website A businessInsuranceThis ensures that only those in the industry are in the group. The Facebook group is free, but the website with furtherresources is £30 a year. You can reach out to Phil and Graham via the Facebook page.Or find the website here.To get the Shoot to the Top Podcast in your inbox every week to ensure you don't miss an episode,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠click here ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠And to join the ⁠⁠Shoot to the Top Facebook group head here.
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    30 分