Ryan started shooting professionally for newspapers in the year 2000. His first full-time wedding year was 2009 after making a start in 2008. He has since covered three U.S. presidents, been blessed by the Pope, been stared down by Muhammad Ali and, is the only photographer in the world to have been officially represented by the three largest photographic retailers in the Western hemisphere.
He's even had a photographic technique named after himself!
Even after so many weddings, Ryan says he never feels so blessed by photography as when photographing a wedding.
Here’s some more of what we cover:
What’s on Offer for Premium Members
If you’re a premium member, you should have received an email with links to your version of this episode where you can hear lots more content from where we dive deeper into some of the earlier topics plus some new ones that I pushed hard for that include:
What is your big takeaway?
Following this interview, I’d love to know what your biggest takeaway is – what is the one thing that you’d like to implement or learnt from what was shared? Let me know by leaving your thoughts in the comments below.
I'm trying to be a photographer as much as I can
If you have any questions that I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Ryan or if you just want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them below.
If you’d like an easy way to show Ryan Brenizer your thanks, and support for the show at the same time, click the link to create a tweet and automatically show you’re listening: https://photobizx.com/tweet
iTunes Reviews and Shout-outs
Each week I check for any new iTunes reviews and it's always a buzz to receive these… for a couple reasons. Firstly it's confirmation that I'm on the right track with the interviews and that they really are helping listeners to improve their business. That's awesome!
Secondly, iTunes is the biggest search engine when it comes to podcasts and it's your reviews and ratings that help other photographers find the PhotoBizX show. More listeners means more interviews and ultimately a better show.
If you have left a review in the past, thank you!
If you haven't and you'd like to, head to https://photobizx.com/itunes and you can leave some honest feedback and a rating which will help both me and the show and I'll be sure to thank you on the show and add a link to your site like I have with the listeners below.
Brilliant resource
By Not Of This Earth Wedding Photography by Stephen McCurry from UK on February 10, 2015
Just an absolutely amazing and inspiring resource for any photographer, not only us wedding photog’s.
Andrew manages to get some really, really excellent and insightful information from the guests he interviews. Even those who don’t seem exactly what you would normally be interested in provide so much useful and invaluable insights into areas such as marketing, professionalism and life as a working pro.
Above all what you get from this is that you realise everyone has been through similar situations and hearing how these photographers dealt with them is a constant source of inspiration.
Obsessed
By Sam13089 from USA on February 9, 2015
Update – I've since heard from Sam and I'm happy to add a link to her gorgeously simple and clean website – Sam Shuma Photography. Thanks again Sam for your lovely review 🙂
I'm obsessed with this podcast.
Each episode is packed full of awesome expert advice. It has been SO helpful in getting my photography business started! Andrew does a great job asking all the right questions.
The premium content is completely worth the subscription.
Personalise your email signature
Below are examples or the personalised email signature files for Tenneille, Linda and me. The response to the new signatures has all been positive, they're easy to set up and not expensive at $35 each.
I have to thank Raymond Hatfield of Raymond Hatfield Photography an Indianapolis Wedding Photographer and PhotoBizX listener for giving me the idea to get this done. I received an email from Ray and being able to see a photos of him made me feel like there was more of a connection right away.
I'm always making a fuss on the show about being able to put a face to a name or a listener and right after receiving Raymond's email, i knew this would be a great idea to implement into my photography business.
Ray is using a signature from WiseStamp.com who have a couple of different pricing plans including a free one that includes a link to Wise Stamp.
I decided to have one built by Kamal, a developer I found on Elance and I've added his details below if you want to give him a try.
You will need to set up a free Elance account to hire Kamal and he can be found here: https://www.elance.com/s/edit/kamal2184/
Links to people, places and things mentioned in this episode:
Nikki McArthur – Epic Danger Photography
Nikki McArthur Interview on PhotoBizX
Gimme That It – Branding and Web design
Rachel Callander Interview on PhotoBizX
Rachel Callander's new website designed by GimmeThatIt
Equipment
Canon EOS 6D 20.2 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3.0-Inch LCD (Body Only)
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Standard & Medium Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
Nikon 135mm f/2.0D AF DC-Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras
Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM ( S ) Lens for Nikon F Cameras
Nikon D200 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)
Nikon 58mm f/1.4G AF-S NIKKOR Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras
Sigma 28mm f/1.8 EX DG Aspherical Macro Large Aperture Wide Angle Lens for Nikon SLR Cameras
Nikon 24mm f/1.4G ED AF-S RF SWM Prime Wide-Angle Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras
Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras
Nikon D750 Digital SLR Camera (Body Only) [Import Model]
Thank you!
Thank you again for listening to the show and thanks Ryan for being an awesome guest!
If you have any suggestions, comments or questions about this episode, please be sure to leave them below in the comment section of this post, and if you liked the episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post!
That’s it for me this week, hope everything is going well for you in life and business!
Thanks and speak soon
Andrew
First, this was a fantastic podcast with Ryan. Every other interview online focuses on his method and the interviewer is just amazed that he shoots such a high volume of weddings. No one has dug past the surface of asking him how he puts his life together to be able to shoot 60 weddings a year. I personally love answering emails and sending out contracts and the editing but I’m shooting a much lower volume of weddings than Ryan is! My biggest take away was by far just staying current on social media. I think a lot of newer photographers have a hard time with that, especially during the winter months when not as much shooting is happening, but like Ryan said, Its a long term ROI and needs to be updated frequently.
Second, HOLY CRAP WAS I JUST MENTIONED IN THE SAME PODCAST AS POWWWWWWERFUL RYAN BRENIZER!? This is fantastic!! I dont know why i didnt think of designing my own and just inserting it so it wouldnt have the wisestamp ad. Its such a simple idea! I will definitely be reaching out to Kamal for his help!!
Thanks Raymond – the very first thing Ryan said (off air) before we started the recording was about being excited to be doing an interview on business and not just photography. And as much as he loves talking photography, there’s so much more to what he does than shoot weddings.
Yep, the blogging aspect can be tough in the quieter times and if you’re looking for inspiration on what to blog about, refit the episodes with Kevin Mullins, Gabriel Machuret and David Watson. All offer some terrific advice on content that is not only easy to write but content prospective clients want to actually read and look at.
Haha… YOU CERTAINLY WERE MENTIONED IN THE SAME EPISODE AS RYAN BRENIZER!
Seriously, thank you for triggering me to take action with the email signatures.
I loved this interview. He really put it all into perspective and reinforced how much I love shooting weddings.
His comments about wedding photography being uncool made me laugh because I remember when I was studying at Photography Studies College in the 90’s, wedding photography was put to us as what we’d end up doing if we didn’t study hard enough, or worse still, drop out! It was something to be avoided at all costs!
Once I started shooting weddings I couldn’t believe how much fun they actually were!
It’s so nice to hear from these people who are shooting weddings and loving what they’re doing. I’ve been out of them for about 8 years and just getting back into them again now, but these podcasts are getting me so excited (a bit confused with So much information from so many people!) but it’s great to have all these resources available!
Thank you so much Andrew!
Thanks Anjella – love that you enjoyed this interview so much.
How funny to read about your photography study and getting “stuck” as a wedding photographer if you didn’t try!
There will always be photographers that dislike, despise even, the thought of wedding photography, I guess that’s a good thing for those of us that love it.
In regard to SO much information, please, please, please don’t try and implement or use everything you hear in the interviews. You’ll be run ragged and totally confused.
Pick one or two things that resonate with you and put them into practice and add other ideas you hear to your list so you don’t forget them.
Prioritise your list and implement again once you have the first one or two ideas in place. James Schramko says this better than me – have a listen to the first 10 minutes of his interview here.
Hope you have an awesome week!
Andrew