Season 1 · Episode 23

Photographer's Guidance

Machine-generated transcript, not manually corrected. Wording, including names, may contain transcription errors. Reading never uses your Free Ask.

Transcript library Listen to episode

319 timed lines. Each timestamp opens a link to that line; to share it, copy the address from your browser.

0:00This is a podcast episode for photographers.
0:08Oh, all right, I'm about to get started.
0:10This is background, we could cut this out by keep it.
0:14Now you're getting a treat.
0:16Let's do it, meet up my lady.
0:20I kind of got here a little early.
0:24So decided to record and get back
0:27and I'll talk to my photographers for once.
0:31I ain't gonna say for once, but just directly.
0:34I'm usually speaking into a general population
0:37of artists and entrepreneurs.
0:40So that'd be refreshing to talk to my photographers.
0:43And this is what this episode is gonna be about.
0:46I'm about to get a sip of water.
0:47I'm about to jump right into it.
0:53Like I said, if this part's still in there
0:56and I edit it out, well, you got a treat.
0:59Yeah.
1:02Cut myself down.
1:04Talk to my deep breath.
1:17And three, two, one.
1:19Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome
1:24to Alien Eyes Photos Industry Talk.
1:28Yes, yes, yes.
1:30Welcome back.
1:32This episode will be for the photographers.
1:35Yes, my photography community, how you doing?
1:38And I know it's been a while
1:41and I definitely wanna give you all that you need
1:44and some lessons that I learned.
1:47So let me speak to you real quick.
1:50Now, if you are not a professional photographer
1:53and would like to get a photography,
1:56this episode is surely for you.
1:58But for those that are photographers
2:02and definitely wanna take it to the next level,
2:04I just need that motivation.
2:06I want this episode to be for you as well.
2:10Now, if you're just getting in photography
2:12and I love coaching new photographers,
2:15new business owners, new entrepreneurs, new artists,
2:22first beginning, I love helping and guiding
2:30them to their own light skin.
2:34You have to live in your own skin
2:36and I love navigating people to that part of their career.
2:42They finally themselves, they're finally maturing
2:45in their craft or their entrepreneurship journey.
2:50I just, I love that the most.
2:55As far as knowledge and the things and experiences
3:00I can invoke or tell or talk about,
3:05I always love like that early stage growth,
3:11even like in preschool or kindergarten, even first grade,
3:15like those are some vital building blocks
3:19that we need before we even get to four or fifth
3:23and then even a high school, college,
3:26and even later in adulthood.
3:31It builds from that foundation.
3:36Let me help you build that foundation.
3:40I can get you to success or at least the success
3:42that you want or a better plan in general.
3:50But just starting off, practice, practice, practice.
3:57I could not emphasize that the most or anymore.
4:02We have to practice, whether that's practicing your craft,
4:07practicing sales, practicing conversations,
4:11practicing relationship building.
4:14I feel like if you're gonna do it and practice,
4:19you might as well do it.
4:24For example, instead of practicing networking,
4:29actually network, meet people, you know,
4:32shake hands, develop relationships,
4:35build your community, build your tribe,
4:37build your network, why not just do it?
4:42So that has always been my motto.
4:45Of course, if I'm trying something new,
4:51I try not to practice on the spot or on a job.
4:56If I have to pivot, that's a different story.
5:00But if I have a brilliant idea all of a sudden a day of,
5:06and that's not with me and the client
5:08or whoever I'm shooting for,
5:11whether that's photography or video,
5:14I'm not gonna go against the grain.
5:15Maybe if we have all the dedicated shots
5:18and we have time left over
5:19or I have a period where I can experiment,
5:24I hope best believe I am going to.
5:26So it's also good to have your own shoots,
5:31not just, you know, practice or on the job type of shoot,
5:39but develop your own shoot, like your own event,
5:43I want to do this, I have this in my head.
5:47Actually do that.
5:49I want to have a wedding on the mountains
5:53with no clothes on.
5:58Well, I'm sure you will find someone
6:01that would be willing to do that.
6:07Will I do that?
6:09No.
6:10But if you want to go to the extreme,
6:12like I said, that is something you could try
6:14on your own, set it up, however you want.
6:21Always have a dream in mind,
6:23your passion, project, at least once a year.
6:27I know of my early stages, I did not do that at all.
6:32And I was building whatever.
6:35And I didn't have a portfolio,
6:38like an actual portfolio back then,
6:40I had a bunch of pictures.
6:43But if I had made a portfolio
6:46out of these bunch of pictures that I've taken,
6:53it would just show what the client wanted
6:55or how the atmosphere wanted,
6:56not what I want to portray myself as one artist
7:03and this is my work as a business owner.
7:07So you have to have that passion project
7:13or things you like to shoot and show that off.
7:17Otherwise, what people see of your work
7:21is what others want, not what you want and desire.
7:25Yeah, there's a happy medium in some places
7:29or some situations, but that's not always the case.
7:35So if you want to build your dream client
7:39and do the work that you love to do,
7:42you have to do more of that specifically.
7:45And sometimes it takes your own time and money
7:50and resources to put that together first
7:53or a couple of times just so you build
7:55that momentum and you have something to display and show.
7:59You have to show examples.
8:01Most people are visual creatures,
8:04at least us humans are.
8:08So show them what you want to do.
8:11But if you keep doing what you don't want to do,
8:13you're gonna be stuck in a loop.
8:17It's like if you want to be a basketball player,
8:22but you're going to a psychology school,
8:29well, you have to go to a basketball camp
8:31and be around other basketball players
8:34and the basketball community,
8:38but you're gonna be a great psychologist maybe.
8:42But is that something you want to do?
8:46Will that help in basketball?
8:48Yeah, but will that help you
8:50to become a basketball player
8:52or even a coach one day?
8:56Maybe coaching, but a basketball player, no.
9:00So you have to find the right community,
9:04find a mentor or a coach,
9:06someone that can help pull you up,
9:09help show you the resources,
9:10help you learn your camera,
9:13help you figure out what equipment that you need
9:16and help you learn that as well.
9:19Have them allow them to shadow.
9:23You know, you get to see it, like you said,
9:27or like I said, you have to show people are visual.
9:32So if you are able to shadow someone else
9:34that's doing something that you like to do,
9:38you're viewing that, you're witnessing that,
9:41because it's a great visual representation
9:44of what you want to do and you get to see it
9:46and you get to feel it and believe it,
9:48like, okay, I could really do this.
9:50Okay, now I'm seeing this happen.
9:51Okay, they do it like this.
9:55I like it, but I also like adding this element of it.
10:00So in those beginning stages, it's good to define yourself.
10:06And on this podcast,
10:08on Alien Eyes Photos Industry Talk,
10:10I love talking about and preaching.
10:17Sit with yourself, sit in silence,
10:20be with yourself, be with your thoughts.
10:22You have to take that time.
10:24It is critical, especially in this loud world.
10:29You almost will hear me say that every episode.
10:31That's like my underlining message for this podcast.
10:35For ultimate growth, sit with yourself,
10:38sit with your thoughts, sit with your decisions.
10:42Sometimes you have to take that time to yourself.
10:46I say at least 10 minutes a day,
10:49that quiet time to yourself,
10:53but an hour is vital.
10:57An hour to yourself.
11:00And that's not even including sleep.
11:02It's the hour to yourself, whether it's writing,
11:06sitting in silence, meditating, praying,
11:12self-reflecting, whatever that may be,
11:15even if it's just sitting in a car,
11:16listening to music for an hour,
11:19and woof-sah breathing, deep breathing, I should say.
11:24And you're in a way from the world,
11:26but also have that silent time after the music,
11:31just to hear your own thoughts.
11:36So I also like to say,
11:44if you're new to photography,
11:47make sure you're buying the right equipment,
11:49the right camera, because not all cameras
11:54are built the same.
11:56So don't be afraid to reach out to
11:59any of your camera manufacturers,
12:04and tell me about your camera,
12:07or I want to get into sports photography.
12:10What is the best camera you have for,
12:13you have to develop your relationships?
12:17Even as an experienced photographer,
12:20I still have to develop relationships,
12:24nourish and nurture relationships,
12:28maintain relationships and build relationships.
12:32And together within those relationships,
12:36we're building other relationships,
12:38and building a network and a community,
12:41so it's forever going.
12:46Maybe one day you will meet
12:47every single person in the world.
12:49I feel like I've definitely took a picture
12:53of half the people in Cleveland.
12:59Like, I've photographed so many people,
13:02whether they're at an event,
13:05whether that's a personal portrait,
13:07headshot, whatever, a conference,
13:13I've probably took a picture of you,
13:17if you're in Cleveland.
13:20And I'll probably have a few more minutes
13:23because I've seen my lady filling up,
13:26so she's probably going to wave at me while she's,
13:31she just parked dramatically.
13:33But, so yeah, I'm going to have to wrap up
13:35this episode real quick,
13:38and yeah, because we've got so much
13:40needed work to do on Catcher Born,
13:43and yeah, some personal time within that.
13:47So, as you can hear, it's like we're building up.
13:51But, you really have to build relationships,
13:56you really have to know your purpose with it all,
14:01and there will be some point
14:03that you may just do it just to do it,
14:05especially for free, or okay, I can do it.
14:10It's not something, like I said,
14:14that you may not want to do,
14:16or that you're passing by the desire.
14:20But, do a pay the bills,
14:22sometimes that's an issue too.
14:24But, like I said, getting stuck in that loop
14:27is not the best thing to do.
14:30Again, practice, study the craft,
14:35study business, and the best way to excel with that
14:39and accelerate the process is to hire a coach,
14:44hire a mentor, be great, and do great.
14:50Keep learning, like I am an avid learner,
14:53like the amount that I spend on conferences
14:59and just self-development, e-books, coaching,
15:05and that's where all my revenue basically go.
15:10I'm not at the point where I'm profiting,
15:14and even facility fees and software,
15:18or even travel, it all adds up.
15:21And that's not even accounting for the editing time.
15:26A lot of people do not see the time behind the closed doors.
15:31We show up on a shoot, or at an event,
15:34we film it, we take these photos,
15:37and we have to look through them all.
15:39We have to make specific tweaks to them.
15:45Speaking of my lady,
15:46we just spent 10 hours yesterday editing, 10 hours.
15:52And we usually do work with me
15:53so you can see the behind-the-scenes process,
15:55but we're just talking about it like,
15:58yeah, we can be filming right now.
16:01And we decided not to, just decided to have personal time
16:04and spend time with the family while we edit.
16:09Yeah, but it's so much dynamic,
16:12and be patient, take your time with it.
16:17Even to this day, it's currently 2025.
16:23So if you listen to this after the fact,
16:26this may not be true, but I still work at nine to five.
16:30It's not full-time, it's part-time,
16:33but with me saying that,
16:36don't quit your daily grind, your job, your career,
16:41just to pursue photography
16:43if you're not in that space to do it.
16:45So be patient with yourself,
16:49continue to learn, continue to practice.
16:52Like I said, build relationships
16:54and do the passion projects that you want.
16:58And I would do a follow-up episode
17:01to dive a little more in detail,
17:04especially for the newer photographers.
17:07And I apologize if you are an experienced photographer
17:12and you feel like you didn't get much out of this episode.
17:17Then I kind of geared it and dedicated it
17:20to the beginners, but I hope you did.
17:24But in the future, there will definitely be more
17:27higher-level stuff for you all as well.
17:31But I do have to run, I have to get.
17:37Yeah, she's looking at me now, waiting on me.
17:40So yeah, when she hear this, she's gonna smile a laugh.
17:44But yeah, we gotta get going
17:46and I appreciate you tuning in
17:47for another episode of Alien Eyes Photos Industry Talk.
17:52This is Steven Jackson, AKA Photographer Jackson,
17:57also known as Alien of Alien Eyes Photos Media.
18:03Thank you again.
18:04And all my show notes and links will be below
18:09if you want more information with me
18:12or any of my booking contact,
18:14visit alieneyesphotos.com.
18:18Yes, alieneyesphotos.com.
18:22And follow me on all social media at Alien Eyes Photos.
18:28And that's Alien Eyes with an S, Photos.
18:32Whoa, my first time in history, I did that backwards.
18:36Alien Eyes Photos, Alien with a Z,
18:40or Alien Eyes with a Z, Photos with an S,
18:44Lord have mercy.
18:46Alien Eyes Photos on all media,
18:50and even fan-based checkout fan base
18:53with Mr. Isaac Hayes, who's the founder
18:55of fan-based social media platform for creators.
19:00You can find me as well as Alien Eyes
19:03with a Z, Photos with an S.
19:06Again, on all media, including fan base.
19:11Yeah, that's pretty much it.
19:14And I'll get to y'all next time.
19:17Peace.