Podcast

Honoured to have our Photographer of the Year 2019 with us for Episode 14 today; the brilliant Fabio Mirulla! Fabio won a staggering 17 Awards in 2019, including 8 Story Awards – such a worthy winner of our POY! It was such a pleasure to talk to Fabio – he shares so much – including:

what it meant to him to be our Photographer of the Year 2019,
what drives and motivates him,
his background in archeology and how there are similiarites to how he shoots weddings,
the importance of experimentation,
taking us back to his first ever wedding,
how his style was built over time,
how photography shouldn’t have limits,
his love of Anime and Lego,
tips on what to do when nothing much ‘seems’ to be happening at a wedding,
how he picks images for Story Awards,
his childhood growing up in Tuscancy,
his love of Art and how he draws inspiration from it,
his upcoming talk at Fearless Conference in March,
what creativity means to him and tips on how to be more creative,
a period of time he’s like to travel to,
what he’s afraid of and how that’s linked to why he’s a photographer: Making memories for other people,
why it’s so important to him to capture the fun an humour of weddings,
how to attract the right couples for you,
why he shoots with seconds virtually all the time,
his specific tips on how to win a Reportage Award and/or a Story Award,
how we don’t need beautiful light or beautiful destinations to find gold,
and much, much more…

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Really excited to have the fab Anna Rowland with us for episode 13! Based in the UK, Anna has been shooting for over ten years, winning awards left, right and centre, and was ranked tenth overall on our Top Photographers of 2018 list. Loved talking to Anna; she had so much to share, including:

her first camera and shooting her first wedding on film,
her thoughts on the way the industry has changed (or not) over the past 12 years,
why she thinks workshops and conferences are important,
being a bit of an introvert and why she often shoots with seconds,
tips for people wanting to get better with flash,
the importance of pushing through the fear zone,
a controversial ‘last meal’ choice,
her previous life as a phlebotomist,
some memorable moments from her experience of shooting over 600 weddings,
how to pronounce scone and Bath,
how she deals with anything that bugs her about this industry,
her experience of being the photographer for the Nine Dots Gathering 2019,
what she does in the quiet season,
how she balances being a mum and being a wedding photographer,
her most effective marketing avenue,
her soon-to-be-announced joint workshop with Nadine van Biljon,
the two days she would choose to live over and over again,
what she’s afraid of,
her bucket list and love of Lemurs,
her top tips for better documentary wedding photography,
and much more…

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Honoured to have the fantastic Franck Boutonnet on the Podcast for Episode 12! Hailing from France, Franck has been winning a huge number of awards from all the different associations for the past ten years (including placing 7th overall in our Top 100 Photographers of 2019), and has SO much to share with us, including:

what keeps him entering awards specifically,
dealing with disappointment and re-submitting the images you truly believe in,
three major tips for submitting to awards in general,
how he went from teaching French in America to photojournalism and weddings,
his favourite TV series,
what makes him happy,
his relationship with a fellow (also very talented!) wedding photographer (Rocio Vega),
how they work together sometimes, pushing each other and getting better,
looking at the first Fearless Awards at 2am in Amersterdam,
the subjectivity of ‘success’,
his own doubts and the difficulty of the market,
how the industry has changed and how we need to adapt, the ‘ghosting’ trend and how this affects him and photographers all over the world,
how he gains his clients’ trust and why that’s so vital,
the importance of honesty,
how he built his business around his philisophy of life,
how he deals with stressful situations,
a memorable mistake he made at a wedding and how he learned from it,
what makes a good wedding photographer,
and much more…

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So excited to be bringing you the fantastic Philippe Swiggers for Episode 11 of the Podcast! Hailing from Belgium, winner of no less than 15 TiR Awards (he’s fifth overall, in terms of Lifetime Awards), Philippe is a brilliant photographer and has so much to share, including:

the number of weddings he shoots per year, what he gets up to in the quiet season, the importance of getting someone to photograph his own family, seeing what certain images mean to him and how that helps his own photography, his love for teaching, how he second shot to get into the industry, how he still gets nervous before every wedding, being an introvert in the extrovert world of weddings, the importance of being himself, family and what makes him happy, what success means for him, advice for people who have been shooting for some time but are not happy with their current work, his personal project on social workers which became a book and exhibition, how specifically not thinking with social media in mind helped him, building trust, what he’s awful at, his tips (as a previous judge and winner of five Story Awards himself) for submitting to the Story Awards, how you should never stop believing in your own images and should re-submit what you believe in, photographing Steven Defour’s wedding as a second shooter, the Mind the Moment Collective that he’s part of, why you need to have passion to teach, what skills wedding photographers should have, and more…

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For the tenth episode of our This is Reportage Podcast we’re thrilled to be bringing you the fantastic Linda Bouritius! Based in the Netherlands, Linda was ranked 28th in the World in our Top 100 Photographers of 2019 and has won 7 Lifetime TiR Awards (including 3 Story Awards). Her work is full of life; vibrant, exciting and dynamic – it was an honour to interview her for the Podcast. Linda covers lots of really interesting subjects, including:

dealing with the unpredictability of our industry, what she used to do before being a wedding photographer and how some people were surprised at her change in direction, setting an example for her daughter, shooting concerts and music, why she specifically got into weddings (They’re “like a mini-festival, but on a personal level” – love that quote!), what it was like choosing a wedding photographer – and the day itself – from a bride’s perspective (Linda was recently married), how important it was to have her husband involved in the decision as much as possible, the important realisation that people have busy lives, how she becomes part of the party in order to capture it intimately, “being as much of a guest as possible”, one of her most recent favourite TV series, how she balances being a mum and working, how one of her Reportage Award-winning images caused some controversy; how she dealt with this and how it affected her career and outlook, which day she would choose to ‘do a Groundhog Day’, the reasons why she chooses to deliver her images in a certain way and timeframe, her circle of booking to feedback, a memorable mistake and how she learnt from it, what makes a good wedding photographer, and more…

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