Full Time Photographer Podcast: Advance Your Career While Driving in Your Car

I recently read a survey that said the average time a person spends driving a car is 4.3 years. Let me break that down for you. Let's say you live to be 75. That is 37,688 hours spent behind the wheel of a car! Most of us listen to music while we drive, but what if we took that time and devoted it to expanding our craft and making us better photographers? Over the past year I did just that, and the results speak for themselves.

For me, 2014 has been an amazing year. First and foremost, I was fortunate enough to marry the woman of my dreams, which in and of itself is by far my greatest accomplishment to date. Secondly, I finally reached a goal I have been aiming for for the past four years: I became a self-employed. Ain't nobody telling me what to do, I wake up when I choose; genuine full time PHOTOGRAPHER! Now that I am writing for Fstoppers, I feel like I have an outlet to share my experiences and advice that I have learned along the way. A year ago I was reading this amazing blog dreaming of the day I would be working for myself and doing what I love full time. That dream is now a reality and I plan on writing some articles sharing resources that inspired me and pushed me to get to the point I am now. Don't get me wrong, I still have a long way to go and I embrace that with open arms. I know for a fact however, that I have recently been in the same spot many of our readers are at and I'm all about offering advice to those who welcome it. In February I came across a Facebook page for a podcast on my news feed. I decided to check it out, and man, am I glad I did! Today I want to share this extremely beneficial resource with you. It's the Full Time Photographer Podcast.

The Podcast

Full Time Photographer is a daily podcast that is created by Los Angeles-based photographer Josh Rossi. Josh has worked for clients such as Adobe, Acura, Champion USA, Wacom, Glenn Beck, Mt. Dew (Devin SuperTramp), and many more.

Josh has a ton of knowledge on his own, but in his podcast he interviews some of today's most influential photographers as well other successful photographers from almost every genre you can think of. The show is super easy to listen to, and it's packed with so much knowledge and advice that I often listen to episodes multiple times. As of right now there are 211 episodes on the site. In the latest episode, Josh announced that he was going to stop making the podcast because his schedule has become too busy. However, I spoke with Josh and he said, "I actually am picking up the podcast beginning January because of popular demand." So that means come 2015 new episodes will be coming out! On the show, Josh interviews guests such as Joel Grimes, Plearn's Aaron Nace, digital artist Mike Campau, beauty photographer and retoucher Julia Kuzmenko McKim, commercial photographer Erik Almas, and many more great photographers. He doesn't stop there though. He also does interviews with art directors, art buyers, and agencies among others. The show covers a huge spectrum so there is something for everyone.

"Turn Your Car Into A University of Learning"

In episode 33 featuring Jason Bangerter, co-founder of Struck, Jason talks about using audio books as a way of learning. He states, " Someone once told me, turn your car into a university of learning." I realized when he made that statement, I was doing just that. I was using the Full Time Photographer podcast to expand my knowledge. For a long time I didn't listen to music while I was driving. I would listen to this podcast and just soak up all the advice like a sponge. I truly believe this podcast had a substantial effect on adjusting my mind set and gave me that extra push I was looking for to take a leap of faith and follow my dreams. I strongly suggest checking it out and listening to a few episodes for yourself!

Q&A with Josh Rossi

What made you want to start the podcast?

Josh: "When I first started in photography no one was being honest about the industry. It was hard for me to find a resource where people would talk freely about bidding, finding clients and the overall marketing of photography. After years of being in the industry and having figured out thing on my own I thought that there had to be a better way for photographers to learn their way around the industry. That's when I started the podcast."

What kind of feedback have you received? Is there any feedback that has made all the hours worth it?

Josh: "Every episode has given me great insight and ideas for my own business. It has definitely made all the hours worth it because my photography business is booming. Actually I had to slow down the frequency of the podcast because of the photographic workload."

Who has been your favorite interview, and what is one of the best pieces of advice you have heard?

Josh: "I really cant remember my favorite interview because so many times I have been blown away by the photographers that come on the show and the advice they give. One photographer told me on the show that a lot of photographers complain about not having work. He said that to be successful photographers need to do the basic things that will bring success such as email marketing and all those other basic things that get a photographer exposure. He said that most of the photographers that are not getting work are probably skipping those basic things. His advice was just to stick to the basics and work your butt off."

What is the future of Full Time Photographer?

Josh: "Full Time Photographer is going to be much more than just a podcast. We have plans to offer some of the best content focused on the business of photography. Marketing tactics to sustain a full time career in photography."

More about Josh

Aside from his photography career and the Full Time Photographer podcast, Josh also has a website called Composite Planet. This website has some amazing free and paid tutorials, tips, backgrounds, and much more for photo compositing. Josh is always open to communicating so feel free to reach out to him on twitter @JoshRossiPhoto. Josh also has this awesome "mobile office" that I'm super envious of!

Thank you for reading. As always I'd love to hear your thoughts on this article and what you would like to hear about in the future! Leave your feedback in the comments section!

All images used with permission.