Ah, excuses, excuses… We all make them in all areas of life, and our photography is no exception. However, they’re only slowing us down and holding us back, leading us into an unproductive stage that can last for a very long time. In this video, Justin Mott reflects on the five most common excuses he’s heard from photographers that largely affect their work. Have you made them too?
The Photographer’s guide to getting started with video – and why you need to learn video
As a photographer, making the transition to video or adding it to your offerings can be a daunting task – especially if you haven’t jumped on the mirrorless train yet. Even if you’re already a very good photographer, shooting video requires a very different skillset (and potentially a whole bunch of new gear) that can take some time to learn.
In this 16-minute video, photographer Justin Mott offers up some useful advice for photographers thinking about getting started with video – or how to take it more seriously if you’ve already had a little go with it.
Five more ways to annoy a professional photographer
There are some things that make photographers nuts. Interestingly enough, people tell them so very often! After reflecting on three ways to annoy a professional photographer, Justin Mott shares five more. Do they sound familiar?
Want to annoy a professional photographer? Tell them these three things
If you’re the only photographer among your friends and family, chances are they have asked you some things that can be quite annoying. And they’ve asked them more than once. In this video, Justin Mott reflects on three things you can tell a professional photographer to annoy them. I’m not even a pro, but the first one is still super-relatable for me. Let’s see if you can relate as well.
This is why you’re failing as a photographer – But here’s how to fix it
Even if we’re not told, nobody likes to have the realisation or go through the experience of failing at something. Many of us go through things in life that we’re failing at without even realising it because we just don’t understand what we’re doing wrong and how we could do things differently.
It can be even worse when somebody else points out that we’re failing, as photographer Justin Mott does in this video. But he does offer some fantastic advice on how you can stop continuing to fail and get yourself on the right track to a successful future as a photographer.
Travel like a photographer – advice for the soul
“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind. ” -Anthony Bourdain
This headline might come off a bit pretentious for some of you, I mean how do photographers travel any differently than the rest of the population? Fair question, but for better or for worse, we are different in our own way.
To serve and protect: photographing the last two living northern white rhinos on the planet
In 2018, Sudan, the last remaining northern white rhino passed away of natural causes at the Ol Pejeta conservancy in Laikipia County, Kenya thus ending the existence of their subspecies.
Not far from Sudan’s grave lives Fatu and Najin (mother and daughter), the last known living northern white rhinos on the planet. A loss of habitat and poaching of their valuable horns to be sold off in the black market for traditional eastern medicinal purposes bound for countries such as China, South Korea, and Vietnam has led to the demise of their species.
Reasons why your photography business is failing
The biggest and most common mistake I see in photographers in all genres is that they aren’t honest with themselves. They love the idea of being a photographer , the romantic side of it all, sounds cool, right? They hate the work part, the hustle, the grind, the guts of what it takes to run any successful small business.
They just want to do the fun part of taking pictures, spending their afternoons hanging out in coffee shops and shooting only things they are interested in and talking smack. You have the right to do this but you aren’t going to make a sustainable living doing things this way. There should be a name for those photographers, let me think, more on that later.
Don’t let social media ruin your photography
I’m at a Starbucks in Hanoi, typically it’s a peaceful location where I can write and think, but today it’s overrun with young people smoking cigarettes, occasionally smiling and laughing, but mostly consumed with their phones browsing Instagram and taking selfies to reload their feed with an annoyed older man in their background typing away.
This social media narcissism isn’t a scene unique to Vietnam by any means, it’s everywhere in the world. At 40 years-old I’m ashamed to admit it, but I can be slightly guilty of spending too much time on my phone. However, in the past few years I’m more apt to reading a book rather than aimlessly browsing my phone and it feels damn good.
Don’t ruin your wedding photography career before it starts
So, you are about to embark on your first solo wedding shoot of your career. You’ve got butterflies in your stomach, you’re stressed, and the pressure is most certainly setting in. Don’t panic, read this carefully and you will be well prepared for photographing the most important day of someone’s life.
A little background on me, I’m the founder of Mott Weddings destination wedding photography studio in Vietnam. I’ve shot weddings all over the world for over a decade. I’m also on a reality TV show about photography show so I obviously know what I’m talking about because the TV doesn’t lie :).
Now that you know me well, do you take me as your lawful wedding photography coach? Read this and then say, “I do” in the comments section.[Read More…]
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