Hands-on Photography Episode 136 Transcript

 Hands-on Photography Episode 136 Transcript

Please be advised this transcript is AI-generated and may not be word for word. Time codes refer to the approximate times in the ad-supported version of the show.

Ant Pruitt (00:00):
Today on Hands-on Photography, we're still working on the photography business. But this time I have someone else, that's gonna join me here on the show. And it's gonna talk about their journey in the world of photography and all of the steps getting started and their tips that you could definitely use and help you along the way. And I gotta tell you the images are just so dog gone beautiful and the barrier to entry to get into this particular field. Hey, it's super easy. And all you gotta do is just put in a little bit of effort. Hey, y'all stay tuned. This is gonna be a good show.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
This is TWIT.

Ant Pruitt (00:41):
This episode of Hands-on Photography is brought to you by Melissa. Poor data quality can cost organizations an average of 15 million each year. Make sure your customer contact data is up to date. Get started with 1000 records, clean for free at melissa.com/twit.

Ant Pruitt (01:10):
Hey, what's happening everybody. I am Ant Pruit, and this is Hands on photography here on TWIT TV. Hey, hope y'all are doing well. I am unbelievable as always. It's another fine Thursday where I get to sit down and share different tips and tricks to help make you a better photographer as well as a better post processor. And sometimes I get to sit down with the photography guests and that's what this week's episode is about. I am able to have on professional photographers from time to time to have them share their experiences in the world of photography, whether it's being a seasoned veteran, whether it's being someone that's just getting started or someone that's sort of, you know, intermediate in the middle of the road, because there's all types of levels in this game. And it's all types of different stories that all of us can learn from.

Ant Pruitt (01:55):
And today is one of those days and I'm really looking forward to that. But before we get into bringing on the guests, allow me to welcome all you brand new listeners and viewers of the show. Welcome to you. Let me know how you found out about the show. I'm so glad that you're here, but while you're here, go ahead and do me a favor and subscribe in whatever podcast app you're using. You know, we're available in what is it called? Apple podcasts and iTunes. Do people even still use iTunes? I don't know, but whatever Apple's podcast player is, we're there. We're on Spotify, have a YouTube channel. So if you wanna subscribe and watch on YouTube, you can. At any rate, make sure you leave us a rating and comments, or to help push us up in the whole search algorithmic stuff. And,utell some other folks about the show.

Ant Pruitt (02:39):
And if you still have a problem, trying to get the subscription stuff squared away, just check out the website, twi.tv/hop that's twi.tv/hop for Hands-on Photography. And you'll see all of our subscription options right there. All right. So I've gotten my preamble stuff out of the way. I know y'all, didn't want to hear that. Let's just get into this into this week's guess now today's guess is Mr. Michael Wilson, this man I've known him for man it's, it's been quite a bit, been quite a few years and I met him when I was hosting a community online, similar to a couple weeks ago when, when we had Mr. John John Davis on when I had the community for smartphone photographers. And it just sort of just spawned into some other things. And Mike was come to find out was right in the same town with me there in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Ant Pruitt (03:31):
And I had the pleasure to go out and shoot with him and stay in touch. And I've been watching his photography journey and it's just been unbelievable watching him just continue to grow and, and, and just be able to get more people in his book of business and create some absolutely beautiful work. And we're sort of going to continue our discussion about photography as a business. And I think he's just, just another person to really help give you all some knowledge because he's specializing in the headshot world. So without a further do, let me go ahead and bring my man on Mr. Mike, how you doing my man?

Michael Wilson (04:05):
Pretty good. How about yourself?

Ant Pruitt (04:07):
Unbelievable brother. Unbelievable. I am really, really, really glad to have you on. I've been watching you all these years. You know that cuz we chit chat back and forth over social and it's just been so fun to watch you continue to progress. You know, I remember a couple years ago being in good old Belmont north khaki, lacky, <laugh> hanging out at one of the little street parties and just throwing a photo walk because it's just fun to do to get out with your camera. And I learned some stuff from you and you learned some stuff from me and that's just, that's how it's supposed to be. It's the community. Yeah. You know, but with that outta the way, you've been getting into the world of professional head shots. And I remember back then you were telling me, Hey dude, I I've been on LinkedIn. I've just been getting people more and more interested. And I picked up my camera and I have, you know, mm-hmm, <affirmative>, don't even matter what the camera was, but you had a camera and you had a couple lenses and you're like, you know what? I can light you. I can, I could shoot this shot, sign me up. And it just spawn from there. But before we get into that, give us a little bit of background about you, you know, you're from North Carolina, what else you get into?

Michael Wilson (05:18):
So photography is my main thing. My main hobby mm-hmm <affirmative> it's creative outlet. Just like spending time with my kids. That's the main thing doing what they like to do. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> the sports, every swim team. So <laugh> that that's following their journey is my main hobby and getting in photography was part of that. Cause that was the main reason I bought a camera was to just document their life, just take pictures of them. So I'd have something throughout the years to hold on to. Yeah. And it just kind of grew from there.

Ant Pruitt (05:58):
Yeah. And that's awesome. And I remember you telling me that cuz your, your son, he was tiny, then he was toddler size back then and you were mm-hmm <affirmative> you were constantly taking different photos of him. He was your, your test model, if you will. Yeah. And I remember you taking advantage of working different angles with your camera height and, and changing lighting around. And, and it was just, it was just a lot of fun to watch your behind the scenes with that. So some years go by and you've taken that knowledge from, you know, just goofing around with your son and the camera and started to turn it into a business to, so tell me a little bit about that.

Michael Wilson (06:38):
So basically having my son taking pictures of him just figuring out how to professional photographers. Cause I didn't consider myself a professional then mm-hmm, <affirmative>, we're getting images. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> how, what made the images so interesting and what attracted people to him? So I would, I shoot a lot with my son have him different things like just far as testing, shutter speed is catching stuff in fast motion. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> slow motion body turns how light is getting in the eyes, just little stuff like that is very hard to do it. It was a struggle for me. It was a struggle how to take attack, sharp image. You know, I was taking images that were sharp, but mm-hmm <affirmative>, they wasn't T sharp mm-hmm <affirmative> and that took a while to realize I'm doing this wrong. Let me fix it. And just the whole process of working with my kids getting interest interest from other families saying, I see you posted this to your kid. Can you take pictures of our kids kinda help grow a little bit so

Ant Pruitt (07:56):
Nice. Now when you were able to shoot those different families what was that experience like? Was, did you have a, like a lot of bumps in the road or, or learning moments where something didn't quite go your way or,

Michael Wilson (08:09):
Oh, there was tons of struggle.

Ant Pruitt (08:12):
<Laugh> so, Hey, that was a softball question. I knew to answer that <laugh> so

Michael Wilson (08:18):
There was a lot of times where at that time the camera was doing all the work. Okay. I had, no, I didn't. I thought I did, but I didn't have a clue really what I was doing. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> I would go to one session and it would come out phenomenal. I'm like, I'm finally getting this and then I'd go to the next session. That would be horrible. And I just happened to walk into good light basically, ah, or shoot on a overcast day. And, and, but I got doing that, taught me that how to pick up and learn from what am I'm doing wrong, what what's made this session bad. So I always go back and look at my images and see where I struggled, what I like, what I didn't like analyze 'em. How was the light that day? Just the situations was I was shooting one person, multiple people mm-hmm <affirmative> and just started putting together what I was doing. Right. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and what I was doing wrong and how do I fix what I was doing wrong.

Ant Pruitt (09:27):
All right. So you going in and you're doing your bit of an analysis you took that information to and applied it towards your next event. Would, were you able in the position to be able to like do site surveys and figure out where to shoot what was gonna happen beforehand? Or how, how did all of that work out for you?

Michael Wilson (09:45):
So I tried that, I tried the location scout. I tried to just notice where sun's gonna be at this certain time of day. And it, I mean, to me, it was kind of a waste of time when I did that, because there was always another curve ball that come up, that obstacle that I had to deal with.

Ant Pruitt (10:04):
Wait a minute, Mike, you telling me a, a, a session is never just the perfect setup. What <laugh> 

Michael Wilson (10:12):
No, I mean, you hear all this, that it's you just got a good camera and that's all you need, but I mean, that was, it was tough. <Laugh> so I had quite a few sessions and then I had a lot of bad sessions. I failed a lot. So learning those failures were good moments to have. And then once I got where I was good at shooting, I realized I was bad at communicating. Cause I walked out of the session and right with a lady and I thought it was the best session I've ever had. You know, I was thrilled with the shots I got mm-hmm <affirmative> but what the shots she wanted. And so then it was like, well, I need to get more in detail before the session planning the session, this and that. So there there's a lot that goes into it and it's starting to get finally tuned right now.

Ant Pruitt (11:06):
Oh, nice. Nice. So when you talk about the communication prior to the session is this all just done over email? How, how do you handle it? Do you have like in person meetings or things like that?

Michael Wilson (11:17):
So I prefer before somebody books a session, I prefer they set up a call with me that way to see if I'm a right fit for them. Because I like to tell people what I can't do Uhhuh <affirmative> and or this person can do it better. Right. And so I like to figure out exactly what they want, exactly what they need and then I can problem solve and tell you if I'm the right fit. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> so I like to set up a call and find out all the details, what you're wearing this and that, what what's intent for this. Cause that that's big. I never used to ask what you actually using these photos for mm-hmm

Ant Pruitt (11:58):
<Affirmative>

Michael Wilson (11:59):
Mm-Hmm <affirmative> so just little stuff like that helps a lot and it just makes the sessions so efficient now where you put, you prepare for everything and then the session's easy. So it's a lot communication to me is the big thing.

Ant Pruitt (12:19):
Right? So what are some of the things that you've had to, to turn away? You know, cuz me personally, I know you is, is the headshot person in Charlotte period. If someone ever cuz every now and then I'll get some messages of people to still assume I live there. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> and I try to tell, I try to send them your way <laugh> you know, it's like, no, this dude he's, he's the headshot guy in Charlotte. What are some of the things that, that you had, you had to turn away? You know, when people say, well, I want to hire you for a shoot. And

Michael Wilson (12:50):
A lot of times people just, they assume I'm a photographer. I take family weddings all above. Oh yeah. So I wanna stick into the headshot world. I wanna stick into the branding world. I will do like, I like real estate stuff like that. I don't advertise, but I'll do it. But mm-hmm <affirmative> I will turn away like weddings. I turn away family gigs, unless it's friends. Any kind of like birthday shoots. I'm just now starting to get into events and doing that. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> but a lot of times, if I know I can't do it, if, or if I know I'm not the right fit for this couple shoot, I'm gonna refer you to somebody. I, I know that's gonna do it better than me.

Ant Pruitt (13:38):
Nice. Nice.

Michael Wilson (13:39):
Because the way I see photography is this is priceless. This is stuff in five, 10 years, you're really on look back on and you're either gonna be happy. You hired to write photographer or right. Bad. So, and plus like special like couples, family, stuff like that. You want prints of that. Yeah. So it's better to have somebody that's planning to shoot for your, to hang on your wall. Stuff like that than me. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> so I would definitely refer if I know there's a better fit.

Ant Pruitt (14:15):
Mm-Hmm <affirmative> now what, what made you get more interested in the world of, of doing headshot and Brandon shots?

Michael Wilson (14:24):
I liked seeing, well, first off I seen seeing there's a ver a big need for headshot. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> I get on LinkedIn. I go to the supermarket. I see ads on buggies. I see billboards. There's so many terrible head shots out there. <Laugh> and a lot of people break it down to I'm just not photogenic.

Ant Pruitt (14:47):
Oh no, no,

Michael Wilson (14:47):
No. You deserve, you deserve a better headshot. And they give the photographer, the CRE world just because he has professional in front of his name. Oh. And they just said, I, I just take bad photos and that's not the case. You just didn't have the right photographer. So it's getting into this headshot world. It's very rewarding to see people as I take the pictures right now, I shoot tethered mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so the shots instantly pop up on the screen, the monitor mm-hmm <affirmative> and they're a lot of people just amazed. They're like, I can't believe that's me. I love it. And just, it's rewarding to hear that. Yeah. And the, the confidence build as we shoot. Cause they realize they can take a great picture. They just never really seen theirself in good light. Yeah. Or had a photographer that knows how to open 'em up a little bit. Yeah.

Ant Pruitt (15:43):
Now how long have you been doing this?

Michael Wilson (15:46):
Say two years far as professional head shots. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> so before that it was just dabbling around and everything, anything and everything. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> seeing what I was good about what I liked, what I didn't like. So

Ant Pruitt (16:01):
Now I believe I saw that you had made a bit of an investment in yourself far as getting, you know, an education, if you will, on the art of snapping headshots. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Michael Wilson (16:15):
So I invested in the headshot crew mm-hmm <affirmative> they have a monthly subscription and basically you get to go in there. They have a big online forum. A lot of talented people are in there. That's in the world of headshot. They answer business questions. They answer questions on how your setup is, what you're doing, right. What you're doing wrong. They critique your photos for you. Let you know, there's a better, when a professional looks at your image, she can tell you exactly what's going on. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> where your light was. If your color's off this and that and how to fix it. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> and you just gotta put that in action. So that's a really good group to be in and they do zoom calls all the time. Everybody's will chat with you, text with you, answer emails with you. You get business referred to you through the headshot crew. Nice. Hurley's an excellent instructor top of the game. Headshots mm-hmm <affirmative>

Ant Pruitt (17:26):
So he's legendary. When he comes to head shots

Michael Wilson (17:28):
<Laugh> you can't go wrong with him. So that's definitely a good investment. Also did a workshop with Gary Hughes. He's top of the line too, when it comes to headshot. And they have two different styles and both styles are phenomenal. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> and they just answer all your questions. They, they help you out and they want you to succeed. And that's, what's very rewarding about these groups. They wanna see you do well. They know the recipe, they, and they share the recipe and right. Pretty much just gotta go do it.

Ant Pruitt (18:03):
Yeah. I had Mr. Te Lloyd on several episodes back on the show mm-hmm and Mr. Tara Lloyd is a he's the San Francisco 49ers team photographer. Yeah. But before that he was a, an all around photographer. I mean, he did a lot of different things and he really honed his craft and that led to him being a can Explorer of light because not only was he honing his craft, he was educating people. Yeah. And in that discussion, we talked about the fact that back in the days, it was taboo for people to, to tell their secrets if he will, when it came to photography. And he was like, screw that I'm I I'm gonna share what I know. And, and I love that there's more and more photographers out there willing to say, you know what, it's not a secret let's, let's spread this, this knowledge and help grow the community and help the community get even better at this craft. Yeah. With, with you being in those, having those two different resources there, what are your two biggest takeaways? Or what are your two? What, what two things do you enjoy the most that you've gotten out of the, those experiences?

Michael Wilson (19:10):
So first off talking about people, sharing their knowledge. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> I'm a big fan of that. I think that's the way the world should work. I mean, I, I like the competition in Charlotte. I don't look as people stealing in business from me because there's a lot people to go around for everybody. Yeah. Everybody can do well with this. Yeah. And sharing secrets. I mean, just help your community out, you know, get, get people where they're going. I mean, are a lot of mentor, a lot of photographers through Instagram, post of how you did this. I see you do this. Well, I struggle at it. How do you fix that? What's the secret. And I take the time to chat with them. Cause I was in that position where a lot of people wouldn't yeah. Chat with me. They wouldn't tell me what I was doing wrong. Right. They just saw that it was like, nobody's gonna hire him. Good for me. <Laugh> <laugh> but far as takeaways with the headshot crew, I really struggled with color mm-hmm <affirmative> on my images far as skin tones the background, stuff like that. And there were several, several things that I was doing wrong that I wasn't aware of. One, I was shooting auto, white balance and I,

Ant Pruitt (20:24):
Oh my <laugh> oh,

Michael Wilson (20:29):
I would, I'd go back and forth. I would just shoot with a gray card and then I'd shoot auto white balance it. Cause I always know you could easily fix it and post.

Ant Pruitt (20:38):
Yeah. But with, with all of the, the camera tech today the, the, even the JPEGs have a lot of data in and now, so when you pull it in post there's, there's still a lot of flexibility. So,

Michael Wilson (20:49):
But at the same time, that's extra time doing in post is if you can get it straight outta camera it's best. So experiment with that. Seeing I use a go docs, 8,300 as my main key light. So figuring out the color temperature I like with that and just set it straight with that. Mm-Hmm, <affirmative> a hundred percent solved, a lot of problems realizing that I need to cut off the overhead lights when I take photos, headshot. That was a big deal. And just a color temperatures are mixed and I'd have ugly skin tones <laugh> and I just figure it out in post, you know, that was kind of the motto. If I mess up, I'll figure it out in post.

Ant Pruitt (21:34):
And unfortunately that's like the worst thing to say, you know?

Michael Wilson (21:37):
Yeah. So now my mindset mindset is shifted to where I'm gonna get it straight outta camera. Yeah. And then do little work in post. Yeah. So that's helped a lot. Shooting tethered is another big factor. It's easy to get color, correct with the person standing right there in front of you. <Laugh>

Michael Wilson (22:01):
That's that was a big deal. And just seeing color values of my, a backdrop stuff like that to be a more consistent photographer. So that's really helped. Also far as I usually shoot with just one light mm-hmm <affirmative>, but adding hair lights, stuff like that, edge lights, I'm starting to get into light in the background's different to get different looks, to get more looks quickly instead of shooting all on gray, all on white mm-hmm <affirmative> and similar shots. The only difference is you switch your tie. Now I can, I'm getting where I can get several different looks in a matter of 45 minutes. That's awesome that given the client a wider variety of what they need.

Ant Pruitt (22:52):
That's awesome. Now I wanna pause for a second here and, and thank one of our sponsors you, but when we get back, I want to talk about your experience coming from the link coming via the LinkedIn platform and, and getting the clients. And I'd like to take a look at your Instagram page too. Is that cool with you? Oh

Michael Wilson (23:15):
Yeah.

Ant Pruitt (23:15):
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Ant Pruitt (26:24):
Get started today with 1000 records, clean for free at melissa.com/twi that's melissa.com/twi. And I appreciate Melissa supporting hands on photography. All right. So we're back and Mike, again, you've mentioned using LinkedIn as a, as a vessel, if you will, to be able to funnel business, you know, can you share a little bit about that process? You know, I, I, I'm assuming you're not just like stalking people <laugh> or anything like that, but there's gotta be a method to, to your madness. That's that's, you know, given some sort of a warm approach, if you will, that, that builds up the trust. What, what is, what is your thoughts and, and how are you going about leveraging LinkedIn? Cause I, I use LinkedIn myself too. It it's a lot of businesses come from LinkedIn for me. So I I'm I'm all ears, but I just wanna know what what's what's it like for you?

Michael Wilson (27:26):
Well, the thing with LinkedIn is I keep it simple. One is just change your title to what you do. So people, every time you leave a comment or like they see that I'm a Charlotte headshot photographer period.

Ant Pruitt (27:42):
Easy as that, look at that. Yeah.

Michael Wilson (27:44):
<Laugh> that, that, that's the biggest thing. So anything I do there, they always know this is his position and I need a headshot. Next is there's a lot of people that's got terrible headshot on LinkedIn. I don't stalk 'em. I don't message. 'em Don't do nothing like that. But a lot of it is, you know, tapping in their community and posting a few times a week, letting 'em see your work, letting them see the behind the scenes, letting them kind of see the process. And you realize that people's watching you in silence. A lot of times they're not liking your photos. Sometimes they're not commenting on them, but they do send the message. They do send the emails, companies like to see what the consistency I've been doing for teams. So that's strong mm-hmm <affirmative> and a lot of people in the Charlotte area have started catching on that.

Michael Wilson (28:47):
A headshot is, can work for me. You know, it's a lot of people invest so much in their career school and stuff like that. Right. But they don't invest in their personal image. And to me that's you can have all the credentials, like similar to Mercedes, but you're driving around in a Kia. So you're not getting Mercedes business. You're not growing your business. So if you market yourself that way, spend time on your look, you're looking your best, having your best shot makes a big difference. Cause then people's gonna start looking at your credentials when they usually just scrolled over you.

Ant Pruitt (29:30):
Right? Right. I love the analogy with the <laugh> Thek and the Mercedes

Michael Wilson (29:36):
It's. Yeah. It's it's

Ant Pruitt (29:37):
So spot on though.

Michael Wilson (29:39):
<Laugh> a lot of people don't like, I mean, if you go to Ruth, Chris and you buy their cowboy ribeye, which is 60 bucks and you got that same steak. That's so good. But if you throw it in golden corral, that's a $15 steak. Yeah. Just cause the way they market themselves,

Ant Pruitt (29:58):
Just a whole different kind of branding, whole different branding.

Michael Wilson (30:01):
Yeah. So I mean, if you invest all this, you're trying to get the high end clients. It's not, why not look your best. Right? Everybody, you follow all your mentors, they have professional pictures. It, I mean it matters how people see you.

Ant Pruitt (30:15):
That's what's up. That's what's up. I, I love this analogy. Now I'm gonna shift gears here. I'm gonna see if I can switch my screen cuz I have to show your Instagram page and take a look at some of these images here, cuz again, when people have messaged me in the past <laugh> and saying, Hey, can you come do these head shots for me? And I'm like I'm about 2,500 miles away from you. So let me send you to my man, Mike and I send them this, this Instagram profile because it's absolutely beautiful.

Michael Wilson (30:49):
I appreciate

Ant Pruitt (30:49):
It. I mean, all of these are, are there's head shots. There's the branding. That absolutely beautiful. And you've been doing this just for a couple of years and you're getting these results out of this. You've clearly taken the time to, to hone your craft, you know? So I wanna take a look at a couple of them. Let's take a look at this one up here at the top,

Ant Pruitt (31:13):
This one here. All right, because you were talking about color. So I'm going to hit you with the hard questions here because I know being a black man photographing black people or people of color can be quite a, quite a challenge when it comes to light and, and so forth. If you're trying to get their skin to look the way it's supposed to look what, what is it like for you when you get people of color as your clients that walk in, what what's, what's going through your head at the time with the setup, cuz I'm looking at this light in here and I can still see that this is one big key light looks like it's coming off to her. Right. Or I guess that's her left to the camera. Right. And I believe you have some sort of bounce happening down here at the bottom of the frame to fill in under the chin and, and yeah. So forth. But what is your, what is your thought process? So tell me a little more

Michael Wilson (32:06):
So before she walks in my thought process is I set it up. I take a couple test shots. I have a certain way. I like my key light, which is directly over her mm-hmm <affirmative> I position and then I ha I use Eyelight <affirmative> for

Ant Pruitt (32:27):
Feel. Okay.

Michael Wilson (32:28):
So, and this one also has a light on the background to make it white, to

Ant Pruitt (32:32):
Make it white. Okay.

Michael Wilson (32:33):
Good stuff. And so the first off is I had to adjust the light after she come in. Cause she's got beautiful hair, but it's, it's hard to get lighting to her highs from their hair in front. So Uhhuh, I brought it down a little bit, angled it a little bit forwarded at her, but it's feathered. So it's a softer light. This is a five foot umbrella that was lighting her.

Ant Pruitt (32:59):
Okay. Big, soft, light, big, soft light.

Michael Wilson (33:02):
Yeah. I, I like the umbrellas a lot. I use them a lot and I like the Collapsable big beauty dishes as well. So I rotate between them. This is my umbrellas is more of a travel setup just cause it's easy to carry. Yeah. But like you said, the big soft white it's very flattered. And so

Ant Pruitt (33:25):
Now when you, I'm gonna cut you off for a second, cuz this, you said a term here that I, I know what it means, but maybe the rest of the hands off photography community and not quite sure yet you said feather, the light or can you explain what feathering the light means?

Michael Wilson (33:40):
So I'm basically hitting her with the edge of the umbrella, the light that's coming off the edge of the umbrella. So I don't wanna point the center of the umbrella directly at her because that light's just gonna be a little too harsh for. Gotcha. And don't create a lot of hotspot. So the edge of the light, I kind of just bring it right where say it is coming right across her face. And the center of the umbrella is probably pointing at her waist.

Ant Pruitt (34:08):
Okay.

Michael Wilson (34:09):
So, and then the height is I typically do. She could reach out is arms length and touch the umbrella. I like it very close to my subject.

Ant Pruitt (34:21):
Mm-Hmm <affirmative>

Michael Wilson (34:22):
So that is feathered. Then it hits the reflector and bounces and feels light under the chin shows off her shoulders, everything like that.

Ant Pruitt (34:33):
Mm-Hmm <affirmative>

Michael Wilson (34:35):
So, and then with the light on the background, I set it to where it's say 95% white. I don't want it to go fully white. And I'll just add that and post just set a curve layer and bring it up a little bit to it's white.

Ant Pruitt (34:53):
Why don't you want it for a white ind shot? I I know why. But I'm curious to see if it's the same,

Michael Wilson (35:01):
It's on bounce back and flare

Ant Pruitt (35:03):
Flare. There we go.

Michael Wilson (35:07):
And, and sometimes it is still hard, but I mean, if you can get it where it's 95%, 98% or if you use capture one, say around 2 45, 2 50 you're in the right spot.

Ant Pruitt (35:21):
Yeah.

Michael Wilson (35:22):
So

Ant Pruitt (35:22):
Good stuff, man. Good stuff. There's

Michael Wilson (35:24):
A, that's another thing when you're shooting tethered, you get to see these values. So it's easy to do.

Ant Pruitt (35:33):
Now this one here, this gentleman, I wanna bring this up because he has glasses on yeah. And shooting glasses for whether it's a headshot or just, you know, I don't care if it's a candid shot.

Michael Wilson (35:47):
Mm-Hmm

Ant Pruitt (35:48):
<Affirmative> shooting. Glasses can be challenging. Yeah. What, what's your experience with shooting glasses? And is there anything that you, you sort of take effect? Pre-Shot if you will.

Michael Wilson (35:59):
So everybody that has glasses has always had a bad experience with glasses and they want to take 'em off mm-hmm <affirmative> first thing. And then I tell 'em I ask 'em do you wear glasses all the time? They say yes. I was like, well, keep 'em on. So the first thing I do with this is I set the light the same way, clam shell, light mm-hmm <affirmative> and it just accordingly to person's face, I call a game of inches. Cause it's just slightly changing. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> I like to see how it's hitting their face, where the light fall off is. And my glasses, I said it how I want it take a couple test shots, look where the reflection's at, where it's coming from mm-hmm <affirmative> and then I simply raise the light up mm-hmm <affirmative> and that usually takes out the flare up glasses. But a lot of times it don't. So <laugh>, there's some trial and error. Yeah. Eyelight is more of a issue than my light. A lot of times mm-hmm <affirmative> but a lot of times also I shoot with their chin down. I like bringing her chin down with headshot. So that also fixes the glare. Right. As well. Cause it just

Ant Pruitt (37:11):
Slightly changes the angle, right? Yeah. Yeah. That's

Michael Wilson (37:15):
Brilliant. That's the main thing is the angle of reflection with glasses. And sometimes it takes a couple of shots to fix. Sometimes it takes a whole five minutes to fix, but if you understand what the light's doing, you can easily fix it.

Ant Pruitt (37:30):
Now, Mr. Victor, he will be able to zoom in on this a little more. But when he's talking about the Eyelight folks, if you look in the model's eyes, you'll see this little bounce reflection right there. Just given yet another little bit of a catch light there. And that's what his key light, the big five foot umbrella is spilling into that reflector. And it's bouncing up to fill in down here on her neck and, and, and just ke cuz normally that would just totally go dark and just be a, a, a soft shadow. It wouldn't be a hard shadow because he's got a very good soft box umbrella, but it will still be really, really dark and it's not really flattering. But yet at the same time you do get these cool catch lights in here that just really, in my opinion, just gives more life to the model and it just doesn't look like a shot, just so it's like someone that's that's human there, you know? Yeah. But I love this,

Michael Wilson (38:27):
But also the benefit to this, I tell people the secret to my style is in the eyes. Cause I mean it shows everything mm-hmm <affirmative> and it's easy. Like I don't retouch eyes. I don't mm-hmm <affirmative> write 'em up. I don't sharp. 'em I don't add color mm-hmm <affirmative> cause if you get the light where it's supposed to be, it does it for you. Yeah. And that you want the white in the eyes. You wanna see the color in the eyes mm-hmm <affirmative> so it's once you get that right. The rest is a piece of cake.

Ant Pruitt (39:03):
Nice. Nice dude. This is, this is such good stuff here. Folks. Please make sure you follow on him on Instagram. M J w photo C L T. If you're following me, you should be following him. Dad com is these are my people just beautiful work. The headshot man in Charlotte, North Carolina. I, I, I, I feel quite strongly in saying that just beautiful work branding images. He's he's got it all. He's got it all dude. Mr. Mike, let me ask you one more thing. If you could give one tip to everybody that's that's just getting started in this. What would that one tip be?

Michael Wilson (39:44):
Far as

Ant Pruitt (39:45):
If they're wanting to be a headshot photographer,

Michael Wilson (39:47):
It's just one tip PR hip practice with the lights, lights make all the difference. It don't matter what kind, the soft box you're using, what kind of lights you're using practice and look and see what the light's doing. Pay attention to what the light is doing. And the easy way to do that is set your settings where you got a totally black frame. And then just add the light, see where it's hit. We see where it's falling off. And if you need another one, you can add another one. If you need just a reflector or phone board you know, a dollar phone board from Walmart does the same thing as the eyeliner <laugh>. So you don't have to get real expensive when you're testing this stuff out. But a lot of it is just, just take action and pay attention to what the light's doing.

Ant Pruitt (40:41):
Absolutely. I love, I, I love the fact that you brought up the dollar dollar 50 piece of foam core. That is man. I got those things all over the place. Yeah.

Michael Wilson (40:51):
<Laugh> I've been there, done that. I mean, I still have them in my studio where, I mean, it's a quick fix and it does the job it's

Ant Pruitt (41:00):
For everything. If you, if you need just, just some something under the eyes. It's great. If you're trying to feel mm-hmm <affirmative> the dark side wall in this case for me, I would put a feel here and that thing would just bounce some beautiful, just soft light right there to fill in the shadow on my face. And it cost you a buck, buck, buck 50, nothing at all. Yeah. <Laugh>

Michael Wilson (41:20):
That'd used to sheet of paper for fill before

Ant Pruitt (41:22):
Sheet of paper. Yes. <laugh>

Michael Wilson (41:25):
It works. I mean, you know what it's doing? Concretes works as fill if you're outside. Yeah. So I mean just pay attention to surroundings and it's all there. And photography don't have to be expensive at all.

Ant Pruitt (41:39):
Right. Right, man. Hey Mike, this has been great brother. I I'm, I'm so glad I was finally able to, to, to get you on here and you know, I kept sort of stalking you and whispering in the air. Hey, I wanna get you on the show. Want to get you on the show? <Laugh> I'm glad I's fine to get to you on my man. This has been a lot of fun, lot of fun. Is there anything else you'd like to share or promote before we get outta here?

Michael Wilson (42:04):
No. I mean, far as any questions, feel free to reach out to me personally through DM or email, however, and I can try to help you any way I can with headshots as far as your audience and yeah,

Ant Pruitt (42:18):
Outstanding, outstanding. Where my man, again, thank you so much for your time. It was really good to see you.

Michael Wilson (42:24):
That was a great seeing you. Thank you.

Ant Pruitt (42:26):
No problem. All right, folks, that is gonna do it for this week's episode, man. This, this is, I love talking to other photographers and just, just, you know, just picking the brain and seeing what they're thinking. Yeah, there are a lot of times we're on the same wavelength and thinking things, but every now and then there's gonna be a different approach. And I, I love that. And he's got some, he's got a certain way that he likes to do things and Hey, from the looks of it there it's clearly working. And the fact that the matter is he's given you a nice low barrier to entry, if you will, is it's, it doesn't take a lot of money to be able to produce a lot of these, these shots that he produced. I mean, he's using umbrellas. Umbrellas are a lot cheaper, light modifier than this big three foot, four foot parabolic soft box that I have right here.

Ant Pruitt (43:16):
<Laugh> in front of me and they work just as good. So take a look at the different resources out there. Utilize people like my man, Mike here and ask some questions and, and get started on your photography journey folks, and get started on that business that you you've been aspiring to get started on. All right, again, thanks for everybody hopping in and joining me each and every Thursday here on the network. Again, just make sure you continue to share the show with other folks. Be sure to tell a friend and tell at least one enemy so we can continue to grow the hands on photography community. I want to give a shout out to my man, Mr. Victor for making me look and sound good each and every week. Cuz boy, I do not make this easy on him. I know I don't and make sure you're giving me a follow on Instagram too.

Ant Pruitt (44:00):
If you're not doing that already, follow me. I'm ant underscore Pruitt over on Instagram. Be sure to tag me in some of your favorite images on Instagram and, and I wanna see what you're shooting. I wanna see how you're doing and just, just let me know. And I, I love getting these DMS from you folks. This showing me some of your shots. It's good stuff. Y'all are really good. And a lot of you have, have been watching this show for a while and it's been great seeing your progress. You're getting better and better at this craft. So let's keep going. Let's keep pushing each other and keep growing this photography. All right, that's gonna do it for me this week, folks. Thanks again. Be sure to safely create and dominate and I will catch you next time.

Speaker 4 (44:43):
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