Photographers Have to Believe in Possibilities That Do Not Exist
episode
The Carty Method Podcast - the Art of Making a Living with Your Camera
49 min
1 speaker
8 chapters
transcribed 1 month ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Why do photographers need to believe in possibilities that don’t yet exist?
This is the Cardi Method Podcast. Find your creative and business genius with the Cardi Method.
Today's thoughts are super, super close to my heart and it's such a significant part of my 36 year journey in photography. and i gotta tell you it's the essence of adaptability and growth and i'm pretty good at adapting and i'm pretty good at growing and today today we're talking about the fact that as a photographer we have to believe in things that don't necessarily even exist we have to believe in possibilities that don't yet exist. I went from a literal nerd. And again, if you see photos of me when I wore glasses, like thick glasses when I was In high school, I got contact lenses when I was 17. And I discovered photography when I was 14. So I had lots of nerd time with photography to really understand.
And I went from that nerdy teenager to working on high end productions, shooting celebrities, shooting for Nike, shooting for Vogue Singapore, shooting for Apple. And when I think about that, What people ask me is, how do you create a sustainable career in photography? Like, how do you do that? I got to say, every photographer's journey is as unique as their photographs. Yet, the one thing that truly separates the ones that can endure success from the ones that fleet, it's not raw skill or any sort of innate talent, but it is about how you adapt, how you evolve. and how you grow in an industry that as that this industry is as dynamic as the work that comes from it so let's talk about bracing change
Because when I first picked up a camera, it was the era of film, darkroom, manual processing, processing film and printing and contact sheets. The creative industry has undergone massive shifts. Digital photography and the video revolution, social media, user-generated content, and I can go on and on. Navigating these changes, it's more than just upgrading gear when it comes to navigating this. It's about upgrading a mindset. And I had to learn how to sell digital photography. And I had to kind of relearn shoot digital versus film and the leeway and being able to see the stuff as you were shooting it. Digital photography, I think, made everybody better. That was shooting before. When digital photography started, I was 15 years deep.
I had a Hasselblad. I mean, I still have a film, Hasselblad. And understanding how to switch to digital gear.
Wow.
All of my systems for making money back then was intertwined with using film, charging for film and making contact sheets and charging for contact sheets and then selling prints. I had no idea what I was gonna do when other pro shooters started switching over to digital. I finally made that leap in 2004 and I feel like it was the exact right time for me and it was right before it was too late. And I changed over to digital the second I realized that the future of photography was digital. the second that i realized that it's going to be all did i went all all in and although there's been a renaissance when it comes to film photography and contact sheets and prints Right now, it's all about digital and it goes back to the early 2000s.
Like I started in 2000 and in 2000 and if you weren't shooting digital in 2000 and if you weren't shooting digital in 2005, your career was about to be over. Your career was about to be over if you hadn't transitioned by 2000. So if I think about actionable steps, if I was to talk to myself back then. I would say it's pretty important to experiment with digital because it's really going to change everything for you. And more importantly, you have to continuously update your skills. And now, I mean, it's way more evident than ever. You have to stay on the skill update train. You have to really... think about what's going on with the industry and what new photography technologies and techniques are coming out.
How did Steve Carty transition from film to digital photography and why was it critical?
I mean, going to the right workshop with the right photographer. I mean, for me, I am classically trained. I am a classic and timeless portrait photographer. And I do teach lighting and I'm about to do some possibly lighting workshops here in Toronto.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why do photographers need to believe in possibilities that don’t yet exist?
0:00–6:50
2
How did Steve Carty transition from film to digital photography and why was it critical?
6:50–13:52
3
What role does adaptability and continuous skill‑updating play in a sustainable photography career?
13:52–18:35
4
Why is adding video and storytelling essential for modern photographers?
18:35–25:04
5
How can a strong mentorship, peer network, and teaching others accelerate growth?
25:04–31:20
6
What is Magnetic Messaging and how does it help photographers sell transformation?
31:20–38:17
7
How does the hot‑dog vendor analogy illustrate selling creative services before the product exists?
38:17–44:48
8
What practical steps can photographers take today to build a resilient, ethical business?
44:48–49:34