FULL TRANSCRIPT: Please note this transcript was generated by AI and may contain errors. 

This is the Portrait System podcast, a show that helps portrait photographers and people hoping to become one, navigate the world of photography, business, money and so much more. We totally keep it real. We share stories about the incredible ups and the very difficult downs when running a photography business. I’m your host, Nikki Closser. And the point of this podcast is for you to learn actionable steps that you can take to grow your own business and also to feel inspired and empowered by the stories you hear. Hey, everyone. On today’s clubhouse

00:00:27:27 – 00:01:02:18

Hey, everyone! This week’s Clubhouse episode with your hosts, Kevin and Ashleigh is Neon Howe. Neon is back on the podcast. He is just such an amazing guy. He talks all about self-portraits and how self-portraits are a great way to practice your light to get amazing portraits that you can post of yourself. Because people want to see you in your marketing, people want to see you on your social media, they want to see who they’re going to be booking a photo shoot with. So Neon gives lots of insight into his self-portraits, into his business. And of course, Kevin and Ashleigh are always amazing energy, so let’s get started.

00:01:04:09 – 00:01:33:10

Welcome everyone to the portrait system podcast Clubhouse Edition. My name is Kevin Conde, and I’m here with my co-host Ashleigj Taylor. If you’re not familiar with the portrait system, we are a portrait photography podcast that is powered by Sue Bryce Education. Nikki Closser hosts our monday episodes, and Ashleigh and I co-host our Clubhouse Edition, which is live here on the Clubhouse app every Friday at Noon Pacific. And then our episodes are released on Thursdays. You can tune in on your favorite podcast app by searching for the portrait system. Ashleigh, how are you?

00:01:34:15 – 00:01:44:00

I’m doing great today, Kevin, and I’m so excited to welcome our guests, Neon Howe. He is based in Modesto. Is that correct? Neon Yes.

00:01:44:02 – 00:01:45:02

Modesto, California.

00:01:45:04 – 00:01:54:22

Yeah, another Californian. And he’s such an amazing photographer, so I’m really excited to chat with him today. So welcome, neon.

00:01:55:18 – 00:01:56:21

Thank you guys for having me.

00:01:57:23 – 00:02:30:06

We have seen an uptick in self-portraits being taken, and they’re all the rage right now. In a 90 day challenge. We’ve had people take them to get more comfortable in front of the camera. On Instagram, we have photographers issuing challenges to other photographers to help promote each other. Cat Ford Coates in the room. She’s doing that for us. We even have a self-portrait category in the Portrait Masters Awards, where we have artists creating fantastic self-portraits of themselves. With a rise in popularity.

00:02:30:08 – 00:02:43:23

We want to go in and talk to you about all the work you’ve done with self-portraits. Having created your 40 Wow 40 project where you photographed 40 images of yourself during the age of 40, which have all been fantastic.

00:02:44:18 – 00:02:53:07

Oh yeah, thanks. It’s that was definitely a challenge as well. But yeah, some portraits can be tough for some people because you’re in front of the camera.

00:02:53:18 – 00:03:10:09

Exactly. So let’s start out with the technical side of the self portraits and your process, because I believe there is a huge part that trips people when they’re just starting off. So walking the walk is a little bit through your process. You’re setting it up, you’re sending your camera tripod, I assume. Are you shooting tethered?

00:03:12:02 – 00:03:47:06

I have all the options available. I think basically, if you’re wanting to start out with self-portraits, the key things are the tripod, a trigger of some sort, whether that’s connected to the camera or wireless. And then a lot of patience. A mirror helps if you are capable of setting something up there. Or since I shoot with the R5, the Canon R5, I just rotate out the viewing screen so that I can just get a better idea of kind of posing

00:03:48:28 – 00:04:11:25

for my particular use. I have again the Canon R5, so I will tether using the Camera Canon Camera Connect app and utilize that in my iPad or my iPhone. iPad offers a bigger viewing space, so that can also help to visualize and see what you’re shooting.

00:04:13:24 – 00:04:29:20

And yeah, that’s basically it. It’s kind of thinking of the concept and then setting up your tripod, put it, put the camera connecting to your device of choice and start clicking away.

00:04:30:20 – 00:04:39:01

So this canon app that you’re talking about is that something that’s going wirelessly or you actually have like a cord tethered to, like you said, an iPad or something?

00:04:39:18 – 00:05:00:12

So the awesome thing about the canon camera Connect app is it connects wirelessly with your iPad or your your mobile device, so long as you have that app on that mobile device. As far as I know, I use an iPhone, so there is that.

00:05:00:27 – 00:05:05:19

So it’s kind of like shooting tethered, but without an actual like tether cord

00:05:05:21 – 00:05:28:19

is exactly it’s a wireless tether, basically. Oh wow. Would be the terminology, I guess. Yeah. So it’s great. I think that is the most seamless. I’ve tried utilizing tethering with the camera to capture one to Lightroom. There’s just that, a little bit of a

00:05:30:17 – 00:05:38:16

little bit of a lag time. But either way, I mean, you’re not you’re not in a rush for anything. But

00:05:40:14 – 00:05:41:12

To capture images

00:05:41:23 – 00:05:48:26

are using your iPhone as well, or the iPad two like actually like click the triggers. That’s like another like a self-timer or another.

00:05:49:18 – 00:06:24:15

Oh yeah. So I, you know, I basically do that are the set setting up and seeing making sure everything’s sort of in the right position, in the right lighting. And in that regards, I’m just utilizing the phone or the iPad as the trigger. And then when it comes time to to do the shots, our typically change it to a two second or ten second timer, depending on how much time I need and getting in position the device, the phone or the iPad is.

00:06:24:29 – 00:06:34:14

Is always the trigger, so trigger that, and then you’re basically waiting for the timer. And yeah, once it goes off, you get into your pose.

00:06:34:16 – 00:06:51:06

And so that is, yeah, that doesn’t seem as complicated as I imagine it into my mind. Like, I’m not really a self-portrait person, but where you got me was when you said it takes a lot of patience because I am notoriously a very impatient person.

00:06:52:25 – 00:07:21:09

And so what’s kind of intimidated me about self-portraits is the idea of like the back and forth and the like, getting it right and just like that kind of lag time. It’s different, obviously. Then when you’re photographing a client and you can just see what’s happening and like, fix the problem before you actually click the trigger, it seems like, you know, there’s more like adjusting in self-portraits. So how did you like? Are you just a naturally patient person or how did you get over the patience aspect?

00:07:23:03 – 00:07:53:04

I think the patience component is just like you’re you’re working yourself through these different poses. And, you know, like if you’re shooting a client or somebody else there, there’s quicker feedback in how you progress towards the image that you want and what the self-portrait. I mean, you’re the only one that’s available to review the image that’s being captured. So they’re it’s just a process of slowly working and posing yourself into whatever you’re trying to do.

00:07:53:06 – 00:08:28:13

Like, for example, there’s an image of me doing a jump in the air and that’s the shot like 60 frames, and I was jumping for the better part of maybe 10 minutes or so. And funny thing I was like the day after I was gone. Why? Why am I so sore? I remember exercising that hard or anything, but I was just jumping on this one leg the whole time. And then I realized, Oh yeah, I did that shot. But yeah, the patience is really just working the shot.

00:08:29:00 – 00:08:47:29

Otherwise, it’s this quick, you know, as far as clicking the shutter with a client in front of you or in front of you. It’s just that review and process and go like, where were our own worst critiques? So we’re going like, Oh, I can do this a little bit better. At some point you give up and you go, Oh, that’s good enough.

00:08:49:03 – 00:09:17:14

Having done my own self portrait, I believe that is the most frustrating part is actually getting the focus because there you are and you, you know, you’re trying to set the camera to take the image and kind of have an idea where it’s going to be. And you just popping shot after shot after shot. And you know, he’s saying it’s like, yes, I’m sweating, like stuffed animals up to try to get something going like, OK, I think that’s generally where I’m going to be. So but any you know, if you’re shooting,

00:09:18:12 – 00:09:52:01

yes, that’s okay, you want that good thing. So with regards to that, yeah, having something as a prop to put in position to where you’re about to place yourself, that’s pretty good if you don’t have a camera that has eye detection rate. So I’m very fortunate with the Canon R5 that I can just basically press the the focus button on the remote and that gets focus.

00:09:52:03 – 00:10:10:12

And then I can just start shooting the utilizing an older camera. You would have to set up the focus, get something in range, shoot probably in the aperture of five, six to eight. Just ensure you have that enough depth. And

00:10:12:00 – 00:10:20:18

yeah, basically get that focus and then switch it off of whatchamacallit autofocus and

00:10:22:11 – 00:10:23:14

you start shooting from there.

00:10:24:02 – 00:10:36:06

Yeah, that’s kind of what I have the Nikon D750, which is a fantastic camera and it supposedly has face detection in it. But I’ve set that up and as I’m moving around, I don’t I don’t seem to be able to do it properly.

00:10:37:05 – 00:11:08:06

I had that issue with the before this, I had the mark four and it was a decent camera in terms of face detection. But you’d still have some issues, so you play around with it. But I mean, there’s always the option of just setting focus when you put the lens on manual. So it doesn’t trip up when you start to shoot and just kind of stay within that bubble of focus space, you know, gotcha.

00:11:09:23 – 00:11:20:26

So you’re running out of a home studio while doing this project. Were you finding any limiting factors that were were keeping you from able to accomplish any of the visions that you had in your head?

00:11:25:05 – 00:11:30:08

Not really. I mean, any limiting stuff is kind of just

00:11:32:03 – 00:12:05:20

in my head, just self-imposed. For example, we have lower ceilings, so I mean, I can get probably about seven feet of of light lift. And from that, it’s just a matter of figuring out, OK, well, I can only utilize this size of a modifier if I want to go up higher. And because of that, you know, problem solve. I think that’s the the fun thing about photography is you can problem solve and generally get a close reproduction of something.

00:12:06:12 – 00:12:07:05

If you think about it.

00:12:07:15 – 00:12:41:24

Yeah, I really love that. You mention that because I think that sometimes people will use like an excuse like, I don’t, you know, and it might not be their studio. It could be anything. They don’t have the certain camera, they don’t have the studio wardrobe, they don’t have whatever it is. But they’ll just use that as like why they can’t get off the ground or have success. And like, I think problem solving is the key to running a business, as well as making it work as a photographer and just taking whatever you have the tools that you have to work with and creating as much beauty as you can with it.

00:12:41:26 – 00:12:46:03

And that’s what you do so beautifully. And that’s what I’m such a fan of.

00:12:47:16 – 00:13:27:07

Yeah, it’s it’s definitely a journey of confidence because you and in so portraiture is kind of tough because, all right, in my head, my thinking is like, Oh, well, I’d love to shoot consistently, you know, clients every single day or something like that. And but that’s also a lot of work. And, you know, the self portrait just allows you to to step back and kind of play with some ideas that might just require you to sit down and play and and goof around and not have the pressure of somebody

00:13:29:04 – 00:13:30:10

producing something for a client.

00:13:31:18 – 00:14:10:04

When you talk about ideas like how do you generate the ideas for yourself portraits because they really have like a very clear story in all of them. And when I think about like the art of self portraits throughout all of art history, they usually are very storytelling, you know, images, whether they’re paintings or photographs. It’s not like just a glamour portrait, right? I mean, if I was to take my self-portrait, I feel like it would just be like a glamour portrait. That’s what sounds fun to me, but I feel like the true self portraits that are like really pieces of art are really like storytelling images.

00:14:11:00 – 00:14:27:04

Definitely. With the 40 days of 40 I, I sat down and kind of documented like what I wanted to communicate. So there’s, of course, that story telling component. And then it was just a matter of kind of,

00:14:29:05 – 00:15:05:08

you know, you come up with the idea, you come up with a concept and then you test your capabilities as to how you can produce it. Some of the stuff I was like, Oh, I mean, I’m not Richard Wood, and I’m not going to produce something of that caliber within a day because I wanted to shoot and have something produced daily and not stress myself. That’s the key thing is like, I find if you if you put too much pressure on yourself to produce something, then at some point there the project buckles.

00:15:05:10 – 00:15:14:18

And once that happens, then there’s no it’s a lot harder to get yourself back onto the bike, so to speak, and

00:15:16:15 – 00:15:17:00

continued.

00:15:17:20 – 00:15:33:17

So you conceptualize before you even started, did you conceptualize all 40 images that you want to create with the thought of I’m doing one daily. This can’t be over the top or something that’s going to be too intensive?

00:15:34:02 – 00:16:00:20

Yeah, I. And definitely new like the capacity running the household, running the business, it’s you only have so much time to to produce something. So generally each image has a budget of an hour to to produce something so.

00:16:01:00 – 00:16:04:18

And is that how we’re like shoot time or is it shoot and edit time?

00:16:05:16 – 00:16:13:16

I I spent it basically an hour between shoot and edit. Oh wow. So yeah, you get that for an hour.

00:16:14:28 – 00:16:50:07

So that’s the case. How many images are like? Obviously, if you’re doing it within an hour, you’re setting up how many images are you finishing with? Because I know when I’ve sat down, you know, I’m going to do a self-portrait. I just got a brand new shirt. You know, I want to look good in it. I got a haircut. I’m going to sit down and do these self-portraits. And when I’m done, it’s like I have 120 images. You know, whether it’s, you know, the thing is about the camera isn’t focusing, right? The lighting isn’t what I want it to be, or I’m just happy with the images and I’m just popping off within that time frame within that hour time frame.

00:16:50:23 – 00:16:53:22

What do you how many images are reproducing?

00:16:57:00 – 00:17:07:19

It really depends on the the set up, something as simple as just a head up, head shot type shot, you know,

00:17:10:07 – 00:17:18:28

I could just produce maybe 20 images and then it’s pretty simple to cull down to one. And be like, OK, this is what I’m going to produce for today.

00:17:21:06 – 00:17:41:00

And I think that’s also just a process of continually practicing calling, you know, when, when you’re doing client shoots and stuff like that, even if you have 100 images. I feel like I could call that down in about two minutes to to exact one they don’t want to edit

00:17:42:29 – 00:17:57:23

the the post-processing side can take a little longer. And I guess, yeah. Now, most of the stuff that I did was pretty straightforward. So, yeah, it’s all in an hour.

00:17:59:01 – 00:18:12:22

I love I love the efficiency Neon. I want to go ahead and reintroduce you for any listeners just joining us. Our guest today is Neon Howe and we are talking about his journey with self-portraits.

00:18:14:24 – 00:18:53:09

One thing you said that was really interesting to me is how you have to be very structured because if you like, fall off with the project, it goes off the rails. Like, it’s kind of like a domino effect. Everything else seems to like buckle and fall under pressure. What advice do you have to give to people who kind of go through that cycle of success? Things are going well, and then whether it’s self-portraits, whether it’s something else in their business, they drop one thing and then it feels like all the balls or plates or whatever in this metaphor in the air just crash.

00:18:53:11 – 00:18:58:19

Like how do people what advice do you have for people to pick up and keep moving forward?

00:19:00:01 – 00:19:34:21

I think we have to realize that every day is a day to like, restart and it can be tough, but we just have to realize it’s like one step at a time. And if there’s if there’s something that we really want to progress towards, it’s we just take whatever necessary steps forward. However, small, however big, whatever you can manage. And that’s been kind of my thought process.

00:19:34:23 – 00:19:47:21

It’s definitely something you have to build the muscle memory from because we’ve all tripped up at some point throughout our lives. And

00:19:49:23 – 00:19:59:12

yeah, we just kind of to have to give yourself grace and go like, OK, I missed it. Let’s start over again or not completely over. But you know,

00:20:00:00 – 00:20:28:21

yeah, yeah. I love that about not being so hard on yourself because I think sometimes we are the hardest on ourselves. When, like with your project, for example, it’s like you made the commitment to yourself for 40 portraits in 40 days. And the truth is that I’m sure if you, you know, skipped a day or something, no one in your audience would call you out for it or be mad at you. But it’s not like self-imposed pressure. That’s the hardest thing to deal with.

00:20:30:00 – 00:20:47:01

Yeah, it’s it’s definitely we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to do whatever we think we’re wanting to achieve and just have to realize that. I mean, we’re on our own timelines and we can push as hard as we want,

00:20:48:26 – 00:20:57:22

but we can’t stress out for not like magically arriving someplace we’re expecting, I guess.

00:20:58:03 – 00:21:17:18

So the intention was to take the 40 images in the 40 days continuously. Was there ever a moment where you did kind of quote unquote drop the ball and miss a day and, you know, have to do it? And the following day, or where you just went a week without it and just weren’t able to do anything about it?

00:21:18:29 – 00:21:35:22

This was the first time I didn’t drop the ball. I’ve done a couple of 365 day projects and I’ve missed a couple of days and a couple of weeks and then kind of reset. But this one I

00:21:37:09 – 00:21:40:20

like hands up in the air celebrating I.

00:21:41:13 – 00:21:58:06

Yeah. Could have. Yeah, right in my mind. I thought you were going to say like, Oh, you know, there was a few days there or a stretch of time or, you know, you know, yeah, I mean, it happens life. As you said, life happens, but could also be able to knock out all 40. Yeah. Yeah, tenuously, yeah.

00:21:58:18 – 00:22:02:09

That was the work. So but yeah,

00:22:03:05 – 00:22:27:06

what do you feel like? The confident? Like what kind of confidence do you feel like self-portraits bring, especially this project? Was it kind of a self-love journey? Was it a different way to see yourself or was it confidence as you like as your photography skills grew? What what would you say is like the confidence boosting aspect of doing self-portraits?

00:22:28:17 – 00:22:29:25

It’s interesting.

00:22:30:11 – 00:22:35:24

Or if it doesn’t boost your confidence, you know, I don’t know.

00:22:37:04 – 00:22:54:17

I mean, the project this particular project in mind was to kind of share the sense of, I mean, the pandemic hit. I didn’t feel like I got to celebrate 40. The way that I wanted to. But. That’s cool. It’s you move on, right? And

00:22:56:08 – 00:23:26:11

this kind of concept was to kind of share the the experience of hitting the age of 40. What I’ve I’ve learned and grown into and sharing kind of that experience, I guess, with my audience and trying to connect in a way so that it’s not just this is Neon Howe portraits, it’s a person who takes photos and is a person. Mm-Hmm.

00:23:26:25 – 00:24:02:18

And so sharing knowledge and then practicing different photography techniques was part of the idea of stretching yourself a little bit. I think that’s that’s where self portraiture is for me is is to kind of expand my horizons a little bit within that photography realm. And I think as you practice, you become confident in whatever you’re you’re trying to get better at right? Yeah.

00:24:03:21 – 00:24:21:21

Again, like I said, this self portraiture is probably one of the more safe spaces, right? If as long as you develop the confidence to get in front of the camera, you can test out weird poses. You can try different lighting. You can do

00:24:23:08 – 00:24:28:10

pretty much anything you can think of photographically and then practice it. And

00:24:30:00 – 00:24:34:05

so that’s the cool thing about that and building the confidence, I guess.

00:24:35:07 – 00:24:55:04

What skill sets did you end up walking away with gaining while doing this project? And was there anything that you were like, You know what? I really want you to learn how to do this, whether it be lighting, whether it be a form in retouching that you knew you’d want to learn from. What did you pull from this project when it comes to that?

00:24:56:18 – 00:24:59:22

One of the things that has been like

00:25:01:22 – 00:25:21:13

grabbing my interest or my attention has been developing sets for your photography so that it’s not just a plain backdrop and a subject. I wanted to create more depth. And I played with a little bit with it in a couple of shots and

00:25:23:04 – 00:25:23:21

then.

00:25:25:24 – 00:25:31:19

Just was like, OK, how can I how can I learn more? And I just kind of been.

00:25:33:06 – 00:25:46:23

Who was it? I think Irina Jamir and David Shoukri, they have these amazing looking setups that are super simple as photographers. And

00:25:48:17 – 00:25:59:09

yeah, I’ve just kind of gone on this this journey of figuring out how to just add depth and texture into my portraits. And that’s

00:26:00:28 – 00:26:02:22

kind of been the fun journey. I guess that’s the

00:26:03:27 – 00:26:35:18

what with the sets you mentioned on the podcast with Nikki that part of the reason you like moved into the garage of your house was so that you could leave a set up for a period of time. So I’m wondering, like with your clients, is it kind of not seasonal in like a kitschy like it’s Christmas. So we have Christmas trees way. But is it like seasonal where it’s like, this is the set I have right now? Book me right now you’re going to get this one. But if I change my mood, I might, you know, set something else up where you constantly like whatever client shows you from your portfolio that they like.

00:26:35:20 – 00:27:07:05

You’re just putting that set up for the day for that unique client. And then how hard is that to do? Because I know a garage must be fairly small. I have a small studio, and if I have to rearrange stuff too much, I just start going in like nuts. I’ve set up my studio so that like, I have all these setups that I know how to use, but and I can pull them out easily. But if it’s something like kind of out of the box, I would never like want to do it more than once, probably.

00:27:07:22 – 00:27:34:20

Yeah, no. I mean, again, not an expert yet. And the thinking is just to have a couple key kind of elements like my thought processes. We have a bunch of tubes of canvas rolls or even boxes of paper backdrop rolls, right? And as simply as putting those up on the wall and draping a

00:27:36:28 – 00:27:37:27

drape

00:27:38:24 – 00:27:40:08

like, oh yeah,

00:27:40:10 – 00:28:00:01

OK, yeah, just along the side or something and adding a plant, you know, those elements help change your your imagery from just this static background and subject to, you know, some other visual interests that could potentially help tell a story.

00:28:00:18 – 00:28:08:19

Got it. Got it. So you’re not talking about like an extravagant set, but more just a few easy to move pieces, but that add a lot. at some point,

00:28:08:21 – 00:28:39:06

at some point it’d be like when we were at the I went to the portrait master shootout. Mm hmm. The Fuji Bay had an individual who designed a very like three different setups, and I was just reviewing them. And it’s a little bit more of a process. But like there is one set up that said there was like a faux fireplace with a mantel or something like that. So yeah, something to that to that level could be interesting and fun.

00:28:40:24 – 00:28:48:07

And that’s kind of potentially where I would want to go, and it could potentially be unique for each client.

00:28:48:20 – 00:29:15:17

Yeah, I’ve also seen maybe it’s Felicia Reid and there was something similar at the Portrait Masters Shootout was like the steps. And that can be so cool because especially like in a studio environment where we have different needs for posing and steps are such a helpful thing to pose on. It just adds so much dimension. And if I had more room in my studio, I would totally want to, like, have a little steps set. I think that’s really fun.

00:29:16:07 – 00:29:18:26

Yeah, that was a pretty cool setup. I I love it.

00:29:19:28 – 00:29:39:07

So now is the point where we love to open it up to audience questions. If you have a question, raise your hand and we can bring you up on stage, and I think we might have a question. So while I think it’s pronounced Abhishek is coming up onto stage. Kevin, I’m going to toss it to you.

00:29:40:06 – 00:30:09:08

No problem So Neon I just saw you at the portrait master shootout, which was, you know, you took my portrait there and, you know, thank you very much. It was fantastic. Previously, you had said at your first Portrait Masters event that you were you came out, you were intimidated by just the amount of skill that was at the event. And this portrait masters shoot out. Being my first event,

00:30:10:29 – 00:30:27:06

I understand what you’re talking about, like, Oh my God, this person, the people around me, they’re just so good. You know, with you attending this other event and your confidence since the beginning of your journey to where you’re at now, how has it changed? How did you feel walking into the event there,

00:30:29:12 – 00:30:30:11

the confidence,

00:30:32:05 – 00:30:38:13

the practicing from shooting and all the business work? Definitely. I mean,

00:30:40:02 – 00:30:46:16

it was it was fun. I guess there there wasn’t the stress like the first time

00:30:48:02 – 00:31:22:18

stepping into a shooting bay, going like, Oh, well, how do I pose this person? And which way I do I point them towards the light type thing? And this time around, being more versed and familiar with shooting, and it’s more just having fun and capturing the images that you wanted to capture. That’s also the other key thing is the in the beginning, the point is like, there’s a whole bunch of images that I want to capture and there’s not much direction.

00:31:23:16 – 00:31:46:04

Whereas coming to the recent shoot out, I knew like I needed this certain demographics of images, people sorry images. And the also wanted to work on, say, like standing poses or sitting down poses and just focusing on capturing those types of images.

00:31:47:27 – 00:31:50:03

Yeah. And that’s the confidence

00:31:51:19 – 00:31:52:21

that comes from it, I guess.

00:31:53:22 – 00:32:13:17

Yeah, I love that you went into that event with a game plan because I think that is so key, although, you know it can be hard on your first time, of course, to do that. But I think that’s like a really smart and strategic way to make the most out of like a shootout portfolio build type event like that. So Neon back to the Portrait Masters conference.

00:32:15:03 – 00:32:51:05

I know one of the things I love about, like, not sorry, not the conference, the shoot out. One of the things I love about this shoot out is just seeing because I run a booth. The different images and perspectives that people come with to, you know, my booth because I see my booth, my model. And yet everyone is seeing that model in a different way and trying to tell their perspective and their style. So if you were to define your style that you’ve gotten more confident in and that you are trying to, like, come across in portfolio building, how would you describe that?

00:32:52:21 – 00:32:54:20

That’s a good question.

00:32:56:10 – 00:33:04:11

When I think of my style, I tend to lean towards a more natural

00:33:05:26 – 00:33:15:23

kind of editing. And but I’m also a little more moody, dark and moody,

00:33:17:22 – 00:33:36:19

which is interesting. And definitely seeing the collection of images captured from the different photographers is it’s fun to see just how we can all be in the same space and capture a complete different variety of images

00:33:38:09 – 00:33:58:21

altogether. But yeah, my sense of my my photography is a little bit more dark and moody. I tend to do with the darker backdrops and backgrounds, but I do like kind of adding to the painterly look to it. I guess.

00:33:59:05 – 00:34:05:29

So does that mean that when you look around at the different set at the shoot out, you’re choosing ones that like more already fit your style?

00:34:07:00 – 00:34:17:13

thinking back on on the shoot out and not particularly in terms of like,

00:34:18:21 – 00:34:22:01

not like lighting or setup. Yeah, it was more of a model

00:34:22:04 – 00:34:34:18

None setups really just kind of like, Oh, I need to shoot this because I know it’s going to capture everything that was there were fit my ability to add it to what I wanted, I guess, which was in there

00:34:34:20 – 00:34:48:18

something? Yeah, that’s really cool. Well, yeah, I was just going to say we have Cat Ford Coats on stage, so I want to let her unmute herself and contribute to the conversation. Welcome, Cat.

00:34:49:13 – 00:34:51:13

Hi, guys, how are you? Can you hear me?

00:34:51:23 – 00:34:53:10

Yeah, we can hear you.

00:34:53:28 – 00:35:01:23

How are you? Hey. Happy Friday So, Neon, I’m curious. I love it when I’m curious.

00:35:04:18 – 00:35:21:06

When you are planning out self-portraits, are you planning based on an emotional story or are you trying out new methods or techniques? All of the above? How do you go about organizing that?

00:35:22:26 – 00:35:31:10

A lot of what I do for self. Portraiture definitely has an element of being able to try something new,

00:35:33:02 – 00:35:48:07

retouching wise or editing ways just to push the skills to be potentially like composite is compositing is something that interests me and trying to create more fantastical images.

00:35:49:22 – 00:36:13:23

So that is something that is definitely in the back of my head and there is definitely an emotional component to it. Just trying to figure out, OK, well, what? What am I trying to convey here? And can I? Can I express that well enough in the imagery? Very, very cool. It’s

00:36:15:10 – 00:36:41:06

definitely. Yeah. You know, we we have kind of our set, I guess, perception of who we are and and sometimes it can be tough for self-portraits to be like, OK, cool, I want to cry in front of the camera. How am I going to do this? Will, I just get, you know, a glass of water and just dip some drops in my eye. And will that be

00:36:42:28 – 00:36:44:10

enough of storytelling?

00:36:44:22 – 00:36:46:01

You can

00:36:47:07 – 00:36:48:14

definitely jumping on you.

00:36:52:05 – 00:37:01:06

All the YouTube videos on how to create tears. I did. Yeah, it was just abysmal, really. Yeah, I didn’t even realize we

00:37:03:20 – 00:37:08:02

now have to YouTube, you know, you know, getting yourself to cry.

00:37:08:22 – 00:37:19:22

Well, that is actually interesting to me because I spent most of my life prior to being a photographer in like performing arts and filmmaking. And

00:37:21:18 – 00:37:37:25

do you feel like it’s made you want to know more about like performer performance techniques so that you can, like, harness those emotions to convey them in your photos? Or are you not really interested in exploring anything like that?

00:37:38:22 – 00:37:56:12

That hasn’t actually really entered my mind, but I mean, as we’re talking about it, like the key things I am thinking right now are movement. So things utilizing movement, like dancing or

00:37:58:13 – 00:37:59:24

pretending to dance, I guess.

00:38:00:08 – 00:38:04:21

Well, I know you’re a good dancer because you’re my favorite dance partner at the Portrait

00:38:04:23 – 00:38:09:03

Masters Shootout Conferences like this, adding,

00:38:09:27 – 00:38:14:10

Would you ever like would you ever take like a dance class to just maybe like, learn

00:38:14:27 – 00:38:33:21

how you should like? Yeah, the it’s always been in the back of my head and you know, we’re we’re here to grow and expand our experiences. So yeah, probably. As well as shared and interests, you do some dancing.

00:38:35:01 – 00:39:04:20

You know, it’s funny. Actually, it is because I’ve seen so many interesting self-portraits, whether it’s been Cat or Johnny Edward or other people that I’ve see online. I want to get a little bit more of the dynamic my own self portrait ‘cause usually is like with the, you know, put the elbow on the Apple box and kind of pose underneath your chin. You know, when there’s so much good art out there where people are like dancing or move me. Terry Hofford, you

00:39:04:22 – 00:39:06:11

have, yeah, beautiful hair where

00:39:06:13 – 00:39:44:18

it’s just like, wow. Their work is just so fantastic, and it involves involves the movement and everything where I actually signed up for a dancing class because I was like, You know what? I need to learn how to how to move, and I need it. I mean, if I if and when I finally hit the trigger, you know, I wanted to make it look good, you know? But unfortunately, that hasn’t gone through just yet. But yeah, that’s definitely something where I feel like taking something from the outside world to then bring into your photography or learn specifically for your photography is something that you know is really

00:39:46:29 – 00:40:01:10

gets my attention that invigorates my energy within me to want to do that, to then create the fantastic, different portraiture that I’m seeing out there, you know, especially including movement movement being one of the

00:40:03:03 – 00:40:16:02

categories in categories your Masters awards that it’s like, you know what, these people are moving and flowing and fabric, and this is awesome. So, yeah, I go back and be influenced

00:40:18:07 – 00:40:19:13

my own self-portraits.

00:40:20:09 – 00:40:43:08

And I think to me, like the still captures that we have that again, we have this one shot to relay this whole story that we’re trying to tell and and the more that we can layer on components that tie in and better help us to tell that story

00:40:45:02 – 00:41:02:08

is is the challenge and the fun of self portraiture because you’re the only one there and adding movement and then turning it to a shot. Like I said, I I did those jumping shots and I shot 60 frames and probably jumped way more than 60. But

00:41:04:00 – 00:41:06:22

I got one really solid right calf now.

00:41:06:24 – 00:41:12:02

So yeah, you’re supposed to alternate getting get an even workout.

00:41:15:03 – 00:41:46:29

That’s funny. Yeah, I really love that like idea in conversation because I think the more inspirations are, the more inspiration that any photographer can get from the world of arts. Beyond photography, you just it always helps. So much like I know when I go to the live theater or when I go to an art museum to look at like sculpture or paintings, it’s always something that will come back to my photography and make it so much better.

00:41:47:01 – 00:42:03:04

And I think we have this tendency to want to look at what other photographers are doing instead of actually looking out toward just different areas of art and seeing how that can influence us so that we’re not just copying other photographers all the time, but we’re getting refreshed and inspired.

00:42:04:01 – 00:42:23:11

Definitely. There’s it’s interesting my thought point is there’s an element of, yeah, you’re drawing inspiration. Sometimes it can feel like you’re stealing, but you’re you have to. If you want to be able to produce something along that lines you have to practice, and it’s

00:42:25:24 – 00:42:54:12

you have to put in that time somewhere, right? But the other day, I saw some cool imagery of this person just did a catalog of photos where they matched the outfits to the background and then incorporated makeup or just face painting. And those it’s really cool. I was not like any, anything fantastical, but they just had abstract

00:42:55:28 – 00:43:17:08

face painting. So something as simple as like dressing up a person in all white with like a white hood and then striping white face paint over their eyes. And then this individual is kind of like darker skin tone. So then that white really pops up. Hmm. And that sounds

00:43:17:10 – 00:43:17:25

cool.

00:43:18:19 – 00:43:22:23

Like, look cool. Let’s go find some face paint and play around with this.

00:43:23:06 – 00:43:55:17

Yeah, yeah. I do think that’s a good point to you is like sometimes we do need to like explore a similar idea to learn like you can’t really learn something if in a way you don’t copy to some extent, like obviously not plagiarize or carbon copy, you always want to put your own spin on it. But if you don’t like take, if you don’t take the idea and then try to replicate it in some way, like how are you going to actually learn how to do it? Yeah, exactly.

00:43:56:11 – 00:44:02:28

I was wondering, what have you learned about yourself through this project that you created?

00:44:05:28 – 00:44:09:07

I’m still not as confident as I think I am

00:44:10:23 – 00:44:13:11

sometimes because I think, yeah, there’s

00:44:15:04 – 00:44:30:09

there is one element where I shot a I got nude and took a shot and you’re like, Oh my goodness, I’m going to put this out into the public. And how crazy are you to do that?

00:44:32:21 – 00:44:35:04

I mean, it’s not black and white images that you have of yourself.

00:44:35:21 – 00:44:54:00

Yeah, the kind of fetal position. Yeah. The fact that we’re born was like, yeah, the theme of we should celebrate the fact that you’re born kind of thing. So that was the concept. And so I was like, OK, well, I think I have to get semi-nude or something around like, you commit to it.

00:44:55:18 – 00:44:56:17

Yeah, that was a

00:44:58:10 – 00:45:08:09

that felt like a jumping off the cliff moment as I’m doing the shots and kind of like, Okay, I want this to be artistic and I’m not like trying to show off anything,

00:45:10:08 – 00:45:25:13

not a porno image. You know, honestly, that it’s a beautiful image. Yeah, really. If you were to have like, you know, if you’re put on boxes or something underwear, it would have the same effect. I think that is a fantastic image. So, you know. You should give yourself, you know, praise for that one.

00:45:26:13 – 00:45:40:19

So, yeah, I mean, it’s again always pushing yourself and and trying something new. And yeah, learning more about yourself through that is be a fun process.

00:45:42:28 – 00:46:12:03

So taking your own self-portrait, obviously, when you have a client and you know, you show them the retouched images, they’re they’re finished. They’re without flaws. What is your reaction then to yourself stinging the the unfinished product in front of you? And how does that affect your confidence at all when you’re like, Oh, you know, it’s not finished, obviously. So how is that affecting your confidence when you see that?

00:46:12:23 – 00:46:29:08

Hmm. Yeah, that’s kind of interesting because, yeah, the we we have our own body image and what we think we we should look like. And in the beginning, there used to be a lot of critique.

00:46:31:18 – 00:46:47:25

And now there’s. It feels cliche, but there’s a lot more self-love and acceptance of who you are as a person. And I don’t know if that’s because of this self portraiture,

00:46:50:01 – 00:46:53:26

but yeah, I mean, we have to see ourselves

00:46:56:10 – 00:47:05:18

all the time and then having that little snapshot can be like, I don’t know if I like that. But then again, if you don’t, you can take another shot

00:47:07:04 – 00:47:08:01

and try again.

00:47:09:03 – 00:47:15:09

So we have a question from Melissa. So if you want to go ahead and unmute yourself and ask a question.

00:47:16:22 – 00:47:31:06

Yeah, thank you. I was wondering, do you have any other projects? I may have missed it. If you had already mentioned that, do you have any other projects coming up or in the works already? And what what will you take from the project that self-portrait project

00:47:33:00 – 00:47:39:04

and apply it to whatever is next in there, like literally or emotionally or figuratively?

00:47:41:22 – 00:48:01:18

Well, I’m looking to actually spin up the 40 over 40, so capture in 40 images of women over the age of 40, and I think the sense of it is, is we we know how uncomfortable it can feel in front of the camera. And I have been,

00:48:03:11 – 00:48:13:00

you know, through the range of, I guess, experience that I afforded myself through my own 40 day project. And

00:48:14:21 – 00:48:19:03

I feel like that can help connect with the clients and

00:48:20:20 – 00:48:47:26

also just all of the the the range of imagery can be something that is presented to clients to allow them to see that, you know, it might not have to be all glam photos. It could just be something as simple as just being completely raw in the sense of no no hair, no makeup and

00:48:49:11 – 00:48:51:07

truly just being yourself kind of thing.

00:48:51:18 – 00:48:56:22

Is that what I like? How would you explain that to your your clients in this 40 over 40 project?

00:48:58:05 – 00:49:23:17

And I’ve been explaining it as it can be as simple as you want in terms of portraiture all the way up to, you know, walking the runway being glammed up. And that’s been the selling point, I guess, or the education point. And then when we come in for consultation is where we hammer in a clearer picture of what they’re comfortable with and

00:49:25:05 – 00:49:27:29

where they want to go in the direction of their photoshoots.

00:49:29:26 – 00:49:49:22

Can I ask one more question. Yeah. So do you price that differently? Because a lot of times that may be more intensive or more work on your end, either during the shoot or preparing for it or even post? Do you or do you just do it all the same? It just depends on the client, and will just balance out.

00:49:51:13 – 00:49:55:00

My thinking is it’ll all just balance out the.

00:49:58:23 – 00:50:05:21

The creative process to me, while there is a value. I guess it feels easier, so

00:50:07:20 – 00:50:14:10

the sense of of working out a client’s vision isn’t something that.

00:50:17:09 – 00:50:21:05

I guess isn’t too stressful and it’s fun, and

00:50:22:28 – 00:50:28:21

yeah, the the whole thing will balance out in my head and

00:50:30:06 – 00:50:35:02

it’s structured in such a way that I think everybody is in a win win situation.

00:50:36:27 – 00:50:47:28

I agree, Neon. I mean, like I, I just always feel like it balances out. Like if something someone wants something as long as it’s not like, you know, just beyond the realm of what I like

00:50:48:08 – 00:50:54:22

Can offer, Yeah, like I want to fly in a helicopter and like, I’m going to skydive.

00:50:56:10 – 00:51:26:24

Yeah. But yeah, like as long as it’s not like, you know, as long as it’s within the realm of my portfolio and stuff that I show, like, I don’t really charge extra. Like, for example, I do like the one composite shot that I ever offer is like kind of that mirror reflective floor. And if someone is doing kind of a sexy or shoot or more sensual shoot, I do that for every single client list. For some reason, they didn’t like it, but that’s kind of, you know, a bestseller.

00:51:27:02 – 00:51:45:04

And I don’t charge extra for that image, even though that image is way more workmanlike, like all the other images. But I just feel like, well, I know it sounds well and it all balances out and they’re going to buy it, and they’re probably going to buy a wall enlargement of it. So why wouldn’t they just take like an extra 20 minutes and do this?

00:51:45:21 – 00:51:48:19

It could also get you top 10 in the Portrait Masters Award, huh?

00:51:50:09 – 00:51:52:05

Thank you out there. Yeah.

00:51:53:07 – 00:51:56:27

I mean, if you want to toot my own horn, I don’t you?

00:51:58:18 – 00:51:59:03

Oh,

00:52:00:28 – 00:52:08:06

yeah, no. I think that’s the key thing that you hit upon it. It’s like if it’s within the realm of your portfolio,

00:52:09:27 – 00:52:14:13

I don’t I don’t see it as too much of a stretch to

00:52:16:03 – 00:52:24:20

to price it out any differently than what you do. So, yeah, tossing that in there.

00:52:26:21 – 00:52:42:01

Well, we want to move on to a new section that Kevin and I are testing out and it’s a final four questions for every single guest. So, you’re the first actually to receive the youth for your question. So, I hope you like them.

00:52:43:22 – 00:52:53:16

No pressure. But the first question is what was the last thing that you did that you were really scared to do, but it ended up turning out completely awesome?

00:52:55:27 – 00:53:04:21

Last thing that I had to do, it was… might take me back to that

00:53:06:18 – 00:53:09:00

naked shot. Yeah.

00:53:10:23 – 00:53:42:28

No, actually. You know what? The it’s silly, but yeah, doing the portrait system podcast that was definitely like, Oh my gosh, I’m going to be talking to a whole bunch of people and it it’s been great. I’ve been getting a lot of awareness and attention from that, and it was kind of like, Oh, I asked in some universal way to like, bring back awareness and this basically fell on my lap and I was like, Well, oh cool.

00:53:43:24 – 00:53:45:12

You asked for it. Yeah, isn’t that kind of funny how that works?

00:53:45:23 – 00:53:51:12

Yeah, I love that. Um, I’ll let Kevin take question to you.

00:53:53:00 – 00:53:58:25

What do you do to get hyped before a photoshoot? Do you have any pre-shoot rituals that you do?

00:54:00:21 – 00:54:22:11

So, like I said, no watches this podcast. The one key thing is kind of like having a little five minute meditation. And then the other key things are just I like to bounce oddly between classic rock and country music. Mm.

00:54:24:07 – 00:54:36:26

I, I like it blows my mind that I even say that I like country music sometimes. But yeah, no, it’s been. It’s been interesting. I probably blame it on Modesto, to be honest.

00:54:40:18 – 00:54:45:19

But yeah, music gets you in the mood. Did you say top four things or just?

00:54:45:27 – 00:54:50:01

No, just like, what is the thing you do to get it? So it sounds like the meditation and the music.

00:54:50:08 – 00:55:00:19

Yeah. So the meditation kind of centers, everything gets you ready and then, you know, music uplifts you and gets you ready to shoot. Everybody enjoys music, right?

00:55:01:12 – 00:55:14:08

OK, well, this next question you might have just answered, but what is something that you look to you for a creative inspiration? But isn’t like photography related? So something else that gets your creative energy flowing?

00:55:15:29 – 00:55:17:12

Not photography. He really did.

00:55:17:23 – 00:55:19:18

So it could be music, which you just said,

00:55:21:02 – 00:55:23:23

yeah, music definitely plays a role.

00:55:26:01 – 00:55:26:18

The

00:55:28:12 – 00:55:38:24

movies have always been movie posters, movie, yeah, just movies and just cinematography. Just watching that and just watching something

00:55:40:09 – 00:55:44:10

like watching Dune recently and going, wow of the costume work and

00:55:44:12 – 00:55:45:21

don’t say anything. I haven’t seen it yet.

00:55:46:22 – 00:56:00:14

But I mean, the costume work, it’s it’s awesome. Yeah. And just to be able to go like, Oh, cool, if you can get somebody you know that detailed out and create a fun, fantastical shoot that

00:56:00:24 – 00:56:10:11

be cool and you have a matrix image of yourself that I think you know would have inspiration come from it. So that’s awesome. Yeah.

00:56:12:01 – 00:56:17:25

All right. This last one is what is one thing you wish you had known when you were starting your business

00:56:19:11 – 00:56:19:26

in

00:56:20:02 – 00:56:21:03

starting the business.

00:56:24:00 – 00:56:27:20

Hmm. That’s a good question. I don’t even know

00:56:30:09 – 00:56:30:29

the.

00:56:34:26 – 00:56:46:05

I think they’re probably one of the more important things and kind of quickly overlooked is just the insurance side of things. Make sure you have your stuff covered just for the safety of it.

00:56:46:20 – 00:56:49:15

I think that is a really important one.

00:56:49:17 – 00:56:59:21

Actually say that it’s such an interesting answer, especially we just saw I just saw online of someone like had their entire studio broken into and had everything swiped.

00:57:00:24 – 00:57:01:09

Yeah.

00:57:01:15 – 00:57:04:05

And I’m like, Oh my God. But that is a negative response.

00:57:04:18 – 00:57:32:14

Yeah, that’s not something. I mean, we we look for it for everything else. So just having that insurance and I know it’s not something, you know, it’s an extra cost, right? And you’re trying to be as lean as possible when you’re starting. But at the same time, you have, you know, at least, you know, eight hundred to a thousand camera that still can set people back. Pretty bad. Yeah, that’s the case. You know,

00:57:34:04 – 00:57:41:23

at some point you’ve, you know, you’ve amassed at least a $10000 collection of things that LED drives.

00:57:42:06 – 00:57:44:05

Oh, yeah, yeah, definitely.

00:57:44:07 – 00:58:20:14

Definitely. And, you know, definitely, even if you don’t have insurance and make sure you, you know you’ve catalogued your gear and get the licenses or not, the licenses, the serial numbers of everything, that’s really important. Yeah, that is a pro tip. It’s so easy to just buy things, but we forget to catalog it. Mm hmm. So it’s important. I mean, when you have insurance, your catalog and everything you bring in, so make sure you have everything documented that you own so that you can at least have remember what you’ve got to buy back.

00:58:21:14 – 00:58:24:12

That is an excellent final piece of advice. I love

00:58:24:14 – 00:58:28:24

It’s not the one that I was expecting, but definitely one that we needed. Yeah.

00:58:30:10 – 00:58:31:27

Mr. Practical here.

00:58:33:24 – 00:58:47:12

It has been a pleasure to have you on I. But before we want it, before we let you go, I want to go ahead and make sure that people have your socials, so they know where to find you, and they can go ahead and go and follow you. So you let us know that

00:58:47:27 – 00:58:49:19

you’re like my social, hold on.

00:58:52:15 – 00:59:04:13

Yes, so. Social media on Facebook and Instagram are both Neon Howe Portraits.

00:59:04:26 – 00:59:40:09

Fantastic. Everyone, please, please, please be sure to go follow Neon. And also make sure to follow the Portrait System on Instagram and on Facebook as well. Also, be sure to check out the blog post that is associated with the Clubhouse interviews at SueBryceEducation.com/blog. You can go ahead and follow Ashleigh on Instagram at Ashleigh Taylor Portrait and you can find me at Poplight_photography. If you are a member of Sue Bryce Education and you have any more questions for Neon, Ashleigh, or myself, go tag us in a post in the SBE Members Only Facebook group.

00:59:40:20 – 00:59:53:29

And if you are not a member of Sue Bryce Education and you are interested in learning more about how it can help your business succeed, please email Ella with support at support@SueBryceEducation.com. Thank you for joining us and we hope to see you next week.

00:59:54:20 – 01:00:30:09

Thanks again for listening today, and don’t forget you can listen to either me or our special guests every Friday on Clubhouse at 11:00 a.m. Pacific.

Also, be sure to check out the blog posts that are associated with our clubhouse interviews at SueBryceEducation.com/blog. If you are a member of Sue Bryce Education, you have any more questions for David, Ashleigh or myself go tag us in a post in the Sue Bryce Members Only Facebook group. If you are not a member of Sue Bryce Education, and you are interested in learning more about how we can help you and your business succeed, email Ella with support at support@SueBryceEducation.com.

Thank you again for joining us and we hope you can join us next week.

Thanks again for listening today. And don’t forget, you can listen to either me or our special guests every Friday on Club House at 11:00 a.m. Pacific. Thank you so much for listening to the Portrait System Podcast. Your five-star reviews really help us to continue what we do. So, if you like listening, would you mind giving us a review wherever you listen? I also encourage you to head over to SueBryceEducation.com, where you can find all of the education you need to be a successful photographer. There are over 1,000 on-demand educational videos on things like posing, lighting, styling, retouching, shooting, marketing, sales, business, and self-value. 

There’s also the 90 Day Startup Challenge, plus so many downloads showing hundreds of different poses. We have to-do checklists for your business, lighting PDFs, I mean truly everything to help make you a better photographer and to make you more money. Once again, that’s SueBryceEducation.com.