I'll be the first to admit “living the dream” gets thrown around too much. How else though, can you describe the life of a photographer who goes to work in boardies (board shorts), t-shirt (tank top) and thongs (flip flops), his studio and offices are the sunny beaches of Florida and his subjects are the most gorgeous swimwear models you've ever seen? Joey Wright is a swimsuit and commercial fashion photographer with a successful and full time business – he is living the dream. In this interview, he shares his view on the business of swimwear model photography success and how he's doing it.

Joey is adamant, that anyone can do what he does if they work hard, shoot well and build a network (and always have your portfolio with you) to bring in the work. Learn why starting out with a full time job was the best way to break into photography and how he worked his way to be shooting swimwear and model work full time.

Here's some more of what we cover:

  • Shooting what you love to shoot and having a strategy to make it a full time business
  • Forget f1.4, why shooting at f3.5 is the sweet spot for portraits
  • Social media and being where your prospective clients are – whether you like the platform or not
  • Can instagram really be a source of work for photographers?
  • Why you must always be ready to show your work
  • How other photographers can be your most direct route to a successful photography business
  • The importance of tracking your business numbers and how it will help you in the quiet times and the rainy days
  • The real importance of doing everything you can to make your portrait subjects look as good as they possibly can look and how it will affect your photography business
  • Listening to your audience once you have found your niche to use their input to develop your shooting style
  • Why having a day job can be the best way to kick off your photography business, even if it means some serious hustling and long hours
  • Can your photography improve and develop if you don't look at what other photographers are doing?

During our chat, Joey talked about not taking on “filler” work when things are a little slow but using that time to get creative, keep shooting and keep your work out there and on show – a pretty similar message to what Ibarionex Perello shared in episode 50 of the podcast. What will you be doing when things slow down for you at some stage this year? Will you have the courage to knock back the work you don't really want to shoot and will you have the get-up-and-go to shoot something or someone the way you want, try a new look, location, styling or shooting style?

Joey Wright Swimsuit photography Interview

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I asked Joey about working with the gorgeous models he does and if he ever felt intimidated and if so, how did he get past it?

In his reply, Joey says he is now immune to the “little tricks” that gorgeous women try on, so he is definitely past being intimidated. He goes onto explain how he overcame any feelings of nervousness and what you can do when having to create fantastic images of drop-dead-gorgeous people.

I also asked Joey the best way to learn how to pose women to have them looking their very best, how he did it and what you can do today. It goes a little against what he said in the main interview but his processes have changed as he's developed his own style.

The good news is you can implement what he recommends right away and then put into practice what you learn in your next quiet period.

Joey Wright Swimsuit photography Interview

What is your big takeaway?

Following this interview with Joey, 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 he had to share? Let me know by leaving your thoughts in the comments below.

If you have any questions for Joey that I missed, a specific question you'd like to ask or if you just want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them below.

iTunes ratings, reviews and Shout-Outs

Each week before recording the podcast I check iTunes for any reviews and each week I'm excited to see what you've had to say about the podcast and am usually blown away by the comments and reviews. This week was no exception with two reviews from either side of the world. One from Peter McLeod of Woof Purr & Smile Pet Photography in Australia and the other from Darren Foard of Darren Foard Photography in the UK.

Photo Biz Xposed iTunes Review

Sincerely guys, thanks so much for your rating and review, I appreciate the time you've taken and it's a big help for the show.

It's these iTunes reviews that make a big difference to the podcast being ranked well and found in the iTunes store. If you have the time and are happy to leave an honest rating and review, head over to iTunes. Don't feel your comments have to be long, involved or gushy, an honest opinion is all I ask.

Don't be shy about leaving your business name in the review either – that way I can add a link in the show-notes and show my appreciation with a proper thanks and a Google loving back-link to your website.

Get in Touch or Leave a Voicemail Message

This week I received a voicemail messages which I love to share on the podcast if you're happy to leave one yourself. It's easy, just click the “send voicemail” button on this page.

This week Andrew Szopory of  Andrew Szopory Photography, a wedding photographer in the Macarthur region of Sydney left a message about a recent wedding where he delivered a small album to the bride and groom on the night of the wedding – an idea he took from the podcast interview with Bryan Caporicci (episode 28). It was a huge success and one that Andrew intends to continue with to help separate himself from other local photographers.

If you'd like to get in touch, ask a question or make a suggestion for the show, you can email me [email protected], find me on Twitter https://twitter.com/andrewhellmich or on Facebook at https://photobizx.com/facebook – I'd love to hear from you!

A new Podcast for Wedding Professionals: Evolve Your Wedding Business Podcast

You may remember the interview I did with Heidi Thompson of Evolve Your Wedding Business back in episode 40 – well, Heidi has recently released her own podcast aimed at wedding professionals. It's available through her website, in iTunes and Stitcher and well worth a listen.

Links to people, places and things mentioned in this episode:

http://www.joeywrightphoto.com

https://www.facebook.com/joeywrightphotography

http://instagram.com/joeywrightphoto

https://twitter.com/joeywrightphoto

https://plus.google.com/106691517028100037581

Sport Illustrated

To see more of Joey's work, he is posting a photo a day to instagram and that's a great place to either get inspired, see posing ideas from a pro or simply, get jealous.

Joey Wright Swimsuit photography Interview

That's it for me this week, hope everything is going well for you in life and business!

If you've been enjoying the podcast, I'd love for you to tell another photographer about it – it could be in a Facebook Group you're a part of, a photography forum,  with a photographer friend or on twitter.

If you do have a twitter account, simply click here: https://photobizx.com/tweet or use the share buttons below.

Thanks and speak soon

Andrew