Message Nick and Steve here:

Steve and Nick are joined by Scottish wedding photographers Murray McMillan and Lawrence Scott for a very funny and refreshingly candid conversation about photography, friendship and working together at weddings.

Murray and Lawrence have very different photographic styles, but years of shooting together have turned them into a highly effective team. They talk about the benefits of having two photographers at a wedding, learning to anticipate what the other person is doing and why couples now sometimes specifically ask for both of them.

There’s plenty of gear talk too. Murray explains why his romantic idea of shooting weddings exclusively with Leica Q3s didn't quite survive contact with a real wedding, why he returned to Sony, and what he thinks of the A7 V and tiny RX1R III. Lawrence talks Nikon Z9s, fast lenses, low-light performance and his admiration for Sony autofocus.

The conversation also gets into the less glamorous realities of wedding photography: long days, endless editing, marketing, burnout, balancing photography with another career and wondering how long you want to keep doing it.

Plus: content creators at weddings, supplier meals, Ray-Ban Meta glasses, Lawrence's tendency to shoot rather a lot of photographs… and Steve's possible new career as a wedding toastmaster.

And at the end, Steve and Nick share more details about The Photography Pod London Meetup on 21 November, including plans for coffee, street photography walks, a pub and possibly a curry.

A relaxed, honest and very funny hour with four wedding photographers who probably know each other rather too well.

Murray McMillan Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/murray_mcmillan

Lawrence Scott Instagram :https://www.instagram.com/LSPix

Support the show

The Photography Pod is twice monthly photography podcast for both working professionals and enthusiast photographers. The host Nick Church and Steve Vaughan are professional wedding photographers based in the UK. They both use Sony Alpha cameras and lenses.

Photography Pod Facebook group : https://www.facebook.com/groups/thephotographypod/

Video version of the Podcast including slide shows of images: https://www.youtube.com/@thephotographypod

Nick's website : https://www.nickchurchphotography.co.uk/
Nick's Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/nickchurchphotography/

Nick Church Creative Academy https://www.nickchurchphotography.co.uk/news/introducing-nick-church-creative-academy

Steve's website : https://www.samandstevephotography.com/
Steve's Wedding Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/samandstevephotography/
Steve's personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevevaughanphotography

Message Nick and Steve here:

Steve and Nick revisit the grey import debate after asking photographers where they buy their gear. The savings can be substantial, but what about warranties, VAT and the UK camera shops we value?

Wedding photographer Greg Thurtle joins them to talk about using the Osmo Pocket 4 Pro for hybrid wedding coverage. They discuss where a small camera helps, how the second lens changes the way Greg shoots, and the compromises he has found so far.

Later, Steve shares a simpler approach to his personal photography: shooting for pleasure, editing on an iPad and using ChatGPT to help build Lightroom presets. Nick has an AI story of his own, with a rather less straightforward result.

In this episode:

• Grey imports, warranties and supporting local retailers
• Greg’s experience with the Pocket 4 Pro at weddings
• Keeping personal photography from feeling like more work
• Lightroom on an iPad and AI-assisted presets
• News of the Photography Pod’s London get-together

Join the conversation in The Photography Pod Facebook group. We’d love to hear where you buy your gear and how you handle the photos you take just for yourself.

Support the show

The Photography Pod is twice monthly photography podcast for both working professionals and enthusiast photographers. The host Nick Church and Steve Vaughan are professional wedding photographers based in the UK. They both use Sony Alpha cameras and lenses.

Photography Pod Facebook group : https://www.facebook.com/groups/thephotographypod/

Video version of the Podcast including slide shows of images: https://www.youtube.com/@thephotographypod

Nick's website : https://www.nickchurchphotography.co.uk/
Nick's Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/nickchurchphotography/

Nick Church Creative Academy https://www.nickchurchphotography.co.uk/news/introducing-nick-church-creative-academy

Steve's website : https://www.samandstevephotography.com/
Steve's Wedding Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/samandstevephotography/
Steve's personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevevaughanphotography

Message Nick and Steve here:

What would you put in your camera bag if you had £10,000 to spend?

In this episode, Steve and Nick take on the £10K camera bag challenge, choosing the bodies, lenses, lighting and video kit they’d want for weddings, commercial work and personal photography.

Along the way they discuss the new Sigma 85mm f/1.2, compact street lenses, fisheyes, Sony A1 and A7R bodies, prime lenses versus zooms, grey imports, DJI Osmo Pocket frustrations and the gear they actually rely on when things get busy.

There’s also plenty of wedding-season chaos, including speeding courses, damaged wheels, editing mistakes, forgotten kit and the dangers of trying to do too much at once.

Plus, details of the new Photography Pod Facebook photo competition and plans for a listener meetup in London.

What would be in your £10K camera bag? Let us know in The Photography Pod Facebook group.

Email the show : thephotographypodstudio@gmail.com

Support the show

The Photography Pod is twice monthly photography podcast for both working professionals and enthusiast photographers. The host Nick Church and Steve Vaughan are professional wedding photographers based in the UK. They both use Sony Alpha cameras and lenses.

Photography Pod Facebook group : https://www.facebook.com/groups/thephotographypod/

Video version of the Podcast including slide shows of images: https://www.youtube.com/@thephotographypod

Nick's website : https://www.nickchurchphotography.co.uk/
Nick's Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/nickchurchphotography/

Nick Church Creative Academy https://www.nickchurchphotography.co.uk/news/introducing-nick-church-creative-academy

Steve's website : https://www.samandstevephotography.com/
Steve's Wedding Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/samandstevephotography/
Steve's personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevevaughanphotography

Message Nick and Steve here:

The Photography Pod is back! After a busy summer break, Steve and Nick catch up on weddings, house moves, broken gear and the challenges of keeping photography fresh after years behind the camera.

They chat about avoiding wedding-photography autopilot, travelling light, Sony and Godox gear frustrations, using the Osmo Pocket for hybrid coverage, mentoring new photographers and stepping outside your comfort zone with different types of photography.

Plus, there’s a look ahead to the new series of The Photography Pod, with more guests, listener involvement, competitions and plenty more photography chat every two weeks.

Happy shooting – see you in two weeks!

Support the show

The Photography Pod is twice monthly photography podcast for both working professionals and enthusiast photographers. The host Nick Church and Steve Vaughan are professional wedding photographers based in the UK. They both use Sony Alpha cameras and lenses.

Photography Pod Facebook group : https://www.facebook.com/groups/thephotographypod/

Video version of the Podcast including slide shows of images: https://www.youtube.com/@thephotographypod

Nick's website : https://www.nickchurchphotography.co.uk/
Nick's Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/nickchurchphotography/

Nick Church Creative Academy https://www.nickchurchphotography.co.uk/news/introducing-nick-church-creative-academy

Steve's website : https://www.samandstevephotography.com/
Steve's Wedding Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/samandstevephotography/
Steve's personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevevaughanphotography

Message Nick and Steve here:

Steve and Nick are joined for this episode by photographer and YouTuber Hannah Young. Hannah talks about her journey into photography, from landscapes to travel and street photography. She describes her equipment choices, how she makes her YouTube videos, and what would her dream photography trip. Steve and Nick speculate on the rumours of a 67MB Sony A7R6 and the soon to be released DJI Osmo Pocket 4.

Hannah Young :

Website : https://www.hannahyoung.co.uk/

YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/@HannahYoungPhotography

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hyimages

Support the show

The Photography Pod is twice monthly photography podcast for both working professionals and enthusiast photographers. The host Nick Church and Steve Vaughan are professional wedding photographers based in the UK. They both use Sony Alpha cameras and lenses.

Photography Pod Facebook group : https://www.facebook.com/groups/thephotographypod/

Video version of the Podcast including slide shows of images: https://www.youtube.com/@thephotographypod

Nick's website : https://www.nickchurchphotography.co.uk/
Nick's Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/nickchurchphotography/

Nick Church Creative Academy https://www.nickchurchphotography.co.uk/news/introducing-nick-church-creative-academy

Steve's website : https://www.samandstevephotography.com/
Steve's Wedding Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/samandstevephotography/
Steve's personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevevaughanphotography

Message Nick and Steve here:

One 30-second Instagram Reel sparks a full-blown photography debate, and it starts with a phrase designed to annoy the internet: “Da Vinci Got It Wrong.” We break down why the “perfect bell-shaped histogram” advice is so sticky, why it’s often wrong, and what the histogram is actually good for when you’re trying to nail exposure. We talk dynamic range, highlight clipping you can’t recover, why crushed blacks are sometimes fine, and how bracketing and blending in Lightroom can solve scenes your camera simply can’t hold. If you’ve ever searched “how to read a histogram” and still felt unsure, this will make it click.

Then we’re joined by Matt Hodgkin, a half-Brazilian, half-English photographer who spent years shooting stills on film sets and in theatres before stepping into UX product design and eventually committing fully back to photography. Matt shares what pulls him toward wedding photography, how he thinks about the balance of creativity and business, and what mentorship and accountability change when you’re building a wedding photography brand from scratch.

Matt also tells the story of shooting a three-day wedding in Brazil as both family and an additional photographer alongside the hired team. We dig into kit choices for travel, how to stay respectful without shrinking yourself, and why client experience matters as much as the photos.

We even detour into Singapore’s Leica gallery and Betty Goh’s powerful work, plus a ChatGPT experiment that proves a big point: presets aren’t a substitute for light, timing, and intention.

If this helped, subscribe, share the episode with a photographer friend, and leave us a review on Apple or Spotify.

Matt Hodgkin on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hodgkin_studio/

Betty Goh on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/betty_goh_photography/

Support the show

The Photography Pod is twice monthly photography podcast for both working professionals and enthusiast photographers. The host Nick Church and Steve Vaughan are professional wedding photographers based in the UK. They both use Sony Alpha cameras and lenses.

Photography Pod Facebook group : https://www.facebook.com/groups/thephotographypod/

Video version of the Podcast including slide shows of images: https://www.youtube.com/@thephotographypod

Nick's website : https://www.nickchurchphotography.co.uk/
Nick's Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/nickchurchphotography/

Nick Church Creative Academy https://www.nickchurchphotography.co.uk/news/introducing-nick-church-creative-academy

Steve's website : https://www.samandstevephotography.com/
Steve's Wedding Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/samandstevephotography/
Steve's personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevevaughanphotography

Message Nick and Steve here:

We asked ChatGPT for 10 controversial photography questions - we got some suprising results! Nick and Steve debate some interesting and thought provoking topics around street photography, weddings, analogue photography and sharpness in lenses.

Resources:

Nick Church Creative Academy - https://nickchurchcreativeacademy.com/
Fujifilm Instax Camera - https://instax.com/mini_evo_cinema/en/
Joel Merowitz Exhibition - https://www.joelmeyerowitz.com/new-events
Peter Dench Photography - https://peterdench.com/
The Photography Show - https://thephotographyshow.com/
Digital Camera Magazine - https://digitalcameramagazine.com/

Support the show

The Photography Pod is twice monthly photography podcast for both working professionals and enthusiast photographers. The host Nick Church and Steve Vaughan are professional wedding photographers based in the UK. They both use Sony Alpha cameras and lenses.

Photography Pod Facebook group : https://www.facebook.com/groups/thephotographypod/

Video version of the Podcast including slide shows of images: https://www.youtube.com/@thephotographypod

Nick's website : https://www.nickchurchphotography.co.uk/
Nick's Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/nickchurchphotography/

Nick Church Creative Academy https://www.nickchurchphotography.co.uk/news/introducing-nick-church-creative-academy

Steve's website : https://www.samandstevephotography.com/
Steve's Wedding Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/samandstevephotography/
Steve's personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevevaughanphotography