FroKnowsPhoto Photography Podcasts

Springsteen, Alicia Keys, Kanye, Rihanna are just a few of the musicians that Michael Zorn has had the pleasure to work with. I asked Michael to join me at the loft to discuss how he was able to go from working a day job to shooting some of the largest bands in the world. You will be surprised to find out that Michael has only been shooting professionally since the mid 2000’s. His resume would tell you otherwise but his hard work and bridge building has set him up for success. Coming fresh off another year at Bannaroo Michael shares with you the inner workings of how he has climbed the photographic ladder. He does not hold back on anything, which means there is a ton of unfiltered information to glean from our conversation. Of course we can’t forget the Photo News with Stephen who hit’s us with the week in review. Don’t forget to check out the FroKnowsPhoto limited edition Talking Bobble Head at FroKnowsPhoto.com/bobblehead. To download this weeks show or check out the video and photo news review please go to FroKnowsPhoto.com/rawtalk-91

Photography can be many things, it can be fun, it can be an obsession, it can be a release from the world and it can be a business. Chances are if you are following my Podcast and website you are looking to become a better photographer and in many cases make money with your photography. The business of photography is not easy. So many people think that being a full time photographer is the most glamours job in the world. Il be the first to tell you there is nothing better than to get paid to take photos. On the flip side I don’t spend as much time as I would like actually shooting. Business, branding and marketing is where my time as a photographer gets spent. With all of that said, I asked you guys to ask me business related questions so I can try and shed some light on the business side of photography. I answered more questions than I have on any other podcast. I also wanted to make very clear that there are no secrets to being successful. Not everyone will succeed at being a full time photographer but there is no reason why you can’t make good money at being one. All I can say is keep on shooting and fighting. If you want something bust your ass for it. Work harder then you have ever worked before. Be smart, take calculated risks but don’t over step before it’s time. A BIG THANK YOU goes out to Atoms who is releasing very soon the Nijna Star which is a $299 tool that may just change how we all record video. For the full news stories and more please go to FroKnowsPhoto.com/rawtalk-90

Before I jump into my RANT on the theme park Six Flags I want to talk about my very special and emotional interview of my father. I have wanted to sit down and interview my dad for a long time. I finally got the chance a few weeks back and wanted to save this interview for Fathers Day. This interview really means a lot to me but the hardest thing is coming up with questions to ask. Once we got past the first few minutes our conversations started to flow as if we were out to dinner and no one was recording it. You are going to get a look at things that no one really knows about me. I highly encourage you to sit down with your parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters for an interview. Ask them questions, record it, share it with your family and enjoy it. You never know when that chance will pass you by leaving you to never speak with them again. I kind of had a feeling this interview would take an emotion turn and it did. Before it ends I think many of you guys may be reaching for a box of tissues to wipe away some kind of tears. I know this is a personal interview between my dad and I but I am sure it will resonate with you all. Next up I was denied access to Six Flags Great Adventure which is a theme park in New Jersey because of my I SHOOT RAW Shirt. I was told that my shirt was inappropriate for their “family friendly” park that is on private property. I was honestly taken back with being told that I could not come into the park with my shirt. I have been wearing them for four years and have traveled the world with not one issue. When I asked what was inappropriate they would not tell me, so I chose to take out my phone to film me asking the question. I included the entire interview un-edited. I did not want to cut anything from it so you could hear and see the exact conversation. I was not happy that they would not tell me what about my shirt was inappropriate. I fully understand my shirt has double meaning but to not get an explanation is pretty infuriating. The one thing my brother was told was that my shirt could have double meaning. That may be true but you should SEE the shirts they sell in their stores that are even worse than mine. I have the images posted on the website. Now that that is out of the way we jump into Photo News which was loaded this week. We have Apple Photo News, Kickstarter projects and much much more. For more on this episode please check out FroKnowsPhoto.com/rawtalk-89

Four More Years, Four More Years……… For those who do not know, FroKnowsPhoto launched on June 1st 2010 and June 1st marked the four year anniversary of the site. Wow, I have never lasted in a job longer than a year let along four years at the same place. I owe so much to you guys out there you continue to support all of the content. I read your e mails, I see your comments and I truly appreciate all of the support. I took some time during this weeks show to discuss the future and where I think things are going for me and the site. I answered questions about the last four years as well as read some of your favorite moments. Regardless of wether you have been a reader since day one or you just found the site this week, THANK YOU. So here is a HUGE THANK YOU for your support and to the future where ever it takes FroKnowsPhoto.com. In honor of the four year anniversary I am going to give you a code worth $5 OFF your order of $19 or more at Store.froknowsphoto.com. The code is "4years". This sale will run until June 7th 2014. The code is good towards regularly priced items. So if you are trying to purchase a combo deal the code will not work. I am giving Heidi control of 40 FREE thingies to randomly give away in orders. There will be a BlackRapid Strap or two, Lens Cloths, DVDs, Winter Hats, Mouse Pads and anything else she want's to give away randomly. Be sure to leave a comment in the comment section with why you should get one of those 40 random pieces of goodness. Stephen hits us with his photo news as he has for almost a year at this point before we jump into a really interesting interview. A few weeks back when I was in Israel I sat down with Mr. Benjamin Von Wong. His work is “tremendous”, thought out and full of quality and imagination. There are very few photographers out there who can think and see the world the way Von Wong does. I think you will glean some really important information from this interview. Enjoy the show and don’t forget to subscribe on iTunes and YouTube.

What in the world is Zip Zap Zop any way? Well, I decided to sign up for an Improv class and it’s one of the opening exercises they make you do. When I say make you I mean it’s like a bootcamp to break down your walls. We spent the first few minutes of this weeks podcast talking about Improv and if you have one in your area I highly recommend you check it out and possibly sign up for a class. It really does have a photographic application as it helps you be quicker on your feet with clients and may help you speak better. Stephen gets you caught up on your photo news for the week which includes some interesting stories. We learn that Stephen Sutter’s mom just gave him the birds and the bees talk and much much more. For gear of the week we had some more Wassab batteries. I asked them to send me out some for Stephens 5D Mark III as well as for the Nikon D610’s. Like I have said in the past, I have not been a big fan personally of third party batteries but a lot of people have said they like these wassabi products. Do you use them, have you had any issues with them or do you think they work just fine? FLYING SOLO is back with 19 of your questions and one of the ones I read got to SPIN the Wheel Of FRO!!!!!! Question for you guys. If I were to take RAWtalk on the road to different cities would you purchase tickets to see us record live and be apart of the show? I was thinking I would find places where we can have an interactive show but the ticket sales would go to paying for the travel expenses. Let me know what you think with a tweet @FroKnowsPhoto or Facebook Message.

My trip to Israel was the best trip I have ever had and I don’t mean drugs. After spending eight days in Israel where I ate some amazing food, met some amazing people and saw some amazing places I wanted to share my experiences with you. First things first this was a FREE trip, I did not have to pay a thing. The organization called Vibe Israel brings bloggers from around the world in different topics to help discover and talk about Israel. I am in no way obligated to say or do anything I do not want to do. You guys know I only talk about things I truly believe in anyway. Their goal is to show people that Israel is more than just WAR and what you see on tv which is generally conflicts. Now this is something that I know because I have been there before but so many people don’t know that Israel is more than just religious jewish people. Stephen and I discuss the entire trip on this weeks show. While I was in Israel I met Photojournalist Ziv Koren who has put himself in harms way when photographing the Israeli conflicts. His work is extremely powerful, it’s sometimes hard to find words since his images are so strong. Ziv is a Canon Ambassador which means he helps test out new gear before most people even know it’s real. But beyond everything else he is one hell of a person. I truly enjoyed getting to sit with him and spend time at his office talking photography. Thee is nothing I enjoy more than talking shop with like minded people. Stephen get’s us caught up on the photo new stories from the past few weeks before we jump into the interview and wheel of fro. I want to thank Atomos for sending us out Blade back so we could use it this week. Man oh man the screen on that thing is amazing. What a major difference from the one we were using before. Thank you to RODE Microphones, AllensCamera.com and everyone who hooks us up with prizes on the Wheel Of Fro. Enjoy this weeks show, you can find all the photo news stories at FroKnowsPhoto.com/rawtalk-86

As many of you know I am in Israel from May 5th-13th and since I am out of the country I am not able to do a RAWtalk. But have no fear I still have an episode for you this week even though it’s something different. This week you get to hear me being interviewed by Photographer and founder of the Photo Brigade Mr Robert Caplin. I liked Roberts style of interview so much that I had to ask him for the audio so I could share it with you. His questions were spot on and not the typical ones I am used to hearing. He was able to pull information from me that not many other people have. I really hope you enjoy something a little different this week as I would rather give you this interview than leave you hanging with no RAWtalk. Being that this was an interview for Roberts podcast there won’t be any video but I will still post it on YouTube as well as have the MP3 available for download at FroKnowsPhoto.com/rawtalk-85 See you all very soon on the next RAWtalk.

All My Bags Are Packed: RAWtalk Episode #084 All my bags are packaged I’m read to go, I’m standing here outside your door, I’d hate to wake you up to say goodbye…… Yup my bags are packaged and I am on my way to Israel. At the time of this release I am hopefully in the air and a few hours into my 11 hour flight to Israel. Adam will be joining me there along with four other photographers from around the world. We will be in Israel thanks to an organization called Kinetis who’s goal is to try and show you that Israel is more than just WAR. Well, Israel is part WAR, part history and part tech and I will be capturing a little bit of everything when I am there. There will be a meet up at Google HQ in Tel-Aviv on Monday May 12th at 9:30 AM which is FREE to attend. All you have to do is e mail officemanager@kinetis.org.il and let them know how many people you will be attending with along with a phone number. They will e mail you back starting Thursday the 8th with all the information you will need for the meet up. Stephen brings us his photo news stories with fewer interruptions than ever, maybe. Scientist Sutter talks about setting up the DJI Phantom with the 3 axis gimbal and how he needs to have his tonsils taken out. Do you know how important it is to set up your employees for success? What I mean by this is setting them up with the tools to make their job easier which in turn saves time which saves money. See what I ordered Stephen to help him with editing. Gear, gear, gear, we have a lot of gear on the table for this week as I showcase some of the items I will be taking with me to Israel. Finally we strike hard with Flying Solo and Wheel of FRO. A BIG THANK YOU to RODE Microphones, ATOMOS, AllensCamera, Nikon for the three D610’s that we use to record each week and last but not least YOU!!!!!

This week I had Adam Elmakias into the loft to sit down for an interview. If you are not familiar with Adam he is the guy behind the original lens bracelet and a touring music photographer. He has built a huge following on Intagram and Twitter and he sat down with me to share some of his stories on how he has built his following. There was a flurry of news stories relating to concert photographers that we touched base on. I had an interview with one of them who asked a band to credit him and use his original image but they refused in an unbelievable fashion. The second was a tour manager ranting about photographers and how it’s a privilege to shoot their bands. For this weeks Gear of the Week I broke out some new bags and another flying thing to discuss. We wrapped up this week with the Wheel of FRO where Jesus Chueca got to give it a spin. Don’t forget for more detail on this weeks Photo News stories please be sure to check out FroKnowsPhoto.con/rawtalk-83 Thank you to Atomos, RODE, AllensCamera.com and YOU for your continued support.

I have not RANTED on Ken Rockwell in a long while for a few reasons. But after reading his latest so called “educational” set up for the Nikon D3300 I finally had enough. You will find out what he said during the podcast but in my option it’s poisonous and dangerous to new photographers. The information he is giving is going to leave many beginners blaming their cameras for bad pictures since he says “the Nikon D3300 can’t take a bad picture”. Keep an ear out for the rant. My new Herman Miller chair has landed and all I can say is go take a look on their website to see the types of chairs they have. As photographers a majority of our time is spent in front of the computer yet we generally have crappy chairs to sit in. We spend good money on quality gear why skimp out on the chair we sit in. Did you photograph the blood moon? I guess I kind o front on an article named The 30 Best Instagam Blood Moon Photos. You know how people say it’s not the gear is the photographer well that’s not true when you are trying to shoot the moon. I had a chance to watch the Vivian Maier documentary and I do recommend that if it’s playing in your city that you take some time to check it out. We round out the show with FLYING SOLO and a spin of the Wheel of FRO!!!! I want to thank AllensCamera.com, RODE Microphones, ATOMOS, Herman Miller and YOU.