Course Philosophy

Since everyone is at a different stage of their career - experience-wise, skill-wise, goal-wise, and misses out on something else, each course is tailor made for just one person. So he or she can learn precisely what they need. From Light Course, when starting out and getting to grips with the industry. To Medium Course for more advanced - with pre-production phase to get prepped for the shoot, the actual shoot & production, post-production, business side. To Full Course with everything above altogether, tied with brand positioning, financials, philosophy. All of it is tailor-made, so one can walk out with the most we can compress within the set time-frame. To be selected is truly an elevated experience as Martin genuinely cares and lifts other people to succeed in anything they set out for themselves. Whatever it may be.

Value

A subject everyone of us perceives differently. 10 people 10 different takes. When Martin was starting out, he had to learn by trial & error as YouTube, on-line courses, podcasts or ChatGPT didn't exist. Now you can learn almost anything for free, so to speak. Well.. in exchange for your time and trial & error actions from the advice anyway. It's a blessing to know which advice to take in and which one to let go, because there's some serious clutter, clickbait content and people who have very limited personal experience with real-world information, productions, collaborations and the process overall. For this matter we believe you should go out, find someone who's work you find inspirational, someone who holds value for you and learn from what they do or ask them for a workshop. Sure, it's not gonna be free, but this way you're getting advice exactly from the place you want to be.

Long-term Perspective

Amongst all the things, one is for certain - these courses aren't designed with any short-term goals in mind. The side effect is the relationships that last long after the course is finished. As Martin is in touch with just about every "mentee" he's ever had and it gives him such a joy to see how much they have progressed over the years. How far they've come, where are they now and what kind of people they have become. Both professionally and personally. So if you feel you could be the one to pick, let's connect and see where it goes. There’s 20+ years of experience in the business waiting for you. From light, gear, business, pre-production, production, post-production to business side, values, brand positioning, to overall philosophy. With and without AI, as it pretty much respects the time we live in. Designed not for a short sprint, but a long run.

Build Your Portfolio

As we're all in different stages of our lives and careers, it's what drives us and excites us that changes as well. Our perspectives change as we grow and look for different topics. Sometimes just to get excited for something new and get away from the routine. Sometimes just to try something else, dive into a different industry, different mindset, different scenery, different world and reality. And however you're set up right now, one of the most important lesson we can share is to think about what excites you the most and what is it you want to achieve. Who is it you're doing it for and when moving forward, to build a portfolio with work you want to be known or hired for. If aiming for the business. People are both visual and quick to judge. And since they don't know you, they'll judge or hire you exclusively based on what they see from you. So you have just a few moments to catch a person's attention with hope to make them feel something. Therefore shoot and build a body of work on what you're most passionate about and what you want to get known for, it's that easy. Also.. and this one's tough. Be specific and focus your portfolio only at one or two topics when starting out. The more specific and unique, the more people remember you. Otherwise you're jack of all trades, master of none - you're all over the place and people can't place you anywhere. Despite of how you feel about it (I can shoot anything), people actually look for clarity, focus, consistency. All of this breathes competence, certainty, which people need to feel before considering hiring you as a client. You're not at risk, they are. Therefore build a portfolio that shows not only your passion and creativity, but also clarity, focus and consistency.

Pursue What Matters

Life's too short to say yes to projects that won't move you in a direction you want to go. Take it from someone, who's worked on hundreds of projects. And athough each offered something unique - an experience, a different perspective, a connection with people across industries and or in other ways propelled his life. What some or perhaps even most essentially have done was take the time from what Martin could have otherwise invested to move more towards his dreams. Because he let himself get distracted. If you're working with clients directly, you're usually working with the ones you want or enjoy. The ones your values sync up with. The ones whose comms you want to advance. Which sometimes can happen with an AD or PR agency as well. But as your relationship with an agency progresses, to some degree you're not responsible who you're working for anymore. That is if you want to maintain the relationship. Being on the agency side, you don't want to have a relationship where someone tells you "no" most of the time, just because your firm has clients they don't resonate with. So choose your projects wisely, know what you want and maintain your identity. Pursue what matters and don't let yourself be distracted or sucked into things and projects you don't wanna do. Sure, they're gonna bring you experience amongst other things and get you paid, which is great. But they're gonna also take away your energy and time you could have invested building up your dream life. After all, we're all in charge of our destiny. So be cautious with what you say yes to. Focus on the things that excite you. Not only you'll enojy the process more, but excitement always shows in the work we produce.

Take Time to Develop

When Martin was starting out he just loved to shoot. And it probably showed, as there were some big names from the industry approaching him. However as he was eager to learn, Martin jumped on every opportunity rarely thinking twice. To gain the experience, to climb new horizons, see new perspectives, to create something new. To learn something new. And it was great. But.. When you're starting out, you're usually following your passion, doing what you love, want to create new things and don't think long-term. What is it you really want out of this, how to run or maintain a business, etc. You're probably rarely appreciative of the given opportunities as there is no bar set yet. Compared to when you're more advanced and you have something to compare. There was this one good advice from a well rounded businessman given once "fail as much as you can as fast as you can". And boy it's a good one. Ideally at the beginning. Because it's something you grow and learn from. And as much as we can tell you what experiences and fails Martin's had along the way to make you avoid yours, sometimes it's just best to learn it yourself, plus some of those might not even apply for this day and age. So if you're starting out, just take time to breathe, experiment as much as you can, preferably within a safe zone with your friends, fail as much as you can, develop your voice, your aesthetics, your character and a point of view. Think long and hard whether your passion needs to be commercial and why. Perhaps it can be a fine art photography. Or just a hobby. Take time to develop yourself, find your strengths, your voice, your passion, your desires, what is it that makes you tick. And then go and conquer the world. Or not.

Avoid Distraction

We've talked about projects derailing your focus and vision. There's more. From projects and people pulling you different directions, there's also a technical side and a massive amount of equipment on the market. From camera manufacturers Phase One, Hasselblad, Leica, Fujifilm, Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax, OM-1, etc. With different lens series, body series, sensors, dynamic range. To light. Briese, Profoto, Broncolor, Elinchrom, Arri, Aputure, etc. To post-production software Capture One, Lightroom, Photoshop, Affinity, Luminar, DxO and new ones still coming in. All with a difference to color reproduction and rendering. Infinite number of reviews everyone telling you why this is the best. Sometimes being sponsored by the brand, sometimes genuine. Sometimes with very little background for a comparison. It's very easy to feel lost and overwhelmed. To learn how to navigate all this clutter it can be a black hole one gets sucked in with countless hours, days, weeks, months, sometimes even years. In search for the truth. For what's really the best. And for whom. Well, while it's all one hell of a ride, there's good news in all this as well. Most camera manufacturers use sensors from Sony these days. Tweak it for their brand and the whole market is getting more and more evened quality-wise. The gaps are minimal from what it used to be. Both with sensors and lenses. It all comes down to preference (and budget).

Build Lasting Relationships

Whether your aim is to be a commercial or a fine art photographer, relationships with people around are incredibly important. Most of the time it's just as important as your overall work you produce. People don't want to be around, spend their time or help someone negative or impossible to work with, no matter the results. That goes to everyone, from clients to team members, talent and generally speaking any people that are associated with any production phase. Most of us don't remember the details or things being said, but we all remember how people make us feel. And most often you're the one running the set. So take a few extra steps to be well rounded, balanced, bring a good energy, remain positive, let people know they're appreciated and their input and work is valued. People who understand that usually reach much further. And not only at work, but in life overall. So value people around you, learn how to really communicate, hand pick who you work with, as everyone brings some kind of energy apart from the skills to the set, and be the one to create an atmosphere everyone will enjoy and remember. Relationships are building stones for life, so treat people with respect, surround yourself with the best you can get, learn from them, grow with each other. It's a journey no one can get through without other people in it. So make it a journey you and everyone around you enjoys.

Maintain Your A-Game

A lot of companies are good in what they do. Whether it's a product or a service. Everything is meticulously designed so the company could profit and grow. And when it comes to visual communication and visual storytelling, what you're usually hired for is to match the level of ambition with their product or a service. The better the marketing department, the better they understand that. Therefore they look for the right fit. And as there are thousands of others who want that spot, it's important to maintain your A-game. Only when they perceive you as a good fit, they'll give you a chance. And make no mistake, to choose someone they're not familiar with is to risk their reputation, their job. Their life they've worked for. So do not take this lightly and do the best as you can to make them comfortable with doing this decision. There are many ways you can do that before they even consider messaging you. It's how you present yourself, not just the pictures. Do behind the scenes, invite them into your process. Either a pre-production or a production. Show them how you work and make them comfortable. Do some extra work to make it easier for them to trust you and take the leap of faith. People want to work with those who are not only easy to work with, but competent, focused, friendly, professional and in general know what they do. In other words, be the best version of yourself you can be.

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