Welcome to Impact the Conservation Photography Podcast

Episode 001: Welcome to Impact

Shownotes: ConservationVisuals.com/1

(Digitally transcribed, please forgive any typos)

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Jaymi Heimbuch: So this is new. I've been a writer all my life. But now? Well, now I have a microphone.

Welcome to impact the conservation photography podcast. I'm your host, Jaymi Heimbuch. And if you are a visual storyteller with a love for all things wild, then you're in the right place, from conservation to creativity, from business to marketing and everything in between. This podcast is for you conservation visual storyteller who is ready to make an impact. Let's dive in.

Have you ever heard the term multi-passionate? When I first heard the term, it was on a business podcast I was listening to, and it was talking about people who have a bunch of interest in their life, things they're super passionate about. But there are things that don't necessarily go together.

And I thought, Yeah, that's totally me. I'm definitely multi-passionate. I love photography and storytelling. I love business and marketing. I love consulting with other photographers and helping them figure out the pathways to be super successful with their work. I love figuring out all the puzzle pieces of a project and how they fit together in order to create something really amazing. I love naturalist skills. I like wildlife tracking and understanding animal behavior. There's so many things that I feel like I can pour my heart into.

So in this business podcast I was listening to, being multi-passionate was a problem because being multi-passionate meant that you were being torn in these different directions. Since you can't focus on one thing and do one thing really well, then you're doing many things only sort of well. And I get that, for sure. I mean, it's along the lines of multi-tasking.

But fortunately for me, I think that Impact: The Conservation Photography Podcast, is basically a perfect outlet for me and my multi passionate personality. Because this is where every week I can show up with a new topic that all conservation photographers face, no matter where we are in our journey - from someone just starting out to someone who's been a pro for decades - and no matter where we are in our focus - from figuring out how to compose a better image to figuring out how to build up our photography business - and I can dive into it full force.

For me, this podcast is an exciting outlet for all these things that I love to talk about and work on. And I am particularly stoked about it because it's how I can better connect with you. I can connect with you in a way that text on a website just can't accomplish. I've been a writer for a very long time, and I don't know why I waited this long to change up the medium. A podcast feels so much more intimate and so much more community based, which is something I really care about.

You see, I've been a professional wildlife conservation photographer for nearly a decade, and equal to my passion of pursuing stories is my joy of teaching others. I thrive on helping you attain your greatest goals and get your work published, because I know how much of an impact the stories that you photograph will have on this world. This brand new podcast pulls from my years of experience and is built to address the things standing in your way and provide what I know will help you get past those hurdles. That's something I just can't do is effectively with text. So I am thrilled to be here with you on the Impact: The Conservation Photography podcast.

You might be wondering why this emphasis on conservation photography? Why not just dish about photography in general? Well, ever since I started out, it was never enough for me to just take photos. I always felt like there had to be some purpose. Some use for those images and conservation. Photography is the perfect fit for me because I care so deeply about wildlife and about healthy ecosystems. I'm taking images of wildlife. And so to put that to use in protecting wildlife, it's just the perfect fit. I also recognize it as a rapidly growing niche and one that is critically important to our planet on a big scale.

What I've seen over the years that I've been working in this field is that first of all, conservation photography isn't super well known, so a lot of photographers actually are photographing projects with this angle without realizing that it exists in its own niche. They don't know that this whole community of people are here. This whole support network is here for them. The other thing is that there's often this divide between people who are starting out and pro photographers who are really established. It's a divide that too often slows the flow of information and opportunity. And in our niche with these goals that we have that are much bigger than ourselves, there's no room for slowing the spread of information and skills.

I feel really deeply about connecting about closing that gap, because the more we can all focus our talents and our skills and photography on amazing conservation efforts and user visuals to tell stories that helped to connect people all over the world with the habitats that they live in and help them understand there own impact on the planet, then the sooner we can make the changes that we all need to make toe have a sustainable future.

In other words, what I see you as a conservation photographer doing, I recognize is being incredibly important, and I want to do everything that I possibly can to help make your path easier to help you get the work done to help you have the maximum effect that you can possibly have. So that's why I'm laser focused on conservation photography. It is the glue that binds together all the other various passions that I have, whether it's storytelling or business or project management. Everything revolves around conservation, photography and around assisting other conservation photographers do what they do better.

Now, if you don't know me at all, then I should probably do a little resume run down right now just so that you understand who it is that's on the other side of your earbuds. So I'm Jaymi and I've been wrapped up in conservation in some way or another since 2008 when I started as an editor at an environmental website. Over the 15 years that I worked as an editor and writer, I gained more and more interest in photography and the power of visual storytelling. So a few years ago, I bit the bullet and I went full time pro running my own business. And under this business, I do quite a few things.

Of course, there is the photography side with assignment photography and image licensing. But there's a lot more than I do, because again, I'm very multi-passionate. I run ConservationPhotographyCourses.com, which is the first, and only Digital Education platform built specifically for conservation photographers.

I also run Wild Idea Lab, my membership community. This is where conservation visual storytellers, including filmmakers and photographers and artists we all come together and find the resource is on the tools that we need to do our wildest work.

I'm based out on the Oregon Coast and here during the spring, summer and fall months, I run Oregon Coast Photo Tours, where I get to take visitors out and show them all of the amazing locations and wildlife and teach them how to photograph these beautiful places where I live.

I do project consultation and portfolio reviews, and I really love to help other photographer zero in on their best work. And I also have my own projects, which include an ongoing local project called Watershed Sentinels that focuses in on species that illustrate how our relationship with watersheds exists and needs to change. And I have an ongoing continent-wide project called Urban Coyote Initiative, which works alongside researchers, government agencies and communities to create media assets that helped to educate the public about urban wildlife and co existence.

I wear a lot of hats, and that requires me to utilize another one of my passions, which is organizational skills. I love a good planning system. It's something that folks learn about me very quickly. And so it may not come as any surprise that I already have all of this podcasts Episodes for 2020 planned out, and I could not be more excited about what we have coming down the pipeline.

First, I'm taking the most popular articles for my website and transforming them into podcasts with more engaging, robust and actionable information. I'm also creating a lot of brand new content from creative strategies to business strategies, and I have lined up interviews with influential conservation photographers who have a ton of knowledge and insights to lend.

So are you maybe a little curious about what these episodes might be about? So here some teasers, there are just a couple of the working titles for some upcoming episodes, you'll see roll out.

Create a pitch ready portfolio with this five step process.

Breaking creative blocks in seven steps.

How to reverse engineer a photo story.

How to score grants for your photography project.

Why people are so important to your stories.

Why every conservation photographer needs an email list and how to start one.

I mean, there are so many things that we're covering inside this podcast.

And whether you are interested in the business side of running a conservation photography business or how to get your work farther out there in the world with a bigger impact, or how to take stronger images that towel a stronger story and be in front of people in a stronger way, you are going to find the solutions to all of those things here.

I told you that my multi-passionate personality really shines through in this podcast, and I hope that it is incredibly beneficial to you that I bounce around so much on what I love to talk about and be absorbed in. But it all revolves around conservation photography, and I hope that you will go on this journey with me.

Now. I am so excited about launching this podcast where I actually get to talk to you, and we can make a much better connection. But there's something to be said for that digital community space. That's why I run a free Facebook group designed for conservation photographers, and you are more than welcome to join us. Just head over to facebook.com/groups/conservationphotographers. We have a community of over 200 folks there who are constantly engaged in conversation and who are a phenomenal resource for one another. And you are so welcome to join in to this community.

Thank you so much for listening to episode number one. It is the first of many. We are going to do a lot of amazing things together, and I cannot wait to dive into all of the creative work that we have ahead of us. I will talk to you next week

Before we wrap up. I'd love to ask you to do one quick thing. Subscribe to this podcast. See as a subscriber. You'll not only know when each week's episode goes live, but you'll also get insider goodies like bonus episodes. You might miss these unless you're subscribed and I don't want you to miss out on a thing, so please tap that subscribe button and I'll talk to you next week.

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Impact: The Conservation Photography Podcast

JaymiHeimbuch.com/Podcast