Episode Archive
It’s not just for Fuji shooters you know….
A Light Entertainment Photography podcast.
Episode #285 What have you done today to make you feel proud? And vintage lenses
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.
Episode #284 The rise of the CONTENT CREATOR! And finding a true creative USP
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?
Episode #283: Is wedding photography still a viable business, and new lens or new camera?
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?
Episode #282: Don’t photograph me! And make my images cleaner
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?
Episode #281 Hmmmm, Sony and ARRRGH AI is coming to get us
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.
Episode #280: Life changes and understanding BRANDING!
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.
Episode #279: Is it really all about the gear? Let’s get image dirty!
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.
Episode #278 A monochrome Fujifiilm camera? And fav lenses
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.
Episode #277 Can art prints actually make me money? Plus buying primes
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.
Episode #276 Photographing BEAUTIFUL MONSTERS and the perfect next X-Pro
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.
Episode #275 Time to try film, or is it? And all hail the mighty Viltrox lens
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.
HELP! Fujifilm flippy screens are driving me mad!
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.
#273 Do I really need the VI, or will the X100V do?
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.
#272 More chatter about the X-Pro4 and photographing from space
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.
Episode #271 No more meetings, I’m becoming a photographer!
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.
#270: Keeping Mr. Google happy & can ChatGPT be your writer?
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.
Episode #269: Upgrading your camera: Why? And back to the darkroom
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!
Episode #268: Presenting work you HATE and YouTube trolling.
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.
Episode #267 The FujiCast Live from the House of Photography 2024
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.
Episode #266 The X100VI is here! Plus FujiCast live BOOK NOW!
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.