How to Build an Amazing Portfolio by Revisiting Locations or Subjects

How do you elevate your creative work when revisiting familiar places or projects? This episode explores how revisiting locations or concepts with fresh eyes can help refine your process and strengthen your portfolio. Aaron and Seth break down the value of intentional shooting, learning from past experiences, and finding balance between capturing the moment and simply enjoying it. From improving your approach to preparation to crafting those impactful “A+” results, this conversation is packed with insights to inspire growth in any creative field. 

Expect to Learn:

• How returning to familiar places refines creativity and improves results
• Tips for prioritizing tasks under tight deadlines
• How to leverage connections for new projects
• How to structure planning to capture better shots
• Why focusing on quality over quantity will enhance your portfolio

Sponsor:

Thanks to WhiteWall for being our lead sponsor this episode! They're the top choice for photographers who want high-quality prints, with a variety of material options, and who want their work delivered fast in 9 days or less!

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Thanks for listening!
Go get shooting, go get editing, and stay focused.

@sethmacey
@mantis_photography
@thephotographermindset

Transcript

00:41.55
Seth Macey
Welcome back to another episode of the Photographer Mindset Podcast. First episode after the Chris Burkhardt episode last week, and I'm still coming off of that. That was a good, ah I really liked that episode. i don't know about you.

00:55.20
Aaron
Yeah, Chris is an awesome speaker, I feel like, and very passionate about what he does and clearly loves it. So it was great to have him on and definitely fun and trying to.

01:02.27
Seth Macey
Yeah, for sure. Carrying that energy forwards, huh?

01:07.89
Aaron
i don't know if I can keep up.

01:08.74
Seth Macey
Try to. You said you've been super busy with tons of photography stuff. what are you working on right now? Before we get into the episode today.

01:14.90
Aaron
Sure. Yeah, this is a busy week. Last week was a busy week. I like getting things off my plate. So I worked really hard last week to do a brunch sort of capture photography and videography, creating video and some photos and getting that off my plate as fast as I could, which was a was a hustle. I was pretty much working any minute I had from that Sunday brunch and had everything turned in by the next Sunday, which was ah definitely a push, but that was good.

01:51.61
Aaron
Coming up this week now, I had a financial shoot for some interviews, bio interviews for people that work at a financial company. That was great.

02:00.64
Seth Macey
Mm-hmm.

02:01.41
Aaron
Pretty straightforward and easy. Two cameras going, like one of May's So two cameras going, sound, microphone, like all that stuff. So a bit to keep track of lighting, but I think it went pretty smoothly, knock on wood.

02:17.01
Aaron
ah And ah he uploaded and backed up all those files today. Tomorrow I have a really fun gig. I'm joining Nooch on a project.

02:29.25
Aaron
I can't really speak about it, but it's cool.

02:31.85
Seth Macey
Oh, lame.

02:33.12
Aaron
i know. ah But that will be super fun. Got to get that done. And then there is a ah and a wildlife thing.

02:44.99
Aaron
I got out the other morning ah for sunrise.

02:48.22
Seth Macey
You actually got out after you got out and sat in the woods.

02:48.37
Aaron
And

02:51.87
Seth Macey
We've been talking about this, needing to do this.

02:52.11
Aaron
yeah.

02:55.38
Aaron
Yeah, sunrise. So 520, I think the alarm went off and I met Matt ah Patterson, who's going with us to Alaska.

03:03.60
Seth Macey
cool

03:03.64
Aaron
um He knew where or he thought he knew where a couple of wood ducks were hanging out and nesting. And we went down to this marsh, probably about a mile hike, maybe a little bit more.

03:14.27
Aaron
and sat there for a while and they they showed up and nothing crazy in terms of photos but i've never seen a wood duck before so that was uh neat for me and i i'm i just can't wait to go back uh i was gonna go back tonight and then i was like oh we're recording though so you ruined it

03:31.56
Seth Macey
yeah he swore at me he didn't want to Do we have to? I'm just kidding. He didn't say that.

03:35.24
Aaron
um but yeah it was it was super nice i wrote you and mike in our little group chat just saying like

03:36.69
Seth Macey
um

03:41.56
Aaron
Man, it's been a minute since I've been out here, especially for sunrise and just kind of relaxing. It was very peaceful. Very nice. Needed it.

03:52.35
Seth Macey
Good for you, man.

03:53.51
Aaron
Yeah.

03:53.65
Seth Macey
Good for you. i need ah i need

03:54.08
Aaron
how about.

03:55.27
Seth Macey
I need to get after that. mike Well, before I talk about it, my question for you is ah when you have a ton of stuff on your plate and a deadline ah tight deadline, do you change your workflow at all? Not in terms of necessarily quality, but I'm curious to know if there's a serious time pressure if the way you execute changes.

04:11.96
Seth Macey
Because that may be helpful to know if it's been helpful for you.

04:14.91
Aaron
You know, yeah that's, that's interesting.

04:15.84
Seth Macey
is it just is it just more time

04:22.02
Aaron
Well, yeah, but there's a, I've talked about this before, sort of a ah juggling in my mind of priorities, and I do this for the client.

04:22.27
Seth Macey
given.

04:31.31
Aaron
So, for example, this was an Easter brunch, and they they're like, I know it's quick turnaround, and you did this short notice anyways, but is there any, like, what's the timeframe? They're putting me on a rush, essentially, saying we want we would love to market for Mother's Day brunch, which is...

04:48.95
Aaron
in next next weekend so it's about a two-week turnaround right uh

04:51.98
Seth Macey
well it'll be this weekend when this airs I think

04:57.23
Aaron
True this weekend. Yes, you're correct. Uh, this weekend when this airs, uh, so in my mind, I was like, okay, I can't, what's the most important stuff and the fastest stuff that I can get out. So what I did was knock out all the photos or a good amount of the photos and say, here you go with photos.

05:15.04
Aaron
This was pretty straightforward in terms of same lighting for every shot it's in indoors. Let me blast out some photos here. You can at least use these.

05:22.87
Seth Macey
Can I interrupt with questions that are maybe supplementary to this conversation?

05:25.11
Aaron
Yeah. Yeah.

05:27.00
Seth Macey
So do you prioritize? it's It's interesting the way people prioritize and structure things to me. It almost sounded like I'm going to do the easiest thing first.

05:37.82
Seth Macey
That may not be the most impactful or thing that they want, but maybe it gives you some momentum moving into the other things you have to do. I think that's an interesting strategy sometimes. Just get the easiest thing done first so that the ah you don't feel like overwhelmed jumping into the most difficult thing immediately.

05:56.52
Seth Macey
Right?

05:57.63
Aaron
Yeah, I agree. i said, you know, ah money, money for what it's going to cost. Like, what's the, what's the phrase I'm trying to hear?

06:09.55
Aaron
I don't know what i'm trying to say, but to get your most value out of the, the potential of video or, or photos or reels or whatever it may be.

06:21.26
Aaron
I wanted to get those people, the things fast and which things can I get them the fastest and which could they utilize? So I could get you photos pretty quickly and then you can make posters.

06:32.09
Aaron
You can bring them into Canva. You can do it. You can post for the next 10 days every day about your next mother's day brunch.

06:37.88
Seth Macey
while I'm working on the other thing as opposed to getting after the video it taken a while and then they still have nothing during the waiting period very smart

06:44.48
Aaron
Yes. So then they're waiting for a week for me to hand a video and God knows that they've been like it. Right. And then, then you have nothing. So I got them something. And it's also a test or two. Like, do you like my editing style? Do you like the vibe of this? Cause the video is probably going to be somewhat similar. it's It's my eye and I didn't put a ton of work into it.

07:05.10
Aaron
So that was, uh, that was the,

07:05.60
Seth Macey
Yeah. I like that. Get them something while you're doing the other thing.

07:08.92
Aaron
Yep. And then, um, my next process for them was I, I like giving long form video in the sense that, Hey, I took all these clips for the most part, like you here's, here's a two minute straight, three minutes straight of all the good sections of every little clip in no particular order.

07:31.39
Aaron
no rhyme or reason. However I shot it, however I put it into the camera, I'm going to color grade it. And I'm going to just give you three minute video of clips, your social media person, you're paying them to do stuff. Also can now take this apart. Please don't put my name on it. It's yours.

07:50.27
Aaron
They can edit it, they can make reels, they can do whatever they want with it. ah

07:54.53
Seth Macey
All right.

07:55.42
Aaron
Go ahead, now again, you are paying someone in this situation. You're paying someone to do that sort of marketing. They have a a great set of reels where you can do that.

08:08.34
Aaron
And then my last move is like, in this case, I was like, I'm gonna do one, really fancy edited reel the best that I can. And I then do that and say, this came from all those clips just to show you what's possible and then hand that over final.

08:23.13
Seth Macey
right

08:24.80
Aaron
And then if you want to use that.

08:25.39
Seth Macey
Then they can A, B, your skill versus their social person.

08:26.30
Aaron
Cool.

08:28.07
Seth Macey
And then maybe they're like, oh man, yours was way better. So we'll pay you in the future to do finished edited videos.

08:36.00
Aaron
Yeah. Yeah.

08:37.20
Seth Macey
But I also like your strategy of, you you haven't hired me necessarily off the bat to be an editor.

08:37.41
Aaron
So,

08:43.28
Seth Macey
So I'm not going to automatically edit all these things. I'm going to film stuff, hand it to you. Most people in a social media role know how to chop things up and they can make something, you know, maybe potentially even better than yours.

08:51.56
Aaron
Yeah.

08:53.75
Seth Macey
Who knows?

08:55.07
Aaron
Yeah.

08:55.12
Seth Macey
ah

08:55.53
Aaron
and And my reel was above ah above and beyond.

08:57.09
Seth Macey
I like the idea of not necessarily i like the idea of not necessarily i used to do this a lot whereas I'll make you finished reels finished reels well I can just hand you the clips yep

09:08.74
Aaron
Yeah, and it's usually, it feels way easier. gotta be honest, like the this client had a budget. I asked for a price for what I thought would be good deliverables. They're like, that's a bit much. Here's our budget.

09:22.09
Aaron
And I was like, okay, then I'm gonna do it this way. I'll get you a bunch of photos. I'll get you this long clip. And depending on how much time this all takes, I might be able to edit one of them.

09:33.16
Aaron
And that was kind of my above and beyond. Like here, I did a, paid some due to, to do this, this edited one, but overall, like what you paid me for, I'm just going to kind of give you some stuff and you're paying someone else to do the marketing and that's fine.

09:37.24
Seth Macey
Yeah.

09:49.15
Aaron
Like hands off, I got you the content. I wasn't too attached to it and, and let's move on.

09:55.67
Seth Macey
It's a nice way to be solution oriented without giving up on the whole thing. We talk about that a lot.

10:00.73
Aaron
Yeah, definitely.

10:01.91
Seth Macey
Figure out a way.

10:02.39
Aaron
Definitely. In a sense, they paid like my sort of my day rate in a, in a way, but I wasn't too worried about the, you know licensing and, and ROI and how are you using it?

10:08.31
Seth Macey
right

10:14.91
Aaron
I just kind of was like, you're, you're paying me to film and, and edit some photos and here you go.

10:15.60
Seth Macey
but Low grade.

10:22.05
Seth Macey
Yeah, you're a cameraman.

10:23.37
Aaron
Yeah. Yeah.

10:24.89
Seth Macey
I got an interesting email.

10:25.38
Aaron
Yeah. Yeah, if I could finish before you get into that subject.

10:28.74
Seth Macey
No, you can't. Nope.

10:30.28
Aaron
ah What I did learn though, here's here's another like nice tip with just different kinds of clients.

10:30.53
Seth Macey
Nope.

10:36.23
Aaron
Like there's Airbnb clients, there's product photography. there's like But if you're at like a brunch, what I noticed immediately immediately was Oh, they have this company coming in and setting up the dessert table.

10:45.72
Seth Macey
you

10:48.85
Aaron
They have this bartender company coming in and and doing the drinks and the mimosas and this and that. So as I'm there, I was picking cards, and their business cards.

11:00.41
Aaron
And then after the fact, reached out and was like, hey, I took a lot of photos. for you to use, like, i would, I would love to talk about licensing and usage. Uh, I have all these photos from this brunch that they paid me for on their property.

11:14.36
Aaron
and

11:14.36
Seth Macey
Sorry, who's they? it the Airbnb?

11:15.95
Aaron
the, the, the main client for the brunch.

11:18.66
Seth Macey
Okay. Main client for the match.

11:20.00
Aaron
So

11:20.98
Seth Macey
Let me understand. I'm not really understanding.

11:23.18
Aaron
it's a big banquet hall.

11:24.97
Seth Macey
Okay.

11:25.89
Aaron
And then they call in Seth's desserts to do a dessert table.

11:30.65
Seth Macey
That's desserts. what do you think I'd make? Something with maple syrup.

11:33.55
Aaron
uh lickety splits straight up table of lickety splits uh and then they call in my dog's uh bartending service He's a he drinks a lot.

11:47.40
Aaron
don't what to tell you. And then I go around and grab Seth's business card and go, Hey, Hey, while I was doing that brunch, you might have seen me. I took about 20 photos of your dessert table.

11:58.55
Aaron
I could put a package together. also have some B roll and footage. If you'd like any sort of video, let me know. You can just, pretty much have that for usage and licensing fees versus paying me to edit it because I had to edit it anyways. I had to already got paid to be there.

12:14.62
Aaron
So this is an opportunity where I might be more expensive than you'd want to get a good package for very cheap. And in that scenario, they took me up on that.

12:26.51
Aaron
So it worked.

12:27.85
Seth Macey
Yeah, that's really cool.

12:28.77
Aaron
So it was nice to do like a vending, like where there's vendors and lots of people at a place that have different um skills and things to offer.

12:37.33
Seth Macey
Yeah. You got me thinking there's a, uh, there's a flea market every year, near Haley's folks house in a place called grand bend. And, uh, every now and then it's fun to walk around and see the knickknacks and all the cool stuff, but there are so many food trucks.

12:52.40
Aaron
Yeah.

12:52.61
Seth Macey
So I'm going to bring my, I'm going to make sure I bring my camera this summer and just snap a ton of stuff.

12:55.76
Aaron
Absolutely.

12:56.78
Seth Macey
Cause there's really cool meals that people make.

12:59.07
Aaron
Absolutely.

13:00.78
Seth Macey
Uh, so thanks for the inspiration there.

13:03.07
Aaron
Yeah.

13:03.98
Seth Macey
You little fizzle in my brain.

13:04.30
Aaron
Good stuff.

13:07.19
Seth Macey
ah Yes, I got an interesting email this past weekend.

13:10.81
Aaron
Go on.

13:14.16
Seth Macey
It was from a business development manager who I guess found some of the work that I had done for a client in the area that his business support center is set up. And so emailed me and referenced some of the work that I had done and said, uh, uh,

13:29.04
Seth Macey
you know, where are you located in the area and what kind of packages do you offer? And I was like, holy shit, how am I not, how have I not been reaching out to business development, ran business development managers of just counties that are nearby, as opposed to just going and trying to build connections and pitch individual businesses. Yeah.

13:53.64
Aaron
Yeah, now that's working smart.

13:54.56
Seth Macey
It was like, a what am I? Like, what? Why have I not been doing this sooner? Because I mean, people who don't know, a business development manager and a business support center is someone who is directly in charge of helping provide new businesses and entrepreneurs in an area the assets they need to thrive as a business.

14:11.96
Seth Macey
So, and quite obviously, some of the things that new businesses with potentially capital and a lot of funding need is visual assets. Yeah.

14:21.71
Aaron
Mm-hmm.

14:21.94
Seth Macey
So I feel like you can throw out a net and catch a ton of fish as opposed to hunting fish with a spear if you can make a good connection with business development managers at support centers, at business support centers. And i was just like...

14:38.30
Seth Macey
maybe that's just a way more efficient way of going about things. So I don't know. I wanted to share that just because yeah you know everybody listening likely is in a different county.

14:42.85
Aaron
Yeah.

14:48.56
Seth Macey
you know Going back to that, there's plenty of cake for everyone to eat and it could be a very lucrative opportunity for you, especially if you already have the portfolio and professional website. i mean, it should be... yeah Now you're just talking about people skills.

15:02.76
Aaron
Yeah, and it solves a problem for that person to, you know, anyone that brings up marketing or whatnot. I mean, you could have a package system with him.

15:14.27
Seth Macey
yeah

15:15.16
Aaron
where you're just kind of going through what you could offer, what you could give, what your skills are. And then he has it in his back of his mind or her mind. And they're just ready when anyone brings it up to be like, I've got a guy for you.

15:29.68
Aaron
His name's Seth.

15:30.17
Seth Macey
Got him.

15:30.98
Aaron
He's local.

15:31.22
Seth Macey
Yep. Exactly.

15:32.86
Aaron
He's well-priced.

15:34.28
Seth Macey
i couldn't... and He's the best or the second best?

15:37.55
Aaron
He's well-priced and he he is Canadian though.

15:39.03
Seth Macey
think he's the second best. Probably his second best.

15:41.45
Aaron
So Canadian, which is downside, but.

15:42.79
Seth Macey
He's kidding.

15:45.69
Seth Macey
An entire county, apparently, to you guys. ah So the interesting thing is I was like, I didn't know how to answer because I'm not going to give... I'm not going to tell you via email the prices for certain packages. Maybe that's not a smart move, but I know from experience that everything is so different.

16:02.40
Seth Macey
Client needs are so different. Driving times are so different. The budgets are so different. It just like doesn't make sense for me anymore to offer packages because I feel like you... you put it in somebody's mind about how much something is going to cost when it can sway in either direction so dramatically.

16:19.84
Aaron
Yeah, that's good point.

16:20.80
Seth Macey
So I just don't like doing that.

16:21.35
Aaron
Yeah.

16:21.64
Seth Macey
So I explained that the best I could. But then rather than just leaving it at that, I was like, here's the the things I do, as you may or may not have seen from whatever work you know you've you've seen of mine.

16:33.72
Seth Macey
For example, on aerial drone video, interview-style videos for websites, et cetera. So like they at least know... what I'm i'm doing. i don't I don't like the idea of just saying, sorry, I don't do packages and then not not supplementing that with anything else.

16:46.95
Aaron
yeah

16:49.11
Seth Macey
right

16:50.05
Aaron
right

16:50.07
Seth Macey
The other thing is i am planning on... So I did email back, but I'm planning on phoning. I think phoning people is so much more impactful. I think you stand out so much more when you ring someone, especially when their contact information, their their cell phone or their work phone is readily available online.

17:08.70
Seth Macey
I think it's it's just difficult to forget somebody in this day and age who rings you up because it's so uncommon.

17:15.33
Aaron
Yeah, it truly is. That's a good point.

17:17.47
Seth Macey
It's scary too, right? It's scary going on the phone and talking to strangers for a lot of people and and talking about yourself and what you can offer. But I feel like you're just you you imprint on people's memories so much more.

17:28.61
Aaron
yeah i mean it's gonna be yeah you're automatically gonna be one in a hundred that does it easily

17:29.08
Seth Macey
So I suggest, I implore people to phone. Try it.

17:38.16
Seth Macey
ah Easily. Easily. And especially if you already, especially if it's not cold, like you already have the email or a warm connection.

17:49.86
Aaron
yeah phone home yeah

17:50.02
Seth Macey
Phone.

17:54.67
Seth Macey
Phone home. That's what Mr. ET said. So yeah, I wanted to share that. Because I thought it might be helpful and might be more efficient of a way to to go about things.

18:00.33
Aaron
Yeah, that's cool.

18:05.17
Seth Macey
It seems like a duh moment, but sometimes you know those things pass you over, right?

18:09.67
Aaron
Yeah. Yeah. gives people some ideas.

18:11.04
Seth Macey
And you get so laser-focused and zeroed in on, got to pitch companies, pitch companies. says Well, like maybe pitch the middleman. Build a relationship with the middleman.

18:19.38
Aaron
Right. For sure. like that. Good stuff.

18:24.36
Seth Macey
right. Some meat and potatoes. You wanted to talk about...

18:28.11
Aaron
I want to talk about, one gorilla versus a hundred men who wins.

18:34.71
Seth Macey
This is the most insane thing I've been saying. This is not actually what we want to talk about, but Aaron's being silly. I've 100 men versus one gorilla. 100 men would win.

18:45.80
Aaron
Yeah.

18:45.92
Seth Macey
Hands down. Not even... i think 50 would win.

18:52.66
Aaron
Yeah.

18:52.92
Seth Macey
I think 10 would win. 10. i think 10 would win. You need strategy, and that's our biggest...

19:00.26
Aaron
need strategy. You need like four on each arm. or Just restrain.

19:06.06
Seth Macey
It's our biggest asset.

19:07.43
Aaron
How are we going to restrain?

19:07.62
Seth Macey
No, I think you just, I don't think you, i see, I think everyone's first thought is to, um, to go into combat. I think you exhaust. That's how we hunted a lot of animals for hundreds of thousands of years.

19:18.85
Aaron
You run around?

19:21.66
Seth Macey
We ran them to exhaustion.

19:23.87
Aaron
Yeah.

19:26.05
Seth Macey
That's all i'll say on that.

19:27.88
Aaron
Yeah, anyway, what a silly, what a silly thing that's going around the internet.

19:33.62
Seth Macey
if if a hundred men can beat one gorilla?

19:36.74
Aaron
Yeah, yeah.

19:38.14
Seth Macey
I don't even know how that's debatable. i mean, people might think I'm insane, but I just, I i don't know.

19:43.05
Aaron
And then there's like, there's video mockups of it or like computer generated things that are hilarious.

19:51.15
Seth Macey
were There's, you know, apparently there's African tribes that have hunted lions before.

19:57.86
Aaron
Yeah.

19:58.49
Seth Macey
Like one guy with a stick and spear. I guess the thing was you're not allowed weapons, though.

20:02.05
Aaron
Right. Yeah, no tools, no weapons.

20:05.24
Seth Macey
Still, one man versus a lion is pretty damn impressive, too.

20:10.41
Aaron
For sure.

20:10.92
Seth Macey
Anyways, what do we really want to talk about today?

20:14.04
Aaron
Well, we're we're heading into TPM retreat season. We are about two months away, maybe a a tad more than that. We're going to Alaska again.

20:24.43
Seth Macey
Mm-hmm.

20:25.52
Aaron
And I thought ah we were just talking casually before we pressed record about going into that trip. When you're going to somewhere a second time or maybe a third time or fourth time,

20:39.13
Aaron
how do you view what you want to accomplish on that trip artistically, photograph-wise, video-wise, compared to the year before or the time before?

20:46.78
Seth Macey
Very good question.

20:51.70
Aaron
And are they individual events? Are they put together as one portfolio where you're trying to kind of weigh what happened the first time and adjust for the second time. Do you want to perfect certain shots? Do you want to add more shots to your repertoire or your portfolio of that trip?

21:14.74
Aaron
And I was just curious for you personally, I'm curious specifically going into Alaska, what have you thought about your focus or shots you really want to get or anything along those lines?

21:28.18
Seth Macey
Well, the first thing I'll say is I think there's a large number of people who may not even ask those questions, who may just wing trips every single time, and that's fine. But I think there's a lot of value in asking these questions. Okay, I've been a first time been once before.

21:44.43
Seth Macey
What did I accomplish on on that trip? What did I really... ah feel I built a portfolio around? Was it the landscapes? Was it the the wildlife?

21:56.83
Seth Macey
And what do I want to do this time? I think that probably many people just don't ask those questions or don't do an assessment of their portfolio before leaving.

22:06.84
Seth Macey
The other thing I'll say is you don't have to do that. You can just go wing a trip and shoot the same things that you that brought you tons of joy.

22:11.73
Aaron
Mm-hmm.

22:13.68
Seth Macey
And you can build a folder of like 500 moose photographs if that's what's your what your thing is. Right. So I, I kind of wanted to start with that, that you don't have to be so focused on building a portfolio when you go. But of course, maybe a lot of people listening are interested in that because it's just, I mean, maybe the nature of the show and both of our personalities.

22:34.43
Seth Macey
Right. So I know that, uh, before we talk about Alaska, I'll use Jasper as an an example, cause I've been four times and, Each time I thought it was, I've already been, it won't be as exciting. ah i won't It won't be as exciting. And it's ah but I've been wrong every single time because there's always something new.

22:54.82
Seth Macey
It's impossible to explore everything, which is frustrating the first and first few times or the first time you go somewhere. It's like, ha I'm not going to be able really get everything unless I stayed forever. But it's also exciting than when you go back.

23:07.88
Seth Macey
ah So for example, when I went to...

23:13.12
Seth Macey
Jasper, it was the second or third time. First of all, I like to try and change seasons if you can, because there's a lot of different things that happen.

23:19.07
Aaron
Mm-hmm. yeah

23:21.28
Seth Macey
I like winter a lot as a typical Canadian, and but one of the times I went, I'm like, I really want to get ah moose and calf in the snow. I really want to get an elk on an evergreen backdrop.

23:34.86
Seth Macey
Just very being much more specific with what I wanted. Almost a shot list. Whereas when I go the first time, it's a buffet. I'm just excited and happy to shoot whatever.

23:49.16
Seth Macey
So thinking about last year, And just kind of assessing what I came home with, which i was excited about everything. Decided I want more eagles in flight. Because i was most of the eagles were you know just on logs.

24:05.51
Seth Macey
Really cool shots. But I was like, oh.

24:07.31
Aaron
Yeah.

24:08.10
Seth Macey
and You don't realize these things until you're going through your portfolio, right? You're like, oh, man. I wish I had more of those. More bears not in water swimming because we were you know we were in a river. Would love more bears just kind of on land doing their thing.

24:18.16
Aaron
yeah

24:22.09
Seth Macey
So that's it for me. ah

24:26.83
Seth Macey
i just i'm I'm so grateful to get everything and anything that now the second time I can start being, okay, there's an opportunity for this.

24:31.99
Aaron
yeah

24:35.57
Seth Macey
there's an opportunity for that. Let's focus more on those things and put ourselves in positions to give ourselves the best chance of that.

24:39.47
Aaron
Yeah.

24:45.18
Aaron
Love that. Love that. Yeah, for sure. ah Similarly, similarly, that's hard to say when I'm tired after a day's work. ah A couple of things I've, I've gone between remembering like, oh we're doing a few different things. That's going to be cool.

25:03.82
Aaron
And this sort of, just thought process of maybe I'll put the camera down a bit more this time and try to try to enjoy a tad more.

25:11.90
Seth Macey
Interesting. In what scenarios would you put it down?

25:18.49
Aaron
I think more like there's beautiful hikes and, but there's sometimes there's generic hikes where it's like, this is a beautiful scene, but I don't know if it makes the most spectacular photo, if that makes sense and being okay with what's that.

25:36.87
Seth Macey
heartbreak Those are heartbreakers when it's beautiful to the eye, but it's just not translating to camera.

25:40.70
Aaron
Yeah. Yeah.

25:45.42
Aaron
Right.

25:46.00
Seth Macey
We all know those. You're like, why isn't this working?

25:47.45
Aaron
Yeah. It's usually at the top of mountains for me.

25:49.33
Seth Macey
i still, that's one of life's greatest questions. I haven't figured out why.

25:52.23
Aaron
Yeah. Top of mountains, I think, like looking down, it just doesn't look as impressive.

25:57.79
Seth Macey
I think with vast landscapes, a lot of the time, if there's no way to get the scale or perspective, it's underwhelming.

25:57.91
Aaron
You're like, huh.

26:01.43
Aaron
Mm-hmm.

26:06.07
Aaron
Yes, definitely. And I think that's the key. Usually when you're like at the top of a hillside or the top of a mountain and you're looking down to like other peaks, it's like, it just becomes washed out flat.

26:19.35
Seth Macey
Flat

26:22.11
Aaron
Uh, so maybe evaluating those moments of like, I'm just going to have a beautiful hike and be out in nature. And of course that's when like a, an amazing animal encounter will happen, but it is what it is.

26:36.32
Aaron
ah Like you said about the bears, we're doing a different excursion. So we're going to on land, knock on wood with all the weather and everything, but on land and having different looks at that. So I think that's going to be unbelievable.

26:49.87
Aaron
And then what kept bothering me about our boat tour, which I loved, but we were pretty high up. It was a big boat. We're like 15 feet in the air, I would say, and really kind of shooting down at otters, shooting down at puffins, shooting down at whales, and

27:00.09
Seth Macey
I thought you

27:08.55
Aaron
I'm excited for this. We're doing a private charter, which is a smaller boat. So we'll really be able, to i mean, we're basically standing on the level of the water. So I feel like we'll really be able to lean on the rail and have a much lower vantage point.

27:25.37
Aaron
Like otters are so, well, maybe otters, and those sea otters are so cute.

27:25.72
Seth Macey
were going to say grow up.

27:31.19
Aaron
And I would love to be able to get like that. Just, yeah. almost eye level shot of like the continuing depth of field and with water and, and that sort of look is much different than kind of looking down at them.

27:37.59
Seth Macey
Yeah.

27:47.36
Seth Macey
Yeah. So let me ask you this.

27:47.66
Aaron
So.

27:48.29
Seth Macey
What kind of. What kind of elements are you trying to make sure are different the second or third or fourth time around visiting a place or on a similar scene?

28:00.34
Seth Macey
And how do you think people should, do you think people should kind of plan and and structure how to build a well-rounded portfolio? You know, what would your advice be for people visiting a place a second time or a third time?

28:13.73
Aaron
I think you have, you have shots in mind when you're going somewhere and hopefully you get some of them. There is a shot with an FPV drone. I really wanted last time, which was like just you hiking through that sort of vast Alaskan,

28:29.42
Aaron
wilderness at the tops of, ah you know, and small mountains and and going through this landscape. We didn't do that hike where I wanted to do that based on some of the photos I saw.

28:40.94
Aaron
um so we never got that shot and I feel like that shot would be cool just for us to have. So that's in my mind. So things that I've missed or didn't execute here things that like, Oh, I do want to get that this time.

28:55.38
Aaron
Uh, then otherwise, when you're going through your portfolio and editing, we've all been there as well. There's like an excitement. Like I just shot, ah photographed wood ducks for the first time.

29:07.60
Aaron
They were not great photos, but I'm super excited that I saw a wood ducks and i will probably edit some, but I do know i would love to go back and up my photography game with that subject a bit more and things like the, on the boat, you

29:23.26
Seth Macey
Okay, so what does that entail?

29:25.60
Aaron
What that entails is specific positions or a little bit more time.

29:25.86
Seth Macey
Specifically that scenario.

29:31.14
Aaron
So going to a place a second time gives us twice as much time as I have right now. ah But even locally, just going and knowing the environment, knowing a bit more of like, okay, how am I going to set this up to not make the first time around mistakes?

29:47.78
Aaron
which I've always said in wildlife photography, you need like three days. And those days could each be three days long, but you three different encounters to really figure it out. The first time is like the one I just had with the wood ducks. Oh, they are here.

30:01.75
Aaron
I'm in a bad spot. I kind of, uh, they know I'm here. ah they flew around a bit. They came back. They're up in a tree. I need to come here super early, maybe when it's still dark and just sit for a long time.

30:14.85
Seth Macey
Thank you.

30:15.90
Aaron
And maybe I get lucky. Uh, so the second time around you do that, then you get that. I call it like a B plus shot. Like, Oh, that's a really good shot. Very happy. Now it might lend to like, Oh, now I've learned being here before sunrise that the sun comes up right over there, which then slowly lights this perch or this ah this log where, hey, if I'm over there and they land there, I'm gonna a backlit wood duck shot that will be out of this world.

30:49.04
Seth Macey
Yeah.

30:49.32
Aaron
I might, I might never get that shot, but now that I have the B plus shot, I can start working for that shot and spending my time just hoping that that moment happens. It may not, or it may.

31:01.96
Aaron
So going to Alaska a second time, going through my photo, Oh, I'm so an orca. Well, took a photo and then you go to edit it and you're like, I'm, I'm looking down on it or super far.

31:13.15
Aaron
I didn't get any ones that are like great. That really blow me away.

31:16.45
Seth Macey
Guy sees killer whales and is ungrateful.

31:16.92
Aaron
would,

31:20.75
Aaron
I'm grateful. I'm grateful. I got the the C plus range photo. I would like to get the B plus photo. Now, if we're in a boat where we're at water level and they're doing that spying, you know, and and we're, yes.

31:33.64
Seth Macey
Spyopi?

31:35.07
Aaron
And we, we take that photo and it's a good background or distance, whatever it may be. Like it might just up it a little bit and we're prepared based on our a different sort of positioning.

31:46.17
Aaron
So we're getting ready with like a different positioning to hopefully get a better photo or a better moment.

31:49.09
Seth Macey
yeah

31:52.04
Aaron
Um, us knowing some spots, we're not going to drive around as much aimlessly.

31:53.43
Seth Macey
Yeah.

31:56.32
Aaron
We might go to that beach with that awesome TP where, uh, those Eagles were like, we might just go straight there and and see what's up.

32:02.64
Seth Macey
Yeah.

32:05.73
Aaron
ah We, we just know a few places, the hillside where we saw the moose ah we could kind of make those rounds with a little bit more direction than just kind of aimlessly seeing what's up.

32:16.85
Aaron
Like you said, the buffet and seeing what's up, we can try to actually go for certain things.

32:19.23
Seth Macey
yeah

32:22.95
Seth Macey
Yeah, I think what you're talking about is accepting that building up to that A-plus shot, it comes in stages and has to. i think this, I was a you know, I felt susceptible to this.

32:34.65
Seth Macey
We're thinking that to i would I would be disappointed if I didn't have the best moments or what I had hoped for originally. And it took a big mindset shift to understand that, okay this is your first time here. This is really just like, you get what you get. This is a recon thing. Be happy with Cs and B-plus shots. It's just natural.

32:53.35
Seth Macey
ah What came to mind as you were talking was the first time I ever shot a hummingbird. It was just just sitting there. was like, okay, I shot a hummingbird just existing. I want to get it with its tongue out, you know, six sipping nectar. Okay, I got that. That's cool.

33:07.96
Seth Macey
Now I want one in the rain. Now I want one shaking off. You have to build upon it and understand that you can't skip right to the A-plus shot. You got to start in the, you know, in the, in the beat up car, the beat up 1982 Toyota, you know, whatever, before you can drive the, the, the car that you really want.

33:28.15
Aaron
Yeah.

33:29.12
Seth Macey
You got to work towards it, I guess is what I'm saying. and it's easy for us to think, okay, we spent a ton of money on going to this place and, ah it's Alaska. It's supposed to be epic. It's supposed to just supposed to be animals running around and I'm going to get such good shots. And I think when you set the bar too high, even if you are an experienced person, experienced photographer in a new setting, you are to some extent a rookie and you're, you need to be okay with getting okay shots and not getting frustrated about it and understanding that it's a process and it takes time. And this goes for any genre, right? Yeah.

34:05.37
Aaron
Yeah.

34:05.35
Seth Macey
ah So I like your analogy of I'm going to build up to it and just thinking about, okay, what's next? What's next? More, more, more. And then I think naturally, if you have that almost like a ah level of greediness and creative greediness, you'll naturally focus your time and your attention on those super specific, hyper specific shots or scenes that you want.

34:28.19
Aaron
Yeah, really well said. i think that's very true and and goes for any place local also. Like I, I think, and I've fallen into the trap of, I'm going to jump around from state park to state park to state park, to state park, to state park.

34:36.55
Seth Macey
For sure. Mm-hmm.

34:46.88
Aaron
ah Oh, someone saw a bobcat here. I'm going to to that state park. Someone saw a bear here. I'm going to to that state park and just look around versus the, like there is a, where the wood ducks are. There's a, there's a water source right down the street.

35:03.32
Aaron
There's a lot of woods there. There's wood ducks. There's fox in there. There's owls in there. Know that place like the back of your hand. Go there over and over and over the same time a day over and over again.

35:18.23
Aaron
Then if it sucks, shift your time of day and see if that's better. If you like that time of day, keep going, keep going, keep finding out. Behaviors are great.

35:29.17
Aaron
um Animals are creatures of habit. they They do a lot of the same stuff, especially now in this time of year with like nesting and young, they're going to be going to the same places over and over and over again. They're going to get into their habits where they look for food, where they nest, where they fly around, play, whatever it may be.

35:50.14
Seth Macey
Yeah.

35:50.17
Aaron
that They're going to keep doing it. And if you're in that area quietly long enough, you start to learn and you start to figure out. What's going to go on here?

36:01.10
Aaron
Oh, this wood duck lands on that perch every freaking day. I'm across the pond. The shot sucks. However, every day at 830, this wood duck lands on this thing for five days in a row now.

36:15.34
Aaron
So where am I going to be on day six? on the other side of the pond, looking at that branch and having a great opportunity.

36:18.05
Seth Macey
yeah

36:24.38
Aaron
Maybe it doesn't come, but maybe it does come three days later and I'm there every day waiting for that moment. You know what i mean? So it's like you're learning where these good shots are and it does take time.

36:31.79
Seth Macey
I do know what you mean.

36:36.41
Aaron
Sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes you go for a hike and you find an owl and you take some great photos, and but that's far few and in between.

36:46.23
Seth Macey
I think all this pertains to all genres of photographers too. You work with the same model, you understand them better. You work with the same product, do you understand the features better or how how it best looks on certain surfaces.

36:51.34
Aaron
Yeah.

36:57.11
Seth Macey
So obviously you and i i always say I, always caveat this because you and I are primarily wildlife, outdoors guys. but it applies across genres uh so if wildlife photography isn't your thing or out nature photography is your thing i hope you can see the parallels especially in the analogy you used of the grading system c plus b plus working your way up to it and not you know assuming that you're getting those eight plus shots right away uh the other thing i've noticed and uh I want to work, become better at is I, every time I think that I've shot a ton of footage, like I've got a lot of video and film, it's never enough.

37:37.82
Seth Macey
So always shoot a little bit more. it but It's just like, and shoot more. If you're interested in video, film more of the stuff that is seemingly uninteresting, but that is integral to the story.

37:54.71
Seth Macey
Just mundane things. For example, let's say in a sauna, just the thermometer, a stationary shot of the thermometer, like that's useful. Boring as hell, but useful.

38:05.14
Aaron
Yeah.

38:05.17
Seth Macey
People who are experienced filmmakers are like, yeah, of course. I'm not particularly one of those. It's just what I'm learning. I can tend to get drawn into, ah you know I'm going to film the moose that's moving.

38:17.80
Seth Macey
or And just ah fill the frame with the mousse as opposed to, okay, get some in tights of the hooves. Get some the ears flicking.

38:23.36
Aaron
yeah

38:25.79
Seth Macey
you Get some detail. Because what you're often what you're looking at is so mesmerizing and fascinating and interesting. regardless of what genre you're shooting, whatever interests you, that you can get sucked in too much and forget to, I guess applies to photography too. You can forget to just get your filler pieces, your filler photographs or your filler footage.

38:49.14
Aaron
Yeah. Your B-roll essentially.

38:51.96
Seth Macey
And it's but it's not even necessarily B-roll sometimes. it's Often it's just a mundane clip that is helping follow that the A-storyline. So just something to consider whether you're thinking photo or video, uh,

39:07.31
Aaron
yeah

39:10.57
Seth Macey
More so with video, I've found is just when you think you have enough, maybe film a little more and spend a lot of time filming crappy stuff. I say crappy. I mean like boring, not the exciting stuff.

39:23.71
Seth Macey
If you plan on trying to put together some kind of long form, mean even short form for that matter you know is beneficial when you have stuff that makes the story glue together.

39:29.08
Aaron
Yeah.

39:36.07
Aaron
You know, like 20 seconds of long grass blowing in the wind. Like it's hard to think about that stuff when you're, there's an Eagle there and the ocean there, but it does add to the story, especially if you're putting something together.

39:41.09
Seth Macey
Yeah.

39:49.62
Seth Macey
Exactly. Because you're like, oh, my is this eagle going to do something?

39:51.22
Aaron
So. Yeah.

39:53.35
Seth Macey
I'm going to miss it. While the grass is doing really cool, would look really cool, slowed down at 120.

39:57.75
Aaron
yeah

40:00.19
Aaron
Yeah.

40:01.43
Seth Macey
120 frames, right? So ah just just stuff to think about.

40:03.01
Aaron
Yeah.

40:05.03
Seth Macey
um Like I can't tell you how much footage I have of bears in just swimming in water, which is like sounds really cool, but I have too much.

40:13.60
Aaron
Right.

40:13.77
Seth Macey
Should have me focused on some other things.

40:17.22
Aaron
Yeah. Yeah. I hear you. Cause you can only use and that story, maybe one or two clips. That's like, that tells the point.

40:25.28
Seth Macey
Right, which is a good thing. Okay, which is a good art it's a good argument for having a shot list too, which I think I'm going to make this time around.

40:31.17
Aaron
Yeah.

40:32.79
Seth Macey
Got that. I can focus on the other things to avoid getting sucked in.

40:37.21
Aaron
yeah

40:37.70
Seth Macey
Now, i don't i didn't typically I don't typically use shot lists or have that in my mind the first time I'm at a place. Maybe I should. i do my research and I just try to film it what i everything I see.

40:49.45
Seth Macey
Now, I'd like to be a little bit more hyper-specific and I think having a list ah before going in will help me to really fill some holes.

41:01.38
Aaron
I think it's a good idea.

41:03.27
Seth Macey
You know?

41:04.54
Aaron
Yeah. So that's, uh, that's looking forward to our trip. And I thought it was curious or interesting how we're going to approach it differently than before.

41:17.42
Seth Macey
yeah And I mean, I guess,

41:17.84
Aaron
We're having, we have the same van, so I'm definitely bringing a lumbar support.

41:23.55
Seth Macey
Yeah, I mean, it's just interesting. And I think people can maybe institute some of the things we've talked about their second, third, or fourth time around on a scene, on a trip to a place they've already been, location they've already been.

41:31.54
Aaron
Yeah.

41:34.40
Seth Macey
and really start asking yourself those questions. Okay, how can I make my portfolio better? And I guess a good question for you to finish on is why is that important? Why is it important to have your portfolio even better than it is already?

41:47.35
Seth Macey
Like, why is it important to keep building a portfolio even if it's already sufficient in your opinion?

41:52.98
Aaron
Good question. i i For me, i can get caught in the patterns of comfort and the patterns of familiarity.

42:03.89
Aaron
So it's ah it's the same place. We're doing a very similar trip. I want to be consciously thinking of okay, what did I have? Were there any holes? Is there any shots that I want to fill?

42:17.35
Aaron
How do I want to spend my time the best here? Do I need more photos of bears in the water? No, put the camera down and just enjoy the moment then, right? I don't need 50 more of those shots.

42:31.10
Aaron
I think I have an A plus shot of a bear in the water straight on really close, really tight. Pretty like who, who sees grizzlies in the water all the time. Not, not many people. I have that shot.

42:45.46
Aaron
Good. I don't need, and don't think I need anything more. I mean, of course, I mean, if yeah, whatever, but I am pretty satisfied with that shot. So

42:55.94
Seth Macey
Right.

42:58.10
Aaron
Maybe I don't need the longest lens. Maybe I want more of the environment now. ah And maybe I want to fill in kind of those holes of like, oh, that's a closeup of a bear in water, but what's Alaska look like? I can't tell. This could be at a pool at the zoo.

43:12.35
Aaron
I want to see bear with the ocean or mountains behind it or whatever it may be. So thinking of that, like you said specifically, wow I came away with, you know, 10 Eagle shots on a post or a log or whatever it may be. I want, it would be nice if they're flying or I got some of those shots coming in for landing or fishing or what, whatever. whatever um Some of the...

43:33.67
Seth Macey
And waiting for those moments as opposed to reacting to them, I think.

43:37.17
Aaron
Yeah. Yeah. And same with sea life.

43:38.82
Seth Macey
Yeah.

43:40.79
Aaron
Like, okay, we got those shots, but how can we make those better? Cause I gotta tell you that so awesome sea life and awesome moments and really beautiful.

43:52.23
Aaron
What a day on the water that was, but there weren't a ton of photos. I was like, I need to edit this. And I want that. I would like that feeling of like, I can't wait to edit this photo. It's a beautiful photo versus just the excitement of like getting the photo

44:02.60
Seth Macey
Yeah.

44:06.15
Aaron
Now it's the next step. It's that next step of like, okay, we know what's here. What photo are you trying to get? Instead of blasting 500 photos, I'm going to blast a hundred, but they're going to be very calculated.

44:21.47
Seth Macey
I will say it's a bad feeling when you're calling hundreds of photos in Lightroom.

44:26.46
Aaron
No one likes that.

44:28.35
Seth Macey
No one likes that. Well, I just mean especially, i like the idea of, okay, maybe I only have 200 in here and I got rid of 30. thirty

44:38.93
Aaron
Yeah.

44:41.03
Seth Macey
I like that as opposed to I shot 10,000 frames and I've deleted 4,000 of them. 8,000 of them rather probably is more realistic. don't think I've ever shot 10,000 frames in a and go.

44:51.72
Aaron
Right. it's

44:54.31
Seth Macey
That seems aggressive, but.

44:56.23
Aaron
Because of the ease of it, it's too easy to...

45:02.13
Aaron
Again, okay, there's that. I think it was like, i mean, it's a structure. it's It looks like a the skeleton of a teepee. It's eagles on it. Got the photo.

45:14.02
Aaron
Got the photo in a couple different ways. As tight as I could. The mountains in the back. Composed it the way I wanted to. Okay. It's really like three or four photos that I really liked when I went through them and was like, I would edit that one, and that one, and that one, that one.

45:32.08
Aaron
And then there's probably a hundred where it just was like randomly clicking the same photo out of compulsion or ease or whatever it may be.

45:44.19
Aaron
And then you're like, why? why Versus like waiting or enjoying it or being patient or chatting with you or some of our other guests and just kind of waiting for a moment, which sometimes you miss.

46:01.24
Aaron
And that's part of it. Even as ready as you can possibly be. It's pretty easy to miss photos. ah But i think I think that's more of the point of like, sometimes we compulsively just keep taking the photo of,

46:14.63
Aaron
the bear or the Eagle or the moose because it's there and we're super excited and that's fun and great. But I think going into it a bit more consciously of like, is this a C plus photo?

46:28.67
Aaron
Then I don't need it. I could just experience this animal and be quiet. Is it a B plus photo? Okay. I might take it. It's an a plus photo. i'm going to give it my full attention.

46:39.42
Seth Macey
Yeah, and this is instituting mindfulness in an exciting scenario.

46:39.89
Aaron
You know,

46:42.97
Aaron
Yeah. I got say the first time around in Alaska, I don't think I was even thinking about a plus photos. It was like the excitement C plus, like whatever I see that's new to me. Awesome.

46:54.30
Aaron
And some are really good just based on, yeah, my period of chance and like it worked out and,

46:57.31
Seth Macey
Just by pure chance. Yeah.

47:03.06
Aaron
That's awesome. Great. Let's keep, keep those. That's great.

47:06.86
Seth Macey
Yeah.

47:07.03
Aaron
Uh, but there were, there were no super thought out, I guess our, our best opportunity for like a thought out shot was probably that Eagle or the bear swimming around our boat, you know, like you can figure out what you want to do, but that Eagle on that beautiful landscape at that kind of night. And that lighting was a lucky moment for us. But I think, uh, in terms of like, okay, we have some time.

47:34.02
Aaron
They seem, it seems to just be perched here. We have some time to compose a really good shot, get the lighting. Perfect. make some video, take some photos and go with it.

47:46.43
Aaron
That was more relaxed in terms of we're going to try to get a good photo here, which was fun.

47:52.65
Seth Macey
Yeah. I like that. It's slowing down in exciting moments, which is hard to do. Um, but it comes with practice.

47:58.26
Aaron
Yeah.

48:01.38
Aaron
Practice.

48:01.53
Seth Macey
So good to see you today, man.

48:03.24
Aaron
All right.

48:04.66
Seth Macey
If you'd like to be here, rating and review on Apple's podcast, Spotify is a cost-free effective way to support the show.

48:05.40
Aaron
Hey, you too.

48:09.58
Seth Macey
And we would be super grateful as always. Uh, till next time, my friend.

48:14.44
Aaron
Take care.