Episode 005: Mindset Secrets to Becoming a Published Conservation Photographer

Shownotes: JaymiH.com/5

(Digitally transcribed, please forgive any typos)

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Jaymi Heimbuch:

[00:00:00] Limiting beliefs. We all have them. We all have these ideas that rear up and tell us why we can't do something. Sometimes it's hard to recognize that we're even thinking them, but creatives are, we creatives have them in spades, whether it's about our technical skills or our ability to create something meaningful, or if we even should dare to dream of big things for our work, they can even be little insidious whispers that tell us that we simply don't have time or the resources to pull off what we're dreaming up.

[00:00:35] Jaymi: What I'm covering in this episode is actually the content of a free masterclass that I taught live alongside the launch of my digital course, conservation photography, 1 0 1. I had a really, really great time teaching this material because I loved seeing how these limiting beliefs rang true with so many of the people who watched live and how excited they were to tackle them down to [00:01:00] the ground and move past them towards success at getting their stories published.

[00:01:05] Jaymi: So, today I am bringing that class to you right now. We're talking today about the must know mindset shifts that will send you speeding forward and opening doors to editors without the overwhelm, without confidence, crushing second guessing. And time-wasting worry about the right move to make next. And I have something extra special.

[00:01:28] Jaymi: We're going to be talking today about five specific limiting beliefs, the IC pop-up often and the leaps to make, to get past them. But you more than likely have your own limiting beliefs that aren't on this list. And I want you to be able to recognize them and flip them. So I created a free downloadable workbook for you.

[00:01:48] Jaymi: Not only does it include all the exercises that I provide for you in this episode, but it includes exercises that will help you see clarify, and then flip whatever limiting beliefs you [00:02:00] have standing in the way of your photography. It doesn't matter if you're new or a seasoned pro you have limiting beliefs, and this is an exercise that will help you kick them to the curb.

[00:02:12] Jaymi: You can get the free download@jamieh.com. That's J a Y M I h.com forward slash five. The number five for this episode now let's do.

[00:02:28] Jaymi: welcome to impact the conservation photography podcast. I'm your host, Jamie. 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. The conservation visual storyteller, who is ready to make.

[00:02:51] Jaymi: Let's dive in.

[00:02:59] Jaymi: It looks [00:03:00] like we are alive and ready to roll. Uh, I am just checking the sound. So if you can give me a thumbs up or a hello, uh, to make sure that the sound is working well. And also we have, uh, typically a global audience for these events and I see Graham, you are timing in from France. So I would love to know where in the world you're tuning in from, uh, Nicholas.

[00:03:24] Jaymi: Welcome from Scotland. I'm so glad that you guys are here in a great time zone. Hi, Carolyn from Canada, Bob. Awesome. Sound is good. Wonderful Jules from. Wonderful. I am located on the central coast of Oregon. So it is 9:00 AM here on a drizzly winter morning. I'm in my office with my cup of coffee going, but I know it's probably too late in the day for coffee for many of you.

[00:03:49] Jaymi: Um, awesome. I see an, uh, Graham from Tennessee. Nice. Another Graham, uh, Michael from Syracuse, New York. We have, uh, Dan from [00:04:00] Minnesota, Ian from Southwest England. Well, welcome everyone. I'm so glad that you are here joining me today, uh, to go over one of my favorite topics, which is how you get conservation photography into publications, primarily through setting your mindset from the get-go because a lot of.

[00:04:20] Jaymi: That you face on this journey to get published is based in mindset and in some, um, ideas that you carry with you that can hold you back actually from getting your work published. So I'm so glad that you are here today to talk about this topic. We have a lot of material to dig into. Um, and I'm going to go ahead and get started.

[00:04:41] Jaymi: Aaron from Ashland, Oregon. You're basically down the road from me. Welcome, welcome, welcome. Um, and Nicholas with a wine o'clock with the Washington Riesling. That is a great way to enjoy this masterclass. All right, I'm going to go ahead and dive in. Uh, we are about two minutes after the hour. [00:05:00] I want to be really respectful of your time.

[00:05:01] Jaymi: So I'm going to go ahead and get started. I'm going to hop off camera so that we can really focus in on the slides. And then I'm going to come back on camera a little bit later on in the masterclass so that we can, uh, you know, kind of dig into some material together. All right. So. What we're covering today is like I said, five secrets to getting published as a conservation photographer.

[00:05:22] Jaymi: And they actually start way before you ever think about writing or sending a pitch. So today I'm going to show you how you can make a mental transition from feeling really uncertain about where you start on this journey. That's a big hiccup that I know that a lot of you have been feeling, um, or, you know, you're struggling to send a pitch or you're feeling nervous if you're really ready to make that next big move to get your images out there.

[00:05:48] Jaymi: So we're going to go from that to being confident and excited, to launch into a photo story that you'll send off to an editor. So by the time we wrap up this session, you're going to learn the [00:06:00] five mindset shifts to make right now to become a successful conservation photographer. And it's these shifts that really help you build a foundation for confidently moving forward on photo stories and on projects again and again, and again.

[00:06:14] Jaymi: You will also know the one next step to take, to overcome each of these limiting beliefs that build your path toward publication. And this is actually where your workbook comes in handy. So I'm popping that into the handouts section. So if you downloaded that before our session. Awesome. If you didn't no worries, it is there for you right now in the handout section, and you can quickly click to down.

[00:06:40] Jaymi: And then the next thing that you're going to know of course is the most effective path to getting your work published as a conservation photographer. So you're going to walk away from this masterclass with a plan for how you're going to change the way you think about yourself as a photographer. And it's going to guide you into a personal path toward publication, [00:07:00] no matter where you are in your journey right now, whether you are just getting started or whether maybe you've been a photographer for years or decades, and you're transitioning into this realm.

[00:07:10] Jaymi: So I'm going to make sure that every minute that you spend with me is really worthy of the time that you are taking right now for yourself. And I want you to stay with me until the end, because we have a lot of ground to cover there's tools that I want to make sure you walk away with. So to entice you to stay all the way through to the end, I have two things in store for.

[00:07:30] Jaymi: First, um, I want to just mention, you know, this masterclass, it's only about an hour long and there's only so much that we can really accomplish in that time. So you're going to get a ton of great information that's going to guide you, but then there's all these nuts and bolts of getting published, all these steps and nuances, and that transformation takes more than an hour.

[00:07:50] Jaymi: So at the end of this masterclass, I'm going to roll out details about conservation photography, 1 0 1, my online course, which is open for enrollment [00:08:00] currently. And I'm really excited. The amazing students we've been enrolling. And I want to fill you in on the details because if you end up wanting to go beyond what we cover in this masterclass, that could be the next best step for you.

[00:08:13] Jaymi: And then as a big bonus, we are going to launch into a Q and a session. So you can ask me anything. So if you've had questions, pop up, leading up to this masterclass, if questions pop up during it, we are going to spend some time at the end where you can just pepper me with those questions and we will get all of those answered before we wrap up.

[00:08:33] Jaymi: So, because we have so much time or material to cover in a short amount of time. I would love for you to do me a quick favor and just turn off all those distractions. Close out those extra browser tabs, put your phone on airplane mode, close the door to the room that you're in, whatever you need to do to really feel focused, because this is totally your.

[00:08:55] Jaymi: So to begin, I want to show you a very effective [00:09:00] exercise. When I opened up this masterclass for enrollment, I sent out hundreds of personal videos to register and hopefully all of you got one. I sent them out to as many people as possible, but I know I ran out of time. If you didn't get one, I'm really sorry.

[00:09:13] Jaymi: But most of you got one. And in that I asked, what's been a fear or a challenge. Now, most of you are just getting started exploring possibilities and a common response was, well, where do I start? I feel overwhelmed with where to begin. And part of that overwhelm comes from not having a really clear idea on what story to work on right now.

[00:09:34] Jaymi: So to start, I'm going to tell you about this exercise. That's going to help you break through an overwhelm of ideas and get clear on exactly what photo story to work on for. And it's called the post-it party. Now I love this post-it party exercise so much because it's a great way for you to get your ideas out in front of you in this very visual way and be able to physically move them around.

[00:09:59] Jaymi: So for us [00:10:00] creatives, this is a really, really helpful exercise. And here's how it goes. First, you gather up a pad of post-it notes. And then you set a time for this. And I like to use about 20 minutes. I think 20 minutes is the perfect amount of time to feel like you can really focus, but then you don't get totally wiped out.

[00:10:19] Jaymi: Um, but whatever timeframe works for you best go ahead and set a timer for that amount. And from there, you'll write out every idea that comes to mind. One idea per post-it note, and this is a totally judgment free time period. So there's no such thing as an idea that's too big or, oh, that idea is never going to work.

[00:10:41] Jaymi: Every single idea gets out of your head onto a post-it note because you never know what other ideas that might. Now, once you have those post-it notes up in front of you. And I like to put them on a window or a door or a wall someplace where I walk past frequently and every day for the next few days, as you [00:11:00] walk by that wall of post-it notes, you're going to rearrange them based on what resonates with you the most.

[00:11:06] Jaymi: So what inspires you the most? Every time you walk by, if you notice a story idea that just keeps calling to you, you're going to physically move it to the top of that pile. And after a few days of doing this, you're going to know which stories or one story is resonating with you the most. And that's going to be the one that you start in on and all those other ideas they're still waiting for you.

[00:11:31] Jaymi: So I know sometimes there can be some anxiety or some fear of missing out around ideas, but now you can confidently focus on that one best idea because you've given it time to kind of call out. So now that you have this exercise in hand, I want to dig a little bit deeper into what conservation photography is all about and make sure that we're all speaking the same language as we go through this masterclass.

[00:11:57] Jaymi: So conservation photography is [00:12:00] photography with a purpose. So whether you photograph nature or wildlife or science or communities, the main thing that sets conservation photography apart is what you do with those images to bring attention, understanding an action to environmental issues. Sometimes that leans toward social justice, sometimes towards scientific research.

[00:12:25] Jaymi: Sometimes it leans toward, you know, photographing the work of nonprofits that you have in your area that you feel really connected to, and that you would love to work with whatever it may look like for you. You're a conservation photographer. When you use your images to bring attention, understanding an action to help conservation efforts.

[00:12:45] Jaymi: So conservation photographers basically put their images to work, to inspire, to alert, to create change. Now I know there's a lot of reasons why you are here right now. And one of those reasons is maybe because you're brand new to this world of [00:13:00] conservation photography. You're intrigued by the idea you're inspired by it by the concept of using your photography to have this positive impact for the nature around you.

[00:13:11] Jaymi: And so you're excited to start off on this right path for solid resources that are going to guide you to really get going with confidence and with. Or maybe you're here because you're motivated and ready to make a genuine impact with your images. You understand what conservation photography is, you're down with it.

[00:13:28] Jaymi: And you're like, I really wonder if I can make a go of this. Can I make any income with this passion that I have for photography? And I know that getting focused about publishing photo stories near me is the way to have that impact. So you're looking for how do I have that impact in my community and beyond, or maybe you're here because you fully embrace the title of conservation photographer already.

[00:13:51] Jaymi: And this is something that fires you up in a really big way. It's familiar to you. It resonates with you and you're ready to grow the skills that are going to help [00:14:00] you do this rewarding work of getting your photo stories published and out in front of audiences. And so you're ready to make those waves for the causes you care.

[00:14:09] Jaymi: So I would love to pause and just ask you, which one of these is really resonating for you the most? Like what one of these is, is what was like, yep. That's why I really wanted to be in here as a one, two or three. And you can just pop that into the chat box, just pop a one, two or three. Is it that you're intrigued by the idea of conservation photography and you want resources to explore it or two you're motivated, but you want guidance or three you're already fired up and you are like, let's get my work in front of audiences.

[00:14:42] Jaymi: So I see some twos coming in from Nicholas and Graham. Bob is a one. Excellent. Um, I see, I see, uh, let's see, one's coming in as well. I see twos Dan, all of the above. Okay, awesome. So we've got a great range of people who are here, Lily and I also see a one and Bernard. [00:15:00] So I see a wonderful range of why all of you are here, and I'm really glad that this is familiar territory for you in some ways and new territory for you in other ways, because no matter what brought you here today, I want you to know that I'm fully supporting you.

[00:15:17] Jaymi: You're going to leave with creative energy. You're going to leave with more focus and you're going to leave with those strategies for support. So you're going to feel ready to take action. So a quick bit of housekeeping. Uh, some of you may know me, but I know that we're meeting each other for the first time for many of us.

[00:15:35] Jaymi: So I want to give you a quick introduction about me, just so you know who the heck is behind these slides and this information. My name is Jamie Heimbach, and I've been a professional conservation photographer for 10 years. Now. I've been a hundred percent full time for over four years now, which is exciting.

[00:15:52] Jaymi: And before taking that leap into full-time, I spent a decade as a senior writer and editor at a high traffic environmental [00:16:00] website. And so I went from seeing dozens of pitches every day and working with photographers on photo essays from the editing side to moving on, to working as a photographer on the story creation side with publications.

[00:16:12] Jaymi: Audubon and national wildlife and Sierra. So I've gained a lot of experience in conservation, visual storytelling, and I've also been lucky in finding my passion for teaching. I founded a conservation visual storytellers academy, and that's where I teach conservation photography through my courses. And I'm really motivated to help others, including you find your footing in conservation photography, because I genuinely believe that every single success that a conservation visual storyteller experiences is a success for this whole planet, then I think that's a really big deal.

[00:16:48] Jaymi: You are a big deal. So it is my passion to help. Now if you are like me and you want to know exactly what to expect with the time that you are spending right now, uh, I'm going to walk you through [00:17:00] just where we're going in this masterclass. So first we're covering the five mindset shifts to make right now.

[00:17:05] Jaymi: And then we're going to walk through action items for each of these mental shifts. This is sort of your homework for why, what to do in order to make these shifts. Then we're going to look at that personal path toward publication, which is what you're going to put together throughout this masterclass, as we go through each of those hurdles.

[00:17:24] Jaymi: And next, if you like what you have learned in this masterclass, and you want to go to the next steps, I will tell you how you can work with me and conservation photography, 1 0 1 for those detailed, nuts and bolts of how to photograph and pitch conservation photo stories. And we'll wrap up with that Q and a.

[00:17:42] Jaymi: So you can get all of your questions answered before we sign off. So be sure to take notes, write down any questions that pop up. We're definitely covering those. And because I think that you are amazing for showing up live for showing up for yourself, for your education to see [00:18:00] what you can do for conservation through your photography.

[00:18:03] Jaymi: I'm giving you a special bonus. So inside of your handout section is a special bonus of 15 story ideas to spark inspiration. So this is going to give you a creative kick in the pants. That'll help you start recognizing possible stories to pursue all around you. And you can download that right now from the handout section.

[00:18:24] Jaymi: All right, let's begin with a thought exercise. I want you to close your eyes for a moment and consider this thought. Imagine what it would feel like to photograph a story that you're really passionate about. You find something that just really lights you up and that you're excited to photograph, and you create this powerful portfolio of images on that story.

[00:18:46] Jaymi: Then you pitch that to a publication and you hear back. Yes. We want to publish your story. What feelings does that bring up for you? That idea that you discover and photograph a story right at home, and you get a yes. [00:19:00] Answer to getting that in front of audiences. And if you want to pop a word in the comments, one word that describes how that image makes you feel.

[00:19:07] Jaymi: I'd love to know what's coming up for you. What's what's popping up for that image of, yes. We want to publish your photo story. I know, for me, it feels really empowering. It's especially empowering when it's a story that shows how a local effort, like maybe what one small local organization is doing. And I can get that in front of audiences and inspire audiences in far off places, uh, based on what is happening here locally.

[00:19:36] Jaymi: I see, uh, Dan, you, it makes you feel excited and Graham a sense of accomplishment and our, our other grammar Graham number two is validation. Carolyn also says validation. It's really true. That sense of accomplishment and validation for yourself as a photographer for the issue that you're photographing for the story, maybe the species that affects that sense of accomplishment and invalidation is amazing.

[00:19:59] Jaymi: Bob is [00:20:00] excited. Julie's excited. I see a lot of that. That is fantastic. Sergio success. That is a wonderful feeling that comes up. Absolutely. Now getting that yes, answer is so rewarding. And like I said, for you and for what you're photographing, and here's one thing I really want you to understand. Getting your conservation photo stories in front of audiences is the single most effective way to find more meaning in your existing photography work.

[00:20:30] Jaymi: And to fulfill that passion, to make a difference all while inspiring others who are in your community. And of course, those who are far beyond your community, but I know that for many of us at all stages of the game, whether you are just getting started or whether you've been at this for a while, we put barriers in our own way.

[00:20:49] Jaymi: And today you and I, we're going to remove the barriers that are in your way. One by. And the first limiting belief that stands in the way of putting your work out in the [00:21:00] world is this persistent nagging belief in the back of your mind of I'm not a good enough photographer yet. And oh my goodness, that photo of that yawning coyote is pretty much my reaction.

[00:21:11] Jaymi: Every time I hear this from someone who's really eager to inspire others and to make an impact because often I'm sitting there looking at their work and the talent is there. It is right there. It just comes down to practice. Now more than likely you are good enough, but you're maybe seeking perfection in your photos.

[00:21:29] Jaymi: And perfection stands in the way of progress. Now, this does not mean that you can get away with crummy photos. You still need to be able to take well-crafted images, that nail composition, that draw viewers in and hold them. But here's, what's way more important to understand. This is more important than having those tack sharp portraits that follow all those holy rules, like golden spirals and rules of thirds and everything that's raved about in camera clubs to get audiences interested in [00:22:00] your photo stories.

[00:22:01] Jaymi: And by audiences, I include editors in that it's more important that you understand how to tell stories through photographs, then to capture those quote unquote perfect images. It's more important that you recognize storytelling moments that you combine images in a way that build a story that you understand storytelling subject matter.

[00:22:22] Jaymi: That is where really good stories come from. But so often talented photographers are kind of busy pixel peeping and saying, ah, but that's not tack sharp. And, you know, worrying about these details. But as I say, it's more important to understand how to build stories with your photos and knowing this can actually give you a leg up over even long established big reputation photographers.

[00:22:48] Jaymi: So here's a quote from Susan Mikkel Haney. She is the editor of a publication called ranger, Rick magazine. It's a nature magazine geared towards kids. It's really popular. I grew up on ranger, [00:23:00] Rick magazine. It is just this super common thing here in the U S and probably beyond, um, that us kids grow up loving this.

[00:23:08] Jaymi: So when I talked with her about storytelling and the importance of it, she said, I've been totally blown away by the fact that there are people out there who have huge reputations, but do not have the slightest idea of what a story is. They know how to make a set of pictures, but they can't frame it.

[00:23:24] Jaymi: It's just a pile of pictures that can be put in any order. And it's amazing how many very highly regarded photographers are out there who do not have a clue. They make pretty pictures. They hang on a wall, but they don't go any further than that. Now this is a really big thing to understand, because it means that when you understand storytelling in your images, you can stand out above even people who have been in this field for ages.

[00:23:49] Jaymi: And when I talk about being good enough, yet there's a different metric that you want to use than what you've likely been told again. And again, It's not about being perfect [00:24:00] right now. Here's, what's so important to understand. I get asked this all the time about when you arrive as a conservation photographer and there is no magical day when you arrive at good enough when you arrive at that.

[00:24:13] Jaymi: Okay. Well, now I'm a photographer. It is your magical day today. It's all about constant practice and building a storytelling skills. If you know how to work a camera and you do, if you are in this masterclass, I'm sure. And you have a passion for telling stories that make a difference. Then you're ready right now to get started on something worthy of publication.

[00:24:35] Jaymi: This limiting belief of I'm not good enough yet is keeping you in a comfort zone and it could be holding you back from creating something pretty amazing for publication. I've actually had this experience with one of my students, Heather Hayashi, who attended one of my workshops. She came into this workshop without much confidence in her camera skills at all.

[00:24:56] Jaymi: She said, like, I, I feel like I don't really know what I'm doing with my [00:25:00] camera, but I'm here and I'm excited. And she was not experienced in photographing an entire story either. But she said the first day of this workshop, I said, you know, what brings you here? And she has this huge passion for being a conservation photographer for putting her images to work.

[00:25:15] Jaymi: So she pushed through all that uncertainty and that fear. And she absolutely rocked the photo essay that she needed to create. As part of this workshop, several of her images from the workshop were published in a magazine for a story. So she was indeed good enough right then to get published, even though she didn't realize it, she just pushed through that uncertainty.

[00:25:36] Jaymi: She worked her tail off. She had fun the whole way. And of course that's an important component. And all of that ensured that she got published and paid by the way, for those. Now I will bet that you've created images already that have made somebody pause and think, and that's at the heart of conservation photography.

[00:25:56] Jaymi: Is your images, make someone pause and think. So here's an [00:26:00] exercise that I would love for you to do within the next 24 hours. I would love for you to go through your images, whatever you've posted on social media or shared with friends and pull out one image that sparked a conversation with someone, you only need to find one image, and it can be that online conversation in the comments of a social media post, or an in-person conversation that you had with someone we need show them this image.

[00:26:24] Jaymi: Just one that sparked a great chat. And then I want you to think about. What will change for you when you consistently create photographs that do cause someone to pause and think and learn, and you can answer this question now in the chat, if it's coming up for you, like what you know will change for you when you know that your photographs are making that impact, or this can also be something that you journal, this is inside of your workbook.

[00:26:52] Jaymi: And you can think about this as you're going through your images. What's going to change for you when you can consistently create those photographs that [00:27:00] make people pause. Now, the second limiting belief that I see all the time is this. You need to have an in with editors and I don't have any connections.

[00:27:10] Jaymi: This is something that comes up all the time, and here's the reality. Nobody starts out with everything they need and knowing all the people they're ever gonna know. Making connections is all part of the adventure of chasing down a story and getting it into the world and making connections is something that you do as you grow.

[00:27:29] Jaymi: I did not have connections in print publications. When I moved away from online editing and writing into photography, I started from scratch inside of this as well. And the more time you spend building just a few connections, a great relationship with an editor here or there, the faster your web of a network grows.

[00:27:49] Jaymi: But I certainly understand how this feels when you're starting out. It feels like you're on the outside of this castle with the Drawbridge up and you can see lights on and you can hear people partying and you're just out there in the cold [00:28:00] and you have no idea how to get in there. But the reality is you actually don't need to know anybody to get your story in front of an editor and published.

[00:28:09] Jaymi: And this is true from my own experience. Like I said, when I went freelance and I wanted to get published in print magazines, I was starting from scratch. I didn't have connections to publications or editors because I was coming from this online world where I worked inside of a website and I wasn't the one making the pitches.

[00:28:27] Jaymi: I was the one getting all the pitches. So I didn't have any connections outside of that site. I really felt like I was just at ground zero. Now I didn't have connections to print editors, but I did have two important things, an understanding of how to create connections. And approven that step-by-step process that gets me over the jitters.

[00:28:46] Jaymi: Making new connections is something that we all do on this daily basis in our personal and professional lives. So it's not rocket science at all. So we can just draw on what we've learned as social beings about making connections and start to apply that [00:29:00] into. But the second resource that step-by-step process to get over the jitters, it is something that you have to kind of curate.

[00:29:08] Jaymi: It was something that I had to really recognize and curate for myself. And for me, I've actually built that into the pitch writing process. And to begin, it just required one core ingredient, confidence in what I had to say for my story. And in fact, one of my students in conservation photography, 1 0 1, she recently used that very process to reach out to an editor that she never worked with before.

[00:29:33] Jaymi: He'd never heard of her completely cold pitch, but we worked together through the process to make sure she had that well honed story idea and a well-written pitch that gave her the confidence in what she was putting in front of someone to send that cold email. And his reply was amazing. Jennifer told me that he said that the combination of story woven and what the narrative was, one of the best he's ever seen.

[00:29:57] Jaymi: And that's an editor who's been around for 25 [00:30:00] years. So imagine what it would feel like to be so clear on your story and your pitch that you have full confidence in sending that to an E an editor that you have never met before. And that editor replies with excitement about your story. So you don't have to have that initial connection.

[00:30:15] Jaymi: Your story idea basically does the networking for you. So what would that feel like for you? What do you think you would accomplish? If you could confidently fire off pitches on a regular basis and build that network from scratch? Now to get over this limiting belief. This is the one next step I would love for you to take, if you are worried about a lack of connections or you're worried about how do I get in front of the gatekeepers?

[00:30:42] Jaymi: I hear that that phrase a lot is how do I get in front of the gatekeepers? Well, if you're worried about that, what I would like for you to do is to make a list of the publications that you would love to be in one day and then find the name and the email of the editor. It could be the editor in chief, the photo editor, [00:31:00] and write that down too.

[00:31:01] Jaymi: And that's it for now, just grab your workbook, write down this exercise and promise yourself that in the next 24 hours, you'll complete this make a list of maybe five publications and those names and what you're going to see as you work your way through this very simple exercise is just how empowering it is to start gathering the contact information that you're going to use.

[00:31:22] Jaymi: Once you make a list of who you would like to contact, you've already started to build a connection in your mind. And one that is going to start to give you that confidence to send out your pitch, even if it's a cold pitch. Now, the next limiting belief that we're going to tackle is this photographing an entire story is daunting.

[00:31:42] Jaymi: I'm not ready for. Now, this is a big limiting belief that I hear a lot. And it's one that really hides behind a few other things like, well, I'll just, you know, work on a few personal projects and photograph then, and then maybe after that, or it looks like this, [00:32:00] well, I want to learn how to use lighting better, or I want to learn this technique better.

[00:32:05] Jaymi: So I'm going to practice that for a while and then maybe I'll get to a story, right? You start to put these little tasks in front of you. Like they're each going to make you more ready to photograph a story. And often it's because you think the photo stories are the realm of professionals, the super skilled pros who shoot for big publications.

[00:32:24] Jaymi: Now, if you believe that photo stories are in the realm of pros, I'd love for you to pause and consider this idea. How did those pros get to where they are by tackling stories? Even if they were afraid, even if they were intimidated, even if they didn't yet have the skills they needed. And, oh my goodness.

[00:32:44] Jaymi: I have said yes to gigs that I did not feel I had the skills for yet, but dang, I was going to figure it out on the way. So many of my colleagues have done the same. They say yes to an opportunity. And then they figure out the skills that they need during crunch time. And so can you, so if [00:33:00] you're saying I'm not ready to try my hand at a photo story yet, I'm letting you know, yes, you are.

[00:33:06] Jaymi: You have the same abilities as every other photographer who's out shooting right now because you have the ability to learn, to try to experiment and to grow. And the only thing that those pros are doing that you need to model is that willingness to embrace intimidation and go forward with your story anyway, and I know this because I've seen it again and again in my students.

[00:33:28] Jaymi: So here is an amazing group of students at a work. I'm the one on the very far, right? Uh, now none of these folks had photographed a complete thorough conservation story either. These are students in one of my trainings and every single one of them was ready to go outside of their comfort zone. With storytelling, they reach perfectly comfortable with portraits or landscapes, with pieces of stories, but photographing a whole story and all its details and different facets that was brand new territory for all of them.

[00:33:58] Jaymi: And it felt intimidating. [00:34:00] But after a week of work, this was when we could all gather in in-person workshops, pre COVID. After a week of work, they'd built a truly gorgeous complex portfolio of images telling the story of a nonprofit in the area that was focused on sustainable forestry. They just rocked it.

[00:34:18] Jaymi: And here's what one student who is starting her career had to say, she said, one of my biggest struggles was getting my head wrapped around all the different elements of a story and how I wanted to. I now think beyond single images and more about what images I need to put together for a story. And that's the thing.

[00:34:37] Jaymi: Once you've tackled a story, once you start to see what it takes a lot more easily, you start to recognize how you're going to put it together. And that once daunting thing isn't so big and scary anymore. So a story, it might've felt overwhelming to her at first, but tackling that limiting belief and saying, Hey, I'm going to go for it.

[00:34:54] Jaymi: Anyway, taking part in a step-by-step training, she built this gorgeous portfolio of [00:35:00] work, and then she went right out into the field and she's done it again and again, and again, she is a rising star in this field and it is so exciting to see how she is just becoming this incredible storyteller. So let's talk about you and your willingness to recognize that you're ready to write.

[00:35:19] Jaymi: One of the best ways to really gain confidence that you are certainly ready to photograph a full story is to go into your archive of images and see how you've done this already in different ways. So do you have a set of five or six images that when you put it together, they tell a story. Now they don't have to be photographed at the same time or the same place, the same species, just when they're put together, they tell a story, maybe even the story of wildlife living in your yard.

[00:35:46] Jaymi: This is such a powerful exercise. In fact, let me come back on camera. I'm going to, I'm going to distract you from the slide for just a moment. Come onto camera, because this is such a powerful exercise to go back into your archive and look at [00:36:00] how you've actually crafted stories and practice putting stories together.

[00:36:04] Jaymi: It's something that I do with my students all the time. And when I have students do this exercise for the first time, often, what I hear is, wow. I didn't even realize that there's so much going on around me or now I'm so excited about the story. I can think of other images. I want to photograph for it and have this completed story.

[00:36:23] Jaymi: So more than likely you're going to have a really similar experience. And I would love for you to try this exercise because it's super, super effective. Okay. Let me get back off of cameras that we can get back to our slides. Okay. Like I said, I know that you have this in your archive right now, if you've been photographing for awhile and it's just a matter of seeing it.

[00:36:43] Jaymi: So I know that I am excited about your stories already, and I would love for you to tell me one word that describes how you're going to feel when you have a complete photo story to hand to an editor. What's one word that comes up to you. [00:37:00] Maybe it's excited or scared or proud or energized. Just pop a word into the comments.

[00:37:05] Jaymi: That's how you'll feel when you envision yourself handing a set of images that tells a story that you're passionate about to an editor who is just as excited for your story. I see, Julie says proud. Heck yeah, she'll be proud. Absolutely. Dan and Nicholas accomplished. Yes. And Graham and Graham. I love that.

[00:37:25] Jaymi: We have two grams in here. Uh, we have jubilant and excited. Those are huge feelings, especially that feeling of like fine. Like this is amazing. I want to pop that champagne cork, Carolyn impactful. Yes. You'll really feel that sense of like, I can make a difference with my images because I can get a photo story put together that makes people think and Bernard nervous, nervous comes up too all the time.

[00:37:51] Jaymi: It's like, Ooh, well, I did this now. I've got attention now. What now? What do I do as I go forward? Um, and Sergio coherent. Yeah. [00:38:00] That's such a great word. That's when that, how many times have I taught this masterclass? That's the first time that the word coherent has come up and it's a great one to have that feeling of like, oh, I take all of these different images and now I have a story.

[00:38:12] Jaymi: Now they make sense. They are coherent. Well, this is fantastic. So let's go on to knocking down the next limiting belief that I hear so often, and that is you have to travel to find the stories the editors want. This comes up a lot in conservation photography, and it's the idea I need to go somewhere exotic or somewhere kind of exciting to find a conservation story that's worth publishing.

[00:38:39] Jaymi: And this is one of the worst limiting beliefs, because it is patently untrue and yet really hard to remove from our minds, but ultimately believing that there isn't a story, right, where you're standing is a form of kind of small thinking because your own backyard has stories, just waiting for you to tell, see a great [00:39:00] story isn't found based on location.

[00:39:03] Jaymi: A great story is a great story, regardless of location. And what's exotic to you is still indeed someone else's back. The most critical part of a powerful moving impactful conservation story, like Caroline said, impactful conservation story is how it's told, see engaging important visually compelling stories are happening everywhere.

[00:39:26] Jaymi: There's issues happening in rural towns, city parks, urban jungles, suburban backyards, nearby forest waterways. And we need conservation photographers telling all of these stories. So you don't need to travel far. You just need to see what's happening and capture it with honesty with grit, compassion.

[00:39:49] Jaymi: That's what makes a story worth publishing. And I live this out frequently. I work with students from where they are. I work with people online. So we're constantly work-shopping [00:40:00] story ideas that are happening in their own backyard, wherever they are in the world. And this is especially true since COVID started a hundred percent of the work that I do in training conservation, photographers is done virtually and students have had to look where they are.

[00:40:14] Jaymi: There's no traveling involved in getting these stories for the last two years, but I want to give you an example of this, of what this looks like. So this is an example of a story that popped up in my own backyard. And it's a story that my workshop students got published. So let me tell you about Monterey California.

[00:40:32] Jaymi: I used to live in the San Francisco bay area. So this was right down the road from me. And I held a workshop here in large part because it wasn't easy location. You know, people could travel and get to it really easily. And myself and my colleague, Sebastian Kenner connect, we'd lived in the area for forever.

[00:40:48] Jaymi: So we were really familiar with it. So it was a logistical. Then came finding the story. So we're like, okay, well, what do we have around here? Well, there's sea otters. They're very [00:41:00] charismatic, but you know, see what our stories are, a dime a dozen, how are we going to make one that's different? How would it be?

[00:41:05] Jaymi: Not just another story about sea otters? So we focused on really building a story, not the location, not even the species as a topic. We focused on the story and we found magic in that instead of making it exotic, we dove deeper into that in your own backyard side of it. So what we did was we looked at connections between what organizations were doing on the land and how that affected habitat and then how that impacted sea otters, and then how the sea otters impacted the health of the habitat as well.

[00:41:38] Jaymi: So we've came up with a story that illustrated this full circle, very complex combination of people and sea otters in someone's backyard. Very, very literally in backyard. So students embraced the challenge of photographing an already well photographed area and a species in the area that had been photographed a ton.

[00:41:59] Jaymi: And we figured out a [00:42:00] way to do it in this new and interesting way. And they had truly incredible transformative results in their storytelling skills. And in fact, I cold pitched in an editor. So someone I had never talked to before I pitched him the story that we were working on, and here's what he emailed me back.

[00:42:17] Jaymi: He said, I have to tell you that yours was the first email I opened this morning and it set the tone for my whole day. Thank you. I couldn't have asked for anything better. That's such an amazing encouraging response to get from a cold pitch to an editor who had never heard of me. Now, he was a little nervous about the idea of images coming from students and reasonably.

[00:42:37] Jaymi: So he has no idea how to judge the caliber of the work that would come in. But when I sent in the student portfolios that they had built, here's what he said. He said, if I had unlimited space, I could find photos from each of your students that I'd print. It'll be a wonderful headache for an editor to have too many good shots.

[00:42:55] Jaymi: The selection of photographs from your students are terrific and leaves me in the enviable position of [00:43:00] having more to choose from than I'll ever have the space to use. Now it's so wonderful as he did go on to choose images from all of the different students. So each of the students got published and it was really amazing to see how, uh, kind of diverse portfolio of images came into this one, very tight, cohesive, beautiful published story.

[00:43:21] Jaymi: And each of those students got paid for their images to be published. Now, here are photographers. They had a little experience in shooting a story and they received rave reviews from a magazine editor about their storytelling images. And that's all because they were willing to take on this challenge of photographing what was put in front of them.

[00:43:41] Jaymi: And of course, like I said, they were all paid for their photos in that public. Now here's an example of something similar coming from my conservation photography, 1 0 1 student. And so, and discovered that right outside her front door or a flock of wild urban turkeys, uh, it turns out that [00:44:00] her apartment complex has this huge population of urban trees.

[00:44:06] Jaymi: And so she's like, well, that's pretty cool, but you know, some people are nervous about them or they don't like them, or there can be conflict with the turkeys during mating seasons when the males get a little too amped up. So she's zeroed in on a story that focused on coexistence and she approached the story in a very solutions oriented way.

[00:44:25] Jaymi: So she shaped this idea of something happening, right, literally outside her front door, in her apartment complex. And she shaped it into a story about coexistence with this urban species and her piece, which was her very first photo story ever by the way, was published on Audubon's website, national Audubon society's website within four months of enrolling in CP one-on-one and putting her training to work.

[00:44:52] Jaymi: So talk about a return on investment in learning how to go beyond those single shots and understand those visual stories and to recognize [00:45:00] what's right there happening in front of. And all of this was accomplished in a matter of months. See, my students, like I said, have been, I've been working with them since COVID started.

[00:45:09] Jaymi: And so they have not been able to travel many times they're working in just their very own tiny local area. And they still have gotten their work in front of editors that Audubon national geographic, BBC wildlife. So they're making a difference from concept for conservation, from their own backyards.

[00:45:27] Jaymi: And that's how I know that you absolutely can too. And I'd love to ask what would change for you if you knew that your best work could actually happen from your own local area, from your own backyard, what, what do you think would really change for you as a photographer, as your, um, as you're actually putting this craft into practice, would you feel more motivated maybe to get out there and shoot, would you feel more inspired for what you could create?

[00:45:57] Jaymi: Would you feel more empowered maybe to [00:46:00] be a voice for the causes that you care about? I know that that word empowered for me comes up a lot. When I think about what I know I can accomplish, because my best work that can happen right here at home. Julie says, I'd get up earlier. Absolutely. Julie, uh, you know, that you have a reason to get up and out the door and start to go photograph because there's stuff happening right there in front of you.

[00:46:23] Jaymi: Uh, Dan, you're motivated to get out there because you already know, Hey, I don't have to go far to do my very best work. I am motivated to get out there right now and get cracking on it. And Graham being more observant. I think that that's an incredible thing to recognize is you know, that you can do your best work right from where you are.

[00:46:41] Jaymi: So you're looking, you're being observant for stories. I love that. That's. All right. Let's move on to removing any of these nagging excuses out of your way. I want you to really be able to just charge forward. So for breaking down this mental barrier, I'd like for you to throw again, [00:47:00] a party that post-it party, you can make a list of stories that you can photograph within your city.

[00:47:06] Jaymi: So that exercise that we started out with right at the very beginning of a post-it party, really take time to do this exercise, schedule it into your planner, make it, make a note for a 20 minute window where you're going to dedicate to make a list of the stories that you can photograph in your own city or region, and then figure out which one you're going to tackle.

[00:47:28] Jaymi: All right. And now let's talk about that final barrier, that limiting belief that keeps you stuck. Even when you know, you have a great story that you can pursue. And that limiting belief is I have a full-time job, so I don't have time to shoot a whole story. When I sent out all of the video messages before this masterclass, to each of you who registered, I asked about the biggest struggle or fear you have, and this popped up frequently is, do I really have time to do this?

[00:47:53] Jaymi: Well, here's the reality. We all struggle with schedules. Even those of us who do this full time schedule or struggle [00:48:00] to schedule in time to pursue certain stories. And I understand that when you are not a full-time photographer, you have a full-time job that is in a different field. It can feel difficult to stay motivated or to feel like you can carve out time for shooting.

[00:48:12] Jaymi: So I'm going to share a surprising secret with you. Most of the conservation photographers, I personally know who are making waves, they're winning awards. They're changing minds all around the world. They don't do this. Full-time either their work is done. And in between hours, when they aren't working for clients are doing commercial work desk jobs, they're chasing down their own conservation stories on weekends or on vacations in their spare time.

[00:48:38] Jaymi: And they're successful. So some of you may recognize this name. Some of you may have never heard of clay bolt before, but he is a perfect example of what we're talking. Some of the major things that he has accomplished through his conservation photography is he was a leading player in getting the rusty patched bumblebee on the endangered species list.

[00:48:59] Jaymi: And this was the [00:49:00] first federally protected species, uh, for, uh, bees under this endangered species act. Um, and that happened in 2017. And then right after that, he went back out and helped to rediscover the Wallaces giant bee and protect it from illegal trade. He had 2 billion views on the articles about his photo within a week or so of breaking the news.

[00:49:24] Jaymi: And that is something that is huge. It's a species that is being illegally traded and he's helping to end. Oh, he has a full-time job in conservation, but not as a conservation photographer. He's the communications officer for WWF Northern great Plains program. And he finds time to work on his work in, so in these in-between moments and he's been published in national geographic nature Conservancy, scientific American, outdoor photographer, Audubon, new scientist, BBC wildlife on and on and on and on.

[00:49:55] Jaymi: I could keep the list. And all while he works at a full-time job, your [00:50:00] standard nine to five gig. And while he cares for his family, his two boys, um, and he is, you know, a family man and a full-time job and still can make waves like this. And here's an example of one of my students living this out too.

[00:50:13] Jaymi: Bill has a full-time job that nine to five gig again, but he's so passionate about conservation photography. So we started working together and he noticed that there's an environmental program happening near him that has this important goal of monitoring the health of streams. So we worked on, um, how to really shape this into a story.

[00:50:33] Jaymi: We got really into it during our coaching calls in the program, we dug around to find this hook, this angle and ways to photograph it. And it really interesting way. And his story was accepted for publication in a national ag ezine. So he finds success in his airtime. And all the stories that you see here.

[00:50:51] Jaymi: These are stories I've worked on in my own spare time. Almost all of them are published while I still had that full-time job. So I was pursuing them, [00:51:00] uh, really early in the morning, like we said, I think, uh, I think Julie said, yeah, you get up earlier. A lot of these were pursued by getting up before work, um, on weekends, on taking vacation times.

[00:51:11] Jaymi: So it's not really about an abundance of time. It's just about that drive and that determination. And I know that you have that in spades. So I know that despite that need to balance a tricky schedule, you are capable of doing big things with your photography. So your one next step is to look for lost time and to rededicate it to yourself as a photographer.

[00:51:35] Jaymi: So what you can do for this is to consider your schedule and look and see, is it possible to carve out an extra hour or two per week to dedicate to your photography? Is it possible to wake up extra early, just one weekend day? Or is there time in the evenings when maybe usually you'd settle into watch television, but instead you might work on a photo story.

[00:51:55] Jaymi: And my guess is that you do indeed have a couple of hours a week that you can [00:52:00] carve out to rededicate to your photography. And this can literally make all the difference for you just an hour or two to craft that amazing story that you're waiting to tell. So just imagine, you know, kind of think in your head, what could you accomplish if you could find just one or two extra hours a week to work on your photo story, think about what you could accomplish when you have that extra time card.

[00:52:26] Jaymi: So now let's get at the most effective way to get published. And that is to complete that photo story. So uncovering stories that you're passionate about and letting them guide your plan of action, that plan of action is really important because it keeps you motivated and heading in that right direction.

[00:52:44] Jaymi: Even if you're taking small steps at a time, it keeps you on the move. And the best part is we've made that plan of action together right here over the course of this masterclass. But all those exercises that I asked you to complete have added up to a strategy. So first you'll [00:53:00] acknowledge a conversation sparking image, and that's where we really zeroed in on exercise.

[00:53:04] Jaymi: Number one, where I asked you to go back through your images and see what has sparked a conversation. Then you'll group images together that tell a story. So you'll practice this. When you go back through your archive of images and pull images that together, create a story, you can practice that, and it's going to really help you recognize why a storyteller has a big leg up in getting published.

[00:53:27] Jaymi: And the third is to discover stories in your own neighborhood. So use that post-it party exercise to brainstorm those ideas, then curate a list of all the publications and editors that you eventually want to connect with. Just by making that list, you're going to start to build connections in your own head.

[00:53:45] Jaymi: You're going to start to gain some familiarity and some comfort inside of this concept that you may pitch them one day and you're going to get so much more familiar with different publications. And step number five. And your plan of action is to discover hidden time that is [00:54:00] tucked away in the corners of your schedule to work on photographing a full story.

[00:54:03] Jaymi: We all have more time than we might think. And if we're willing to do a little bit of tough love with ourselves and kind of see where we're spending time on some things outside of photography, that can then be rededicated to photography, you'll discover you probably have a lot more time than you might think that you had.

[00:54:19] Jaymi: So do you kind of see how doable it is to create a conservation photo story, especially one that once you like pull down all those mental barriers, all those limiting beliefs that we talked about once you yank those down, it can really be amazing how quickly you can move forward on a story because it's that mindset that determines success in getting started and ultimately getting published.

[00:54:43] Jaymi: Now, since this was originally presented as a live masterclass here is where I presented all of the attendees with information about conservation photography, 1 0 1, my online course. So if they wanted to continue on with their education, they'd be able to enroll. Now, if you are [00:55:00] curious about conservation photography, 1 0 1, you can simply go to conservation visuals.com forward slash enroll for all the details.

[00:55:09] Jaymi: That's conservation visuals.com forward slash enroll. Then from this point, we went into our Q and a session. So enjoy the questions posed by all of the audience members. Some of these may be on your mind right now. And now we're going to launch into our Q and a session where you can ask me any questions.

[00:55:28] Jaymi: So in the chat right now, if you've had questions that have popped up either before the master class, and you really want those answered or questions that have popped up for you during the masterclass that you want me to answer, this is your time to just pop those into the chat. And I can take them one by one.

[00:55:45] Jaymi: And I know that one common question that came up, uh, inside of the responses, the survey responses, like I mentioned before, Where do I get started inside of all of this? Because it can be really overwhelming. So I do want to address that really quickly as well [00:56:00] is yes. Getting started feels really overwhelming.

[00:56:04] Jaymi: That's one of the reasons why this roadmap approach is so helpful is because knowing what to do first and then, and then, and then is critical. And I love to work inside of steps and stages and action plans. That's why inside this masterclass, we built you an action plan of, okay, well, first I'm going to do this.

[00:56:22] Jaymi: Then I'm going to do this. Then I'm going to do this. And that really helps to get you that clear. Um, Julie, so you have one of your biggest limiting beliefs. Is that my camera's aren't good enough. I have an iPhone seven and an old Lumix bridge camera as I can't afford anything else, not ideal, but can I still take publishable quality photos on this equipment?

[00:56:39] Jaymi: Julie, this is such a great question. And one that comes up often and the answer is yes. You can still take publishable quality photos on this equipment. The thing that you need to know though, is that you might be able to only photograph certain type or I shouldn't say only photograph, you might be able to dig deep in photographing certain types of stories, [00:57:00] and it might be more difficult to photograph other types of stories that do require different types of equipment.

[00:57:05] Jaymi: That's when you simply rent equipment for that particular story. So here's an example with an iPhone seven or your Lumix bridge camera, you might be able to dive into amazing stories about what is going on inside your community, with people who are working in nonprofits or, um, maybe species that are living in your own backyard that you can get close to and to be able to photograph.

[00:57:29] Jaymi: Maybe though you want to do a story about birds that are very, very skiddish that might require a telephoto lens or, you know, a camera, body, and lens combo that can make you essentially get closer visually. But at that point you can simply say, okay, well, what is a budget? Can I rent my camera for a week and be able to photograph that story in that amount of time?

[00:57:50] Jaymi: So a lot of my students, in fact, we were having a conversation about this inside of our student group, just this week about a student who was kind of feeling limited in their equipment. And another [00:58:00] student said, Hey, here's how I got my super budget kit, everything that I looked for on sale. And then, um, in addition to that, you can simply rent for a short period of time equipment.

[00:58:10] Jaymi: That might be what you need for, like, let's say you want to do macro photos and you need a macro lens. You just rent it for that period of time. But you don't even have to do that. You can focus on stories that you can fully get with what you have on hand. And I do want to point out too. I have a professional friend, a full-time professional conservation photographer filmmaker, and she created this incredible, uh, pitch video for a project that she's working on.

[00:58:33] Jaymi: And most of the video that she captured was shot with her iPhone and it made this huge splash and got her tons of support from stakeholders. So yes, you can absolutely use a camera as long as you're using it for what it can accomplish and not trying to push it too hard. You're capable of it. All right.

[00:58:52] Jaymi: Graham asks, uh, when we talk about giving a pitch to a story, how much of the pitch is the writing of the story? Do your students pitch a [00:59:00] portfolio or images with a guideline or captions, et cetera, uh, or with a composed written story? And does your coursework on that journalistic side of what. For those of us who want to be both a writer and photographer.

[00:59:11] Jaymi: Graham. I love this question too. It's one that comes up all the time. Uh, and it's one that we definitely kind of address inside of the course as well. So the course itself focuses in terms of the writing. There's a lot of writing that's done in the story creation process, where you're making what I call a story statement where.

[00:59:29] Jaymi: Writing out what the story's about. You're writing out, uh, imagery that you want to capture. And then of course, a ton of writing in the pitch process. Now what tends to happen with students is even those who come in without necessarily a ton of writing skills, the practice of writing about the story that they're creating and the practice and everything that they learn about how to write an engaging pitch, email.

[00:59:50] Jaymi: Those are skills that can be translated into writing an article. Now, when it comes to pitching article, the written text and the photos, [01:00:00] you do not have to pitch that. So I, uh, focus on right or sorry. I focus on, um, pitching photo story. But for those who do want to write the stories you'll pitch, what's called a photo text package, and that requires a bit of a tweak inside of the pitch itself.

[01:00:17] Jaymi: So how you frame, what you're pitching to an editor is going to shift a little bit if you're pitching yourself as both a photographer and writer, but you can absolutely do that. And the pitch email is not basically a duplicate of your article. You also don't need to write an article or text before pitching at all.

[01:00:37] Jaymi: Um, you save your time. But, um, all of that does happen. And we talk about that a lot in the program, because I have quite a few students in the program who do want to write their own texts with the, um, photography that they do. And so we talk about, well, how do you pitch that? Let's talk about framing your pitch specifically for that there's others who don't.

[01:00:57] Jaymi: They only want to pitch the photography. And that [01:01:00] works perfectly too. So we frame a pitch that is only pitching the photography for the story, leaving it open for the publication to select an editor. An example from this master class is both Anne with her urban Turkey story and bill with his watershed story.

[01:01:14] Jaymi: They did indeed write the text for their articles, um, and pitch those as photo techs packages. So, um, basically I guess to this long one, oh, let me go back on camera, by the way. I can't believe I haven't been. Okay, there we go. Um, so this very long-winded answer to your question. Graham is, um, there is room and training inside of the program to learn what it takes to craft and pitch a story that is both the photography and the texts that you want to do.

[01:01:42] Jaymi: And there's also room to learn how to craft and pitch a story that is just the photography. If you're not interested in doing the writing gram, if you have follow up questions for that, please pop that into the chat and happy to, if I got lost down a rabbit trail, or you want more clarification on a certain thing, please let me know.

[01:01:58] Jaymi: I'm happy to answer that. Uh, [01:02:00] Erin, how many images and words do stories tend to be. It's all over the board. Uh, Aaron, so you might pitch a story that is a, a few images and a couple paragraphs of text. It's very short and concise. You might pitch a feature length story, and that might be multiple pages and many images inside of a publication.

[01:02:21] Jaymi: Or if it's an online publication, maybe they have tons of images. I'm a freelance photo editor for a conservation publication. Online and we'll pick as many as maybe 15 images or 18 images for a story. And it might be a, you know, a 2000 word feature story, or it might be what's called a spotlight. And it's just a, an image with a caption that's very concise.

[01:02:42] Jaymi: So it's all over the place and, um, stories that you create inside of the course, I really encourage my students to create different length stories. It doesn't always have to be this long in-depth feature piece. You can actually find a very short, concise, fantastic splashy story and get that out the door and get some [01:03:00] really quick wins under your belt while you're also working on maybe a larger, more complex feature length story.

[01:03:05] Jaymi: So all, all over the place. Okay. I think we might be at the end of questions. I'm more than happy to answer more. Also you've been getting emails from me, so you are more than welcome to hit reply on those emails and ask any additional questions that pop up for you after this masterclass is over. I always welcome that.

[01:03:25] Jaymi: Um, so Graham, uh, confusing and how a photographer can pitch themselves, um, for someone else's story versus our own. That is really interesting. It is interesting for pitching yourself as a photographer for someone else's written story. However, there are definitely ways that you can collaborate alongside of a writer or even basically make sure a publication knows that you are available for assignment.

[01:03:50] Jaymi: And often when you start to build relationships with editors, then they'll know that you're a photographer out there and they might reach out to you to pair you with someone else. Who's [01:04:00] pitched them a story because they know that you're capable of photographing it. So sometimes that happens as well. Um, so, uh, can you address at all the question of how do I pitch a story to an editor in very basic terms or who in general, the pitch to see that's why I built the course is there's no easy answer to this.

[01:04:18] Jaymi: Um, There's a lot of it depends wrapped up into this and I would be doing you a very deep disservice by trying to say here's a quick and easy answer, because there's a lot of variables that go into who you pitch, what you pitched to them, how you pitch it to them, and the expectations that you set about how that pitch might be received or shaped.

[01:04:42] Jaymi: So there's, there's so much that goes into it. And then in the course, that's why I built this whole course about it is like we talk about like, here's all these variables about how you shape it and why pitch writing is such an art and how to research publications so that you can take the story that you have.

[01:04:57] Jaymi: And you might be able to pitch it to multiple [01:05:00] publications in different ways based on finding different hooks and different angles. So I'm so sorry, but there's no easy answer. No, like quick and concise. This is how I pitch because it's completely. Um, uh, Julie and, um, awesome. Oh, thank you so much. This is wonderful.

[01:05:17] Jaymi: Um, I'm on the breadline. Yes. Yeah, I totally understand budgets. So that's why I built a three payment plan and a six payment option into that as well. Um, I know that it's an investment and it's one of those things where if you, if you have the ability to invest and it's something that fits into your budget, um, it's something that you can put the training to work and earn back investment.

[01:05:39] Jaymi: But also, I don't want anyone to ever go into debt or to be like in a financially precarious situation because, you know, they're, I'm pushing them into this course. So just know that like, if it's a fit for you and financially is within your budget. Awesome. If it's not right now, you know, that's something you can say about four, I'm going to open enrollment later in 2022.

[01:05:58] Jaymi: So maybe it's a fit for you [01:06:00] in the future. Um, but also now that we've connected on this webinar, We know that we can reach out to each other. If you have questions, you can pop them over to me in an email. Um, you'll be getting emails from me with inspiration and podcast episodes and things that are going to help you in your journey as well.

[01:06:16] Jaymi: Um, so if this course in this roadmap is something that. I love it, but not quite right now. You'll have my support, um, through, through emails, through podcasts and other really helpful informational things. That'll help you along that journey until maybe one day it is a fit. All right. Well, I will go ahead and wrap up here.

[01:06:35] Jaymi: Thank you all so much for being here and being part of this masterclass. Thank you so much for being people who want to dedicate your talent and your skills to conservation. It's a very big deal that you are so interested in putting that creativity to work for nature and environment and these issues that affect all of us.

[01:06:53] Jaymi: I think that is huge, and that is why I'm here and dedicated to supporting all of you. So thank you so much for your time and your energy. I really [01:07:00] appreciate it. I hope that you have a beautiful rest of your day or evening wherever you are in the world. Uh, and we will be in touch. All right. Have a really good day, everyone.

[01:07:08] Jaymi: Bye.