John Pyle – Episode 004 – A Photographer Podcast Interview

TRANSCRIPTION:

Transcription was done by Temi.com which means it’s an AI generated transcript. The transcript may contain spelling, grammar and other errors, and is not a substitute for watching the video.

John: [00:01] Hey, this is John Pyle, you’re listening to from nothing to profit.

Speaker 2: [00:04] Welcome to from nothing to profit, a photographer’s podcast 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.

Kia: [00:20] Welcome everyone to from nothing to profit with Matt Hogan and Kia Bonderant. Today we are interviewing John Pile and we’re looking forward to a very entertaining and educational interview. John Pile is an award winning professional portrait model and lifestyle photographer in Columbus, Georgia and he specializes in senior portrait experiences and you will love his lifestyle work too as well. You can check him out on instagram and you’ll see a lot of great work under John d pile and we’ll talk about that later. John has been a photographer for over 10 years and I have to tell you that I’m pretty sure that he talked on the phone to my husband about starting his photography business at the very beginning. So I’ve seen John grow in the industry to be in one of the best photographers out there and he is also a licensed commercial drone pilot. And he is married to Sally Ann and has two little girls who are nine and five. Oh my gosh. They’re really grown up John.

John: [01:24] No.

Matt: [01:26] And there’s one more thing we can talk about. John, how about those bulk? How about those bulldogs? They look real good, don’t they?

John: [01:32] We look awesome but we haven’t been tested

Matt: [01:36] so we’ll see. But

John: [01:39] Lsu away. Huge. We will say, but we look great right now. I don’t mind that.

Matt: [01:44] Right, exactly. And by winning by a lot. So

John: [01:47] yeah, I’ll try.

Matt: [01:48] Awesome. Anything else you want to share with us, John, about, about yourself or we can even just jump right in and you can kind of tell us what your expertise is and what people should be watching.

John: [01:58] Yeah, maybe a little bit about my background would help kind of give an idea of where I came from because I have an Undergrad and a master’s degree in psychology field and uh, really love the human interaction and studying humans and connecting with people and came out of graduate school and work for awhile in a counseling type environment. And then I actually became a pharmaceutical rep for 10 years after working so closely with the, uh, psychiatrist where I was working after Grad school and a drug rep came in one day and was detailing its own on a medication. Then he left and I thought, well, I can do that and I can do it 10 times better. And so I was in that industry for 10 years and five years into that industry, started the photography business and started building it up. So I guess I always tell people that a lot of the human behavior and emotions and connections that I studied and learned about and in graduate school, uh, helped me along with the business and marketing side of the pharmaceutical industry. So I kind of come from those, those two worlds. So, uh, but I always think that’s a good idea to share that.

Kia: [03:13] Yeah. And you can see that in your work too, you can see the, your understanding of how people interact and catching those, those moments. So that’s, that’s pretty neat to think that you came from that side of it.

John: [03:26] Yes. Thank you. Thank you. It’s two different worlds combined to a meeting in another world, but it helps. It does help.

Matt: [03:35] Yeah. So, so kai and I have known each other for a long time, but uh, some of our listeners won’t know. So talk a little bit about like your expertise or what you’re known for and things like that.

John: [03:45] Well, when I started, uh, you know, I grew up with my dad who was a college chemistry professor, but he loved to travel so he was kind of an advanced hobbyist and one of the things that always grabbed me was after a trip, if you remember back in the eighties, everybody went to Europe. That was like the big travel boom that took place. So he dragged us to Europe and I could not wait for like a month after we got home because on Sunday afternoon we would go to church, come in and have lunch and he would pull out the big slide projector with a big screen and the carousel and the lights would go off and we got to relive that entire trip with all the images. It’s like a big surprise. It was like going on a trip all over again to be able to see those images and um, you know, that’s where my love for photography came from was the emotion that I felt from, from seeing those images.

John: [04:41] And I was the guy at Georgia at college that always had a camera with me. People would kind of joke around and be like, well, there’s pile with his camera again, but the ones that made fun of me for the ones that would be the first in line to see the pictures from a ballgame or from a weekend out in downtown Athens or at the beach or wherever. So when I started taking pictures and creating work, the only thing that really seemed to enjoy or that I enjoyed was, uh, people that wanted to get their picture, made a involved in wedding or things like that. Everybody was self conscious. They will put their hand up. Don’t take my picture, get the broad. I don’t want to be in a picture. And I was just so frustrated, like, why do you. I mean, that’s what we’re here for. This is a, an occasion. What are we doing? Why are you hiding from the camera? So when I came across seniors and people proudly or excitedly stood up to get their picture, made him want to be photographed, like the light bulb went off and that’s where I landed in the senior team and a little bit of family market.

Matt: [05:46] And so just quickly, why do you, why do you think seniors come to you? You know, I know that’s a big part of your business. So why, why do you think they come to you?

John: [05:54] Sometimes I’ll see on twitter, you know, if you’re familiar with twitter, you know, how volatile it can be. But uh, I remember a couple of years ago somebody posted up, John, if John Pyle can’t make you look good, which I thought was funny. I don’t know if that was a compliment or not. It’s probably a passive aggressive towards somebody. But I kinda, I kinda liked to think that then it’s my job to make you look and feel amazing no matter who you are. And um, I think that seniors, high school seniors, girl and guys come to me because they trust that they are gonna look and feel amazing and so do their parents. So I would say they, they know that the end result is going to be quality.

Kia: [06:38] Yeah, I love that. So John, so you’ve kind of told us your area of expertise is and the seniors and the lifestyle and that type of thing. I think also something that you’re known for is your connection to what’s really in style and fashion and I remember just watching you grow your instagram account and how you immediately were tagging and you know, the high end brands. And so I feel like that’s something that is part of your expertise as well. Would you say that’s true?

John: [07:12] Yeah. I feel like I want to stay ahead of the curve and, and current and pop culture and you know, even though I’m in the, well let’s just say I’m not a passed over 40 now

Kia: [07:25] baby.

John: [07:27] I need to stay current in that field or in that area with, with the quality brands that, that has lasted throughout. Not just pop up, but with, with quality brands like you mentioned Ralph Lauren, uh, things that have stood the test of time from, from music to the locations to hotel brands, luxury brands, things that have, have proven their worth over decades is what I like. So I want to stay dialed into those so I can bring that into my work.

Kia: [07:57] I definitely feel like you identify yourself with them really well. So tell us, John, like the story of what is working now in your business or like one of the greatest ideas you’ve had and how that’s turned into success?

John: [08:10] Honestly, right now they’re the combination of the work that I’m bringing because I’m able to own a session, get a lot done, but I am able to bring in kind of some, some lifestyle work.

John: [08:27] Thank you. Thank you. And you see a lot of it on instagram so people relate to it. But I want to, you know, I love my lifestyle work to make you either wish you were there or which you were with the person that is there in the picture. So I want to grab that attention. But I also want to make sure I get quality, sellable work that parents and grandparents are going to love all. So. So I say what works, what’s working for me right now is the combination of, of those, uh, those genres is classic portraiture combined with, with lifestyle has been really successful in selling our albums because people come and see their work, you know, a picture of them laughing with her hair hanging in their face or you know, jumping off a wall or swinging a bat may not be a 40 by 60 canvas that mom’s gonna hang up. But they also don’t want to delete that image. I mean it’s, it’s important and yeah, as part of that story. So when, when you see those images and you see the story of the whole day and how, if you have one of our albums, you know, you flip through that and it’s in there and tell that story of the work is, is great and everybody seems to be happy.

Matt: [09:42] So how do you strike that balance? I’m like, just mentally, what are you thinking through? I don’t know if you think about it in terms of percentages of, you know, pictures for mom and pictures for the senior and like how, how do you kind of strike that balance?

John: [09:56] The first thing I do is, is always like to start out with a good solid headshot with the first outfit and the person look because that’s when they’re coming straight from hair and makeup down here in Georgia and it’s hot pretty much a 50 weeks out of the year. Here we are in the early October and it’s 93 today.

Kia: [10:16] Down here.

John: [10:17] Yeah. We’re in the middle of a heat wave. So, but there’s a hurricane coming which is kind of scary. About three hours away is Destin, Florida where we do a lot of our destination sessions and uh, there’s a tropical storm coming out of a goal that hadn’t, hadn’t right there. And we’re gonna get going to get some writing from that. But uh, back to the original point that it’s always hot and a little bit humid or not a little bit, a lot humid here. So I like a good fresh makeup before the hair curl start to fall, before they start to sweat underneath the hair or skin gets mad at or gravy and loses that matte finish. So I like to start off with some good solid headshot work that I know is going to either look good at the first page of an album or is going to be the quote unquote senior picture that they’re going to hang up in the home.

Kia: [11:05] Yeah. I feel like they really want that. Now I feel like, you know, went toward more candid lifestyle and that was something that other people couldn’t create and now I feel like they want to look like they went and got senior pictures done.

John: [11:21] Yeah. I would agree with that because I’ll tell you what I attribute that to is, is kind of the boutique clothing industry. I see a lot of repetitive volume work of girls that are modeling for the boutiques and they’re just kind of standing there looking off to the side, laughing with the, with the hill or with a, with a foot on my tip toes showing off the outfit. And you say that over and over and over again. So it is nice to see a, a picture that has a point to it. Like, you know, this is made, this is my, this is my hair, this is a, this is a headshot of me always going to be in place.

Matt: [11:59] Yeah, I agree. That’s awesome. So let’s, let’s take a break right there real quick. Okay. We’ll, we’ll come back in just a second and we’ll talk about what you see is going on in the industry. I know that’s one thing you and I have always talked about is what’s going on in the industry and then we’ll do some lightening round stuff and figure out if there’s any resources and stuff you can recommend to people. So we’ll be right back.

John: [12:18] Awesome.

Kia: [12:19] Hey everyone, tell me if this sounds familiar. You look at your calendar and notice you need clients now so you do a little marketing and get some phone calls. You get busy helping those new clients. They scheduled sessions, they place orders and life is good, but once they’re done, your calendar is empty again. The reason is you didn’t have time to market while you were busy. Sometimes your business feels like a rollercoaster, and let me tell you something. It is, and believe me, you’re not alone. Photographers everywhere have the same problem, but I have some great news. Matt’s business, Allison Ragsdale, photography after years of trial and error has cracked the code. It works so well. He’s created a new class all about it. It’s called get clients now a dead simple approach to getting photography clients. Everyone add from nothing to profit is excited to share this info with you because this system helped Matt and allison book hundreds of clients this year at their studio, and the best part about this system is that it’s simple to set up and it works while you’re sleeping.

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Matt: [13:48] All right everybody. Welcome back. So we’re speaking with John Pile and I have probably the most interesting question I want to ask him and that is John, what are you fired about up in the industry right now or what have you seen in the industry that you’re really paying attention to?

John: [14:03] We mentioned they actually call, you mentioned a little bit of it earlier and that is the kind of the, the return of good solid portrait work, um, because a lot of people are quote unquote photographers and boutiques are pumping out a iphone, pictures of models wearing their clothes over and over and over again with the same pose is looking to the side laughing, fingertips on the sun, hat on with the toe kick up on the side, mark. All those kind of Tan lifestyle, they are forced fun. I like to call them a fourth fun shots. The volume of that actually helps because when you see a good, beautiful portrait come through on a, on a feed or a website or social media account, uh, it really stands out. So I think bringing that yes, yes. I think bringing that back and being able to create that at a high end quality level mixed in with some lifestyle work is what’s, uh, what’s making everybody happy because you gotta remember you’re the senior portrait.

John: [15:12] Morgan is Andrew is interesting because you’re, you’re satisfying several clients. A, you’re satisfying dad who’s paying, and again, I’m speaking from stereotypical, but dad, who’s paying mom who wants to see sweet baby girl and senior who is trying to break free, you know, she’s, this is her senior year. That’s a big deal. These images, um, she’s going to be posting and sharing maybe throughout her senior year. You want them to have, uh, some, some link to him that...