Andrew is now shooting solely with the mirror-less format of cameras and it's been said that he is rapidly becoming one of the top ten UK wedding photographers. A listener to this show who recommended Andrew for the interview says Andrew Billington in the UK is probably one of the best Fuji users in the wedding game.
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 want to be a photographer and not a book salesman
If you have any questions that I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Andrew or if you just want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below.
If you’d like an easy way to show Andrew 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
Photography Business Income Calculator
It's no secret that I'm hopeless at the accountancy side of my photography business and it's lucky my wife Linda and amazing accountant Sharon, keep me where I need to be in regard to spending, bookings, prices, overheads etc.
If you're a long therm listener, you will be familiar with the fast talking, energetic and super knowledgable accountant and photographer, Peter Eastway. I interviewed Peter in episode 43 of the podcast where he cut through the ‘BS' associated with photography business and talked seriously about the numbers required to make a go of it and sustain any sort of comfortable life.
Or, whether you'd be better off quitting photography as a business, going to work in a bank and keep your photography fun.
Peter has just released a Photo Business Income Estimator that is totally free to use and is pre populated with numbers to get you started.
It's super simple to use, there's an instructional video below the calculator and the numbers are easily interpreted, if somewhat scary.
You need to check it out if you really want to know if photography as a business will even work for you or what number of jobs you need to book to be successful.
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!
I'm shooting for myself and I'm shooting for the couple. If I was shooting for the blog as well, I'd be doing a disservice to me and the couple that I'm working with
Secondly, iTunes is the biggest search engine when it comes to finding podcasts and it's your reviews and ratings that help other photographers find PhotoBizX. And 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 to 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.
An Outstanding Resource for Beginners or Seasoned Pro Photographers
By Andy Davison from UK on February 19, 2015
I only recently discovered this series of podcasts and am so pleased that I did – hugely informative and listenable, I’ve binged on them for the past week while driving around the UK.
I’m a member of quite a few photography groups and have learned a lot along the way but there’s so much good and fresh advice in these podcasts, it’s hard to imagine a better and more affordable resource for either starting or re-charging your photography business.
There really is something in here for everyone.
Steven Hubbard @HubbardSF
By StevenXM from USA on February 16, 2015
I was a professional photographer for 33 years and I truly wish you would have been around when I started I would not have to have learned the hard way!
Excellent podcast very informative and enlightening. Keep up the great work, thank you!
Andrea Blair of Paper Horse Photography
I also want to say thanks to Andrea Blair of Paper Horse Photography for her email which was the perfect validation for me and the PhotoBizX podcast. She writes:
Thank you for all this information Andrew!
With my schedule and family commitments its so difficult to attend workshops. Your website and your podcasts have helped me immensely!
Have a great day.
Cheers,
Andrea
Alternative to PhotoMechanic
PhotoMechanic is constantly mentioned on the show as a fast way to view, cull and rename images. I recently received an email from Dan who is using Fast Picture Viewer Pro who claim to have the fastest image viewer, EVER.
It costs $50 USD and can be found here: http://www.fastpictureviewer.com
Dan says, “If you don't need the complex tagging that sports and stock shooters use then it's the nuts.
Links to people, places and things mentioned in this episode:
Andrew Billington's Commercial Photography Website
Prime Wedding Photography Collective
Peter Eastway's (Better Photography) Income Calculator
Follow Andrew on Instagram – http://instagram.com/andrew_hellmich
Equipment
Fujinon XF 10-24mm F4 R OIS Wide Angle Zoom Lens
Fujinon XF 10-24mm F4 R OIS Wide Angle Zoom Lens
Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM Lens
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens
Rokinon 85M-FX 85mm F1.4 Ultra Wide Fixed Lens for Fujifilm X-Mount Cameras
Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS USM Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
Thank you!
Thank you again for listening to the show and thanks Andrew 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
Having personally met Andrew at a workshop earlier in the year, I’m not surprised at how much I enjoyed this episode, he is a fantastic photographer and a bloody nice chap to boot! It is so great to hear from other photographers using the mirrorless systems in the wedding industry, it confirms that I am not crazy for working this way!
Thanks for your kind words Paul, much appreciated 🙂
I don’t know Andrew personally (well I didn’t until this interview) but I have to agree simply from how helpful I’ve seen him with ANY questions on various social media hangouts.
Good to know you’re not crazy either Paul… If you were, I guess I would be too 😉
Thanks for adding your comments.
Great stuff again. Love the guy with the 300mm in the next field 🙂
Best idea for me was about booking via email…can we bring that is as standard practice in Australia please? Worth trying the sort of wording in his email.
By the way I tried Peter Eastway’s calculator and it seems pretty spot on – for example my accountant’s fee was almost exactly what I paid last year.
Booking via email… Wouldn’t that be dream. I’ve had the odd few but it definitely goes against the norm in Australia.
Good to hear about Peter’s Income Calculator Darryn… Peter’s not your accountant is he? 😉
I’m just off a Skype call with Peter for a follow up conversation on the calculator – he certainly gets enthusiastic about photography, making money and being a success! He makes it sound easy. I’ll have that ready for next week.
I like trying to get the booking knowing we’ll meet later rather than both! here’s what I send in my initial reply:
“As I am currently available if you’d like to secure the date with me now I ask for a £300 booking fee, which is deductible from the final balance.
(I always like to arrange to meet a few weeks before the wedding day at the venue to say “Hello” and talk through your plans in detail – it really adds to my photography making it very personal to your day.)
*Bank details here*
If you’d like further information or have some questions we can meet up at my home studio or have a chat on the phone/Skype. Please let me know which you’d prefer and we can arrange a mutually convenient time.”
I also make it clear I expect people to come to me if they want to meet or we Skype. I was getting tired of travelling constantly for meeting and asking couple’s to come to you adds a level of commitment.
Cheers – Andrew
Awesome thanks Andrew 🙂
Andrew’s voice reminded me of Ben elton and then I saw his profile pic and he looks like him too… I love Andrews approach to blogging, especially the bigger blogs, and that he doesn’t shoot for them anymore and for the fact that the presets are outdated quickly. I am trying very hard to produce a clean edit that I truly like with my fuji system and I think i’m almost there, but Andrew’s pics are amazing, full of colour and punch. I thought I only knew Kevin Mullins in terms of doco style photographers from the UK but now there are a bunch more to follow, thanks Andrew for a great candid approach in the interview…Mr Elton
The fact he doesn’t shoot for or try and get published on popular wedding blogs piqued my interest too Paul – I really like Andrew’s approach and reasoning.
I’ll leave Andrew to handle the Ben Elton reference before I jump on board 🙂
Cheers Paul – I’ve had the Ben Elton thing since I was about 16 so I’m used to it!
Trying to find a clean editing style that you like and keeping it consistent is a good idea I think – you won’t have to delete old posts on your blog that look completely different to how you process now so often….
Hi,
I think the non face to face booking thing is becoming a bit more common over here in the UK. I’ve met a couple of photographers that do it, especially those that don’t just shoot locally. I also like that the onus is on them to come to you rather than the other way around.
I’ve just taken a look at Andrew’s work too and it is beautiful. Hope we can meet one day!
I really enjoyed this interview, so thanks for your time Andrew(s)!
Jamie
Hi Jamie – thanks for the feedback. I’m up in Staffordshire but I’m sure we will bump into each other sometime. Cheers, Andrew B.
Loved this podcast! It’s great to hear about so many photographers successfully shooting mirrorless. I’m in the process of switching to mirrorless (Olympus) for my weddings and I am absolutely in love with them; they’ve made shooting fun again! There’s always that niggle of “am I doing the right thing” so I’m loving hearing about photographers who’ve made the transition and are loving it. I could have listened to Andrew talk for hours, can we have more of him? 😀 (you know, you and he could just talk Fuji endlessly and it would be fascinating for at least several of us I’m sure!)
Haha, I’m not sure everyone will want to hear an endless conversation on Fuji… although, it wouldn’t bother me too much at the moment either 🙂
I totally hear you with the return of the “fun factor” and the smaller cameras too.
I’ve since made the leap and although I’m happy with the change, there are some things I’d love to see improved on the systems. They are what they are at the moment and it’s definitely fun, especially on an all day shoot!
If you have any follow up questions for Andrew, by all means, post them here or you can find him on social media pretty much everywhere. From every interaction I’ve seen, he’s always super helpful and only too happy to answer questions and help.
Oh… And you have to let me know how you go with your move to Olympus, I’d love to hear about it.
I promise that the fuji part wasn’t just for you because I loved it! It is such a pain working around auto exposure metering but it’s even harder to use manual mode on a dslr. At first I just thought I wasn’t good enough to use manual, but after using manual film cameras I realized that dslrs are made to be used in auto. It is great to see how he is using these camera’s strengths to help his photography. And that he tells his clients that his cameras are probably going to be smaller than the guest’s. Thanks for another inspiring episode!
Good to hear you took something from the Fuji content too Chris 🙂
Andrew is an unbelievably helpful and giving photographer and worth following if you’re considering going down the Fuji or mirror-less road.
Just this morning I hit him up with a question on how he handles certain lows light situations with his cameras. He came back with a thorough and thoughtful answer within minutes!
Andrew(s), Thank you for all the info sharing. Another inspiring interview and omg I laughed a lot with the baby story. I am very fond of the storytelling you also advocate so I will be reading more on your website. Thank you again for all the enthusiasm and the great info. Kurt
Oh man… I still laugh (cringe) at the thought of Andrew stepping on a baby!
Love that you enjoyed the interview – thanks Kurt
http://www.enchantedcelebrations.com/