The Photo Brigade Podcast

For our 50th episode, we're bringing you something special. This past weekend Robert was a producer at the Eddie Adams Workshop where he sat down with the legendary, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Nick Ut. His photo from Vietnam of a 9-year-old girl running naked down a road after being severely burnt by a napalm bomb captivated the world and helped bring the war to an end. He's closing in on 50 years as a staff photographer with Associated press and is now based in LA. They discuss the day in 1972 when he took the infamous picture, how war has affected him on many levels, as well as the loss of numerous friends, colleagues, and how he followed in the footsteps of his his older brother, a photojournalist who was killed while covering the war. Sit back, relax, and enjoy this 50th episode of The photo Brigade Podcast!

On this episode Robert chats with Mr Weird Sports himself, Sol Neelman. They discuss the process of publishing his book series, Weird Sports, from conception, pitching the concept to publishers at a book fair in Germany, to launching not one, but two books! They also talk about Sol's reign as a staff photographer at The Oregonian and his decision to move on from that post and join the world of freelancers. Sol is a great example of one putting himself in the position to succeed through collaboration, sharing ideas, and down right perseverance. Sit back, relax, and enjoy this episode of The Photo Brigade Podcast. 

On this episode Robert chats with accomplished Sports Photographer Rob Tringali. Robert met Rob back when he was covering the Yankees during his internship with the New York Times back in 2005. Rob's travels the country and world covering sports for some of the top sporting magazines from ESPN to Sports Illustrated. They go into some great detail discussing the changing business landscape in sports photography that's taken place over the past decade, talk about how he got into the business, and much more in this episode of The Photo Brigade Podcast. 

On this episode Robert chats with co-founder of PhotoShelter.com and SportsShooter.com, the one and only Grover Sanschagrin. They've been pals for over a decade now and actually met through Sports Shooter, a social community for photographers that Grover created before Facebook. They talk about his career, how the AP Laser Photo System blew his mind in the pre-internet days, making money in the photography industry, following your passion and dreams, as well as his latest venture into the world of Tequilla that resulted in his brief relocation to Mexico and the development of his blog and iPhone app TequilaMatchmaker. So sit back, relax, and sample some high-end Tequilas with Grover and Robert in this episode of The Photo Brigade Podcast! 

On this episode Robert chats with fellow New York City freelancer Ben Norman who shoots for the likes of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, among many other editorial and commercial clients. They met back when Ben interned for their mutual friend Vince Laforet, back when Vince was full-time in NYC. They talk about how Ben set himself apart from his competition, building his career in New York as a freelancer, and all the business behind freelancing in the Big Apple from diversifying your client base, licensing stock, building corporate clients through the daily editorial gigs, and making and maintaining those important contacts in the industry. Sit back, relzx, and enjoy this episode of The Photo Brigade Podcast.

On this episode Robert chats with his good friend Kyle Robertson, a staff photographer at the Columbus Dispatch in Columbus, OH. Kyle and Robert went to college together at Ohio University's School of Visual Communication and worked together paying their tuition by selling sports pictures to local high school athletes' parents. They talk about how he got into photography, starting as an employee at a local camera shop, being accepted into photography school, the internship that led him to the position he now holds, and much more. Sit back, relax, and enjoy this hometown-Ohio edition of The Photo Brigade Podcast.    

On this episode Robert chats with his friend Ty Wright. They go way back to the beginning of Robert's photography career. Back when Robert was first picking up a camera in high school, Ty was working at the local camera store where Robert purchased gear and had film developed. At the time he was photo student at Ohio University's School of Art. Since those days, he's transitioned into a photojournalist working for a handful of local newspapers and eventually came back to OU to get his masters degree at the School of Visual Communication. They talk about all about those transitions, going through grad school, internships, mentors, backpacking through Central America, pitching stories, developing projects, business practices, and much more. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this episode of The Photo Brigade Podcast. 

On this episode Robert chats with Jared Wickerham, a Boston-based photographer specializing in sports who has only recently transitioned to the freelance industry after both interning and working as a staff photographer at Getty Images. They met up on the Highline Park a few weeks back when Jared visited New York City to visit some friends. They discuss his background in photography, the importance of workshops, networking, social media, and much more. Sit back, relax, and enjoy this episode of The Photo Brigade Podcast!

On this episode Robert chats with Washington DC-based photojournalist Melissa Golden who was visiting NYC to visit clients and celebrate a fellow photographer's birthday. They talk about her background, how a fever dream brought her into the photo industry, the benefits of working with agencies, administrative tasks, invoicing, archiving both on and off-site, covering assignments from disasters to politics, the importance of internships and workshops, her ambition to tell stories, qualms about Facebook, using social media, and much more. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this episode of The Photo Brigade Podcast! 

On this episodeRobertI chats with photographer Brian Powers who was in Manhattan recently for the New York Times portfolio review back in April. Brian was one of an entire staff of nearly 30 photographers at the Chicago Sun Times who were unceremoniously laid off to make way for wire and writer-contributed art. He's since gone back to Western Kentucky University to complete the degree he postponed when he was hired as a staffer a few years back. They talk about business, networking, workshops, and all his recent transitions in this episode of the Photo Brigade Podcast. 

On this episode Robert speaks with Allen Murabayashi, chairman and co-founder of PhotoShelter.com, a platform that Robert has personally used since the service became available back in 2005. PhotoShelter is the backbone to the workflow of many professional photographers who use the service as a redundant, online, and searchable backup of their archives, to deliver files to clients, to sell prints and image licenses, and even as their online portfolio with their stylish BEAM platform. They talk about Allen's background...he's a smart dude having graduated from Yale and was one of the founding employees of HotJobs.com which thrust him into the world of technology. A photographer and accomplished musician himself, they also discuss everything from workshops, blogging, Search Engine Optimization, using social media to your advantage, the terms of service around Facebook, their recent changes in their newsfeed algorithm, and his favorite social media these days: Instagram. So sit back, relax and enjoy this episod

  On this episode Robert chats with a blast from his past, James DeCamp, a freelance photographer based in Columbus, Ohio. Robert grew up seeing James's photos on a daily basis in the Columbus Dispatch where he spent over a decade as a staffer.  It was at the Dispatch where they met eachother and where Robert worked with him and a host of great shooters over 10 years ago. They talk about his transition from staff to freelance, contests, copyright, business, and how he started his career in photojournalism following a 1978 military helicopter crash he photographed as a middle schooler for the Cincinnati Enquirer. So sit back, Relax, and enjoy this episode of The Photo Brigade podcast!

On this episode Robert chats with the husband and wife, tag-team, photography duo David Walter Banks and Kendrick Brinson of Brinson Banks. He met them both in the pre-Facebook days through an awesome email listserv called A Photo A Day. They met up with them at a noisy beer garden on a recent visit to Los Angeles where they're now based and chat about a range of great topics from building lasting relationships with editors, working with those you love, workshops, promotion, their transition to corporate photography, internships, photo collectives, the evolution of social media and adapting to it, contracts, knowing when to say no to a bad deal, and their general advice to the next generation of photographers. Sit back, relax, and eenjoy this episode of The Photo Brigade Podcast!  

On this episode Robert chats with Elizabeth Griffin, photo editor for Esquire.com and the Hearst Corporation. They both found themselves on an Acela Express train heading back to Manhattan from Boston where they were both were on assignment covering an elaborate Gregory Heisler Sports Illustrated cover shoot in Boston. They had a great discussion about everything from print promotion to email marketing, pricing standards, the Eddie Adams Workshop, portfolio reviews, her background as an intern at VII, Getty's new free embed function, social media, and much more. So sit back, relax, and have a cocktail with Robert and Elizabeth on a severely delayed train back to New York City on this episode of The Photo Brigade Podcast! 

On this special episode Robert chats with the portraitist Gregory Heisler who he'd just met in Boston, while they were both on assignment for Sports Illustrated Magazine where Gregory shot a cover photo that involved an elaborate production, closing down a busy city block at the Boston Marathon finish line on the one-year anniversary of those terrible Boston bombings. It turns out they have a lot in common, including a mentor, Arnold Newman, who in a strange way brought them both to Manhattan at the beginning of their careers. They talk about connecting with those who inspire you, how to build on those relationships, professionalism, looking back on Gregory's own bushiness practices, branding, promotion, social media, networking, and much, much more. So sit back, relax, and and have a coffee with us at the Westin Copley Place in downtown Boston. 

On this episode Robert Caplin follows up with his friend and Ohio Bobcat graduate student Sara Lewkowicz. Robert first chatted Sara with on Podcast #4 last year just after she had shot a powerful project on domestic violence that began as a simple class assignment in her Photojournalism sequence at Ohio University. After documenting a violent exchange between a couple she began documenting, her project began to gain national and international acclaim after it was published in TIME Magazine. Since then, Sara has won a host of awards, grants, and even her upcoming internship at National Geographic Magazine as part of her College Photographer Of the Year win. They talk about going through all that, what's next, and much more. Sit back, relax, and enjoy this episode of The Photo Brigade Podcast.

On this episode Robert chats with his friend and fellow Ohio Bobcat alumnus, Marcus Yam who is currently serving as a 3 -year resident photojournalist at the Seattle Times. Before photography, Marcus was on the path to becoming, get this, a rocket scientist, but changed his career path by attending graduate school at Ohio University's School of Visual Communication a few years after Robert graduated. He came to New York and apprenticed with Robert for a bit and soon after graduation, like Robert, landed an internship at The New York Times. There continued on as a freelancer working on amazing projects where he won a host of awards including an Emmy. There's something really special about Marcus from his humility, his generosity, and tremendous love for life. There's so many quotes and words of wisdom that come out in my chat with him, so get your notebook ready! Sit back, relax, and enjoy this episode of The Photo Brigade podcast.

On this episode Robert chat with Jared Polin, Mr. Fro himself, a photojournalist specializing in documentary in the music industry who runs a really fun photography website called FroKnowsPhoto.com. If you haven't heard or seen his video podcasts, you're in for a treat...he's got quite a personality and his website is full of fun and informative videos about the latest gear and tutorials on lighting, photography, and much much more. They talk about the origin of his afro, his beginning in photography with his mother's Fuji Discovery 2000, covering the Philadelphia Flyers season at the ripe age of 16, schooling at the Antonelli institute in Philadelphia, dealing with the music industry, those pesky concert rights-grabbing releases, the Terms of Service on social media platforms and more. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this episode of The Photo Brigade Podcast! 

On this episode Robert sat down for a chat last month with his friends Matt Slaby and Kevin German of the visual agency LUCEO. They've worked to build a brand for their visual style offering everything from stills, filmmaking, production, and more. With a background in law, Matt splits his time between New York and Denver. Kevin has a background in newspaper photography which he left to moved to Vietnam for years and is now currently based in Paris. They're both constantly traveling the world to provide high-end visuals to their clients. They talk about the use of social medial, the terms of service, the recent controversy revolving around press access to the White House, copyright, LUCEO's annual student award, Slaby's Carhart fashion, his colorblindness, and much, much, more. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this episode of The Photo Brigade Podcast!

On this episode Robert chats with his good friend Vincent Laforet whose photojournalism work caught Robert's eye over a decade ago when he was a college student at Ohio University. Lately Vincent is known mostly for his work in the film industry, a transition he's made over the past 6 years, and now many don't realize his background began in journalism. Straight out of college he spent over 300 days per year covering sporting events for Allsport, which later became Getty. He was later hired as a New York Times staff photographer where he shared a Pulitzer prize for his work in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2002. They talk about his background from the age of 15 when his father first  put a camera in his hands, to working his way through college at Northwestern University, his internships, and his transition from a top photojournalist into a successful film director who just completed his first big-time campaign with Nike. Oh, he also just wrecked his right arm shattering it in a dune buggy accident in the deser