Froknowsphoto Photography Podcasts

Eyes, they are so very integral to every day life and even more so when your business revolves around seeing the world and capturing it.  Many people don’t know that I was born with an eye condition that causes my eyes to shake which in turn hurts my vision.      I have been seeing one of the best eye doctors in the world named Harold P. Koller since I was a small child.  In fact he did surgery on me that involved cutting the muscles in my eyes and relocating them into another position.   I’ve always wanted to sit down with Dr. Koller for a discussion because I know he can pass along some fantastic information.  This interview isn’t just about my eyes, it’s about how you should be taking care of yours.  What are the warning signs to look out for to determine if there may be an eye issue and what to do if that happens.  Check out the interview at 51:58 to hear out entire discussion.    This weeks episode is brought to you by TOKINA.  Tokina is a lens manufacture with deep roots into lens manufacturing.  They m

Over the past month or so there has been a lot of concern over many larger bands photo contracts.  One in particular is the Foo Fighters photo release you must sign before shooting them.  Yes the contact is over the top, yes it discusses turning over the copyrights but no it’s not really as big of a deal as you think.  What’s going on is people are blowing the release way out of proportion.  You have a choice, you can sign it and shoot or you could do neither.  It’s no skin off the bands back since you would simply be shooting the same photos as everyone else.   What you have to understand is the contract doesn’t say you can’t use the images, it doesn’t say they will take your ownership right from under you.  It says they have the ability to do whatever they want with your images if and only if they ever ask you for them.  Do you see any spaces on the contract that asks for contact info, NO.   So why did I choose to sign the contract?  One, I was work for hire, meaning I was getting paid to shoot the photos.

We already have four camera angles so what’s one more.  This week we added the “Todd Cam” aka the camera pointed right at his face.  We hope you enjoy the added angle.     This weeks Plug is brought to you by RODE Microphones.  As you know we use their Broadcaster mics each and every week even when we hit up the Grand Canyon.  Rode makes mics ranking from simple wired lavs to USB and XLR and microphones for your DSLR.  Check them out at RODE.com    I have to say I have not laughed so much during a show ever.  Adding Todd to the chair has really added a fun spark for Stephen and I and hope you enjoy the added flair as well.    Stephen hit’s us with his Photo News Stories which include everything from Photos on Maps to the Foo Fights contract and beyond.    This week was another Flying Solo Week. If you are curious how we select questions, this is how we do it.   Generally the night before a flying solo show I place a video on Facebook requesting questions be submitted.  From those questions I select the ones t

We made the 2:45 min trip down south to Reston Virginia to do a LIVE Mobile RAWtalk from the VideoBlocks HQ.  Not only did we pack the house but I got to sit down with the founder and CEO of VideoBlocks Joel Holland.  If you want to know how one person with an idea can go from living in his parents basement to selling a million DVD’s over the internet check out 33:14.  Sitting down with Joel and hearing his story about turning down a six figure job out of college to try and turn and idea into a business was awe-inspiring.  This interview should light a fire under everybody’s ass out there.  If you want something go after it.   This weeks Episode is brought to you by VideoBlocks.com.  As you can tell we were LIVE at their HQ and Joel gave a fantastic interview.  I really don’t need to sell you on VideoBlocks, it sells itself once you give it a try.  To try it out click here.   Photo News brings us stories from all around the photo world including the one I created #RespectPhotographers.  I called out the LIVE

It’s generally not easy coming up with titles for RAWtalk Episodes and this week was no exception. So here’s what we had, a seat got filled, I RANTED slightly, we had no main plug, we flew solo and we had a cool gear of the week. If you can pull a title out of all of that please let m know. Photo news this week was filled to the brim once again. If you missed my Rant on the Taylor Swift photo contract you will be filled in this week. Flying solo brought out some great questions as usual so I hope you find some nuggets in my answers. Thank you guys again for your continued support of each weeks episodes. We could not do it without you. LEXAR is the official card of FroKnowsPhoto RAWtalk. 00:00:16 - Show Start 00:07:20 - Photo News 00:44:55 - Taylor Swift Photo Rant 00:58:15 - Flying Solo 01:31:54 - Gear Of The Week 01:39:40 - Wheel Of Fro

For the past 7 years I have been trying to track down Danny Clinch.  Well, I finally had the chance to sit down with him for a very intimate interview recorded at his NYC studio.  For those who don’t know Danny, let me just say he has defined music lifestyle and advertising photos over the past 20+ years.  He is more than just a “music” photographer, he is a photographer who captures and shares images that tell stories.     There are sometimes interviews where I need to talk a lot, this was not one of them.  I was able to ask a question, sit back and listen to Danny share his entire world with us.  Listen to how he got started.  Listen to the dues he paid a long the way.  And listen to how he continues to evolve time and time again to stay relevant in an ever changing world.  This my friends, is a REAL RAWtalk, nothing was held back, nothing was glossed over, nothing was said with kid gloves.  You can pick up a signed copy of “Still Moving” right here. http://dannyclinch.bigcartel.com/product/still-moving-boo

This was a big week for Photo News with most of it centered around SONY announcing some new cameras that are sure to shake up the photo industry.  What SONY has done is spent the last decade or so carving out their niche.  I get asked all the time why I don’t like “mirror less” cameras.  I don’t dislike them I just don’t think they are there yet.  Do you notice what is going on with the new Sony A7, the grip has gotten larger, the buttons have shifted and it’s taking on a large feel.  What you’re going to see is the best of both worlds come together in the next 10 years.    ATOMOS  ATOMOS ATOMOS, this weeks sponsor is Atomos and they were featuring the “Action Pack”.  Check out more information about it right here. http://atomos.com/ .  We use the Atomos each week when we are in the studio.  It allows us to take just about any DSLR and via HDMI get a clean signal out allowing for recordings longer than what a normal DSLR will give you.  You have to check them out if you haven’t done so yet.    This week we br

I had the chance to have arguably one of the best Wedding Photographers in the world Cliff Mautner into the loft for a little sit-down discussion.  Cliff does not hold back on his thoughts on the current state of wedding photography or anything else for that matter.   But what I love about the interview is it’s no BS.  It’s honest, it’s to the point and it’s filled with solid gold nuggets of information that you can cash and take to the bank.  Don’t let our discussion dissuade you from going after weddings.  Let it be a guide to help you navigate the sometimes turbulent waters of wedding photography and not let you get sunk.  Heed the warnings, take them to heart, learn from them and you will find your way to the other side.  http://www.cmphotography.com/   PLUG TIME:  This weeks sponsor is RODE Microphone, we absolutely love our Rode Broadcasters which CRUSHED I mean CRUSHED it while out at the Grand Canyon.  Do you remember the MyRodeReel.com competition where you could enter to WIN over $200,000 in prizes?

WARNING: this is a very visual episode that I highly suggest you watch the video if you can!!!   No that was not a massive green screen, we were truly filming RAWtalk on the edge of the Grand Canyon thanks to AdventureDriven.com.  Can you believe how amazing it looks.  We filmed this weeks show with two Canon C300’s, a 5D Mark III, GoPro and DJI Phantom 3 PRO for the arial shots.   This weeks sponsor so happens to be a LIFE SAVER for shooting landscape photos.  HOYA supplied me with all the filters I needed to help make my pictures go BOOOOOOMMMM at the Grand Canyon.  Having their circular polarizers on my lenses helped pump up the sky as well as the color in my images.  Just think how amazing the world looks when you where polarized sunglasses.  Now add that in front of your camera lenses and you have fantastically vibrant photos.  Here is a link to the exact CP I used form HOYA http://www.hoyafilter.com/hoya/products/hdfilters/hdfiltercirpl/   As you can tell this weeks show took us to an amazing place.  We

Let’s start off with the title story from Photo News where a rugby player decided after scoring to take out a sharpie and sign the camera persons lens.  If there was a filter on the lens than it wouldn’t be such a big deal.  Since there wasn’t, that just might cost someone a lot of money.  You can hear the full story at 09:51.   What would have saved that cameras lens would have been pretty much any filter from HOYA.  And if it were the EVO filter by HOYA the sharpie would not have left a mark and would have been able to be wiped right off without any issue.  We picked up a bunch of HOYA filters to take to the Grand Canyon.  We have everything from ND to Polarizers and everything else in-between.  To learn more about this weeks sponsor please click here http://bit.ly/1Sx6lOB   Photo news was extra packed this week with stories ranging from that sharpie one to new Apple Computer products to a freaking DOG mount from Nikon.  Be sure to check out the full photo news stories and more starting at 09:21    Last wee

It’s not often I am grossed out by a story but this one really left me scatting my head. Honestly the story and the photo’s in my opinion are so gross that I can’t talk about it anymore.  To see the story I am taking about skip to 27:48.  Consider yourself warned.    This weeks Episode is brought to you by the fine people at AudioBlocks and VideoBlocks.  If you want to know where all the menstrual flow music came from this week you can find yours at AudioBlocks.com/go/fro .  My team has been using both AudioBlocks and VideoBlocks for the past two years and we love it.  Please give it a try if you have a need for royalty FREE audio or video and I know you will not be disappointed in the service.    Photo News got a little heated this week with stories ranging from the new Canon 50 1.8 to a wedding photographer calling out one of his brides than saying he was hacked to flowing blood photos.  Give the Photo News a listen and enjoy.    I put out the request for “Situational” type of questions to be sent in to cha

Before I jump into this weeks show I want to dedicate it to Allen from Allen’s camera who passed away last night at the store.  Allen was there for me at the beginning and was one of the main catalysts to the early success of FroKnowsPhoto.com.   What does “On Fleek” mean?  Honestly it’s a made up term that if you look up on YouTube you just might find yourself laughing.   This weeks episode is sponsored by ATOMOS http://bit.ly/froatomos who has been extremely supportive of the site and the show since way early on.  If you are looking to pick up a Sony A7s to shoot 4k video you will also need an Atomos Shogun.  The great thing is if you purchase both of them (doesn’t have to be at the same time) you will get a $500 rebate.  Check out the new Atomos Power Station as well as the Barebones units which are priced to sell!!!!!   During Stepgens photo news I may or may not have interrupted or broken into song, but you will find out shortly.     Flying solo was back once again with more solid questions along with ge

I want to start off and say we filmed this weeks RAWtalk on Thursday afternoon and it wasn’t until Friday that we found out that Allen from Allen’s Camera had passed away.  I will be having a special segment dedicated to Allen on the next episode.    Some of you know I ordered two apple watches for a project idea that I have been working on.  The plan was to do my project and return the watches within the first 14 days.  It turns out that I am really enjoying the watch so I decided to keep one.  That left me the Apple Watch Sport to return or keep.  I decided to gift it to Stephen for all his hard work over the last two years.    RODE RODE RODE RODE MyRodeReel.com competition is still in full effect and you have a chance to enter any of the 19 categories for your chance to win some of the $200,000 in prizes.  There is even a category for movies captured entirely on a cell phone.  So honestly you have nothing to lose, read up on the rules right here for your chance to WIN. http://bit.ly/1dGHzeU     I decided t

It’s not every week that I get over 350 Flying Solo questions but this week you guys delivered.  I must say there were so many great questions that I chose a few extra to squeeze in as many answers as I could.  The truth will be told during this weeks episode.    I want us all to welcome a NEW sponsor this week, Kenko / Tokina http://www.kenkotokinausa.com/tokina/ .  I am almost positive you guys all have heard of Tokina and the lenses that they make for stills and video.  But they also work with a company named Hoya who makes all different types of filters.  Please take a look around their site and see what they offer as they support the show and I support them.   Stephen brought us the photo news this week with stories that range from the strange to the funny and informative.  Be sure to check out the full photo news stories and more.   Do you like Photo Books?  Have you ever made a real deal photo book?  If not I highly recommend using the code “pxfro35md” before May 16th to get 35% OFF your order of Photo

We are back from Las Vegas where we covered NAB 2015 thanks to our sponsor VideoBlocks.com/go/fro !!!!  Todd, Stephen and I made the trip to make sure we brought you the best coverage you will find from this years NAB.  That full on video will be out shortly but we had to bring you this weeks RAWtalk first.    The first part of the show starts off like normal but somewhere in the middle we take you back to our Las Vegas hotel room where the three of us look at all the cool toys we discovered at NAB.     A big thank you to VideoBlocks for not only being the sponsor of this weeks RAWtalk but the sponsor who made our NAB 2015 trip possible.  If you would like to try out VideoBlocks for yourself be sure to go to VideoBlocks.com/go/fro to get your 7 day trial.  Give it a spin, I know once you use it as an editor you won’t want to be without it.    Did you enjoy the BTS Snap Chats from NAB?  Did Todd do a great job and should he be in charge of Snap Chat on trips in the future?   Dive into this weeks show head firs

There is an ongoing debate wether or not you should post your wedding package and portrait pricing on your website.  I have said it before I am not a big fan of making definitive statements but this is the one of the few times I will say I would not post my prices online.    Now I would consider putting a packages "starting" at price but not all of your prices.  The way I look at it is I want people to contact me for the chance to "make the sale'.  If they look at my prices and see that I am just out of their budget they may move on.  Where as if I spoke to them on the phone I would have had a better chance of either giving them a discount or working something out.    Of course it's totally up to you to decide what you would like to do for your business.  That's the great thing about what we do is there is no right or wrong way, you go with what feels right and works best for you.    As you guys know we have been using the Atomos Shogun for the last few weeks.  This is the latest and greatest Atomos with its

You know you’re in for a treat when my dad joins me on the show.  You never know what direction our conversation will go.  This week I got back my Ancestry.com DNA results and I don’t know about you but I expect a hell of a lot more information and so did my dad.  Check out that interview at 1:07:05   Do you want a chance to win some of the $200,000 in prizes just for making a video in the MyRodeReel.com http://bit.ly/1IYHITB  well go check out the rules because you still have time to enter.  They have also created some really informative videos to learn from.   I explain what I was doing in San Fran and why I ate BABY SQUID RAW.  As well as go into more detail about the most recent 5 Min Portrait using the Nikon D5500 and Kit 18-140.    For those who don’t know the story of Passover I went ahead and retold the entire story in roughly 2 minutes.    Stephen crushes his photo news once again and I can’t wait to hear what song he picked from Audioblocks.com.    00:00:16 - Show Intro 00:06:42 - Nikon D5500 5 Min

Welcome back to another WEEK of RAWtalk which so happens to top the two hour mark once again.    Did you know that Facebook mobile automatically corrects your image when you post it?  Yup, they do, but you can turn that function off which I highly recommend doing.  Go into your mobile settings and turn off the option for auto correcting images that you publish via mobile.     You get to see the new I SHOOT RAW t-shirt commercial for the 8-bit “DOOM” shirt.   There were a ton of Flying Solo questions this week with many of them asking me to discuss shooting weddings.  I don’t think I have shared so much info on how to market for and shoot weddings ever.  If you want to shoot weddings and command a higher than average price you may want to check this weeks show out.    We didn’t spin the Wheel of FRO once this week, we didn’t spin it twice, we spun it THREE TIMES!!!!  Did you get to spin it?   Gear of the week showed us the Kessler Crane and the Aputure 7 inch field monitor that comes in at only $219.     Thank

Last week we invaded Chicago for a sold out Mobile RAWtalk at Stage 773!!!  A big thank you to everyone who purchased a ticket as well as to Squarespace who sponsored this Mobile RAWtalk.  Without the support of Squarespace we wouldn’t be able to take RAWtalk on the road.  If you have not tried Squarespace I suggest you give it a try.  It is what I personally use for JaredPolin.com.    To get a FREE 14 day trial please go to Squarespace.com/fro if you decide it’s for you please use code FRO to get 10% OFF your first month or year.  If you are a student you can first go to that link followed by Squarespace.com/students and get 50% OFF your first year if you have a .edu address.    I have to tell you that this show felt like the funniest show we have done to date.  I don’t know if it was the combo of the sold out crowd or it was the one drink I had but it was funny.    Enjoy the show.   Intro: 00:00:16 Chicago Recap: 00:01:24 Photo News: 00:19:12 Flying Solo: 00:46:34   Outro: 01:50:12

Can you tell what is different this week?  If you are watching the video playback you will see that we are not at the RAWtalk table.  The reason being is I have been filming for the last 7 days the next video guide, the FroKnowsPhoto Guide to Video Editing.    The crew would leave each night and all the gear would stay in place.  The set was set along with the lights and Canon cameras so all we needed to do was turn the cameras on and shoot.     Before I jump into telling you about the interview with Todd Wolfe this week I have to tell you we had some slight technical issues.  It tuns out for whatever reason the ZOOM gave us a corrupt audio file from that interview.  The strange thing is we filmed the interview first before filming the main intro with Stephen.  Thankfully that audio was fine but I have to apologize for the camera audio that we used for Todds portion of the show.  I guess the silver lining is that fact that you can hear how important quality sound is and why we use the RODE Broadcaster microph