The FujiCast Podcast

The boys cancel Christmas, well, the pre-Chrimbles planned episode at any rate, with Kev’s home town hit by the Malmesbury Malaise, so our exploration into the cavernous Cupboard of Doom will have to wait until ’25. In the meantime, we have the winner of the Lowa boots; discuss how to expand your Insta reach and answer, “Why does my Fujifilm camera keep asking me to recycle the power?" Also, how to wear the cloak of invisibility when trying to act unobtrusively as a candid photographer, what defines a strong black and white image relative to the technical approach and a Zine of the Week by Kenny Gordon from Glasgow - a celebration of football.

Kev is photographing in the boxing ring with a GFX; hope he can duck out the way quick enough! Questions today into the show about making a macro investment, finding a perfect workflow that isn’t complicated when it comes to saving our precious pictures for all time, will more and better ai editing software reduce the need for personal presets, in wide-angle land - what’s too wide when it comes to hitting the dance floor at a wedding to get super expressive shots, what does it mean to drag a shutter, and am I wise to register a domain more locally sounding that a dot com? The book of the week is You Rebel Scum by Daz Smith, a ten year project to document ‘rebels in society.’

Neale’s entering the yuletide spirit early, Kev's fine tuning the recipe for humbug, but they’re both keeping their heads down when it comes to current affairs. Thank St. Nicholas for photography as today on the show we demystify the questions of tech that bamboozle you, whilst Kev explains why he is de-Muskifying at the same time. Why did Threads not quite make the noise creatives thought it may, how can I tell my client that the events pictures I have made are not to be presented free of charge to other parties and what’s the proudest achievement of your photographic career, so far? Also today, buying third party STUFF for your Fujifilm camera kit and enjoying vintage lenses. The book of the week is Pentwyn No. 3 Colliery from one of our supporters, Martin Ellard.

Kev and Neale return from their holidays, straight into the questions you’ve been sending in about photography and Fujifilm cameras. Questions today about learning from photobooks and what sorts of titles offer an opportunity to improve your photography, uninvited shutter speeds in auto ISO, a 56mm that won’t manually focus, how the change of seasons changes our personal photography, finding truly original creative paths, discontinued cameras we lament the passing of, the rise of content creation - is it a worry for professional photographers?

Is wedding photography still a viable business for somebody setting out today and can/are content creators spoil the party, should I be using ChatGPT instead of Google, and how do I stop people smiling inanely in portraits? Also on the show, in-camera recipes, mobile Lightroom, packing light for a trek, compatible lenses for higher resolution camera sensors, thoughts about wide angles, Fujifilm’s 10-24 and Sigma's alternative, the real reason why battery chargers no longer come with cameras and smart investments: and what’s the smarter investment, a new camera or new lens?

Kev and Neale discover the powerful secrets of ’the buried sausage’ and start to think about a new HoP event! Also this week, buying replacement STUFF, what to do when someone at a busy event asks you to avoid photographing them, Neale gets pinned against a wall by a Legionnaire, what guarantees can your contract provide in case of an unintended early demise, live view quandaries, setting up a new X100vi, Kev’s workflow, X Raw Studio and why is my tone out of LR a little muddy?

Kev and Neale get a proper ai roasting, though all is okay, as Mullins has received a windfall thanks to being a Pic-Time customer! Also today, the joy of using Godox on tour, is autofocus a reason to swap camera systems, GAS, brand loyalty, keeping your pictures safe on tour and shooting through prisms! We also have a book of the week, one close to Mullins’ heart: Great Bars of New York City by James and Karla Murray. 

Kev muses about what to photograph next as he moves away from regular wedding photography gigs, whilst Neale is travelling the opposite direction having now launched his NEW podcast especially for wedding photographers called 1000 Weddings. Also on the show it turns out that Mullins found a level of real anxiety shooting weddings, although it seems he’s not alone. Today we appeal for new questions to the show to take us into Winter ’24, Kev has some suggestions on how to digitise old slides, best practices for capturing candids at social events, the ethics or ‘rules’ of privacy when publishing candid photos online, branding v style, shooting weddings as a guest, how Instagram works under the hood, and using a smartphone for street work.  

There’s joint relief in the houses of Mullins and James, and we’re not talking knees and back, as our eldest kidlings both pass their first major school exams with flying colours. Meanwhile in the land of photography on the show, lens weights, white balance best practices, will LR lose my images if I cancel my subs, what is this obsession with tech, making pictures that aren’t perfect, using one camera with one lens for one year.

Kev’s sat under a storm cloud, literally - and not just because he’s back from his holidays! On the show, will Fujifilm ever produce a monochrome camera, just how good is the X-S camera, what are our favoured focal lengths and to convert or not to convert (focally) on the X100 range of cameras? Also, we discuss JPG simulations, the best/easiest way to archive a stack of film and building your main website on the Pictime platform. There’s a book of the week too, The Little Book of Camden Passage by Gary Williams.

Kev is still frazzling on his Spanish sunbed, though the show goes on. We have questions about Lightroom and whether it’s necessary to upgrade your computer to cope with ever larger file sizes, swapping online sales galleries, can art prints actually sell and should I invest in primes? Also small cameras for street work, how shooting style changes as you ‘mature’ and the book of the week is Gregory Crewdson’s latest self-titled monograph. Be sure to keep sending your questions into the show.

As Kev heads for sunnier climes we talk about life after weddings for Mullins Inc. as he counts down to his final nuptials gig, although he’s considering second shooting in a lomography style, maybe, perhaps. Also on the show, commercially and creatively making life simple, shooting professionally with the oldest digital cameras you can source, finding a replacement for the X-Pro3, what we’d like to see on an X-Pro4, the best camera system to switch into for fast moving monsters (or dogs), there’s some website advice from Kev, cleaning your camera with electrical contact cleaner (!) and hitting a mental brick wall creatively. We also have a book of the week and this one is a wonderful documentary about music photography by Robert Birnbach, called The Silence Between.

Kev’s been doing what can only be described as speed-head-shooting, though his passion for country music is at last paying off as Neale eulogises about a Mullins favourite, Hank Williams. Also on the show, a shed-load of darkroom kit has turned up at Mullins HQ, the difference between dentists and photographers, using second shooters and assistants, going strength to strength with Viltrox, buying an X100VI alongside an X-T5, trying too hard and not feeling your picture making is improving, how tinnitus has cut short a career and how to photograph locations that aren’t necessarily so photogenic.

Kev’s got extreme hay fever, which serves him right for cutting crop circles, and he’s considering his next photographic genre, which may just bring his love of martial arts and photography together. Today on the show, how powerful does your laptop have to be to handle GFX files? We have a strong case of flippy or tilty screen-gate, where one of our listeners has even been considering moving to Nikon to solve the problem, how to repair sticky buttons, is it worth sharing shooting data if you don’t have the context of the ambient lighting, and we have a book of the week from Gonzalo Mullen which highlights his photographic life between 2021 and 2023.

Neale is celebrating 20 years of shooting weddings and planning for the next 20, whilst Kev counts down his final three! Or are they? However, he reveals some big judo plans! Questions and mails today on how to choose Fujifilm simulations when editing in Lightroom or X Raw Studio, whether it’s time to upgrade from the V to the VI in X00-land, a perfect line up of lenses to cover all bases, thoughts about Nikon’s vintage flavoured Zf and content authenticity in this age of ai. There’s also some hot off the press Pic-time news.

Kev tries his hand at horse photography at one of high society's biggest events and Neale signs the boys up to set sail on a pirate radio ship. This week, the big Netflix shows currently being watched in the James and Mullins households, looking for a new professional photography career, do lenses need to be perfect or are some of the classics of the Fuji roadmap still a great investment, what’s the wait for a new X-Pro body all about, releasing a book of boudoir, a whisper of focusing issues after a latest X-series firmware update and dream photographic jobs.

Kev’s been wrecking vans but all for a good cause, meanwhile Neale has announced(ish) his latest idea in a long line of ideas from the ideas factory. Today we talk about a Viltrox lens so impressive, it also doubles as a speed-radar(!), swapping back to Adobe products after a time away and why we prefer the tech ecosystem, keeping up with the latest software to edit X100VI files, seeing in black and white, to spot or to evaluate as Shakespeare didn’t actually say, turning pro, in-camera recipes for looks, X RAW Studio, brands logos and fonts and the twenty two immutable laws of marketing, plus MORE long focal length primes please.

Neale has his website homework marked by Mr. Mullins, who has spent the last month learning about the most dangerous job in the world - which will be revealed. Also today, a setting that could be slowing your shooting down, an ideal camera for studio strobe work, constant light source is your friend, Instagram’s most cliché shots, using two camera systems alongside each other, changing the way you focus, writing content that will keep Google happy and should you embrace ai to write your content? Plus Kev reviews Sandra Cattaneo Adorno’s new book, Ten Years.

Kev wonders whether his new X-Pro dreams have filtered through to the ‘We shall consider’ file. Meanwhile, switch on your ai face recognition, it has arrived on Pic-Time’s platform, our sponsors and the finest online gallery space. Also today on the show, upgrades, do you need to upgrade from the X-T4 to the X-T5? We also talk about film photography and darkroom printing, having a style about your Instagram grid that is brand recognisable, uploading images to websites and sRGB versus AdobeRGB. Plus it turns out that the boys have alternative skills should they ever need to call upon them; Kev was a Welsh milk boy, and Neale was one of the last petrol pump attendants in Hertfordshire!

It’s new camera week! The boys are excited over the launch, at last, of the latest Fujifilm X100 camera; the X100VI, or SIX! Aside from the thoughts about the numbering of the camera, we hear about the upgrades, the sensor and the reason to consider this a serious contender for inclusion in that pocket of space you may have in your kit bag. Also today, the photographers (past or present) Neale and Kev would choose to spend quality time with, our thoughts about using third-party lenses, final details about the 2nd March event at the House of Photography in London, supporting each other during times of trouble in the industry and advice for shooting your first professional gig in low light.

Special guests street photographer Mr. Whisper, the latest Fujifilm X-Photographer Emily Renier and Fujifilm’s Marketing Manager Andreas Georghiades, join Neale in Covent Garden, London at Fujifilm’s House of Photography. Questions to and thoughts from a live audience today include thoughts about on personal authenticity, whether photographers need to concentrate on getting the picture right in camera as opposed to post producing to save or create a picture, high ISO shooting, the rules of realism, the inconsistency too many presets can present, unfashionable tints, the reputation of Fujifilm in the profession and flash products. Also, third party glass and how available the mount is for those wishing to provide an alternative to Fujifilm lenses, phone-like features within an X-series body, how long can the X100 model keep developing, the thought process behind shooting street from Mr. Whisper, choosing music for films and photography slideshows, how to become an X-Photographer and the state of the portrait industry.

It’s new camera week! The boys are excited over the launch, at last, of the latest Fujifilm X100 camera; the X100VI, or SIX! Aside from the thoughts about the numbering of the camera, we hear about the upgrades, the sensor and the reason to consider this a serious contender for inclusion in that pocket of space you may have in your kit bag. Also today, the photographers (past or present) Neale and Kev would choose to spend quality time with, our thoughts about using third party lenses, final details about the 2nd March event at the House of Photography in London, supporting each other during times of trouble in the industry and advice for shooting your first professional gig in low light.

Kev’s knee is on the mend at last, fresh from recording an interview with Neale about his life as a working Mullins. Also on the show, buffer speeds slowing down your camera, buggy mechanical shutters, the ideal lens for photographing indoor sport, a firefighting proof camera, logging where you make your pictures with GPS, photography galleries in London and more.

Neale is on his African odyssey, whilst Kev is left shivering in Malmesbury but the show goes on as normal. Today on the show, the full agenda for our special FujiCast event at the House of Photography in London on the 2nd March this year, camera repairs, Lightroom user tips, squishing and squashing images for the web, learning to love your own pictures, being hard on your creative self, SEO for a new photo business website, custom camera settings and the perfect lens for a perfect job; an Indian wedding.

Happy New Year: is it? The question Kev’s friends are asking in Malmesbury - we think it will be, as we look ahead a little more to the FujiCast Live event in London on March 2nd. Today on the show, what the boys would like to find if there is to be a new X100 successor to the V, how to beat the buffer blues when your camera slows down in burst mode, can Red Bull give your camera wings, stealing canapés, social media authenticity, third party lenses for the Fujifilm systems, single slot shooting, and a big engine under the hood of a future X100 model - one of the desires the boys have for the future of Fujifilm’s favourite EDC.

The boys find a new fitness guru in Eddie Abbew, so the gauntlet is set for 2024’s health mission! Today ROLL UP ROLL UP, grab your tickets for the FujiCast Live event at the House of Photography in London on Saturday March 2nd featuring us, Mr. Whisper and Emily Renier. Also, when is a camera upgrade due, should we produce a zine, should they even be called zines, what attributes do you need to be a professional photographer, what can I do to solve lack of confidence, what is the five second rule, why are some second hand photo volumes so valuable and other questions?

The Christmas pressies are arriving into the show. For Kevin, it’s mince pies and for Neale, mushrooms (although not what you’re thinking!) This week the boys open the ticketing for you to come to the special FujiiCast workshop event at the House of Photography in London on Saturday 2nd March. Also today, XH-2 lock-ups and a theory of card husbandry to sort the issue, the trinity of 2024 camera rumours, large v small sensors, blue-tooth headphone suggestion, desks that actually help you lose weight as you work, camera cleaning tips, even more Capture 1 chat, phones that can’t take pictures (!), and where did the clutches go on the Fujifilm lenses?

Kev has a dental appointment at two-thirty, TRUE, he really does, so we’re recording this before he finds “Drinks Reception” even harder to say! One thing that’s making him feel better is the big announcement for our FujiCast event at The House of Photography in London on Saturday March 2nd, which we an now officially reveal. At the event, we’ll be hosting workshops on the business of wedding and social photography, using sound within your documentary wedding work, plus special guests Mr. Whisper and Emily Renier will be hosting talks on street photography and wedding work respectively. Today we also talk about how to fit your GFX camera with a modestly priced lens, suggest an X mount lens for a birthday budget, a Capture One white balance issue with Fuji files, what you’d shoot with your last roll of film or digital equivalent of, lavish Italian weddings and, “Should I sell my X100V” asks one listener in confusion?

How much are your photobooks worth, and where can you get an idea of their value? Today, the investments that are, photo books, how to use pic-time to sell your work as fine art prints, understanding native and base ISO, the wonder Lightroom’s Denoise, why professional photographers won’t want to use in-camera ai to process pictures on the fly, which focus method should I use in my X-T5, or which works best? Also which pictures good enough to deliver would you hold back from a client due to the content, a question of Nikon that only the Internet can answer on our behalf, personal project advice and resolution needed to make ‘mahoosive' prints.

Kev and Neale debate the appropriate nature of street photography with more and more people becoming private about the use of their images on line and in social media, plus they wonder if ‘real' storytelling pictures have been replaced by shadow play and ICM? Kev reminisces about fav wedding images as he prepares to depart ‘Planet Nuptials’ in terms of his professional photography, and the boys select from the incredible list of international venues they’ve photographed at and in.