0:01 sometime you don't know if what's real
0:04 or what's not sometime it's a bit
0:07 overwhelming social media how do we make
0:09 ourselves unique I try to stay
0:11 consistent I guess how do you beat the
0:12 competition there's enough work for
0:14 anyone so instead of like comparing
0:16 yourself with other maybe is better even
0:19 if you help them do you have any advice
0:22 or strategies that can put you in a
0:23 place where you you try and have a
0:26 steady stream of income or steady stream
0:28 of clients that that you're working with
0:30 I think you need to
0:32 that's a great tip what do you think the
0:34 photograph the future of a photographer
0:43 but welcome to the mood podcast where
0:45 each week we bring you inspiring
0:48 conversations with top artists and
0:50 creative minds from various Fields
0:53 exploring their personalities purposes
0:57 processes and philosophies whether you a
0:59 seasoned photographer an aspiring artist
1:02 or simply someone who just loves to
1:04 learn and be inspired this podcast is
1:07 certainly for you I'm your host Matt
1:09 Jacob and thank you for joining me in today's
1:10 today's
1:13 conversation and today our guest is
1:15 Kevin mirck a Travel Photographer who
1:18 has captured wonderful images from some
1:20 of the most incredible destinations
1:23 around the world Kevin's work is
1:26 characterized by its vibrant colors
1:28 dramatic compositions and a unique
1:30 ability to evoke a sense of adventure
1:34 and wonder in this episode we dive into
1:38 his journey as a photographer exploring
1:40 what first inspired him to pick up a
1:42 camera and how the online Persona of at
1:46 wonders Sky came to life Kevin shares
1:48 his creative process from scouting
1:51 locations to capturing the perfect shot
1:54 and we discuss the philosophy and vision
1:57 behind his work how he uses storytelling
1:59 to convey emotions and messages through
2:01 his images
2:03 we also touch on the challenges of
2:05 travel photography and the industry as a
2:09 whole the evolution of his style and the
2:11 impact of social media on his growth as
2:15 an artist Kevin offers valuable advice
2:17 for aspiring photographers on balancing
2:19 content creation for social media with
2:22 staying true to their artistic Vision
2:24 additionally we explore Kevin's thoughts
2:27 on adventure and sustainability and the
2:29 responsibility that photographers might
2:31 have in promoting in responsible travel
2:35 and conservation so now I bring you Kevin
2:35 Kevin [Music]
2:47 Mick Kevin Mick welcome to the moo
2:49 podcast thank you for having me yeah
2:51 it's great to have you and um great to
2:54 have a fellow barley resident with us so
2:57 um I wanted to start with um before we
2:59 kind of get on to kind of who you are
3:02 and what you do um one thing I I've seen
3:04 you talk about is how photography is a
3:07 window to the world can you explain that
3:10 a little bit more in terms of your your
3:13 Insight yeah so photography window to the
3:14 the
3:16 world window to the
3:19 soul um I see it like
3:23 um it's a way to
3:27 express to show the world to people that
3:30 maybe don't will not go plac don't
3:33 travel how would they know if there's no
3:37 people like you or me that will I guess
3:39 document photography for me is more like
3:42 a like a documentary show different
3:45 angles different uh
3:48 perspective and
3:51 um I see it also like a
3:54 superow like uh it's time travel you
3:57 freeze a moment and people can see it in
4:00 200 years and then remember oh this guy
4:02 took this picture and that that's what
4:05 happened at this time if we're not here
4:07 to document then it's almost like it
4:09 never happened but it's like it's a
4:12 window for for people very much and it's
4:14 a window that is very subjective right
4:17 it depends on your perception as a
4:18 photographer and we'll talk about this a
4:20 little bit later about what makes you
4:22 different and what makes photographers
4:25 different from others but you choose to
4:28 document landscape cultures why why are
4:30 those kind of two main main genres
4:32 important to you in terms of your
4:33 perception of the
4:38 world um I guess because it's how my
4:43 journey started as a photographer first
4:46 with landscape because of uh traveling
4:48 getting out of the comfort zone out of
4:53 the country learn English and uh I guess
4:57 the the more accessible first uh
5:01 approach to photography was landscape
5:04 and culture I guess it comes with uh
5:08 travel you experience different um
5:09 people different way of living from
5:12 other people maybe you might not
5:14 understand and you want you want to understand
5:16 understand
5:18 so you try
5:22 to capture it you try to get their points
5:24 points
5:27 um yeah I guess that's
5:30 uh that's it I'm we're living in a place
5:32 that is full of culture and Landscape
5:34 right was that something that Drew you
5:37 to Barley initially I guess not
5:41 mainly um I guess with most of the
5:42 people here they don't know how they
5:46 ended up here yeah so it became one of
5:49 the reason that made me stay I guess
5:51 maybe not the reason that made me like
5:53 come here in the first place but then
5:56 discoring the island the culture all the
5:58 variety of landscape you can get here
6:02 you can get within one hour you have a a
6:04 luxuriant jungle and then you have a
6:06 freezing volcano then you have like
6:09 black sand beach white s like you can
6:11 get everything here and like it's
6:15 all like compact kind of
6:18 so and yeah culture definitely is one of
6:21 the main thing that made me stay yeah I
6:23 think par is
6:27 is is a microcosm of Indonesia in in
6:29 general in terms of the diversity the
6:32 can get here it's predominant it has a
6:34 predominant culture but um you know
6:36 certainly the landscape is is diverse
6:38 like you said within an hour scooter
6:40 ride right it's you can get pretty much
6:46 anything you want AP from snow yeah not
6:49 yet maybe it will come yeah then you
6:50 have Bali but you have also so many
6:52 different island in Indonesia like you
6:55 can just fly one hour and then it's it
6:57 can be like similar but completely
7:00 different also and different
7:02 still like rich in culture but different
7:05 culture than here W Sky tell me about
7:11 name uh it came
7:17 from uh two two things so Wonder came
7:20 from wonderlust like Spirit of Adventure
7:22 when I started traveling it was like 10
7:23 years ago
7:26 now and Sky came from [Music]
7:28 [Music]
7:32 um in my dreams I'm always flying I
7:34 ended up flying like um I I grew up with
7:37 Dragon Ball Z with what sorry Dragon
7:40 Ball Z Dragon Ball Z anime oh I I don't
7:41 know that this
7:45 guyu ah okay right so they are flying
7:48 everywhere and like it's it's like a
7:50 dream like if I would have to pick one
7:54 super power I would be like flying so I
7:57 just combined the two World Wonder sky
7:59 and then I put Double Y because the
8:01 other one was
8:05 taken and you named your dog Sky who's
8:08 yeah and then I just uh switch Sky
8:11 Wonder that's your style I mean we're
8:13 going to get on to that in a minute I'm
8:15 interested to know how you cultivated
8:17 that style and why it might be important
8:19 but let's rewind a little bit about your
8:22 beginnings and kind of the point in your
8:25 life where you felt photography was kind
8:27 of your calling I know travel was a big
8:29 part of it but tell us your introduction
8:32 into photography how that all all became
8:35 so photography uh it it's been a huge
8:39 part of my life in even before I I
8:42 started like when I was uh younger or
8:44 like I was looking at the National
8:47 Geographic magazine or any travel
8:51 magazine I was always like in oh like
8:53 wow like whoever took that picture is
8:57 like master and I always wanted to be
9:02 that person that can do the same but
9:07 never put uh like purpose or time to
9:12 pursue this when I was living in France
9:15 and then
9:20 with um traveling this came more
9:22 naturally I
9:24 guess traveling okay pick up a camera
9:27 and then just shoot whatever even if
9:29 first it was just shooting automatic
9:33 everything yeah and
9:36 um as Obie he came with the the travel
9:38 the travel brought the photography into
9:43 my life but as a Obie and then at one
9:47 point in my life uh was after the
9:50 wedding of uh my best friend in Lebanon
9:54 I I basically uh spent all my money I
9:56 spent all my money and I was living in
9:59 Australia at that time and doing any
10:00 kind of
10:03 work and uh it was fun it was great
10:07 lifestyle but uh not doing something uh
10:11 fulfilling not something uh I
10:14 like just for the sake of
10:17 money so on my way back there I was in
10:20 the Philippines and uh kind of
10:24 like backpacking but like uh hardcore
10:26 because no money
10:29 left and then I I was in the OT room and
10:31 I was thinking
10:35 like what do I like to do I like to take
10:38 pictures and maybe there's a way to make
10:40 it that people would pay me for it and
10:44 this was what year that was
10:49 in 2018 or 19 okay so then I I was in
10:52 the in the hotel room and I was uh on
10:54 Facebook still using Facebook Facebook
10:55 at that
10:58 time and you have a lot of um Facebook
11:02 groups French in Sydney French in
11:05 anywhere so I just put a message on this
11:08 group French in Sydney just with a few
11:10 picture I took and saying okay this is
11:13 what I do this is what I can do for you
11:16 and I didn't expect so many
11:19 answers from people that's awesome so
11:22 that's how I got the first job there and
11:26 then I I shifted uh slowly from all
11:29 those uh jobs like uh Construction
11:31 removalist everything flyers in little
11:35 box anything slowly shifting to more photography
11:36 photography
11:40 walk and then one year later I moved here
11:41 here
11:44 and did the
11:47 same how has the we talked about travel
11:50 I resonate with that because I was a
11:52 traveler before I was photographer and
11:55 it just just kind of came with the
11:59 territory how has travel itself imp
12:02 impacted your your view on life and your
12:04 kind of outlook on how you want to
12:06 express yourself uh I guess the main
12:09 thing first is that I learn
12:11 English like in high school we learn
12:14 English in French but I think the high
12:16 school system there in the school system
12:20 is not the best for for languages so I
12:22 was really average like below average in
12:25 English and then I moved to Australia
12:27 and three months later I was already
12:28 kind of
12:30 fluent like just like that like all
12:31 those years in
12:34 school you don't get anywhere you just
12:36 move abroad you stick with English
12:38 people for a few months and that's it
12:41 then you dream in English and then you sort
12:42 sort
12:46 it so yeah I guess uh travel impacted
12:50 with um yeah with English first and then just
12:52 just
12:55 like discovering and learning all those
12:57 new culture because you don't know about
13:01 it unless you go and see for yourself so
13:06 yeah and you having a kind of mixed
13:07 mixed Origins right you're half
13:10 madagascan half French they speak French
13:13 in Madagascar right so there's um a lot
13:16 speak French yeah like okay either good
13:19 French or broken French but still yeah
13:20 tell me a little bit about Madagascar I
13:22 haven't been love to
13:25 goar tell me about how kind of your
13:28 roots there impact so my roots there is
13:32 they coming from my mom and
13:36 um it's a beautiful and wild huge
13:40 island lot to discover there
13:42 uh my parents actually now they live
13:45 there like half a year pretty much so I
13:47 try to go every
13:49 year and I was living there for one year
13:51 when I was younger
13:54 also and
13:57 um there and also there's a French
13:59 island one hour from there
14:01 it's part of France but it's not in
14:04 France it's called myot so I was living
14:08 there for eight years so I guess I I had
14:10 this kind of
14:13 travel uh lifestyle already like from
14:17 ages ago how does it influence do you
14:20 think your roots in Madagascar yeah
14:23 influence yeah how because when I was
14:27 younger I was uh leaving there and
14:29 experienc experiencing already like
14:32 different culture than W than Western
14:36 and as I grew up then I guess I wanted
14:40 to see more of it like Madagascar was
14:42 kind of like um something I new already
14:45 so something else like Asia Australia
14:48 and still need to go to South America
14:51 but yeah made me want
14:53 to seek
14:56 more of different culture everywhere and
14:58 did you have Inspirations at that time
14:59 you know when you started to travel and
15:01 you started to kind of pick up a camera
15:04 with traveling was were there people
15:05 that you looked up to in that space and
15:08 were kind of inspired by or did you just
15:10 kind of focus on your own thing on your
15:13 own style and creating that uh no
15:15 definitely there were some some people
15:19 uh I think yeah on Instagram that I was
15:21 looking looking up to like mostly in the
15:25 travel first and then uh more in the
15:27 like culture like I love what you do for
15:30 example like
15:35 amazing and um maybe not only people but
15:39 also places like there's like people
15:41 based in some places and then like
15:45 people based in Iceland or like in uh
15:49 Africa or Australia that they made me
15:51 like that's how I went to Australia in
15:55 the first place because of um people
15:59 there and also because of uh movie Warf
16:02 Creek oh right okay
16:04 okay
16:06 interesting um tell me a little bit like as
16:07 as
16:11 you're kind of creating your way in the
16:13 photography World especially with the
16:14 Aesthetics and style and we talked about
16:17 uniqueness earlier like when you're
16:21 trying to be I guess competitive whether
16:23 directly or indirectly with other other
16:24 photographers and you're trying to pitch
16:27 for jobs and it all becomes it starts to
16:30 become quite overwhelm ing sometimes how
16:33 do you think that us as photographers
16:36 are able to stand out from the crowd you
16:37 know there more photographers than
16:39 there've ever been photographers than
16:41 there have ever been before right how do
16:43 we how do we do that how do we make
16:45 ourselves unique how do we make our work
16:47 unique we're using the same gear most of
16:49 the time we're using the same software
16:51 most of the time how do we what's the
16:55 secret recipe uh it's definitely a um
16:59 interesting era now I guess mostly post
17:02 covid everyone just popped up from
17:04 nowhere and people can take amazing
17:07 picture now even with the phone you know
17:10 and but how you stand out I
17:15 think I think you need to stick to to
17:17 your style develop your
17:20 style and uh stay true to it don't try
17:22 to like because there's new people out
17:25 there that doing something different and
17:28 maybe you think you have to do something
17:30 similar to to success I think you need
17:32 to keep your own
17:36 um your own style your own recipe and
17:41 improve it without trying to compete
17:45 or to um conform I
17:49 guess how do we do that how do we do
17:52 that that's a good question how did you
17:55 how did you create your style I mean
17:59 your style is is unique it's not I mean
18:01 it's I it's I've talk about this all the
18:02 time I think it's impossible to be
18:04 original these days but it's Unique you
18:08 can still find your little unique box
18:11 right yeah was that by accident or did
18:14 you think okay but this is this is what
18:16 I want to create this is going to be my
18:19 style throughout I think it was a little
18:22 bit by uh by accident and I didn't
18:25 notice it myself until people told me
18:28 about it like for example I would
18:29 sometime get
18:32 posted in one places because people
18:33 share your stuff all the time even
18:36 sometime they don't ask but and then
18:39 people would send it to me and say oh I
18:42 knew it was you even before I check the
18:45 tag right and like when you get that a
18:48 few times first I guess because of
18:51 impostor syndrome thing you you don't
18:54 think like you're good enough or
18:56 something or you don't think you stand
19:00 out but
19:03 when then a few people show it to you
19:06 then you start to believe it and to have
19:08 more confidence
19:10 and so I don't know what it's the secret
19:14 uh thing in my uh in my style but I try
19:17 to stay consistent I guess hi everyone
19:19 just a really quick break in the podcast
19:21 to tell you about something that's been
19:24 a GameChanger for my own work you know
19:27 I'm all about creating content that's
19:29 impactful and Visually stunning and a
19:32 big part of that is thanks to Art list I
19:34 use art list for all the dramatic
19:36 cinematic music you see in the trailers
19:38 and that brings all my other videos to
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19:45 is honestly a lifesaver whether you're a
19:47 filmmaker content creator or
19:49 photographer art list has everything you
19:52 need to take your projects to the next
19:54 level what I love most about art list
19:56 though is how easy it makes finding the
19:59 perfect asset I'm super lazy and their
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20:03 quality of their music and footage is
20:06 just topnotch doesn't matter if you're
20:08 working on a big project or just
20:10 something small art list certainly has
20:12 the range and the quality to make your
20:14 work really stand out plus everything is
20:17 ryf free so you can use it however you
20:19 like without worrying about the legal
20:21 stuff and because I believe in sharing
20:23 the good stuff here's a little perk for
20:26 you use the link in the description to
20:28 sign up for an annual plan and you will
20:30 get two extra months free it's a great
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20:35 flowing even longer all right let's get
20:36 back to the episode I think I can tell
20:39 you the secret but having spoken to many
20:42 many people in your your position is
20:44 practice you know the more you do it the
20:47 more you kind of learn your own style
20:49 right that's true you there's million
20:51 different Avenues you can go down but
20:53 you can only find those Avenues if you
20:54 actually walk down them right oh no that
20:56 doesn't work come back oh no that
20:57 doesn't work oh I don't really like that
21:00 and then you end up finding what you
21:01 like and what you're good at and then
21:03 what you can be recognized for which I
21:06 think is is super important something
21:08 else that I really wanted to ask you
21:12 about that I saw on some of your work is
21:15 how you can have an impact with your
21:17 photography and you talked about
21:20 sustainability and working with brands
21:23 that don't promote you know negative
21:26 impacts on the climate environment on
21:30 animals which I I'm in full support for
21:32 can you elaborate a little bit more as
21:35 to why and how if that's been quite
21:37 successful for you does that limit the
21:39 people that you can work with or do you
21:41 find that you know a lot of brands are
21:43 open to that kind of
21:46 philosophy uh yes I think it limits a
21:51 little bit but uh there's still Brands
21:52 out there
21:55 that that will priortize photographer
21:58 like us that want to make an impact but
22:02 it's to find it like as in less and less
22:04 so or do you think that it's growing a
22:07 little bit there's more um I think it's
22:09 growing it's better it's more than in
22:12 the past for sure like before you you
22:14 would never hear about those Brands and
22:16 now there's more and more that recycling
22:19 things to make new to make new
22:23 um uh new products like uh even like
22:27 for K like this this brand calii calii
22:31 dogware is all from uh recycle stuff the
22:34 that's that's the main um how do you say
22:38 a modu or or business model model yeah
22:42 yeah so this kind of brand before I
22:44 think it was really really small you
22:46 would never heard about it and now I
22:48 guess we start to care more about the
22:50 the planet now I hope it's not just a
22:52 trend and you know I don't think it's
22:54 even a trend yet I mean I wish it was I
22:57 don't think it's as trendy as a lot of
22:59 other things but um
23:01 you know I wish I wish more people would
23:03 care more people would certainly
23:06 photographers I think a lot of artists
23:09 think they're excluded from having to
23:12 have any responsibility in in that sense
23:15 but you know we we could certainly do
23:18 more in the industry I I don't see many people
23:20 people
23:23 doing work with brands that have share
23:27 the same philosophies and same brand
23:29 values what I see
23:33 is a selfish nature in what people want
23:36 to get with likes and follows and and
23:39 money right and I get it because people
23:41 most photographers most filmmakers are
23:43 self-employed right they don't know when
23:45 the next job's coming so they need to
23:49 pay the bills etc etc but I think if if
23:53 we're able to Showcase a culture or a
23:55 landscape like you said window to the
23:57 world right if we can if we're able to
23:59 do that then I don't see why we shouldn't
24:00 shouldn't
24:04 be showing a window to these more
24:06 important like a voice for them
24:10 absolutely yeah uh but the brands have
24:12 to be responsible as well that there
24:13 aren't enough if there aren't enough
24:16 Brands to be wanting to to do that kind
24:20 of work as well having the budget then
24:21 what can we do right we have to do our
24:24 own personal stuff which we don't get
24:26 paid for and and then sometimes the
24:28 brands they just pretend they just just
24:31 put this label but then if you do some
24:33 digging then you realize that yeah they
24:36 don't it's just a quot and it's just for
24:38 sure right just for status so it's OD
24:41 also even for us when you start working
24:42 with someone that how do you know if
24:45 it's legit you know are there any
24:47 specific causes that you feel very
24:50 strongly about that you want to do more work
24:51 work
24:55 in uh I think here for the the local
24:57 issue I guess it would be the plastic
25:00 yeah like uh I would really want to like
25:03 uh maybe reach out to like uh suy watch
25:05 or something and help them with any
25:06 project they have
25:08 have
25:13 um then in the past I was uh working
25:16 helping uh rescue
25:21 2000 rescue 2000 charity an NGO NGO yeah
25:25 so I put a little pause to that because
25:27 I was doing it for like one year trade
25:29 every month that I put add a little
25:31 break but I think I'm ready like to get
25:33 back to it and help again help the
25:36 island again anyway to to give back to
25:39 the this island is good yeah it gives so
25:41 much we just take take take all the time
25:45 right um especially now like we see this
25:48 over developing is like insane oh my
25:51 goodness it's it seems to be getting
25:53 worse daily and I don't want that to put
25:55 people off from coming to Barley but I
25:57 also do want to put people off from
25:59 coming to Barley
26:02 but you know that it's so it's so um
26:04 it's so focused on you know essentially
26:07 the changu area that it's just it's
26:09 insane you go out on the road any day
26:11 and it's just seems to be more and more
26:12 construction and more and more Road
26:16 works and more and more cues but you go
26:18 20 minutes outside to the North or to
26:20 the West something even 10 minutes
26:22 you're just in Paradise right it's so
26:25 weird um but yeah the barley gives so
26:30 much and um it I think it's it's so I
26:32 mean even if it's a selfish Endeavor to
26:35 to give back because it is like we feel
26:37 more fulfilled feel like we have a
26:39 purpose if we just give something back
26:41 whether it's just helping a local family
26:44 or rescuing 20 dogs or whatever it might
26:49 be right um I think if we can find that
26:50 type of purpose in our hearts it can
26:53 help just so much but in the photography
26:56 aspect like I mean I don't do enough
26:58 either I'd like like to do a lot lot
26:59 more when it comes to photography
27:02 because it's so powerful yeah and when
27:04 we start to grow on social media and we
27:07 have more eyes on our work then I mean
27:08 I'm going to put this question to you
27:11 with someone who's has over 50,000
27:13 followers on his Instagram do you think
27:16 there's a point where the responsibility
27:19 now shifts like okay I've got a lot of
27:22 people looking at my work that means now
27:26 I have an element of influence where I
27:28 can essentially shape or
27:30 affect people's opinions and awareness
27:33 and education on matters that I believe
27:36 in do you think that's fair to say for
27:39 people have started to get larger social
27:44 followings um I think it's like it's not
27:49 uh it shouldn't be mandatory for them
27:52 but they should uh have this this
27:55 purpose on their own like if they have
27:58 many people looking up to them and
28:00 following them it could be even kids you
28:04 don't know like uh the the F the future
28:08 generation so you you don't want to I
28:12 mean I think you have a a purpose or
28:16 like to show the good example yeah it's almost
28:18 almost
28:21 like celebrities oh take a football
28:23 player right you know the a lot of
28:24 people are divided you know once you
28:26 become a famous football player and you
28:28 get paid Millions do you have a
28:31 responsibility to be a a good role model
28:33 you know do you have a responsibility to
28:36 behave well and show a good example to
28:38 the younger
28:41 generation it's difficult it's I
28:44 understand kind of both sides but in the
28:47 footballers example they got into
28:49 football just because they loved
28:51 football right they they didn't get into
28:54 football I mean get 99.9% of the time
28:56 they didn't get into football to be
28:58 famous well yeah they are probably a lot
29:00 of them kind of like that side of it and
29:03 the money of course but they love the
29:06 football I don't think we can say that
29:08 about photographers or filmmakers and
29:11 social media I don't I think most
29:14 photographers film me included use
29:15 social media and put a lot of effort
29:18 into growing on social media because
29:20 they either want to be social media
29:21 famous they want that validation that
29:24 dope mean like oh people love me right
29:26 get likes and follows or they want to
29:29 make money right they want get exposure
29:31 from Brands and and things like that so
29:35 I don't think they're kind of the same
29:38 um so therefore I think that if you are
29:41 going into the social media world with
29:44 the purpose of getting likes and follows
29:48 and people and an audience then that
29:51 intent is very very different you your
29:53 intention is to get an audience
29:55 therefore once you get that audience for
29:59 me it should be integral that you have a
30:03 purpose and a responsibility to to do
30:06 something good right to either mean why
30:08 education's good education inspiration
30:10 kind of comes with the territory
30:11 hopefully once you get an audience but
30:14 like offer something back like try and
30:16 you know try and do something good with
30:18 that audience that you've worked so hard
30:20 to Garner right I don't know what you
30:22 think about that if you agree with you I
30:23 agree yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
30:26 definitely do have you felt that in your
30:29 own in your with your own work and with
30:31 your own social
30:42 um I try to stay and be genuine as
30:43 possible not
30:46 to to show someone I'm
30:49 not I try to say the same I'm in the
30:52 daily life like on my uh social media
30:54 sometime it's a bit overwhelming social
30:56 media for
31:00 sure but uh um I get that I agree that
31:04 we have a purpose to educate and
31:08 document and uh try to do the good the
31:10 the right thing I guess yeah that's why
31:11 I have an issue with
31:14 influences ah yeah don't mind influences
31:16 but to influence for the right things
31:17 when the people call me influencer I'm
31:19 like no I'm not I'm photographer
31:22 different yeah yeah people come here on
31:23 influencer holidays right where they
31:26 just go to the to the main spots around
31:28 barley just to get their you know the
31:31 the stupid influencer shot of behind
31:33 looking up and with a waterfall behind
31:35 or something ridiculous like that if
31:37 they have that audience use it for good
31:40 I'm not saying do everything for a good
31:42 cause but just like if you have an
31:45 audience then like do some good do do
31:47 something useful for it don't just do
31:49 the next thing the next thing just for
31:51 more likes and more followers yeah yeah
31:53 um anyway I digress I've go on the
31:56 social media topic
31:58 again talk to me about business business
32:00 of Photography cuz I'm as someone who's
32:03 who doesn't do photography fulltime and
32:06 kind of pursue that the business side of
32:07 working with Brands and doing
32:09 photography projects stuff tell me a
32:12 little bit about that world and how you
32:15 balance the personal the personal art
32:20 with the commercial pressures difficult
32:23 that's uh that's difficult but I guess
32:25 like everything you need the balance
32:28 like I found out like every time you ask
32:30 yourself some question about uh should I
32:33 do more of this or less of that it's all
32:34 about uh the balance for everything
32:37 everything in life is the balance so for
32:40 commercial and personal is the the same
32:44 sometimes you get a lot of similar job
32:47 that they don't fulfill you like it's
32:50 not something you enjoy
32:52 doing could be like anything like
32:54 shooting couples
32:59 or uh like a uh I don't know like some
33:02 sometime just basic real estate thing
33:05 like you don't feel you can add your
33:11 creative um touch M it can be uh yeah it can
33:12 can
33:16 be a bit uh stressful because you feel a
33:19 bit uh caged yeah
33:21 so but then at the end of the day you
33:24 have to eat
33:30 so but um if you like um you love your
33:32 craft and you love
33:36 um getting out there and you can find
33:38 project that will uh align with you with
33:41 your values and uh with your art it's
33:44 hard to get but it's possible yeah yeah
33:48 or you can even do like uh just project
33:52 like with no money uh intent just to be
33:55 creative do you have any advice or
33:58 strategies that can
34:00 can put you in a place where you you try
34:03 and have like a steady stream of income
34:05 or steady stream of clients that that
34:07 you're working with especially if you
34:10 can be a little bit selective
34:12 those I guess for those it's the one you
34:17 have to seek those clients because it's
34:19 rare that they those client will come to
34:21 you you have to get out there and show
34:25 your work and have a portfolio and
34:28 send 100 thousand of emails
34:31 which I'm really bad at it but
34:34 yeah um I guess the best way is to get
34:36 out there and uh show your
34:39 work uh show you the work you're proud
34:42 of mostly like uh your favorite project
34:46 your favorite pictures every video or
34:49 anything how do you beat the competition
34:52 or do you not worry about that
34:55 um it's an interesting
34:58 question um especially now with all the
35:01 the new the new competition
35:06 but I guess I was a bit uh scared and
35:09 um feeling
35:12 threatened by that before but with time
35:16 I understood that uh there's no really
35:18 competition like
35:23 um I see it more as like uh we all doing
35:26 something we love and there's enough
35:28 work for anyone so instead of like
35:30 comparing yourself with other and try to
35:33 compete and try to beat them and maybe
35:35 it's better even if you help them like
35:38 uh I guess you me we have a lot of
35:41 creative friend as well if there's
35:44 something sometimes you try to get all
35:45 the jobs even if you it's not your
35:48 expertise you will try to do it but
35:50 sometime it's better maybe to give it to
35:53 someone else like oh maybe he's better
35:56 fitted to do this job or she's better
35:58 and then uh maybe even we can work on it
36:01 together you know yeah so so I try not
36:04 to see too much the competition now and
36:07 then I I feel better like bet yeah
36:09 that's liberating yeah cuz if you think
36:11 too much then you you will get in a
36:14 spiral and it's not good that that
36:15 that's really important for us to
36:17 remember and I think
36:20 that there is enough work to go around
36:22 there's there's enough abundance in this
36:24 life for people to to take their piece
36:27 of the pie on so even with so many
36:30 photographers these days it's um it's
36:32 still out there still B there're still
36:34 brands with budgets right and if it's
36:37 not this one then is the next one it's
36:39 fine yeah say that to the guy who's
36:48 account tell me about your attitude to
36:51 storytelling with images it's a
36:54 very the difficult subject because it's
36:58 it's not very clearcut every has their
36:59 own way of doing it and with still
37:03 images it's even more difficult right we
37:04 kind I want to focus on still images
37:06 more than than films
37:10 but how do you tell
37:13 stories how do you tell stories so for
37:15 me uh personally I try to [Music]
37:16 [Music] show
37:18 show
37:22 um different point of view different
37:24 angles that's why I like different using
37:26 different lenses because you get a
37:29 closeup you you get a wide angle you get
37:32 a drone shot it's the same story but
37:35 different angles so I guess they give a
37:38 bit of a perspective for
37:42 the uh The Watcher the the one seeing
37:44 the picture and then
37:47 in I guess with Instagram when you do
37:50 Carousel is easier to tell a story
37:53 because you just slide and then you see
37:55 from the same even like I don't know I
37:58 can get you portrait and then closeup of
38:01 you with the glass maybe of your not not
38:03 pad and then they know pretty much what
38:05 we talking about
38:08 about
38:10 um yeah I guess that's what I do the
38:12 most is showing different angles and
38:16 different uh perspective and I guess the
38:17 caption as
38:23 well like World story like uh for
38:27 culture for example um ceremony then you
38:29 want to to tell
38:32 people not only show the picture but say
38:34 what is it about you know like a
38:35 galungan festival or anything like that coming
38:37 coming
38:40 soon yeah I guess uh any tools you have
38:42 to tell the story
38:44 camera uh
38:48 words uh voice if you want to add voice
38:51 anything yeah yeah a lot of it is
38:55 technical isn't it um portrait is a
38:56 little bit different because you can
38:59 help with the person and if you if
39:01 you're into directing or posing then you
39:03 can help with the expression but yeah I
39:05 think I love your take on the different
39:08 angles um and how to because I love
39:10 doing environmental like an
39:12 environmental angle and a closeup as
39:14 well and why I like flying the Drone you
39:16 know people don't think portraits and
39:18 drone but I think it's really important
39:20 to provide context yeah and this is
39:23 where it's it's a double-edged sword
39:26 with you talk about carousels I love
39:29 showing series of images because for me
39:31 that tells a story I think one image
39:33 can't really tell a story it's only like
39:34 you can provide context especially if
39:37 it's an environmental shot you can you
39:40 can get other things in the frame right
39:42 but you can tell us story I think that
39:46 gets thrown around way too much but when
39:47 it comes to series of images like
39:50 Instagram have screwed us again because
39:52 it's great that we have Carousel option
39:53 and that we're kind of forced into doing
39:55 carousels no one really posts one image anymore
39:57 anymore
39:59 but that means we got to we got to take
40:02 like five times as many photos and edit
40:03 five times as many photos just for one
40:07 post right but um yeah first of all
40:08 problem I
40:11 guess how do you see um how do you see
40:15 us moving forward in in the photography
40:16 world and what do you think the
40:19 photograph the future of a photographer
40:23 looks like over the next five to 10
40:26 years I guess we have
40:29 to to give a definition about
40:34 photography because now it's it's um
40:38 it's evolving a lot with the AI but it's
40:40 like the question do you consider AI
40:44 photography or is it just art
40:47 like for me I guess it's more art for
40:51 the AI because it takes away a bit
40:55 the the process of
40:58 uh to making a picture
41:00 like it takes away the the trill
41:02 trill
41:06 so I think photography will still evolve
41:10 and uh we still be there because uh
41:14 because we need uh we need photograph to
41:17 to show people in Thousand Years like
41:20 how it was in our
41:22 generation but
41:27 um I guess with the AI coming the future
41:30 I'm not sure
41:32 but I guess it's needs to be a balance
41:36 again like you can use AI for small
41:39 things like removing uh something on the
41:41 picture removing people I think it's
41:44 fine but when you change completely the
41:47 the photograph for example
41:51 you like me I love the process on
41:53 creating a picture there's a full story
41:56 be a picture usually people will scroll
41:58 on social or go on your website see the
42:01 picture say wow nice picture
42:03 but they don't know the
42:07 process like oh I woke up at 5:00 a.m.
42:09 4:00 a.m. for this
42:11 shot maybe one week in a row because I
42:14 didn't get the right condition yeah and
42:16 then now people with AI would just go
42:17 there in the middle of the day and put
42:20 some stars or put a nice Sunset and it
42:24 takes away the the magic of it yeah I
42:25 think that's important of getting BTS as
42:28 well like m yes yes yes again it's
42:30 something else we have to think about
42:32 and add but that's the challenge I guess
42:34 and I think that will help with kind of
42:37 separating the the good from the great
42:39 photographers yeah people people a lot
42:42 of people won't necessarily want to do
42:45 that it's a lot of extra work but I
42:47 think certainly the professionals or the
42:50 people that have come up before you know
42:52 the real rise of Instagram the real rise
42:55 of AI then I think to stay at that level
42:58 and to to show that they are real images
43:00 and it's the real process like you said
43:04 um important to get BTS important to I
43:06 think legislation to catch up
43:08 with how we're going to authenticate
43:10 real images you know even Instagram now
43:12 you have this made with AI Lobel it's
43:15 super weird I I don't yeah I haven't
43:17 sometime you don't know if what's real
43:20 or what's not yeah even like even videos
43:23 you don't know if it's the right face
43:25 the real face of someone who they put
43:28 yeah someone face and then
43:30 I'm more scared for people using like
43:33 the way I'm talking now and people you
43:35 know could easily use these clips to
43:38 just either use my voice or my face to
43:41 just completely generate something
43:44 artificial yeah which scares me it's
43:47 scary yeah like my mom getting these
43:49 these people these old people were
43:50 getting taken advantage of I mean I
43:51 don't if you've heard any stories like
43:54 this yeah yeah yeah where their daughter
43:56 or their son's voice is being cloned and
43:57 then they get sent this message is
43:59 saying I need some money money yeah yeah
44:02 like how [ __ ] scary and screwed up is
44:04 that and that's just the tip of the
44:07 iceberg so yeah I mean photography is
44:09 kind of a luxury but you know in the
44:10 real world it's we've got to prepare
44:12 ourselves it's getting a bit out of an
44:16 so yeah we just St a little bubble stand
44:18 a little barley
44:21 bubble where do you think oh sorry why
44:26 do you think people follow you follow me
44:29 why why should they follow you two
44:33 questions okay so why they follow me I
44:36 think they probably have a love for
44:41 photography I guess and uh as I live in
44:44 Bali maybe
44:46 they they've either been here before or
44:48 want to come here and then maybe they're
44:50 looking for inspiration
44:54 about B in general or travel
44:57 or maybe it's their dream to travel or
45:00 also or to to escape
45:03 the the office life I don't know maybe
45:05 that's one of the reason if they love
45:07 travel and photography that's that's my
45:10 main thing I will my my goal is
45:13 to travel as much as possible as long as
45:16 I can because
45:20 uh it came late I I think to my life
45:23 that I realized that life is short we
45:24 have only one but I don't know why
45:27 before we don't realize it it's like oh
45:30 we need to work and make money and then
45:34 then you wake up and you're like oh all past
45:39 30s so
45:42 yeah yeah I think they if they they like
45:45 genuine and
45:49 uh photography travel culture that's
45:52 that's my main thing if they like uh dogs
45:54 dogs
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47:28 I'll let you get back to it what about
47:32 how you move forward and how you evolved
47:34 is that something that you're constantly
47:36 thinking about how do I get better or
47:39 how do I tell the next Story how do I
47:44 evolve as an artist um I guess it's
47:47 um with what you said before with
47:50 practice like practicing evolve evolving like
47:51 like
47:54 practicing maybe when you get really
47:56 good at what you're doing now maybe then
47:58 try something new sometime we are a bit
48:01 forced to like video but but I guess
48:03 it's not a bad thing also to add
48:08 something to your to your to your skills
48:11 to your skill set so yeah try something
48:13 new get good at this and then again
48:16 something new but always something that
48:18 you enjoy doing don't do something
48:22 because you feel forced to but then it's
48:25 always balance again yeah yeah I feel
48:27 like that's part of the you know being
48:30 able to enjoy the process right rather
48:33 than is do you think about success being
48:34 an end goal for you or something that
48:37 you want to achieve or are you just more
48:40 focused on the practice the evolution
48:43 the journey uh I guess it's always in
48:47 the in the back of my mind like success
48:52 but it's like uh success is like maybe
48:55 at the end or in the in the process but
48:57 when you fix one goal and then you reach
49:00 it and then you reach you fix a higher
49:03 goal yeah yeah always nonstop yeah what
49:06 what does the if you think about success
49:08 right now what does that look like to
49:16 um I guess it would be [Music]
49:18 [Music]
49:27 um created I guess is the word with a uh
49:29 with what I enjoy more doing like
49:33 culture and travel not not really
49:35 commercial but
49:38 more travel and culture oriented like
49:41 bit like a National Geographic I guess
49:45 yeah to give an example so shift does um
49:49 not only like projects but like I guess get
49:51 get
49:55 uh I don't know how to say that to like
49:57 main projects in this field
50:00 instead of commercial and things that
50:03 sometime you don't enjoy doing having
50:05 that freedom of choice yeah let's uh
50:07 let's start wrapping things up and I
50:10 want to kind of end with a little bit of
50:12 takeaways maybe we can give to the
50:14 audience I want to hear from
50:17 you I'm going to give you the chance to
50:19 give me three tips and tricks that
50:21 you've kind of learned
50:26 over six 8 10 years travel photography business
50:27 business
50:30 social media artart
50:32 creativity kind of all of that rolled
50:35 into one and speaking to those people
50:37 that are wanting to do what you want to
50:40 do right people who you say should
50:43 follow you or do follow you what can
50:45 what what advice can you give to them
50:47 and that you've learned along your
50:51 journey I guess one advice it's I get a
50:53 lot from people that they want to do this
50:55 this
50:59 but they don't do it they don't start
51:01 like they're
51:04 scared they're like oh you're so lucky
51:06 oh I wish I could do this and then I'm like
51:07 like
51:10 but start even something
51:13 small like if you if it's photography
51:16 you want to do then get even a entry
51:19 camera is enough to to start and
51:22 practice and then maybe later you get
51:24 something else but these days is enough
51:28 to start and just uh
51:31 practice Yeah so I guess that's one tip
51:36 I get it's it's kind of like
51:41 a I guess it's uh taken a given this tip
51:45 uh people need to hear it more like they
51:47 just need to start somewhere even small
51:50 then another tip is [Music]
51:52 [Music]
51:56 um yeah cuz they people asking about uh
51:59 do you edit this how do you do that but
52:02 I guess just the best is do
52:06 practice Yeah practice is the best yeah
52:10 and uh third
52:13 tip I'm not sure I don't enough I think
52:16 um I can ask you the last
52:22 be I
52:24 think it sounds it's easier said than
52:27 done but being true to yourself like I
52:29 think it's it's more important to know
52:34 who you are than it is to go and create
52:37 amazing work I don't think they're
52:40 mutually exclusive I think to to create
52:43 a body of work that you're proud of or
52:47 to you know look back at some images or
52:49 films or whatever type of art or
52:51 creativity you're
52:54 into and be proud of that I think you
52:56 you can only do that when you truly know
52:59 yourself and are able to you know
53:01 therefore be true to yourself in terms
53:03 of what voice what style or what you're
53:05 trying to do with with everything that
53:08 comes across in work and communication
53:11 and certainly with Brands clients your
53:14 audience so I think that would be I
53:15 certainly agree with your F your first
53:17 two I think you
53:21 know just start it's there's so many
53:23 people um and it's it's more accessible
53:26 than ever right now you have a phone you
53:27 can start
53:30 yeah if you got well you've got social
53:32 media is free you know so you can go on
53:34 there Garner some
53:36 inspiration start
53:39 posting send your friends and family and
53:42 just just go out and just shoot learn
53:45 YouTube's free learn the basics there's
53:51 so many free resources these days um so
53:52 yeah I I definitely agree with that and
53:54 then practice I think people used to say
53:56 that to me like no no I've got it no
53:59 know you practice whether it's edits or
54:01 the most common I've just built an
54:04 online course around this question most
54:07 people ask me or they stopped asking me
54:08 now because I think they know me better
54:12 but what camera did you use what lens do
54:14 you use or what settings did you use for
54:16 that shot right no you're asking the
54:18 wrong you're asking the wrong question um
54:20 um
54:23 practice and um just go and figure out
54:25 what does work okay it's not the it's
54:27 not the gear
54:28 and it's not not most of the time it's
54:30 not the setting yeah I wanted to say
54:32 something about that about it's not only
54:35 the gear it's like so many factors that
54:40 will affect one shot or like the I guess
54:44 ability or capacity of one photographer to
54:45 to
54:50 take advantage of of the gear like it's
54:52 not not only the gear but like I was
54:53 always thinking
54:57 like even just the breathing
55:00 like if someone has more steady end than
55:01 someone then they can take more
55:03 advantage of a slow shutter speed and
55:05 get more light than someone else for
55:07 example y just like oh maybe if you work
55:10 on your breathing or uh if you have yeah
55:13 more steady end or that's a great tip
55:16 like someone cuz when you shoot in low
55:18 light okay you can use maybe the flash
55:19 or something but some people maybe don't
55:21 like to use the
55:25 Flash and uh someone with a more steady
55:27 end could sh could could shoot
55:30 more uh in the blue hour than someone
55:33 else I don't know like so many factors
55:35 yeah I drink too much coffee to shoot blue
55:36 blue
55:38 out no but it you're totally right
55:39 because people rely on image
55:41 stabilization if they they buy the most
55:44 expensive camera and they go it's got
55:45 you know image stabilization I'll be
55:49 fine but it's you know it's it's kind of
55:52 defeats the the point the point being if
55:54 you're Mindful and thoughtful enough and
55:56 you're able to to be in that moment and
55:59 be relaxed and people don't talk about
56:01 breathing enough but it's so important
56:03 especially if you're shooting maybe
56:06 Wildlife or you're shooting people right
56:07 Landscapes a little bit different
56:10 shooting on tripod but even then like
56:11 just to be able to breathe be in the
56:13 moment make sure you get it capturing
56:16 the right moment all these little things
56:18 they're so much more important than the
56:20 gear it's not the gear that makes the
56:21 photographer right it's the photographer
56:24 the makes but sometimes when people tell
56:25 you oh your camera takes good picture like
56:31 oh and I'm a guy that loves buying good
56:34 equipment I love but that's not the same
56:36 point it's like I'm it's just bonus you
56:38 know yeah it's a bonus exactly like if
56:40 you know you've got to know how to use
56:42 that equipment and and get the best out
56:46 of it um and yeah obviously the better
56:47 camera with the better sensor and the
56:49 better lens is going to get you a better
56:52 quality image but you've got to know how
56:54 to get that image in the first place to
56:56 then get the best out of that quality
56:59 right it's yeah it's like uh for example
57:02 in paddle yeah you buy the best rocket
57:04 the doesn't doesn't mean you going to be
57:07 a great player yeah it's analogous to
57:10 any yeah anything like that right anyway
57:11 speaking of paddle we've got to get you
57:13 off to your paddle tournament thank you
57:16 so much for um for joining me today I
57:17 know it's bit thank you for having me it
57:19 was great great conversation really
57:23 enjoyable and um I know you come here a
57:25 few times before for for coffee so make
57:26 sure you keep coming back back yeah of
57:28 course I will yeah hopefully I'll see
57:31 you again yeah thanks so much you will
57:33 cheers thank you [Music]
