ShotMasters – Landscape Photography Podcast: Recent Episodes
Swami Venkataramani
ShotMasters is not your typical 1-hour podcast. These are long in-depth conversations with the world's best photographers. There's so much I want to know. How do they win highly contested competitions? How do they plan their trips, explore new landscapes, and find unique compositions? How do they color grade? How are they using social media? We cover everything from tactics, techniques, mindsets, and strategies to artistic philosophies and even practical topics like balancing photography and family life.
Marcin Zajac is a consecutive 4-time International Astro Photographer of the Year (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022) awarded by Royal Museums Greenwich and 3-time International Landscape Photographer of the Year (Top 101) in the ILPOTY awards, the world’s most prestigious landscape photography contest.
That’s seven international photography awards, which is insane! International photography contests are highly competitive, and winning it seven times means there’s no one better in the world to learn from when it comes to creating award-winning images!
In this episode, we discuss how to win photography awards, how Marcin created his winning image of Tunnel View in Yosemite, and how you can increase your engagement on social media.
Here’s some of his work:
Timestamps:00:09 Why Marcin doesn't care about the latest gear03:06 How to win photography competitions05:11 Strategies for submitting images to competitions08:03 How he created his winning Yosemite image16:27 How to get more engagement on social media
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit swamiphoto.substack.com
Hi friends,
When a product designer is also a photographer, what design principles is he applying to his photography? That was my question when I interviewed one of my favorite artists, Shashank Khanna, who was selected as one of the top 101 photographers in the prestigious International Landscape Photographer of the Year competition.
Shashank’s images have a calm and soothing look. Going through his portfolio is a meditative experience. His images use a subtle color palette, many of them with a signature pink and blue.
He loves mud cracks. And apparently, he finds them near home.
And he has an eye for unique compositions of famous scenes that most photographers will miss.
Hope you enjoy this episode. I’m splitting up the interview into parts, so make sure you’re subscribed to get the updates. I’ll be sharing some video clips as well. Shashank does a live edit showing how he blends warm and cool tones.
In this episode, we talk about:
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Color grading and color palettes
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Design principles (he compares a photo with a webpage)
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Getting feedback (how to take critique without it interfering with your own vision)
Enjoy!
Swami
Get full access to swamiphoto at swamiphoto.substack.com/subscribe
Hi friends,
A couple of things before we get to today’s episode:
First, the podcast has a new name: ShotStories Photography Podcast.
And I’ve moved to Substack. Recording a podcast episode seems like a quick thing, but each interview is taking me 25-30 hours to plan, record, edit, and publish. Using Substack will save me some hours, and I hope that means I can share these interviews with you more frequently. Also, now it’s easier to browse older episodes. Just go to swamiphoto.substack.com.
One thing: I migrated my email list to Substack, and I realize not all of you were subscribed to me for photography. This newsletter will be photography focused, so if that’s not your thing, please let me know by replying to this email, and I’ll remove you from the list. No hard feelings at all.
Today’s episode is one of my favorites.
I’ve known Jeff for a while, and I’ve always been intrigued by his personality. The guy’s work is so good he could have a million followers. But he chooses not to be on social media.
Why? And how, then, do people discover his work? And does he not have FOMO? That’s what we talk about. It’s an enlightening conversation. See the timestamps for other topics we discuss.
Hope you enjoy it. Please share with other photo folks.
Timestamps 0:00 - Why are you not on social media? 4:13 - The 5 love languages 6:01 - Don't we need validation from others? 7:57 - Advice for those without an amazing portfolio yet 10:54 - Do you ever feel lonely or have FOMO? 11:33 - How do people discover your new work? 15:36 - How do you explore and choose scenes worthy of your portfolio? 22:03 - Planning vs being spontaneous 25:00 - How do you find nice places to shoot near home? 28:25 - How to narrow down spots at sunset when time is limited? 30:53 - For those not surrounded by beautiful landscapes, how to build a good portfolio? 36:30 - How do you discover new spots?
Until next time,
Swami
Get full access to swamiphoto at swamiphoto.substack.com/subscribe
You don't need fancy luminosity masks. Don't spend hours messing with the sliders in Lightroom and Photoshop. Jeff shows how you can breathe life and emotion into your landscape images by SELLING THE LIGHT.
More details here:
https://shotmasters.co/episodes/jefflewis
SHOW NOTES:
0:00 - Intro
2:52 - Why is it important to "sell the light?"
8:07 - A common mistake photographers make
9:39 - Is it ok to blow our areas of the photo?
11:15 - What to keep in mind when taking the photo to sell the light?
12:43 - Is it ever OK to not sell the light?
13:10 - Editing an abstract landscape in 30 seconds
17:05 - No luminosity masks, no fancy tools
15:50 - How we mess up our images with over-processing
19:15 - One click fix for Sony files (Medium Rare profile)
23:52 - No global adjustments?
24:58 - Radial filters
26:05 - When Jeff uses Photoshop
27:59 - Taking breaks during editing
32:58 - How to have a beginner's mind when you're an expert?
SHOTMASTERS
Sign up on https://ShotMasters.co to get notified about new episodes and get exclusive access to editing workflows.
Tanmay talks about how he shot this beautiful flower scene. How he conveys depth. How he works the scene. His focus stacking method. We discuss all of his tactics, right from finding the location to envisioning the composition and post-processing. And all the gear he uses.
More details here:
https://shotmasters.co/episodes/tanmaysapkal
SHOW NOTES:
0:00 - Planning the flower shot
06:04 - Focus stacking process
10:36 - Multiple exposures in an age of good dynamic range
12:42 - Focus stacking + exposure bracketing
15:17 - Working the scene
23:30 - Color grading using nature
24:44 - Achieving a cohesive look in your portfolio
26:51 - How to convey a scene's depth
30:36 - Long breaks during an edit
32:16 - Wacom
33:07 - What's in your bag?
38:14 - 500mm for landscapes
41:30 - What gear do you travel with?
ABOUT TANMAY
Tanmay is a self-taught fine art landscape photographer based in San Francisco. He works as a hardware designer for Apple and spends most of his free time exploring the landscape of the western US and beyond. He was born and raised near Mumbai (India) and has lived in the US for a good part of the last decade.
FOLLOW TANMAY
https://tanmaysapkal.com/
https://www.facebook.com/theurbanvoyager
https://www.instagram.com/theurbanvoy...
https://twitter.com/tanmaysapkal
https://www.flickr.com/people/7287573...
https://500px.com/p/tanmaysapkal?view...
FOLLOW SWAMI
https://swamiphoto.com
https://instagram.com/swamiphoto
SHOTMASTERS
Sign up on https://ShotMasters.co to get notified about new episodes and get exclusive access to editing workflows.
For the video version, visit shotmasters.co or youtube.com/swamiphoto.There are so many landscape photographers today doing similar things. It's a crowded space. Where's this art form headed? And how do you balance what you want as an artist with what others expect from you? We discuss these in this episode and several other topics that would interest landscape photographers.
SHOWNOTES
0:00 - Where is Landscape photography headed?
10:28 - Should you fly or worry about carbon footprint?
13:55 - What if you don't have natural beauty around you?
16:18 - Benefits of traveling
16:53 - How to balance what you want with what others want from you?
22:52 - What images do well on Instagram?
24:24 - Instant gratification vs something growing on you slowly
26:15 - How do you build the right audience on Instagram?
28:44 - How Tanmay makes Instagram reels
ABOUT TANMAY
Tanmay is a self-taught fine art landscape photographer based in San Francisco. He works as a hardware designer for Apple and spends most of his free time exploring the landscape of the western US and beyond. He was born and raised near Mumbai (India) and has lived in the US for a good part of the last decade.
See shotmasters.co/episodes/tanmaysapkal for more details.
FOLLOW TANMAY
https://tanmaysapkal.com/
https://www.facebook.com/theurbanvoyager
https://www.instagram.com/theurbanvoy...
https://twitter.com/tanmaysapkal
https://www.flickr.com/people/7287573...
https://500px.com/p/tanmaysapkal?view...
FOLLOW SWAMI
https://swamiphoto.com
https://instagram.com/swamiphoto
SHOTMASTERS
Sign up on https://ShotMasters.co to get notified about new episodes and get exclusive access to editing workflows.
Video
Visit shotmasters.co or youtube.com/swamiphoto
ShotMasters
ShotMasters is a new landscape photography podcast featuring the world's best photographers. These are long in-depth conversations where we cover everything from tactics, techniques, mindsets, and strategies to artistic philosophies and even practical topics like balancing photography and family life. Sign up on ShotMasters.co to see how Tanmay Sapkal and other world-class photographers edit images on Lightroom and Photoshop.
This EpisodeIn this episode, Tanmay Sapkal shares how he made his ILPOTY 2021 winning shot from planning all the way to editing. We also talk about how to balance photography and family, his artistic philosophy, and a host of other topics that would interest landscape photographers--see chapters for details. In part 1 (this video), we discuss balancing family and photography, scouting places, planning trips, and staying safe when out in the wilderness.
Show Notes
Visit shotmasters.co/episodes/tanmaysapkal