The Beginner Photography Podcast

Highlights from The Beginner Photography Podcast Workshop

• Raymond Hatfield

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#560 In this special “Workshop Episode” of the podcast, I, Raymond Hatfield, share my thoughts and experiences fresh off hosting our very first in-person workshop in Chicago. After nine years of connecting with listeners online, I finally brought together members of our community for a full day focused on photography, education, and camaraderie. This episode is a personal reflection on how meaningful it was to see faces behind the names, and why getting together in person can be a game-changer for learning and growth.

KEY TOPICS COVERED

  1. The Power of In-Person Workshops - Bringing listeners together in Chicago broke down the walls of digital connection. Everyone experienced firsthand how learning alongside others, asking questions in real time, and building bonds can accelerate growth in ways online learning rarely can. I saw people relax, open up, and walk away with real friendships and new confidence.
  2. Foundational Skills: Light, Composition, and Camera Settings - I designed the content to help both beginners and experienced photographers by focusing on the essentials—how to use your camera, how to “see” light, and how to compose compelling images. I shared personal images, good and bad, to spark discussion, and guided everyone through hands-on practice, including a photo walk with a model.
  3. Streamlining Editing with Imagen AI - I talked about my early struggles with editing and how it almost made me quit at the start. Now, with tools like Imagen AI—which learns your editing style and speeds up post-processing—I can spend more time doing what I love: shooting. The workshop gave attendees hands-on exposure to this workflow, empowering them to consider new tech solutions to old challenges.

IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS & CONCEPTS

  • “Getting it Right in Camera”: For me (and now for Kim!), this means achieving the look I want straight out of the camera, not just aiming for the “perfect” exposure meter reading. It’s about matching your image to your style and not being afraid to shoot for your own vision.
  • Quality of Light: Quality isn’t just about how bright the light is; it’s about its softness, direction, and how it shapes your subject. Understanding and controlling these qualities, even when using flashes or dealing with tough outdoor light, can level up any photo.

DISCUSSION & REFLECTION QUESTIONS

  1. How have your experiences learning photography in person differed from learning online?
  2. What does “getting it right in camera” mean for your own style, and how do you apply this when shooting?
  3. Can you share a breakthrough moment you’ve had with light or composition?
  4. What’s your biggest editing headache, and could something like Imagen AI help you enjoy photography more?

RESOURCES:
Check out Imagen AI - beginnerphotopod.com/imagen
See Behind-the-Scenes Workshop Photos  - https://adobe.ly/44oOIxe

Sign up for your free CloudSpot Account today at www.DeliverPhotos.com

Connect with Raymond!


Thanks for listening & keep shooting!

Raymond Hatfield:

It's not until you get in person and can meet with others, meet with others who share the same passion as you being photography. Meet with others who share the same struggles as you, that you feel like, oh wow, okay, maybe I'm not alone. I can do this. Hey Raymond here from the Beginner Photography Podcast and I'm currently driving on my way home from the very first beginner photography podcast workshop up in Chicago. I thought that maybe I'd wait until I got home to record this episode, but I still have so many thoughts and, really exciting moments that I wanted to share, and they're still fresh in my mind that I thought, you know what? Screw it. I'm just gonna hit record on my little dj, I Mike here, and we're gonna make an episode. And that kind of fits in perfectly to my philosophy of photography as well, which is even if you don't have the perfect setup, if you don't have all the right gear right at that moment, you know who cares? Try to make something happen. And you might be delightfully surprised, but you won't know unless you try. So we hosted the first workshop up in Chicago, and I chose Chicago for a few reasons. One, because of its proximity to me, it's, it's not too far. It's about a three and a half, four hour drive from Indy Two. I've been there before, so I have some familiarity with the city. Three being that when I look in the back end of ConvertKit, my email platform. There are more than 300 subscribers from Chicago, so I thought, if I'm gonna get started, let's try to make this as easy as possible and just do it that way. So I guess let me share why I decided to host a workshop for the first time after nine years of hosting the podcast. In all honesty, workshops are something that listeners have been requesting, for years, but, It seemed like such a, big task, and I wasn't entirely sure what it was that I would teach, that I would educate on. And then when I was ready to pull the trigger on my first workshop, COD happened, so that kind of, you know pumped the brakes and I had to, I had to wait on the workshop. And then after Covid is when I decided I was gonna get outta weddings. And if I'm being completely candid with y'all, I kind of have this slight identity crisis. Like, who am I to be hosting this podcast if I'm not currently a working professional photographer? So I kind of, dug in my heels and, played this, what if game, who am I game? Would people even show up? All of those self-doubts that you have when you go to, to try something new. But as I continued on with the podcast, it continued to grow more people, continued to, to listen, continue to show up. The community continues to grow. And I realized that, even though I'm not currently a working professional shooting weddings full time, I did that for 10 years and I still have a lot of information that I can give to you and if I can help you on your journey in photography, why would I not do that? Like, why would I stop doing that? So at the end of last year, I put out this big survey where I, I want to know more about you. I wanna know more about you, the listener, as far as, what do you shoot? How long have you been shooting? What are the things that you struggle with? And also, what do you want more of from the podcast? And I was really shocked at how many people said they wanted an in-person workshop. They wanted to get together in person, they wanted to build these connections with the people who they've spoke with in the community for years. And they wanted to advance their education, get some more hands-on help with their problems. And the things that they struggle with and they wanted to have a great experience doing so. So that got me thinking more about the workshops again, and I thought, okay, if I'm gonna do this, I'm really going to do this. I don't just want to dip my toes in the water and just kind of, you know, half as it. I really wanna make sure that I'm prepared and that what I deliver is of value because I don't wanna waste your time, and I know that because I also don't wanna waste my time. So when it came to figuring out. What was I gonna talk about during this workshop? That was also difficult. I had people in the workshop who had been shooting for a few years, you know, they've taken a number of, paid professional gigs, and there's also some of those who have only been shooting for less than a year here. So one of the things that I can teach that are applicable to every photographer. No matter where, where you're at in photography, So I know that camera settings are obviously something that. Even if you're proficient in shooting a manual, sometimes you still got some questions. So I wanted to talk about that. I wanted to make sure that we had time to answer those questions and figure those things out for you. But the two biggest things that I wanted to make sure that we talked about were light and composition, because light and composition are the two things. That you have to learn how to see as a photographer, like starting from scratch and there's a lot of ambiguity in them. So I started off by going through my entire library of, photos from weddings and personal work, and I started looking for examples. Examples of moments where I took photos in good light. Examples of when I took photos in bad light So that I would have something to share and show off why you would do it one way, why you would do it another. And how you can take, quote unquote bad light being, harsh light, I guess you would call it, and still create a great image because when you're comfortable shooting in your least desirable light to you, then you can shoot in any conditions and be able to get something that you're really proud of. And when it comes to composition. How you compose a frame is so much you want to draw in the viewer's attention to where you want it to go. You're directing that attention through your composition. And again, composition can be kind of ambiguous. But also compositions can be stacked on top of each other to create an even more compelling image. So I knew that I wanted to talk about that. I wanted to talk about my three favorite compositions, but then also. Two, that they're not necessarily traditional compositions, but I use them a lot in my photography and specifically when looking for, how to place my couples or my subject. So the planning for this workshop, I mean, it took a lot more work than I was. anticipating because I think one, because I went through a lot of my, backlog of images, images that, I guess you'd call it a catalog, images that I've taken years ago, I think I went through over a hundred thousand images to find the ones that I included, in the presentation, in the educational part of the workshop. But I also knew that I didn't just want to sit and speak at, this y'all, this group of photographers, and that there had to be an interactive elements to it or a demonstration element. So I knew that I wanted to do a photo walk with a model so that after we go through this education, we we learn about these core concepts, then we can go out and actually put them to practice. But then also, even though this wasn't a workshop about flash. I wanted to bring out the flash within the educational part when we're talking about light, so that I could show off some core examples. And man, I was blown away. Everybody was so excited about the, that portion. About, you know, when I brought out the flash, I had my trustee assistant, Jim, who's also a moderator in the Facebook group, who, by the way, Jim. Such a huge help man. I I really, truly do appreciate all of your help. Jim walked like two city blocks with like two giant cardboard, bins full of Chipotle that we had catered for lunch. That's a questionable thing to do in the part of Chicago that we were at, and he did it. Huge support. So again, Jim, thank you so much, man. But I used Jim as my, standin model while we were working with flash, and we covered some really great core concepts of how to use and manipulate light to achieve what it is that you're looking for specifically in dealing with the quality of life because with a flash, I think most people think that you're just adding quantity of light, but they don't really think about the element of quality of light. So being able to kind of show that off I think was a huge help too. A lot of the students. So after going through the educational portion, we had our model come in. Her name was Becca. She did a phenomenal job. Super easy to work with and had a lot of great ideas too. And then we went out on our photo walk and we just kind of shot around the streets of, this wicker park neighborhood of Chicago. And it was really cool for me, I think, to, to see what the participants were able to achieve. You spend the whole morning talking about these concepts being camera settings, light and composition, and, you ask for questions and there are, there are some really good questions that come up, but at least for me personally, I know that I can be taught something, right? I can go through the education, but it's not until I actually put the camera to my face and I try it. That the knowledge, the educational portion really hits and then I understand it. So being able to go out and again, see the, you know, everybody who was involved, work with this model, find some good light and try new things, was, it was fulfilling, honestly. But I think probably one of the coolest moments that I have throughout the day came from an aha moment from Kim Carpet. While we were going through the educational portion, we were talking about camera settings. We were talking about light, we were talking about composition, and Kim brings up how she likes her photos a little bit darker, a little bit moodier, but every time she goes to edit them that way, sometimes they fall flat. And I had just mentioned like, well, a lot of it is more about light. Like you can't take a, a flat photo and edit it as dark and moody, within Lightroom. It's really in the way that you shoot it and getting it right in camera. And I'll say it seemed like she understood what I said. And then we moved on. Later when we went out to the photo walk portion, there was this seam of, intense shadow with this like spotlight of, of sunlight coming through. And I had told Kim, I said, Hey Kim, this is like a great moment to get that. This is great light to get that dark and moody look that you're talking about. So I said, try to black out the background. So she goes through her camera settings and that's what she does. She blacks out the background. So now it's a very dark frame with this model who's being hit with this, almost like a spotlight of light. And she shows me the photo and I'm like, yeah, that's great. There you go. And she says, wait, this is getting it right in camera. And I was like, yeah, for you, for your style of editing, that's getting it right in camera. And she had this aha moment of, oh my gosh, I always thought that getting it right in camera meant getting it properly exposed. Like, get the meter at zero. So unlocking this moment of realizing that quote unquote, getting it right in camera is subjective to each photographer and what it is that they shoot, and in her case it's probably getting it underexposed in camera to expose and, make the highlights stand out. That same photo with those same camera settings would not be getting it right in camera for a photographer who shoots more of a lighter style of images. Getting it right in camera is dependent on, on you, your preferences, in your editing style, how you want the photo to look. And that was great to see because you can tell that for years she's been struggling'cause she thinks that she's quote unquote, getting it right in camera all these years. But really she's just getting a, a middle of the road exposure and then she's trying to make it work in the edit. But now that she knows what getting it right in camera looks like for her, which is probably a stop to a stop and a half under what she would normally shoot a seen, now she's gonna have an easier time achieving that dark and moody look that she likes most in her images. So again, like that for me was so cool to see like, these are the things that like, I don't even think of, like, I'm so close to the knowledge that I have that sometimes I don't understand what it is that you as a listener, as a student, as a community member are missing. So having this time where we are, well, we're not one-on-one, but we're in a small group setting, and you're going through these things with the camera up to your face, and you have a question and I can answer it for you, and you can walk away with this moment of, oh my gosh, I've been shooting. against what it is that I like all these years. I, I haven't been happy with my images for years and this is the thing that is gonna kind of turn it around for me. That, again, such an amazing moment and I. maybe I'm not missing something. Maybe that's just something that has to be done in person. So again, so cool to see, so incredible to be a part of that moment. Honestly, to see her eyes like widen and it is like, it's like that shot from Requiem for a dream where the eyes, go dilated and it's like the whole world changes for you in that moment was again really, really amazing. So now that the workshop is over. I've had some time to reflect. I'm thinking about what changes can I make? Where can I take this next? What are those next steps to really help you on your photo journey? Another big thing I learned was I wanted to take everybody through my editing workflow, and I've shared this story on the podcast before. The first wedding that I edited took me an entire month to edit. I was so nervous trying to make sure that every single photo was, was perfect, that there were no blown out highlights or, shadows that were too dark. Zero clipping. I wanted the colors to be perfect. I wanted them to be accurate. I wanted them to also be stylized. I would, I mean, stress over a 10th of a stop of exposure. Is this too bright? Is this too dark? What is perfect? I don't know how many of you go through the same thing, but editing was a real struggle for me in the beginning. I. And it took me a long time to find a workflow that I became comfortable with. I became quick with and was proficient in being able to edit a wedding, relatively quick. I mean, I got to the point to where I would guarantee a couple of their wedding images within 30 days of their wedding. And that was a huge draw, honestly, like I saw the amount of bookings that I got once I implemented that guarantee, really take off because that's something that a lot of clients, a lot of families, brides, you know what have you. That's something that they're nervous about. Oftentimes working with them, it's the first time that they've worked with a professional photographer and everybody's heard stories of, you know, it taking forever for a couple or, for somebody to get their photos. And nobody wants to invest money and be excited about hiring a photographer and then feeling like the photographer forgot about them going six, eight weeks just to get their photos back from like a senior session. And worse, if you know they're on a deadline to get those photos to the yearbook or Thank you. Cards out or what? Whatever. It's Christmas cards. So early on in my journey, like figuring out, I'll be honest, like it took me so long to edit that one wedding. I thought to myself, I don't know if I can do this. Because on top of it, taking forever, it just wasn't fun. I got into photography because I love shooting. I love capturing moments. I love creating something that, somebody is blown away by something that they can't capture on their cell phone. That's an exciting moment for me, not the editing. So always I was, I'm constantly on this journey to figure out how can I reduce my editing time so that I can, maximize my shooting time cause that's where I get the most amount of joy. Some people like the editing process. Me, not so much. And that's why I was excited to work with Imagine AI on this workshop. So Imagine AI actually sponsored a portion of the workshop. They provide their lunch. And they paid for our model to, to go out on our photo walk. And imagine AI is an AI photo editor, so the way that it works is that when you sign up, you can upload a number of your photos from your Lightroom catalog so that it can be trained on how you edit your images. So it's not just gonna apply some filter and say that it's done. It's gonna look at the. You know, your, your raw photo of how you took the image and then how you edited it, and then compare the difference between the two photos and figure out how you like your images edited. So next time you go out on a shoot. When you come back, you just upload the raw or the JPEG photos to imagine AI through Lightroom, and it will edit them in the same way that you would edit them. And the best part is that it will complete this lightning fast. Hope Taylor, who has been on the podcast before, she uses Imagine AI and she said that she's able to get back an entire senior session edited in under an hour. Like imagine coming home from a shoot, uh, uploading your photos and an hour later. They're done. And what I think is really cool that, I haven't heard a lot of other companies do is that when you get the photos back and then they go into your Lightroom catalog, one, it's not like you just get JPEGs back that are, finished and that's it. The edits go back in the Lightroom. So you still have full control of being able to edit these images if you wanna make any tweaks. So if you make these tweaks, if you realize, oh, actually I like my shadows a little bit pulled down. I like my images a little bit warmer than this. Once you are done making those minor tweaks to the rest of the images, you can then re-upload that to Imagine AI as the finished photo. And it will recognize the updates that you made and then go to refine your editing profile to, again, make it closer to how you edit. So the next time you go to upload a shoot, it continues to edit just like you. So why I was excited about this is because I know a lot of listeners, a lot of you maybe have a full-time job and you think, well, I can't leave that to be a full-time photographer. Or, I have time for shoots, but it's the editing that takes so long and, I don't want to give up my weekends for that. Well, imagine AI can help you get there faster because it's taking one thing, it's taking a large portion of a photo shoot off of your plate. So if it can help you to achieve your goals faster, why not do that? Why not give it a shot? If you could go out and shoot a session on a Saturday and then have it finished by Sunday or Saturday night? Why not give it a try? And if you're still relatively new to photography and editing and working with clients and you're not a hundred percent on what your editing style is, well, no worries. They have built in profiles that you can use from some of the world's top photographers and then you can make more tweaks yourself. Re-up, upload those to imagine and create your own style. Imagine AI is a huge time saver and something that will help you spend more time behind the camera instead of behind the computer screen, and I am all for that. If you want to check out Imagine AI for yourself, they gave me a special link to give to you. Just head to beginner photo pod.com/imagine. That's beginner Photo Pod slash imagine. They're gonna give you a bunch of free credits and you can try it out for yourself. So now that the workshop is over, man, it's crazy because, being a part of the beginner photography podcast community, I knew all of the names of the people who were coming, but you don't really know who they are until you meet them face to face. You talk with them, you learn about what it is that they shoot, how they shoot their struggles. And it, I'll say it builds this connection. Whenever I see Wendy's name pop up in the group, I'm gonna have a deeper connection with her. Whenever I see RJ post a real estate photo in the group, I'm gonna have a better understanding of how he shoots and the struggles that he faces. Whenever I see Jim post in the group, I'm probably just gonna roll my eyes and say, oh, Jim. No, I'm just kidding. In fact, Jim actually took some behind the scenes photos. I'm gonna post a link to those in the show notes so so you can check'em out for yourself. Or whenever Delaney posts in the group, I'm gonna have a better understanding of where she's at in her journey so that I'm gonna be able to give her better answers for her questions, for her struggles, and that again, is just like such, such a hard thing to accomplish by just being online. It's not until you get in person and can meet with others, meet with others who share the same passion as you being photography. Meet with others who share the same struggles as you, that you feel like, oh wow, okay, maybe I'm not alone. I can do this. And if I can provide that space for you to be able to connect with others in person, to be able to go out and shoot together, to be able to create new photo friends, to be able to directly help you with your struggles, I want to do that. Because sometimes just sitting behind a computer or here in my car behind a microphone, it doesn't feel like enough. But just being together in person for just this one day. It felt like I made more of an impact than I have in the past nine years of hosting the podcast. And I heard from others who have literally listened to every episode of the podcast say that it wasn't until getting together here in person that things really started to click. So going forward, I wanna provide more of those things for you, more of those opportunities, more of those spaces for you to be able to get together and connect and make progress on your photo journey. Where's the workshop coming to next? I'm not sure. But if you live in a city where the Dodgers come to play your local baseball team, there's a good chance that the workshop will be coming to you, but if you want to be updated on where workshops are happening, If you want to take part of the workshops in the future. Then come join us in the Beginner Photography podcast community, which you'll be joined right now by heading over to beginner photo pod.com/again, beginner photo pod.com/group. That is it for today. Until next time. Remember, the more that you shoot today, the better of a photographer you'll be tomorrow. Talk soon.