1. Will you start by telling us where you work and live and the type of photography you do?
I live in Dalgety Bay, south west Fife in Scotland and am a social photographer – weddings is my main “thang” though since having my own child in 2004, I really have enjoyed family and childrens portraiture.
2. How long have been a photographer?
I started my business in 2000 so Nikki McLeod Photography celebrated it’s 10th anniversary in 2010. I have like most people, been into photography since I was a teenager. I remember running photo shows for charity! But my love for wedding photography came when looking for a photographer for my own wedding in 1999.
NMP concentrated on purely weddings in the beginning, with a little bit of environmental portraiture & boudoir being added over the years. Unfortunately the typical Scottish weather put paid to a lot of outdoor portrait sessions. So when the opportunity came, to take over an empty space in a childrens’ soft play centre in my town, I took it with both hands, and the “Blast Off Portraits” studio was born! It has been very successful with near on 200 Blast Off and “breathless by NMP” evening boudoir sessions in it’s first 18 months of opening.
3. What type of training do you offer and why do you offer training?
I offer purely one2one training; I don’t do seminars or workshops, or talks – I HATE public speaking! I won’t say “never” but I don’t think I will be on the speaking circuit all too soon! I love the personal learning aspect, I have always found it to be the best way to learn. I love to learn full stop, I am constantly attending seminars and conventions myself, you can never learn too much!
I offer one and 2 day training; ideally I wanted just to offer 2 day training but I can appreciate that those travelling long distances might not be able to attend for 2 days, so for them I offer one day training if that is more suitable. As part of the training, I also offer the student, subject to availability, an assisting job at one of my weddings. This is an ideal way for the student to see exactly how I work real time. It also means we can discuss on the way back from the wedding, what they saw, what problems I had to deal with and how I dealt with them etc.
With photography being such an easy profession to get into, I plan to help those that are serious about it, their full time profession. I battled with my business alongside a full time job (as well as having a baby in the middle!) and I know how hard it can be to make that transition from part time photographer to full time photographer; hence the name NMPT not just meaning Nikki McLeod Photography Training, but also “no more part time”!
4. Where do you do the training?
It really depends on what the student wants! Most students struggle with real life situations at weddings like knowing where to shoot in a venue, posing the couple etc. Every session I have done so far has included a visit to a local golf resort venue that I have contacts with. I organise models in wedding gear and go through what the student requires. If I do include a venue visit, I always finish with a trip back to the studio to download my images as well as the students images, so we can go over what they shot, what they learnt, they can see immediately straight out of camera my own images so there is no hiding on my part!
5. Take me through a training session?
Well, every session is different as they are individually tailored to each student. A questionnaire is sent out by email to the student well in advance, asking about their history, their equipment, their current knowledge and what they would like to learn. So I know in advance whether to book the venue, models etc and also what subjects they want to go on.
For example, Mark came to me and booked a 2 day session. He had assisted another photographer at a couple of weddings and had a very keen interest in making wedding photography his full time profession. His questionnaire told me his weaknesses were composition, posing the bride and groom, post production, running a business – a lot to cover on the day! We discussed beforehand what were the more important things Mark wanted to learn, and for him it was composition and posing the bride.
His first day was spent at the studio, I had organised a member of the general public (not a model) to pose for us and this was a real eye-opener for Mark, for we took images around the studio area which is in an industrial estate and beside an Asdas! Knowing how to see the light, using the right settings on the camera for the right job and posing to flatter was the main aim here. We returned to the studio, downloaded images and compared and contrasted what was good and what wasn’t so good!
The next day, I had organised professional models at the local venue, to be our “bride and groom”, showing Mark how to make the most out of the venue itself and the couple too. Many amateurs struggle in low light situations, and in Scotland a lot of venues are dark, so it was a great test to see how Mark used the situations. We returned to the studio, went over images, critiquing and dissecting and it was a good learning experience for Mark. We also went over the various types of albums I use, and talked about some business aspects.
Several months later, Mark was an assistant at one of my weddings, seeing how I handle a wedding and all the stresses that go along with it.
In between the first and second day of training, I set Mark some homework so I could see if he had picked up on the subjects we were talking about on the first day.
Mark enjoyed his training, learnt loads about his camera, wedding photography and weddings as a whole and it was great to see the little lightbulbs go off above his head throughout his training!
6. What can we expect to learn on one of your 1-2-1 sessions?
Whatever you want! I would say Photoshop is not my strong point, I prefer to get as close to perfection straight out of camera so I don’t tend to do a lot of photoshop work. So apart from Photoshop, NMPT students can learn pretty much anything about wedding photography.
7. When you’re not photographing, where can we find you?
Running after my crazy son, and travelling the world with him and my husband Graham.
8. What do you think makes a photographer successful?
A good eye for a good image in photography and a good business head in business. You could be the best photographer going, but if you don’t get paid, it only remains a hobby!
9. Are you a Nikon or Canon?
Nikon – I recently moved to full frame D700, though I do have D300, D200 and D70 as backups.
10. and Lens?
A variety – my favourites are 24-70 2.8 and 70-200 2.8 but I also have all other ends of the spectrum including 12-24, 50 1.2, 60 macro and others for back up.
11. If you weren’t a photographer, what would you be?
When I left school, I was going to go to art school for photography, or work with animals. I chose animals, while keeping up with the photography as a hobby. I ended up being a qualified veterinary nurse, which I continued to be for the first 8 years of the business! I now couldn’t imagine going back into the rat race though!
12. Can you give the readers your best piece of advice for starting or running a photography business.
It’s very easy to start a photography business – it is maintaining that business that is the difficult part. Photography has become so easily available to the general public that many think that it would be great to have a business in the profession. Those with the determination, money (because it isn’t cheap!) and guts to push forward constantly are the ones that do well in the industry.
13. Tell us your proudest moment of your career?
Getting my first ever front cover – I was really lucky to get a wedding featured in the Scottish Wedding Directory’s launch issue of “Real Life Weddings”. But I was proud as punch to not only get a second wedding featured several years later, but to get the front cover too. I have been lucky enough to have had a third wedding featured since.
Here is where you can find Nikki McLeod Photography…
twitter.com/NikkiMcLeod
Facebook.com/NikkiMcLeodPhotography
twitter.com/NikkiMcLeod
Facebook.com/NikkiMcLeodPhotography
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