Podcasts have been around for quite a while, but even though I’ve done a few myself and been a guest on others, I’ve never really had much use for them. The only one I subscribed to was TEDTalks, which I would watch on my iPhone while waiting for the subway (I took the R which stands for ‘rarely’ so I had some time to kill).
Once I started getting back into the swing of things with photography I decided to check out what podcasts had to offer in the way of photography. I was mainly looking for audio podcasts so I could listen while walking Shea and doing other activities. There are quite a few, ranging from how-to’s, software tips and interviews with established photographers. I gravitated towards the latter. I find it much more interesting to listen to pro photographers talk about the craft and how they got to where they are.
I have not sampled most of what is out there so this list just reflects the low hanging fruit that I gravitated towards (in no particular order).
Depth of Field with Matt Brandon
This one is my current favorite. Matt Brandon is a humanitarian photographer currently living in Malaysia. That doesn’t stop him from getting some great guests from all over the globe. He has an easy conversation style and the podcast feels more like you’re listening in as colleagues talk about their lives and careers at a coffee shop. It’s not instructional but you can catch a lot of insight from these experienced photographers.
Photofocus
Scott Bourne has been in the business for a long time and often dates himself with some of his references. But he has taken to the changes and adapted to the digital age better that most of his compatriots. He also has a voice for radio. Photofocus is a combination of instruction and interview. When he has a guest, they chat for a few minutes and then answer listener’s questions about anything relating to photography. When he doesn’t have a guest, he goes right into answering questions.
Lensflare35
This one is very similar to Depth of Field. Adirondack-based photographer Dave Warner has in-depth conversations a multitude of established photographers from all categories and fields of photography. It is interesting to see how the different hosts get into completely different conversations with the same photographers. Dave definitely brings his own perspective and seems to know a lot of people in the business. In addition to the well-known names he also gets some lesser know (yet successful) photographers.
New Media Photographer
Podcast host and co-author of The Linked Photographer, Rosh Sillars talks about everything web 2.0 as it relates to the business of photography (and business in general). He’s a little geeky, but then again, he kind of has to be as he talks a lot about Facebook, Twitter and anything else relating to social media. Let’s face it, new media is changing daily and Rosh stays on top of it all and feeds us the Cliff’s Notes. He also has guests from time-to-time and gets some insights on how photographers are successfully using social media.
Within the Frame
This one is a video podcast by David duChemin derived from his book of the same name. David is a humanitarian and travel photographer based out of Vancouver and an author of three very successful books with a forth one on the way. He is the champion of photographers finding their vision. His matra is ‘gear is good, vision is better’. In this 20-part podcast done in 2009, David goes through submitted images and critiques them. For those photographers who have yet to get a portfolio review, watching this series is an excellent primer.
Also noteable: Chase Jarvis Photography
Chase Jarvis has a video and an audio podcast. The video one has outtakes and short videos from shots and projects he’s done. I don’t think podcasting is any kind of focus for Chase. The real magic is creativeLIVE, which is Chase’s teaching forum. Everything trickles down from creativeLIVE including his YouTube channel which has a ton of videos his podcasts don’t.
Bottom line is: there a over a hundred podcasts about photography, from software to hardware, how-to techniques and interviews and even a “master” photographer giving out his “master” techniques (I’d stay away from that one, if you have to call yourself a master, you probably aren’t one). You have to find the ones that fit you and what you’re looking to get out of them.
Searching tip: Most of them are in the visual arts section but many are not. iTunes is constantly adding new categories and any podcast that started before a new category stays in the old one so search all the podcasts.
