Episode 27
David Beckham – Episode 027 – A Photographer Podcast Interview
On this episode, Matt interviews David Beckham, while they attend and teach at SYNC. David talks about his senior focus and how he wants people to look at his work and ask, how did he light that? David talks about posting his best work, always. David gets fired up and is excited about new photographers wanting to give and meet new people and how fast they’re growing their social media following. Listen in to hear about David wanting to “be good enough” when he was first starting his business. Don’t miss what David would and wouldn’t spend 1k on. And you definitely want to hear what David thinks about his Sony equipment. David also spills about what he’s up to next and you want to be in on that!
http://www.davidbeckhamphotography.com/
Askdavid education site – on FB too: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2124880937744490/
David: [00:01] Hey, this is David Beckham and you’re listening to from nothing to profit.
Speaker 2: [00:05] Welcome to from nothing to profit of photographers podcast with Matt and Kayak where each week they talk to photographers about what is working in their business now so you can swipe those ideas and grow your business faster.
Matt: [00:22] Hey everybody. Matt here. Uh, I have a really awesome guest today, David Beckham. I’m actually here at sync in Florida and we’re actually sitting in my condo and David and I message back and forth and I was like, you got to come over and record a podcast cause if you guys don’t follow him online, you need to, his senior photography is probably some of the best in the industry. And David, we met probably I’d say five years ago, five, six years ago at sea at seniors ignite and we’ve been following each other ever since. So, um, obviously I know you for your senior photography, but share with the audience, you know, kind of what they wouldn’t know about you by following you or you know, where you’re from and stuff like that as well.
David: [01:02] I’ve got a studio that I opened in 2009 in Pickerington, Ohio, which is right outside of Columbus, Ohio. Go Bucks. I had to say that when I opened it, I was doing every kind of photography possible cause I was trying to eat. Now I do just seniors and I say Jess seniors and I do some other things, but seniors is all I market. My website, my, my, uh, social media is all seniors. I focus on a fashion styled of senior photography. So it’s kind of cutting edge as far as that goes. And I found that that separated me from the locals and allowed me to be profitable in and have a good time doing it.
Matt: [01:46] Yeah. So when I look at your photography, what I think of as I see, uh, like just good lighting. You know, I think your lighting stands out and I think that’s what pushes you above the market. You know, like you said, you know, it may be like a little edgy, I don’t even know if the word the word is edgy or not, but um, you know, definitely the lighting. So that looks, it looks modern and current. Um, and definitely doesn’t look like a mom talk type.
David: [02:09] I hate, I hate, uh, too much flash. So I developed even before the high speed sync and the cool technology they have now, I was using alien bees and using them at the lowest power possible with filters on my soft boxes so that I could control the light as low as possible so that I could shoot with a great depth of field a long time ago. And now that the new technologies out there, it makes it even easier. But I want to make all of my photos look like perfect ambient light, not like flat.
Matt: [02:45] Yeah. And I can see the flash and your photography because I see the catch light. I see some of the shadows, you know, and how you’re lighting, you’re using loupe light and stuff like that. But I wouldn’t say it looks super flashy at all.
David: [02:56] That’s my goal. I don’t, I want people to, how was he doing that? That’s what I want people to think. Yeah. And that’s my number one question from other photographers. How are you doing that? And I always say, just come to my workshop
Matt: [03:08] then I’ll show you. Right. Yeah, to the train. I can definitely see it, but it looks really, really good. All right, so let’s jump into the main part of the podcast and what I want you to do is kind of tell the audience what’s working now for you in your business. I mean we talked about how strong your lighting technique is and stuff like that, but when you think about your business or you think about your photography, what does working in now for you? I think,
David: [03:31] and I’m, and I’m saying this from my perspective because I know it works. I post great photos on all my social media. I don’t post goofy memes, I don’t post a lot of personal stuff. I post great photos and I think that helps separate me from everyone else. They don’t come to my site and see what my grandkids are doing or what my dogs do and they come to my site and see what I’m doing and who I’m photographing. I think I have a good handle on having my models cause most of the people I post are my reps. So I’ve got 40 people that I post. Mostly I post everyone, all my clients, but mostly I’m posting my reps. So it’s a very fashion forward. It’s different, it’s good lighting. It’s cool. I’ll experiment. Um, on my, especially on Instagram and, and, and my website now my story, I’ll get a little more personal, a little goofy, goofy, but on my main stuff where people are going to see my work, I want to put the best that I got out there every time.
Matt: [04:39] And so I think that’s just a really good lesson in terms of branding and general because you’re, you’re making a conscious decision to use Instagram as a, you know, as a place to brand yourself and you’re like, I’m not going to brand myself as a dog owner. I’m not going to brag on myself as the, all these other things. I’m going to brand myself as a good photographer. That Ha that photographs amazing people. And like you said, experiment and stuff like that with so that you’re putting not average stuff out there cause you’re not just posting like average session stuff. Right. I don’t do a lot of behind it.
David: [05:11] The scenes, I don’t do that kind of stuff. People can get to know me through other ways, but I’m focusing on my work as my primary primary way of attracting people.
Matt: [05:23] That’s awesome. All right, so I love that. So let’s talk, let’s kind of switch gears real quick and just talk about where you kind of see the industry going in general are not necessarily where you see it going, but like what are you fired up about in the industry right now
David: [05:37] I, I work with a lot of young photographers that I meet and I go out of my way to meet them. They speak in terms of community, the word community. They use the word community now they’re building their empires through growth, through social media in a way that I’m just learning from them. I like the way that they’re eager to give back and meet other people and do things. I think it’s fresh from the old, how do I get a $4,000 sale? How do I get a $3,000 sale? Now I understand we have to get the $3,000 sales to make a living. But I like, I like the, the new way of approaching photography. Um, I talked to people that have no clue about lighting and they’re producing great things and they’re doing it through post-processing versus getting it right in the camera. Both are equally powerful in the finished image. And, and I like, I like that.
Matt: [06:38] Yeah, no, that’s a, that’s refreshing for me. And we taught Kaia and I talk a lot on this podcast about how, where, you know, the industry holds certain things true. And I liked how you said like it can be done multiple ways in different ways because you hear some of these people that have been in the industry for a long time and they’re like, it has to be right out of the camera. It has to be, this has to be that. And I sometimes I just think that’s not necessarily true as long as it’s right for the customer.
David: [07:02] I hear people my age complaining about how you know, it’s so hard to do things with all these young people that don’t know what they’re doing. They’re putting out bad product, blah, blah, blah. I’ve had the best year ever this last year. Every single year I’ve been in business I’ve had growth because I’m not listening to the negative. I’m looking at new ways to do new things, to reach new people and if we fall behind because we’re trying to sit on what we’ve done for the last 10 years, they used to be successful. We’re going to keep falling behind.
Matt: [07:33] Yeah, and so what I, what I don’t hear a lot of people talking about in our, in our industry then I think you’re, you’re, you’re talking about that I hear a lot like in the marketing industry is when the marketing industry, we talk a lot about how you like the market dictates what is good, what’s bad, what’s successful, what’s not successful. You don’t hear a lot of people in our industry saying that successful because the market says so. They, a lot of people say, yes, that’s good. Yes, that’s bad. Not from the customer standpoint, but from like the industry in like norms. Does that make sense? Like that’s good lighting. That’s bad lighting. That’s good sales. That’s bad sales. That’s a good business model. It’s a bad business model where the truth is good in some aspects. Good lighting is dictated by the market. Like if people are buying that are not bad, lighting is dictated by the market. If if it looks bad to the consumer, then that’s bad. In a sense. It’s bad. We know as professionals what good and bad lighting is, so the light, he may not be the best example, but
David: [08:34] let me, let me get her up there. Lighting’s a great example because when kids started taking selfies 10 years ago, they took selfies. Now they all know what lighting is. They all know and they know in my studio, the window lights amazing. So if they’re going to take a Selfie, it’s not going to be in the back. It’s going to be up where they can get the gray window late. They know how to park their car in the right direction to get wind. The right lighting. Lighting matters to kids now and and good lighting in the finished product matters to them now to where 10 years ago when everybody was a photographer shooting and burning or or doing whatever they were doing, lighting didn’t. Now it does. And, and even now with the new iPhone x with their, did you just Boca out my kid or kind of person focus out of focus out a kid, you know, so they all know what Boca means. Yes. You know this, that the 16 and 17 year olds do. Their parents don’t really don’t have a clue and the photographers all do because we all think it’s funny when the ad came out, but, but they get it now. They come into my studio and they see it and they see, I’ve been mastering that for the last 10 years already. Now I’m popular now. I’m what they want because I can get that look with real photos that they can print on the wall or do whatever else they want to.
Matt: [09:59] All right. You ready for my million or a million dollar idea? You’re welcome to take this and run with it cause you actually Mike, cause here’s such a go getter. If anybody out there is listening and they still this idea, all I ask is that when you name the product you put like mh like in the, the the name of the product or something like that. So you know, I know it was from me. I don’t need any money unless you make a billion then send me 100,000 but I want to make a backdrop that attaches behind the, you’re like behind you in the car so it just stretches in front of your seats. Like just a black thing that’s just fills in your car. It’s kind of dome shape. It goes right to your shoulders. So that when they, when you do a Selfie, it can be a black or gray or white background and that you don’t see the back of the
David: [10:38] calling. You would have to be what, what’s that 17% gray or something. Exactly.
Matt: [10:42] Yeah. But I think if you could find one just like the Velcros in the car though, that that would be awesome. So anyways, that’s my, that’s my million idea, that million dollar idea I’ll never execute on. Okay. So, um, let’s jump into the lightning round real quick. I mean, we’re way ahead of time, so we’ve got plenty of time to talk about these. We don’t have to go faster. Um, so tell me again, how long have you been a full time photographer?
David: [11:03] Full time since 2009 started my first senior. I did in 2001 but I was doing other things. Okay.
Matt: [11:10] So when you think back to those that time, what, what was holding you back from being in a full time photographer?
David: [11:16] When I first started, I wanted to be good enough. So that was my goal was to be good enough. So the getting over the hump that I’m good enough was probably holding me back more than anything. Um,
Matt: [11:31] and what does that mean for you? When you say good enough? Was it like photography skills or business skills or all the above?
David: [11:38] Well, definitely, well first was the photography skills, the business skills. I’m intelligent. I took business classes as I was an engineer before I was anything and I was a youth pastor after that. So I had the people skills, I had business skills. The photography skills is what I needed to learn on. So for me it was making sure I had the photography and then figuring out how to run the business before I went full time.
Matt: [12:03] That makes sense. And I, what’s interesting to me and I, I guess just because I’m on the business side and my wife Alison is on the photography side. Like I didn’t have to go through a lot of that. Like are we good in like photography skills are good enough? I just always thought she was good enough. So I pushed her into owning her own business. But yeah, I can see why that would really hold people back. I mean, because yeah, if you, if your confidence is so important in everything in life, but especially in business,
David: [12:28] but not just confidence, I had to be able to sell it to make enough money to live off of where when I was an engineer it was easy money, you know, to make a ton of money. It was easy. But then I became a youth pastor, so I learned how to be poor and after being poor, it was easy to go into a visit, learn how to run a business and be poor for a little.
Matt: [12:46] All right. That, that makes a lot of sense. That’s hilarious. Um, I could totally see like, yeah, it’s just like a different perspective and you’re like, well, there’s not much more room down than here. You know, I’m, I’m are, I’m already eating saltine crackers. So like if my business doesn’t work out, I’m right where I am. That makes a lot of sense. Okay. So if you had $1,000 right now and so, so we’re at the sink in Florida and you’ve got $1,000 and you were going maybe to the trade show or anything, what would you buy that’s photography later? Like what do you think’s important to buy? So this is kind of advice for other people that may be, you know, spending money or what, what do you think is important for you?
David: [13:23] Marketing. Okay, I’ve got all the equipment I need and, and I could get by with good photography for, could shoot with anything. I keep hearing that as I preached Sony and these people that are afraid to, to actually try this new technology. You know, their first comment is, you know, a good photographer can shoot with anything. You must not be a good photographer if it took you Sony to be one or something like that. So for me, I don’t need the equipment. Um, the marketing is what I need to spend my money on because I know the way I marketed it brings me a new client.
Matt: [14:04] Yeah. One of the goals, right? You, you spend $1,000 on marketing and it brings you back $10,000 you know, that’s kind of, that’s the ultimate goal. So, um, people can reference it back. I’ll tell you the story. I don’t know if you heard the, the episode that we recorded with Jeff Richardson, but he actually sold all of his Nikon equipment and a switch to Sony and then like shot it for like three weeks. So like imagine this, he sells all of his Nikon equipment for pennies on the dollar switches disowning pays full price for it. She was a for a couple of weeks, couldn’t stand the digital view finder cause you know, he’s been shooting for so long, he couldn’t stand it, sold all of his sone stuff then for pennies on the dollar, went back and bought all new Nikon equipment again. And uh, he’s the only one I’ve ever heard of the actually like made the switch and just could not handle it, you know, and it’s real answers, but everybody else had, seems like they made the switch to Sony. Really loves it. So what were you shooting before, by the way? I shot cannon five d three was my yeah.
Matt: [15:14] And everybody says, I said we should not gone. So I don’t know whether, but everybody I talked to that is thinking about leaving Canada to go to Sony talks about just the miss focusing. Yeah. Well and and an icon people. It’s the same. What I’ve heard, what I like about the Sony was I’m a zero right. Cause cause you have eye auto focus. Right. And so it just nails it every tenuous and it’s to the point where I don’t, I took a three, a three step ladder, a three step step ladder everywhere. So if I wanted to change my point of view, I would just climb on that ladder to shoot down at him. Now I just have to raise it up and point it down Adam and flip the little monitor so I can see what I’m shooting. I see the little green square on there.
Matt: [15:59] I know I’m going to nail the shot. Yeah. That’s so interesting. It almost like they almost removed a whole element. Like that wasn’t that important to us. And photography, like having a sharp image was important. But it wasn’t part of the creative process. It was like something that as you’re doing the creative shot, you had to think like technically and then go back to creative and it they almost just like removed it for us. And so now I can be creative. Yeah, I can frame it anywhere. There’s no, there’s no more setting the focus and then reframing. Right. Because, because you can focus anywhere in the F in the picture it, it finds the eye, whether it’s on the corner, in the middle, whatever. So for me, there’s no comparison. Now there’s some color issues people talk about. I kind of like the Sony color.
Matt: [16:46] If there’s anything I’m going to say negative about it. It’s the, you know, the view finder, but yeah. You know, you just to finish out that matters. Not what you’re seeing before you shoot. Exactly. Um, yeah. So that was, that was a super good tangent because just to remind everybody we started...
