A topic I’ve been quite fascinated by for a while is my own visibility and confidence as a photographer, filmmaker and business owner. Basically starting my business full-time a few months before the pandemic, meant that just when it was about to kick off, the whole world came to a halt.
That was scary. But it meant I needed to get my introverted bum in gear and get out of my comfort zone in order to make any waves (and some business).
Two years later, I’m running a sustainable business (no 6 figures, don’t worry – this is not one of those articles), have been featured on multiple podcasts and been invited to teach on a number of online platforms.
In 2019 none of this sounded like something I would even WANT to do… Guess times have changed.
Hear me speak - podcasts and online courses
I was sitting at home a lot in 2020. Like all of us did. I learned a lot about how to run my still pretty new business. There was so much I didn’t know I had to know just a few months before.
People kept telling me to be visible. Go on Instagram stories and talk to my audience.
I really didn’t want to.
For quite a while my friends also kept telling me to quit my job and run my own business as a photographer and filmmaker. It took about 2 years of them repeating this message to me until I started to really listen.
The whole visibility thing went a lot quicker. Because I couldn’t do anything else. I wasn’t allowed to work and needed to figure out how to make people notice me if I couldn’t go out and shoot.
So I started to speak on my IG stories, got more involved in Facebook groups and actively listened when people told me about an opportunity that could be interesting.
That’s how I found my first podcast gigs. Through recommendation and responding to requests online.
Podcasts
In 2020, a lot of people started a podcast. It’s a fascinating medium – I’ve been binging loads of different shows for years.
I got invited to 2 brand new podcasts in 2021. I was so nervous at first.
English is my second language and my goal was it to sound eloquent and professional – like I know what I was doing. I’ve listened to all the episodes after having friends screen them for me for the cringe factor. Looks like I did ok…
The Art and Soul show (March 2022)
The host Lisa and I are talking about documentary-style family photos and films.
Images of Joy (March 2021)
In this episode, Melody and I speak about documentary family photography, especially with teens at home.
9 to 5 photographer (March 2021)
Simon spoke to me about filmmaking, personal projects and niching down – all while navigating a business through a pandemic and lockdowns.
Speaking on these podcasts was a real stretch of my comfort zone but it was so worth it. It definitely helped me with my confidence levels and supported the idea that public speaking might not be so impossible afterall (something I always hated and dreaded in the past).
Teaching on webinars and online courses
Parallel to my podcasting adventures, I also got asked to start teaching filmmaking to photographers.
I love the medium of film but it can be quite intimidating to photographers who generally know their craft and tools and are suddenly presented with an aspect of it that they’re not familiar with.
So I started accepting requests to teach about different topics regarding video production to online photographer memberships and IG lives. I really enjoyed the experiences and ended up creating online courses about different topics. Sometimes you just need a little kick up yer bum to believe in yourself.
Webinars
Apart from a class for Anna Pumer’s Kickass Photographers membership (mainly for wedding photographers) where I spoke about how to get into filmmaking and best practices, I also did a live with Julie Christie in her online membership Togs in Business* (which is actually my favourite online photographers community). I introduced the members to low-budget filmmaking for their own business because not everyone has the opportunity or the budget to hire someone to create a promo fiom for their business.
You can only access those courses above as a member so I can’t link them directly but I think both offer free resources to try and see if you like the content and the teaching styles. Both are amazing content and knowledge for photographers.
Paid online courses
The next step were actual online classes I produced for different online teaching resources. If you’ve been around here for a while, you know I am taking photos daily for my project 365 – I’m in love with the project and recorded an online crash course* going through my motivation, my inspiration, my kit as well as my whole workflow
This summer, I finished producing an online course about Documentary Family Photography*. It’s part of the Online Family Retreat by The Milky Way. The Retreat went live in June and but tickets are still available now. I’ve watched a lot of the courses from the Retreat myself – it’s all about family photography and paints a really great picture of the whole massive genre. Click here to buy your ticket* and dive into the wealth of knowledge of 21 photographers.
All of these gigs help me to show you what is possible with photography and film. It’s also a way to share my knowledge and talk about my favourite topics to whoever wants to listen.
So if anything above sounded interesting to you, go and have a listen or a watch. Hopefully, it’s entertaining and maybe you can learn something from it even!
* All marked links are affiliate links.