Photo Chat with Matt

Matt Dodd
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Education
  • Updated Weekly

Hey, it’s Matt (@mattdoddphoto). I’m talking wedding photography, the stuff they don’t teach you in school, and all the behind the scenes realities of being a photographer. From fun tips on lighting, posing, editing, business, social media and more, I share what I’ve learned (sometimes the hard way) and chat with other creatives too. Sit back, relax, and let’s chat photography!

  1. Sep 28

    The Most Chaotic Week of My Wedding Season

    I photographed a wedding in Italy, spent some time in Firenze, then came home to a hotel with no power the night before photographing another wedding in West Sussex, England. It was quite a week. This week on Photo Chat with Matt, I’m catching up on the Italy trip, what it was like photographing a wedding abroad, the flight home and the power cut that made getting ready for my next wedding a bit more interesting than I’d have liked. I also get into a friendly argument I had about the metric system (hate it). Tell me you’ve made half a liter of coffee and I have no idea what that looks like. Tell me it’s 20 oz and I know exactly what you mean. Naturally, this turns into me defending imperial measurements and Fahrenheit. Can't measure freedom in kilometers! It’s a relaxed episode with a bit of travel, a bit of wedding photography and a few stories from behind the scenes of a very busy week. Come and tell me whether you measure your coffee in ounces. You can find me on Instagram at @mattdoddphoto. Thanks for listening!

  2. Sep 20

    Photo Chat From Italy (ft. James Evans)

    This week I’m joined by my good friend and fellow photographer James Evans, recording from the middle of Tuscany just a few hours before we photographed his sister’s wedding. We didn’t really have a plan for this one, so we just sat down and chatted about photography. We talk about our nightmare journey to Italy, shooting destination weddings, how we prepare for a wedding day, backup cameras, harsh sunlight, making couples feel comfortable and finding your editing style. We also get into presets, Lightroom versus Lightroom Classic and quite a few completely unrelated tangents. Basically, two wedding photographers chatting photography in Italy. Enjoy!

  3. Sep 12

    100 Episodes, 100 Things I’ve Learned About Photography

    We’ve made it to episode 100 of Photo Chat with Matt. For this one, I wanted to look back through every episode I’ve recorded since starting the podcast in 2024 and pull out one thing I’ve learned, talked about or still believe from each one. So this episode is 100 lessons from the last couple of years of photography, wedding photography, running a business, creativity, confidence, client experience, money, gear, mistakes and everything else I’ve talked about along the way. Some of these are things I believed right from the start. Some are things I’ve learned through actually doing the job. Some I believe even more strongly now, and a few made me realize how much my thinking has changed since those early episodes. It’s also been really interesting looking back and seeing how the podcast itself has evolved. I started out talking a lot more about gear, photography tips and the basics, and over time it’s become much more about business, people, creativity, mindset and building a photography career and life that you actually enjoy. Thank you if you’ve listened to one episode, ten episodes or all one hundred. Here are 100 things I’ve learned from 100 episodes of Photo Chat with Matt.

  4. Sep 4

    Would You Hire Yourself to Photograph Your Own Wedding?

    This week I wanted to ask a pretty simple question: would you actually hire yourself to photograph your own wedding? It got me thinking about everything that comes with being a wedding photographer beyond just taking nice photos. Would I like the way I communicate? Would I actually want myself around all day? Would I feel comfortable being photographed by me? Would I be happy with the way I handle family photos, couple photos, delivery times and the overall experience? I also talk about pricing and whether I’d actually pay my own prices, how I’d feel if something went wrong on the day, whether I’d trust myself to deal with it, and whether I’d genuinely recommend myself afterwards. I think it’s quite a useful question to ask because when you run your own photography business, you get very used to seeing everything from your side. Sometimes it’s worth looking at it from the client’s point of view and asking whether you’d actually be happy with the experience you’re giving people. A relaxed episode about wedding photography, client experience, pricing, communication, galleries, posing and basically putting yourself in your own client’s shoes for a bit.

  5. Sep 1 ·  Bonus

    Don’t Cheap Out on Your Clients (Bonus Episode)

    A bonus episode this week about something I feel quite strongly about in business: I don’t think saving money should ever come at the expense of your client experience. I talk about things like deleting online galleries after a certain amount of time just to save on storage, overselling people into bigger photography packages than they actually need, charging for every tiny extra, and cutting corners in places where the client is the one who ends up feeling it. For me, if someone has invested a lot of money into me, especially for something as important as a wedding, I want them to feel looked after properly. Sometimes that means spending a little more, keeping things available for longer, giving someone a bit more than expected or simply recommending the option that’s actually right for them. I also talk about why trust matters more than squeezing every possible bit of profit out of one booking, and why good customer service is one of the best things you can invest in as a photographer. A short bonus episode about client experience, wedding photography business, customer service and knowing where not to cut corners.

  6. Aug 28

    Stop Waiting for Permission

    This week I wanted to talk about something that’s been on my mind a lot recently: following the crowd, waiting for permission and putting things off because you think there’ll be a better time later. I talk about how easy it is in photography to copy what everyone else is doing because it feels safe. The same trends, the same ideas, the same way of running a business. But if everyone is doing the same thing, it gets very hard to stand out. There’s also a bit about making changes sooner. Raising your prices, trying film, changing your editing, improving your website, learning something new. A lot of the time we already know what we want to do, we just keep delaying it. I also get into the idea of doing things your future self will thank you for, why the work you put into your photography business now can pay off months later, and whether you’re actually building a business and a life you genuinely want to live. A relaxed episode about photography, business, confidence, motivation and doing things your own way.

  7. Aug 21

    What Are You Actually Doing to Improve?

    I think a lot of us say we want to improve as photographers, but how often do we actually stop and ask ourselves what are we doing to make that happen? In this episode, I'm talking about the difference between being busy and actually getting better, why copying everyone else can keep you stuck, and how easy it is to focus on the wrong things in your business. We get caught up in cameras, lenses, Instagram trends, websites, branding and all the other stuff that feels productive, while sometimes completely ignoring the thing that's actually holding us back. I'll also talk about figuring out what you're genuinely bad at, when buying new gear can actually be useful, why experimenting and doing things your own way matters, and the small improvements that can make a much bigger difference than you might think. So, if you look at your photography business a year from now, what do you actually want to be different? And more importantly, what are you doing about it? That's the question for this one.

  8. Aug 18 ·  Bonus

    You’re Probably Working Too Much (Bonus Episode)

    This is a bonus episode where I’m just chatting about motivation, discipline and how I actually keep myself on track running a photography business. I think there can be a weird pressure that photographers put on themselves to constantly be working. Answering emails at midnight, working every weekend, never taking a day off and making everyone believe you’re grinding 24/7. I’m not really interested in that. Like... at all. I like having a life. I like going places, traveling, going to the gym, eating nice food and doing completely random things. I’ll happily show that stuff on Instagram too (shoutout personal brand). But at the same time, if I’ve told a couple their gallery is going to be ready on Friday, it’s going to be ready on Friday. That’s where discipline comes in. We’re talking about motivation, money, future goals, getting yourself to do things when you really can’t be bothered, and why sometimes you just need to stop waiting until you feel motivated and crack on. I also talk about the difference between actually being productive and just convincing yourself you’ve had a busy day, the idea of asking whether future you will be glad you did something, and why having high standards for yourself can make running a business a lot easier. Basically, just a little walk and chat about getting stuff done, enjoying your life and building a photography business without making yourself miserable in the process.

See All (105)

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Hey, it’s Matt (@mattdoddphoto). I’m talking wedding photography, the stuff they don’t teach you in school, and all the behind the scenes realities of being a photographer. From fun tips on lighting, posing, editing, business, social media and more, I share what I’ve learned (sometimes the hard way) and chat with other creatives too. Sit back, relax, and let’s chat photography!

Information

  • Creator
    Matt Dodd
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    105
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Matt Dodd
  • Show Website
    Photo Chat with Matt