The Beginner Photography Podcast

How Community Support Fuels Photographic Success with Jim Sinicki

• Raymond Hatfield

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#573 Jim Sinicki is a longtime and active member of the podcast’s Facebook group. The episode explores Jim’s personal photography journey, beginning with what initially inspired him and carrying through his transition from enthusiast to business owner and creative community contributor. Listeners will gain insights into how Jim found inspiration by witnessing another photographer’s vibrant depiction of Milwaukee—a perspective that reignited his love for his hometown and drove him to create meaningful images.

KEY TOPICS COVERED

  1. Inspiration & Starting Out - Jim shares how discovering Martin Moore’s photography changed his view of Milwaukee and motivated him to pick up a camera. He discusses the emotional and nostalgic appeal of recreating positive memories from his childhood, which underpinned his drive to document his city and, later, his family.
  2. Learning, Community, and Overcoming Failure - The importance of the Beginner Photography Podcast’s Facebook community is highlighted as Jim explains how accessible, judgment-free support enabled his progress. This section underscores the value of asking questions, sharing failures, and persistent practice. Jim describes the moment when technical concepts finally “clicked” for him, thanks to an episode on the exposure triangle, and the encouragement to seek help when needed.
  3. Building a Photography Business & Personal Connection - Jim reflects on transitioning from hobbyist to business owner (Charlie James Photo), emphasizing the value of genuine client relationships and documenting real-life moments. He speaks about focusing on family and senior photography, the challenges of balancing professional and family life, and the power of word-of-mouth marketing in local communities.

IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS & CONCEPTS

  • Histogram: A graphical representation of the tonal values in an image, which helps photographers assess exposure and make accurate adjustments. Understanding the histogram allowed Jim to improve his images, especially with his camera upgrade.

DISCUSSION & REFLECTION QUESTIONS

  1. How does being part of a supportive community influence a photographer’s growth and confidence?
  2. What are some healthy ways to process and learn from creative failures?
  3. Why is vulnerability important for building relationships both with clients and fellow photographers?
  4. How can documenting everyday moments shape memories and family history?

RESOURCES:
Visit Jim Sinicki's Website - https://www.charliejamesphoto.com/
Follow Jim Sinicki on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/charlie_james_photo/

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

Connect with Raymond!


Thanks for listening & keep shooting!

Jin Sinicki:

Go into your Facebook communities. Like make people sick of your work. So that way at some point they were like, Oh, Hey, I want to get, I want to get a photo taken with my son or I want to remember this day with my daughter. This guy posts photos all the time. Let's talk to him. You know, I'm telling you now that's where I get 90 percent of my bookings. It's just something like that.

Raymond Hatfield:

Well, hey there. Welcome to the Beginner Photography Podcast. I am your host, Raymond Hatfield, and each week here's what I do. I interview one of the world's most interesting photographers to learn what does it really take to capture beautiful images? And I share that with you so that you can start to do the same. In today's rewind episode, we are chatting with community member and moderator Jim Snicky, about facing your failures, seeking feedback and building connections to grow as a photographer. But first, the Beginner Photography Podcast is brought to you by Clouds Spot. With clouds spott, you can simplify your business with studio management, you can organize clients, send professional contracts, and automate invoice payments and more. Keeping track of everything in your growing photography business just got a whole lot easier. So grab your free forever account today over@deliverphotos.com and only upgrade when you and your business are ready. Raise your hand if you have ever compared yourself to another photographer's work you've seen online. I know I have. Raise your hand if you have ever felt like, your gear is not enough. I, I'm raising my hand. And raise your hand if you have ever felt overwhelmed by all of the photo tech nerd lingo. Yeah, I've been there too. Now raise your hand if despite all of that, you still love photography and when you capture a great shot, it all becomes worth it. Yeah, me too. Well, guess what? If you're like me, you are in good company because today's guest and community member and moderator, Jim Snicky has been there too. In today's interview, we talk a lot about his earliest mistakes, the embarrassing things that he Googled when trying to learn photography and how he overcame the challenges to become not only a great photographer, but a pretty solid dude. All of that, despite being a Milwaukee Brewers fan. So brave. All right, all jokes aside, I think honestly, that you're gonna love this, very candid and authentic conversation about photography. And why don't you be like, Jim, join him, myself, and more than 6,000 other photographers just like you, looking to learn and grow your skills by joining the Beginner Photography podcast community. It is free, it's fun, and honestly, it's the safest place on the internet for new photographers. So if you want to join us, head over to beginner photo pod.com/group. Again, that's beginner photo pod.com/group and join the party. All right, with that, let's go ahead and get on into today's interview. Jim, you've been a member of the Facebook group for, like more than two years now, which is awesome. So congratulations. I appreciate you being in the group and being such a contributing member, as much as you are. And it's been cool that over the past two years, I've been able to see like your progression, not only like in your photography and like the questions that you were asking early on versus the questions that you're asking now, but also like to see you, you know, start a business. And like, all these things are so cool to be able to, see your growth. and now that you've been doing this for a few years, I want to know, like, take me back to those early days, right? This is that first question. Like, I really want to know, what was it about photography for you? Like in the beginning that you thought, like, well, this is awesome. And I want to do more of this.

Jin Sinicki:

Yeah. So, Big reveal here, uh, past guest, Martin Moore. I actually started watching his photography and I, I didn't know how to use a camera back then. But I started watching his photography and I thought to myself, he's pretty good at this. I wonder if I can do that. You know, I, I'm pretty good at figuring some stuff out. So let me see what I can do. So I always actually tried to strive to be like him early on. and I really just kind of found myself over editing things just to try to match his, his style. Yeah, so I'm sorry. What was the question? I kind of rambled on there.

Raymond Hatfield:

It was so, you saw Martin's photography and you liked it. You said, I can kind of figure this out. But what was like, what was it? Because, a lot of people see beautiful photos online, but they don't think, Oh, maybe I could do that. Or I'm going to do that or take the action to do that. So what was it about his work or photography in general that made you go on and do it? So,

Jin Sinicki:

I've never seen Milwaukee, the way that Marty did, it looked beautiful, it looked colorful, it looked vibrant, it looked like people loved being there. over the last few years, like Milwaukee has just been kind of drab and, and just not as fun as it used to be like when I was growing up. So to see it the way that he saw it, I wanted to just almost recreate that for myself.

Raymond Hatfield:

Gotcha. Okay. Okay. So, the idea there in the beginning was. Let me see. So you're going to have this camera and you want to kind of, was it to recreate what it was that you saw as a kid or simply put yourself or make yourself a staple in Milwaukee to, to be that place to what it was like when you were a kid.

Jin Sinicki:

To be honest with you, I think it was more, um, out publicly, I think it was more I wanted to just bring back those memories, of being a kid. but I think inside it wanted to be me, more being a staple in Milwaukee and trying to make a name for myself out there. What is it about Milwaukee?

Raymond Hatfield:

Like, you grew up there, but like, now here is your time to tell the world, like, this is why Milwaukee is the best. What is it about Milwaukee?

Jin Sinicki:

Alright, so Milwaukee is the little city that could. Everybody thinks that we're like the little brother of Chicago, who just can't do anything to get out of its own way. But Milwaukee's got a heart of a lion, honestly. We don't quit. We work hard. Struggle through the winters. We enjoy the summers. We have the best music here. Uh, summer fest is going on in summer time. We have the best beer. So if you ever want to come down to milwaukee or up to milwaukee, uh, that's the place To be trust me. I could take you around great food and just just really great people all around and I think I really wanted to try to celebrate that a little bit more.

Raymond Hatfield:

Mm hmm. So So then now you have this mission You want to capture Milwaukee as if, to show off that it is, heaven on earth, you could say. So you got the camera. What happened?

Jin Sinicki:

Well, after that, my wife and I, we got pregnant and, a little inside baseball for a lot of people here. We tried really hard to get pregnant for quite a few years. And when we found out we're pregnant, I decided I was going to be not the mom photographer, the mom photographer, as I call it. But I wanted to be the dad photographer. So when my kid was born, it just quickly turned into, I want to take pictures of my son. I want to be, I want to take these pictures and remember it all from there. And then as he got a little bit older, I was like, I can do this for other people and I can try to build my business that way. So that's kind of where I am now.

Raymond Hatfield:

Did you think from the beginning that you wanted to definitely have a business? Like when you first got that camera, did it evolve into that?

Jin Sinicki:

I mean, I think everybody who picks up the camera wants to start a business right away. Like that's the first thing to think of. It's not, how can I shoot the camera? How can I learn the aperture? How can I learn to focus something better? It's how can I quickly make money off of this? And nobody, nobody really thinks of how to do it.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah.

Jin Sinicki:

Yeah.

Raymond Hatfield:

Why do you think that is? Why do you think when people first pick up that camera, they think, oh, I wonder how I can, or how to make money with this.

Jin Sinicki:

Oh, we live in the Instagram, the YouTube lifestyle right now. So everybody just sees these nobodies who make it big on YouTube, and they think they're making millions of dollars, and they think they can do that for themselves.

Raymond Hatfield:

Do you think that, like, let me see, what's the question I'm trying to think of here? guess I'm just trying to get into your head as far as like, how deep down the rabbit hole did you see yourself going when you first got the camera? Or was it really like, no, like how much of that developed?

Jin Sinicki:

I think like everybody else, I went pretty deep down the rabbit hole at first. I was, you know, just how can I get these, these amazing shots and how does lighting work? And best and worst thing that happened to me was I put my photography I'm lying for people to see it because that was a kick in the pants. That was reality coming back to me saying, dude, you kind of suck at this. So

Raymond Hatfield:

no, no, no, hold on. What do you mean? Like, talk me through that. What does that mean?

Jin Sinicki:

Well, basically, you know, you think that you take these amazing photos, and then like you, you kind of put up against everybody else cause you don't know what you're doing and you see that and you say to yourself, my photos are not nearly as good as this. Like nobody is, come out and said like your photos suck, but when you see them lined up to somebody who has been shooting for five, 10, 15 years, versus you, who think you're awesome at three months in. It's reality. You realize that you don't know as much as you think you do, so take a few steps back.

Raymond Hatfield:

But if you haven't been shooting for five or ten years, like, how is that an equal measurement, for you to compare your work against somebody else?

Jin Sinicki:

It's not, it's definitely not, but you don't know that going in. You just see these amazing photos and you think, that's a great photo. Why can't mine look like that? And it's because you don't know exposure triangle. You don't know how to edit photos. I still don't know how to edit photos. I've been doing this for a couple of years. Like you said, that's, that's my biggest struggle still.

Raymond Hatfield:

Well, then let's stay back there at the beginning, when you first started uploading your photos, and you realize there was that, that gap essentially between your photos and say somebody who's been shooting for 510 years. Like, what do you think that was? Where did that come from? Like, what were you struggling with or lacking technically, do you think?

Jin Sinicki:

When I first started it was, it was everything. It was composition. it was the exposure triangle. It was even knowing the terminology. Like when somebody says F stop, I'm like, Oh, I don't know what that is. It's like, what does that mean? Mine goes to 5. 6. Is that good? No. Okay. Well, how do I change that? So it's just a lot of learning. It's, it's knowing that you don't know what you don't know. So

Raymond Hatfield:

where do you

Jin Sinicki:

learn right here? Honestly, I tell people all the time, like I tell people, if you want to learn, go see Raymond Hatfield and the Beginner Photography Podcast. Because I swear to you, I learned everything I know in photography because of you and the people in this group.

Raymond Hatfield:

First of all, that's crazy, because you have to like take, this is gonna sound like the worst, like humble brag ever, but like, I get emails from people saying like, Hey, you know, thanks so much. Like, the podcast has really helped me learn photography and my response is always like, I didn't do anything. Like you are the one who has the camera. Like anybody can listen to it. Yeah. I'll tell you, I watch like shows on how to build tiny homes and like how to build race cars. I could watch those all day, but I don't do any of those things, you know? It's, it's you who takes the action to go out and do those things. So

Jin Sinicki:

No, I'll say a hundred percent. I mean, join the, the group and listen and, and, look at pictures all you want to, but you're not going to learn if you don't ask those questions.

Raymond Hatfield:

And

Jin Sinicki:

I think, You know, like, like you said, the beginning here, my questions back then versus the way they are now are completely different because again, I didn't know what I didn't know. So I was asking the same questions that every new person asks when they come in.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah, that's that's

Jin Sinicki:

how we all learned

Raymond Hatfield:

right. Okay, so you come into the group you're asking questions What do you think was one of the biggest moments for you? When it comes to learning photography like was there this moment for you where it was just like oh my gosh Like all of this fits together now, like this is starting to make sense Uh, when, you know, you're trying to, uh, pick your, did you get that moment?

Jin Sinicki:

Yeah. So I struggled so hard to learn the exposure triangle. I, I'm not good at math at all. Like not even close to math, math magician here. So I listened to one of your episodes very early on. and you guys were breaking down the exposure shrink. I was like, well, I got nothing else to do. Let's see if we can figure this out. So I listened to the podcast and I probably worked on it for half a day, an entire day, and it finally just clicked. I was like, wait, this goes along with this, which means if I, if I change this one, I got to change this one. If I changed these two, I have to change this one as well. And that's how it all started turning.

Raymond Hatfield:

So, oh my gosh, I love that. once again, I mean, You listen to it, you took action. And I can tell you that, by the statistics, almost 10, 000 people a month download like those first few episodes of the podcast on the exposure triangle. But the amount of people again, who actually like get out and do something to Is like super small. so I love to not only hear that for one, you did go out and do that, but then you continued to like be in the group and continued to like share your successes, with the photos that you were taking. so aside from, the questions that you were asking, was there anything else that you were doing in terms of, education? Were you like getting books? was it YouTube? where did the growth come from for you?

Jin Sinicki:

So I tried to read the books on it, but I'm going to tell you right now. Boring. I almost fell asleep in all of them. And I know, I know you're the same way as I am. I think you talked about that a couple of times, but yeah, yeah. So then I kind of, I started picking up YouTube, and of all people, like Jared Polin has some really good stuff. like if you sign up for his stuff, he's got like shooting a low light and to go from automatic to manual, and I just kind of picked up bits and pieces from, from that. And then just also talking to people, in like, you know, photography podcast groups and, and all sorts of different, Facebook groups and just asking questions, and just really trying to hone myself there. and you talked about, how I shared my successes. The big thing is I, I try to share my failures as well, because if I'm failing at something, somebody else is also going to fail at it. And if they're not, then the group has been just amazing to jump in and say, well, we've had that problem too, and here's how we fixed it. So when I tried it again, I would go back out and make these little changes and make it a little bit, a little bit better the next time.

Raymond Hatfield:

Well, I love that. Let's talk about that more. Did you have one failure that like you really learned a lot from?

Jin Sinicki:

My first failure, I did a, um, maternity shoot for a friend and I thought the photos were pretty good. Some of them, don't like, I still use them all. but there were a lot of like, composition failures and, and, Kimberly Irish actually kind of walked me through a few of them. And one of them was, she explained to me the doctor view of a maternity shoot. And I was like, Oh yeah, I totally get that. Now I know why I want to put the camera right where I put it, because, you know, That's not a very good view. physically in that, that shoot, the very first shot that we set up, I backed up into the lake.

Raymond Hatfield:

And like, you walked it. Oh my

Jin Sinicki:

gosh. Yeah. So that sucked.

Raymond Hatfield:

That is a great way to start off shoot. Right. And then just tell them like, well, now we're going to be real careful about this. Oh

Jin Sinicki:

yeah. And if anybody knows the water in Lake Michigan around Milwaukee, around the summerfest grounds, like, you know, it's, it's not good. It's there's, there's no water. And we wouldn't get into it, but it's, I smelled awful for a little while. So that was fun.

Raymond Hatfield:

Did you ever get any, referrals from that couple at all?

Jin Sinicki:

I did actually. I did really despite the smelly garbage and that's hilarious. Well, you know, I mean, I gave him the best photos that I had. I, you know, I didn't give him the garbage. So, and really it's, that's all that matters. So,

Raymond Hatfield:

yeah, of course, of course. That's hilarious. Okay, so let's go ahead and start talking about, transitioning into what you got now, which is Charlie James photo. Can you tell me, about Charlie James photo and like, what's the mission that you got? Because.

Jin Sinicki:

Yeah. So, Charlie James photo is actually named after my son, Charlie. Again, main reason I'm still shooting is because I want to take those memories of my son, being young and just growing up. the big thing that I've been telling people right now, it's kind of turned into my motto is turn your moments into memories. and it's kind of, From your slogan as well. But I figured it's so good. I use it myself. Absolutely.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah.

Jin Sinicki:

Make some tweaks off that. So in Greendell, I've been kind of, talked about a lot as the guy who doesn't just, take the photos. He actually like wants to, you know, I want, I want to get to know my clients. I send them all questionnaires. I talked to them. I talked to him before the shoots and just kind of get to know them that way a little bit. and then even after. the shoots, I still stay in contact with them even if they don't want to book with me anymore. So you know what? Hey, we shared this moment together. we're connected no matter what now. and it, it makes for a better session. It makes it more personable.

Raymond Hatfield:

Tell me more about that. Like where did you get these ideas to make your sessions, more personable?

Jin Sinicki:

To be honest with you, I love people. It may sound crazy, but I actually like people. I like just talking to people. I like getting to know people and, get inside people's heads. in my professional life, my nine to five, I am a fraud investigator. So I deal with some of the worst people that, uh, you could probably ever imagine. So getting to know people face to face, just on a personal level. It's great for me. It's a whole big, different change. I love that part of the whole, um, the whole game.

Raymond Hatfield:

I would imagine that most times at, like, a session, people aren't specifically trying to lie to you and deceive you like you would at your normal job. So it must be like this breath of fresh air, like, Oh, this is fantastic. And I'm getting paid to be here and shoot. This is awesome.

Jin Sinicki:

Exactly. It's great. Yeah.

Raymond Hatfield:

So tell me how you plan to, like where you plan to take Charlie James photo or I guess, do you have a primary focus with Charlie James photo or are you shooting a little bit of everything right now? How's that going for you?

Jin Sinicki:

So I've been shooting a little bit of everything right now just because of the COVID lockdown. I've been trying to keep my family safe and other people safe as well. We both have people who are high risk in my family. And on my side, my side, my side, I should say. So I've been kind of, doing my own thing for a little while, just shooting like a lot of streets. I've been learning a lot of, shutter exposures, or I'm sorry, long exposures, I should say. So it's been a lot of fun. I actually, met up with, with a guy who became a really good friend of mine, who was a photographer. And he, he taught me how to do some long exposure and he taught me like the tricks of it and, how to set up for, for night shots and, along the lake. So that's been a lot of fun, but anyways, the, um, the main, point of Charlie James is, family photography. senior photos. It's been really big for me lately. Something I love to do. yeah, just kind of celebrating the everyday with Charlie James photo.

Raymond Hatfield:

Celebrating the everyday, which are so now, oh my gosh, I love that. Celebrating the everyday with Charlie James photo. You need a client to like, tell you that, so that, that can be like the testimonial on your website with like a giant campus or something behind them. Yeah.

Jin Sinicki:

I know. And the worst part about this whole Covid thing is like I couldn't get any kind of testimonials lately because like nobody's been wanting to shoot. Yeah. So I'm like, I'm using testimonials from like a year and a half ago. Yeah. So I really need to get that going. But, I have some sessions booked up, coming up in the next month or two, so we should be all right.

Raymond Hatfield:

Awesome. Talk to me about, talk to me about weddings. Weddings isn't something that, that you want to do, right?

Jin Sinicki:

Oh my god, yeah I'll tell you right now, you and Kim and Cara, you guys, you guys are tough, man. Cause I could not handle a wedding on my own. There's no way I could do that. Um, I, I shot a very small, like very small four person wedding, last year. And I was nervous just for that one. It was just shooting portraits. I was like if I screwed myself up, they're gonna be pissed at me. Um, so to get like a six month plan going on there is just no way I could do that.

Raymond Hatfield:

I think you could. I don't think that you're giving yourself enough credit. Uh, you know, let me let me let

Jin Sinicki:

me rephrase that. I don't think I'd want to do that because I don't want to screw up somebody's big day. Like my again, my My wife and I, we had, we had a very small wedding. Cause like, we're not like the big to do people. So like when other people do it, it's just, it's crazy to think like this is what they're spending their money on.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah. Um, well, I forgot who said it, but so, you know, there's a very, popular, phrase, I guess, or a sentiment in business that like you, are not your ideal client, right? Yeah. So, me and my wife, I mean, we had a small wedding as well. It was actually in, it was supposed to be an outdoor wedding, but it rained. So like last minute, it was kind of amazing. Everybody came together and we found, my, my wife's, Grandma, was in the automotive union. So like the, the union hall was like, you can just have the union home, like have your wedding here and we're like, okay, yeah, it's raining outside. But yeah, I mean, it was not a wedding that like, we didn't even have a wedding photographer. Like we just hired like my friend from California. I was like, I paid for his plane ticket to come out. And now, like, I look at the weddings that, like, I go to, and I think to myself, like, I can't believe the people are doing this. Like, this is crazy. But, I think when we can separate ourselves from the service that we deliver, it becomes a whole lot easier to, to do that, you know? And to be able to, to deliver just great stuff. I don't know where I was going with that. I guess that was just a story about my life.

Jin Sinicki:

And yeah, no, I, I completely agree with you. Like you, you have to separate your, your personal, thoughts from the business. Absolutely. Yeah, I just, I don't know if I could do that in that situation. Like, so there, there's a really good wedding photography company that did my friend's wedding and she told me that she paid 15, 000 for it. And I'm just like, that would be awesome to do. I would love to charge that much money, but man, that is a lot of responsibility. That's a lot of pressure to nail every single shot.

Raymond Hatfield:

True, true. Yeah. However, there is, there was a study that went out above, like for like the top 10 percent of like CEOs, like the top 10% 10 highest earning CEOs in the country. And it was an anonymous question that was asked, I'm just really bad with remembering all these, uh, these facts right here. But I think the question was like, what's the one thing that you're most scared of? And remember, it's like high level, I mean, multi hundreds of million dollars CEOs. And then like the number one answer that came back from just about all of them was, that people would figure out that they have no idea what they're doing. Exactly. and I think that we all kind of can take something away from that, when it comes to photography, specifically because, we're not, these greats in the world, but we do have something to say and everybody has our own, unique voice and, yeah, we can create, something for anybody, but this has turned into me talking to you and I, I apologize, but I, I do, that's what we do. It's cool. I just, you know, I feel real like comfortable around you and like, it's fun to talk and we always have like this banter and especially about like, Dodgers and the Brewers. So, I appreciate all that. And again, there I go. but let's, let's go back to photography because one of the main reasons that, that you wanted to get into photography obviously was to capture and document, Milwaukee, but also, once your son was born, to document that process, can you talk to me about the process of documenting, your son's, growth as a human? Like, what are your views on that? How do you see taking photos of, of your son?

Jin Sinicki:

Yeah, I just, his just documenting that growth is just amazing. So the other day I was going through photos and I was looking, cause you get like your Instagram photos where it says, this is your photo from three years ago or two. And I was like, Oh, that's awesome. You know, like my son was, was nine pounds at that point. And you look at him now, it's just like the way he's grown, like he's, he's reading now and it's, it's wild to me at three years old, he's reading, he's got his own imagination, and I'm really happy as a dad that I, I got to, um, not only witness that myself, but also document the entire thing. The one thing though, if I can, can put a regret in there, my grandfather, when he was in World War II, he picked up a camera and he documented these amazing photos. And like, still look at them every once in a while, like when I go to my parents house, just because like, it's through his own eyes. But when he died a few, maybe about 10 years ago, we realized we don't see many photos of, of just him.

Raymond Hatfield:

And

Jin Sinicki:

I'm like, that's really weird, but it's because he was behind the camera. And now over the last three years, I'm looking at these pictures of my son and I'm like, that's my son. And that's awesome. It's, it's great to see him, but I'm behind the camera. So I don't get to see very much of me with him in that situation. so that's kind of, kind of, long winded there, but, yeah. So what are you

Raymond Hatfield:

going to do about that?

Jin Sinicki:

Pass my camera to my wife, let her document it for a little while. Um, yeah, no, I don't know. Like it's, it's hard because like now he wants us to, he wants to learn how to take pictures and every time I bring up the camera, it's like, daddy, I want to push the button, push the button. I'm like, all right, cool. Whatever. So I got my, my Sony a seven three out and he's just firing away at the pictures and he's just happy. I'm like, I can't say no to this, you know? So

Raymond Hatfield:

yeah, of course. Yeah. Yeah. That's a difficult thing, you know, is to, to get those photos with everybody together. I've just kind of, you know, you know, obviously it's, it's the same, I think for everybody listening. and I've just kind of become okay with like, well, I guess all the photos of me are just going to be like selfies, you know, from my cell phone and that's it. So.

Jin Sinicki:

The worst angles to be remembered by at your funeral.

Raymond Hatfield:

But photos at your funeral, right? Like we got to look at a bigger picture here. So, so who knows when it comes to a little bit. Yeah. So let's, let's go ahead and talk about the present. I guess. So when it comes to those photos that you're taking, of your son and your family and, your life, I'm always interested to know, like, what do you do with those photos? Do they just live on your computer? Do you do something else with them?

Jin Sinicki:

Right now they live on our, on our computer. but we just bought a house, last six months or so. so we're always planning a gallery wall and, just building that out. We do have a yearbook from his first year, where we print out pictures every day, from Instagram, and then we also, print out pictures that we just remembered from the last, from that, that, from that first year, just for memories.

Raymond Hatfield:

Can I ask what happened in the second year?

Jin Sinicki:

We just didn't print them out. so we, we still have them. So we're, we're always talking about printing them out. The problem is a lot of times, like when you're trying to print out these bulk photos, 300, 500, whatever, a thousand of them, it does get a bit expensive. As parents of a three year old money, it's not something that comes very easy for us. Yeah. you know, you got, you got two kids, so you know exactly how it is. But yeah, no, it's, it's something that's definitely on our plan. Like we always want to print them out. We always want to, um, be able to show friends and family. And even as you get older, just show them like this used to be you, you know? And yeah, just look back on those. I think right now though, we kind of fell in the trap of, well, it's on Instagram or it's on a Google photos. It's going to pop up every year which is nice, you know, look back at, but I'd rather have something that's more physical to touch.

Raymond Hatfield:

Do you like the idea of the yearbook more than, cause I really liked that idea for the, uh, for the gallery wall. or would you do both? What are your plans?

Jin Sinicki:

The plan is to do both, honestly. Yeah. So we painted our wall black, just to get ready for photos, to make them pop a little bit more and make it look better. So yeah, it's, it's definitely coming. So once that happens, I'll have to send you a picture, but it's going to be awesome.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah. Oh my gosh. I would love to see that. I had a buddy in high school who painted a wall, like chalkboard in his room. And I remember thinking like, that's the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life, you know, cause you can just go in and now everything that's going to be on that wall is going to stand out. And I can imagine that, yeah, those pictures are going to look great. That's going to be real cool. That's going to be awesome. What inspires you?

Jin Sinicki:

Great question. Um, honestly, just, just being able to create and make art on its own. I think that's really what inspires me. Years and years and years ago, I used to play in the band and we toured around the country for a little bit and it was like my creative outlet, but as you get older, obviously, you know, you don't make money playing music in bands, playing at dive bars once every couple of weeks. So kind of lost that creativity there. And then once I started picking up the camera again, the creativity came back and it's just, it's a license to just make art on your own.

Raymond Hatfield:

So let me, let me rephrase the question. Where, where do you, where do you find inspiration? Cause I love that answer, but I think I was going for something a little bit deeper, where do you find that inspiration from?

Jin Sinicki:

Where do I find my inspiration? Ah, oh boy, One of the things I've taught myself with a camera is that everything around you can be something made into art. If you're walking downtown or through an alley like, look at it like you would through the lens of a camera and just try to compose it like you normally would. I think that's going to help you to to really create more art that way, I guess is the best way to put that.

Raymond Hatfield:

So now that you've been shooting for a few years, do you find that you just get better at that over time?

Jin Sinicki:

I do. I do. So it's really not good. Cause like, even like when I'm driving, I'll see like a seat. I'm like, Oh, that would be awesome with my camera. But clearly I'm driving. I can't, I can't take out my camera right now, you know, or I don't have my camera. I'm going to work.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah.

Jin Sinicki:

Um, like the, the craziest thing right now is, when I go to work, when I go to the office, I go north. And from the freeway, you can see the lake, you can see all like the, the tall buildings. and there's one spot where I'd love to get a shot from, but it's going to be kind of difficult to do that. But you can see the sun coming up over the buildings of Milwaukee and just outlines the entire skyline in just the sun. It's really cool. Wow. Yeah. But the problem is, the only way you can get that shot is being on a freeway.

Raymond Hatfield:

You got to have your wife drive. You got to get ready. You got to be in the passenger seat, camera ready, ready to go. And then grab that shot.

Jin Sinicki:

That's it. I think so. You know what? I'm going to tell her she's got to take off work, to drive me to work every day until we get that one shot. Yeah. No kidding. Yeah.

Raymond Hatfield:

But that'll be the one that's going to be your cover photo. That's going to be your profile photo and everything. That's going to be on your business cards. It's going to be everywhere. That's awesome.

Jin Sinicki:

I love it. It'll still get 30, 30 likes on Instagram.

Raymond Hatfield:

After you boost it. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Again, I love seeing your growth in the group because looking at some of your earliest photos, to where you are today, I really appreciate you being in the group. You've shared a lot, you've contributed a lot. and before this interview, I went to go look back at your first post within the group and, you posted a photo where you were just looking for some feedback, but you said, this group seems like the best at not being a holes. For the sake of being a holes. Yep. Can you tell me what you meant by that? about other groups?

Jin Sinicki:

Yeah, I don't want to name drop any other groups, but there are some mean people out there. Like if your photo isn't good, or if there's an issue with their photo, they will rip you apart. And for no reason at all, like people just want to be mean on the internet and it's terrible. So when I found this group, I didn't post anything for like maybe the first week or two. I was like, no, I've been burned before. I don't want to, I don't want to fall for this again. And I saw everybody and I forgot, who was even there in the very beginning. But everyone was like, just so happy about helping each other. And everybody just wanted to build each other up. And I was like, okay, I'm going to get the courage and I'm going to try this again. So then I posted the photo and I, I'm pretty sure it was, the Porsche that was, yeah. Yeah, color selected. Yeah. And it wasn't a good photo, but people were like, yeah, you know, it's not great, but here's what I would do to fix it. And it's like, okay, well, that, that wasn't so bad.

Raymond Hatfield:

So being in these other groups, I mean, this is something that always interests me because, I mean, I'm right there with you. I like, I've been in other groups, people are jerks. And there's something about the beginner photography podcast community where like, you're not going to find that. And I'd love to know, why do you think that is?

Jin Sinicki:

It's just the culture that's built there. I think it's between you and Kim as a moderator and just the people who are there who want to help out. Like you, you can definitely see it, even like the new people. They just want help. And people want to help and that's all it is. Like we, I think we've done a pretty good job at, at kicking people out, who aren't there for that. And by, by good job, I mean, like, there's been one or two people in the few years I've been there. It's just building that culture of honesty and trust, that I think helps out a lot.

Raymond Hatfield:

How do you think that helps you as a photographer? If you didn't find the group and all of it, you had to go through was in this groups of a holes, Where do you think your photography would be today?

Jin Sinicki:

I would have quit. Really? I would have quit long ago. Oh my god, yeah. Yeah, because have confidence to be a photographer. Like, no matter what you're doing, like, you're putting something out there for everybody to look at and for everybody to say, hey, that's pretty good, or that's not good. So you gotta have confidence. And you have to have thick skin. I think if I posted photos nonstop and it was just nonstop beatdowns, I would've definitely quit. I've quit at many things in my life and I'm glad this is one of those things I did not

Raymond Hatfield:

Oh my gosh, I get it. In the beginning it's, that's a hard thing, is like, it feels vulnerable to put your own photos, your own work, your own art essentially out into the world and to get tough criticism is a very difficult thing. But you know, once again, I don't think that you're giving yourself enough credit. I think that you would have figured out a way to, uh, to make it work and to continue, especially, you know, with the birth of your son and wanting to keep taking photos that way. So come on, let's be honest. Would you have, would you have continued shooting?

Jin Sinicki:

Not the way I am now. I wouldn't, I wouldn't probably. I would have put my, my camera on the shelf, let it collect dust. I would just grab the cell phone and just take a picture of my son.

Raymond Hatfield:

Right. Every birthday and, uh, holiday and yeah. And

Jin Sinicki:

don't, don't get me wrong. Like when I say that I have, I have probably about 30, 000 photos of my son on my, on my phone, just from that cell phone, just because it's, it's there. It's easy. Um, and when you're trying to capture your moments, like you were, like we always say the best camera that you own is the one that you have. Um, so especially if, if the photos are just for you and your family, who cares what they look like? They're for you. Make them good.

Raymond Hatfield:

Good. Yeah, exactly. So, now that you have this experience, right? And you broke through that barrier of a holes and you gained that confidence and you are where you are today. Is there anything that you wish that you would have known, or learned sooner?

Jin Sinicki:

histogram. Histogram.

Raymond Hatfield:

I

Jin Sinicki:

wish, I wish I would have learned how to use the histogram much sooner. so when I moved to the A7 III, from the Canon T6, it was because I wanted to be able to see that live histogram, because I know that you can't just rely on your, your light meter to give you the correct exposure, your exposure is telling you, I'm sorry, your exposure is being told by the histogram, and it's something I kind of learned maybe a few weeks ago. Months ago. I'm still learning it. But had it not been so afraid to learn it Like I think I probably would know but we I would have been a little bit better off much sooner

Raymond Hatfield:

How has it helped you in your shooting? Like are you using it when you're shooting portraits or is it out when you're doing more landscape stuff?

Jin Sinicki:

I'm kind of both. so I used to always just make sure that I had, the light meter was directly at zero. And now I'm kind of learning like, hey, this side of the histogram is your shadows. This side is your highlights. In the middle, that's your mid tones. And you want to make sure that you've got those right where you want them to be. And that's, that's going to be your, your exposure.

Raymond Hatfield:

So then let me ask with the A7 III, Is that right? 873? It was the 873. You have a, it's an electronic viewfinder. You see the exposure of the image that, through the viewfinder. And then is there an overlay that you see of the histogram, laid on top of that?

Jin Sinicki:

Yeah. There is. Yeah, you can, you can overlay essentially anything that you want to, to the viewfinder, which is great, which is one of the main reasons I wanted to go to, a mirrorless with the EVF. so yeah, you can look right down the viewfinder and just see anything you want to. The histogram overlay is great. It just kind of helps out that way.

Raymond Hatfield:

Tell me about that transition that you made from the, the T6 to the EVF. A7 3 because I mean, that's a, that's a massive jump. What was that like for you?

Jin Sinicki:

it was like driving a cardboard box to work and then hopping on a space shuttle with no, with no training. I'm telling you, man, that the menu alone, it just. It's insane. Like the T6 had like three options, essentially. You're like, Oh, I can figure this out. You throw on the menu for the 873. And it's like, I you're speaking French and I only speak Spanish and there's no way.

Raymond Hatfield:

So overall, how's the experience been as far as the growth of your photography? Is there as much of a noticeable change in your work as you are hoping for?

Jin Sinicki:

Yeah, yeah. So the last year or so I've been shooting more low light, and it's been a huge change for me. So I got like the, the nifty 50, with the, uh, the a seven three and what it does in low light, just for like a day. Crappy lens. It's insane. Like you could take nice clear photos. It's got in body stabilization, so I can lower speed down. Like one, I want to say like one, one 20th or like one 100th. And it's, it's still clear. It's awesome.

Raymond Hatfield:

So for anybody who's like thinking about upgrading from, crop sensor to a full frame, is there anything that you think that like maybe they should look out for? Was there any, downsides to upgrading for you?

Jin Sinicki:

For me, no, not really. I researched my purchases well before, for several months. And I was like, this is exactly what I need. This is what I need to do. I guess the biggest thing I would say is know what you're looking for. Like, don't just make the jump because you feel like it's going to make you better know what you want. I knew I wanted the EVF. I knew I wanted a live view, with the histogram. I knew that I wanted, better low light shooting. So I knew exactly what I wanted. If you're just saying like, Oh, I want to shoot full frame. Why? Learn your stuff first and then make that jump when the time is ready.

Raymond Hatfield:

You were on the T6, uh, for a while, right? You had that camera for, for quite a while. How long?

Jin Sinicki:

I had it for three, four years. I want to say.

Raymond Hatfield:

Oh, wow. Yeah. I mean, you really, I remember looking at some of your photos and thinking to myself, it's time for Jim to upgrade. Like he's had this camera for, for quite a while. And I'm glad. I'm glad to make an upgrade to a camera that, that you're happy with and, and seeing those, you know, those photos that you're putting out, especially, you know, those, those ones of the, uh, what's it called, lighthouse, with the waves breaking and stuff that, oh yeah, absolutely beautiful with a job, with a wife, with a kid, how do you make time for photography?

Jin Sinicki:

Dude, I get up so early in the morning. So, most of my work comes at 4am. I worked from 4am until I got up. Get my kid up for, uh, to his grandparent's house, which is about six o'clock or so in the morning. and then once my wife goes to bed around eight o'clock, I'm usually up until 10 o'clock, 1030, just plugging away, doing whatever I can. I think if you're really passionate about something, you have to make time, no matter what you do, you actually have to make time or else you're gonna lose that passion.

Raymond Hatfield:

I love that. Yeah. So in those hours from like four to six and from eight to ten or so, is that the time where you're out shooting or is that where you're doing things to like build your business?

Jin Sinicki:

A little bit of both. So the weekends I might get up early for a sunrise session. About 4 30 5 o'clock or so and go out towards the beach or go downtown, or just kind of shoot whatever I can there because as you know, morning is, it's really some of the best light morning and evening. I don't get to shoot very much evening right now because my kid is still awake. We're eating dinner. And obviously he comes first, no matter what happens. and then, you know, when things kind of settle down, I can do my own thing. but yeah, weekends. Because man, I love, I love going out and just shooting on the beach, getting that sunrise. We have a really cool setup here in Milwaukee where we can go down to the beach, get sunrise shots over the city. We can get, right over the lake coming up. It's probably some of my favorite moments I, that I take time for myself.

Raymond Hatfield:

I love that. Such a good feeling. Tell me what the future holds for you in photography. Where do you see yourself in photography five years from now?

Jin Sinicki:

Honestly, as far as it'll take me. don't know what's going to happen. I hope that I can make this a full time gig. We'll see. We'll see. Um, unfortunately though, you gotta pay bills. You gotta, make sure that the kid is okay. You gotta make sure the food's on the table. If I can do that with photography, I'm 150 percent in. Let's do it. I think that's kind of what I'm working towards. There's no timetable for that. If it happens tomorrow. Great. If it happens five years from now, that's fine too.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah. Well, I'll tell you, man, just again, seeing your progress, you keep plugging away at it every single day. And I think what's, what's cool to see about you is that like, where a lot of other photographers are posting, you know, like, Hey, let's book a session or something like that. You are posting things where it's like, it's photos in your community. You're trying to build that community interaction. You're trying to make yourself known in the community so that when the time comes for that, ask It's going to be a whole lot easier. You're going to have that, that no like and trust factor, you know, that, that we talked about so much.

Jin Sinicki:

Yeah. I believe that was Ray Williams. It was her last name. Wow. Ray Whitney. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. If anybody wants to get into the business photography, listen to that podcast, she is amazing. Like I had no clue as getting into, in that podcast, listened to it a hundred times over. That's such a great episode.

Raymond Hatfield:

She's fantastic. Did you have a, a major takeaway from that one?

Jin Sinicki:

Basically it's make yourself vulnerable. So when she talked about, putting your pillars out for everybody to see, like that hit huge because I work in a corporate office and everybody says, no, we got this, we got this. These pillars we gotta live up to we got this the standard and I'm like, ah, this is corporate jargon And when I heard her say it and when I heard her story, it's like wait a minute people resonate with who you are Like she's a lady of God. that's great Like I I may not be that person but somebody else is and they're gonna they're gonna connect with her on that I think that's awesome. Like she put herself out there and again, you have to do that in this business.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah, it's such a personal business. It's that honestly, I mean, that's, that's one of the hardest things for me to do. Like still to this day is, I just don't feel like a very. public person. I hate spending time on my phone. really don't like spending time on social media. If I'm on Facebook, like I'm in the group, because like, that's the place where I want to be. But you're right. You're absolutely right. Like, if you can do that, if you can be open, if you can be vulnerable, you're going to make it in this person based, industry that we're in. That's so awesome. So, I got one last question for you here before I let you go. And that is simply, what advice do you have anybody, you know, if today, if there's a new Jim, who's joining the group today, and this is their first thing that they're listening to, what's just one piece of advice that you would want to give to any new photographer just getting started in their journey?

Jin Sinicki:

Any new photographer, the first thing I'm going to tell you is, is listen, you're going to be terrible first, but don't quit. I'm telling you right now, just, just keep it moving. Keep learning, make your mistakes, fail a hundred times. If you have to do not quit, because at the end of it, It's so much better than you could ever imagine. I never thought, never thought I'd be out shooting with clients. And when I get done with a session, it's the best session I've ever had.

Raymond Hatfield:

Every time, right?

Jin Sinicki:

Isn't

Raymond Hatfield:

that

Jin Sinicki:

such a crazy feeling? Every, every single time. So, so one of the things that always sticks with me is, you're always like, Oh, today they're going to find out I'm a fraud. And I get that same feeling every single time I go out there. But an hour later when the session's done, I'm like, we're best friends now like we're gonna do this again. This is this is a great time. Let's go get a drink You know, it's it's fun

Raymond Hatfield:

And you know what that's gonna happen to you forever. I promise it is I hope

Jin Sinicki:

so.

Raymond Hatfield:

I think it's Just a personality type thing, you know I'm not sure why that is because I've you know, I've chatted with other photographers and they're like Like I've just been doing this for so long like this is how it works and you know It's fine And then other photographers are like I've been doing it twice as long as that other person and I still feel butterflies every time before Yeah, and so I oh, yeah, I totally get that Hopefully we'll figure out one day how to get over that that hurdle because I really think that is something that holds a lot of Photographer's back is that fear, of, of going out and having to make friends and hope that somebody likes you and, you know, then be able to create something for them. You

Jin Sinicki:

know what I mean? Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. So it's crazy because like, when we think about, putting ourselves out there, like what's the first thing that people always do, it's, it's, they want to get into a photography community and show off the work to tell their other photographers. And I learned pretty quickly, like why they're not paying anything. Like they're not paying our bills. They're not booking us. Go into your Facebook communities. Like go to Chicago mom groups or Milwaukee, father, son groups and post your stuff there. Like make people sick of your work. So that way at some point they were like, Oh, Hey, I want to get, I want to get a photo taken with my son or, I want to remember this day with my daughter. This guy posts photos all the time. Let's talk to him. You know, I'm telling you now that's where I get 90 percent of my bookings. It's just something like that. It's free. It costs you nothing. And it's great. I love doing

Raymond Hatfield:

that. But people don't want to put in the work. Like that's the thing, you know, you put in the work, you're going to win. You're gonna win.

Jin Sinicki:

again, it's that YouTube generation. They see a 30 second clip on YouTube and they're like, well this guy can do it, I can do it. They don't want to do the work. They don't know what happens beyond that.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah. It's tough stuff, man. It's tough stuff. But again, I'm glad that you're, you're sticking with it. Oh, I didn't even ask you where people can find you online. Jim, if people are listening right now and they want to learn more about you, where can they find you online?

Jin Sinicki:

You can find me at charliejamesphoto. com, that's my official website,

Raymond Hatfield:

All right. It is action item time. This week's photography action item, meaning the one thing that if you implement it into your photography, you will move the needle forward in your journey as a photographer is this identify and share a recent failure. Yeah, this may be one of the most difficult action items that I've shared, which means well that it's probably gonna be one of the most impactful to your journey as well. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to go through your Lightroom catalog and find a recent photo of yours that maybe didn't live up to what you intended it to be. Then just take a moment or two to jot down your thoughts on why you don't think it worked and what it was exactly that you wanted, and then share that photo and the lesson that you learned in the Beginner Photography podcast community, which again, you can join by heading over to beginner photo pod.com/group. That's beginner photo pod.com/group. Don't worry, it is the safest place on the internet for new photographers like yourself just trying to learn and grow. Nobody's gonna come at you with a flamethrower or nothing like that, but I think that when you share your photo. I think that you're gonna be surprised at how many other photographers have experienced a similar situation. And for those who haven't experienced that situation well, suddenly you become the guide for them to navigate their situation if they face it in the future. Let's make sharing your failures with others a normal thing, because not only does it document how you've grown as a photographer, but it also helps those who will come after you. There you go. Okay. That is it for this week. Until next week. Remember, the more that you shoot today, the better of a photographer you will be tomorrow. Talk soon.