Condescending men with cameras

This week’s topic will likely become controversial and in reality it really shouldn’t be. But it will be. So here goes:

Guys -- quit talking down to women. I see this. all. The. Time. It’s rude. It’s cringey. It’s demeaning. It hurts our industry and society as a whole. And you know, while you are at it, quit talking down to everybody. Period. I was kicking this around in my head as a topic for awhile. Will it have any impact? Will I get blowback? Then I got mansplained to this past week.

In Godox and MoLight news, learn more about the how Godox has moved into the audio/video market. Also, the MoLighter curved reflector has been added to the MoLight lineup.

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Transcript

female announcer: 0:03

Live from MoLight Studios in the heartland of America, it's your Monday morning jolt of hot photography tips with a frothy topping of the latest product news from Godox MoLight. And more. Welcome to the Monday morning cup of Mo with your host, the man who put the MO in MoLight Michael Mowbray

Michael Mowbray: 0:26

morning and welcome to the Monday morning cup of Mo. I'm your host, Michael Mowbray. Each week, I pour a cup of coffee and I explore a single topic related to the professional photography industry. So thank you very much for joining me. This week's topic will likely become controversial. And in reality, it really shouldn't be. But it will be. So here it goes. guys quit talking down to women. I see this all the time. It's rude. It's cringy. It's demeaning. It hurts our industry and it hurts our society as a whole. And you know, while you're at it, quit talking down to everybody. Period. I was kicking this around in my head as a topic for a while it's just been kind of floating around there will have any impact. Will I get any blowback? Then I got mansplain to this past week. Yep. I was the victim of mansplaining. That was the last straw for me. So what is mansplaining? Feel like I'm kind of doing it here. But hey, let me mansplain some mansplaining. When a man feels it's necessary to explain to a woman how something works, unsolicited mind you. And because he assumes she does not have this knowledge. It's voiced from a supposedly superior viewpoint. And it often takes on a condescending tone. It's a real issue and runs rampant in social media, especially on Facebook groups. So I know the first thing I'm going to hear back will be so I'm not supposed to help any women. Well, you know, let's have an honest chat about that. Was the help requested? If no, then be quiet? If yes. Does your help go beyond the scope of the question because you assume the person lacks knowledge, experience or capabilities? If so, stick to the question asked. I can't believe I actually have to mansplain mansplaining. But it happens so much. It's a wonder that female photographers haven't totally lost their shit by now. Guys, do you realize that the majority of professional photographers now are female. And despite all this misogyny women are now the dominant force in an industry that a few decades ago was overwhelmingly male. If you don't think this is a problem, just bring it up to a female photographer, prepare to get an earful and hear the frustration and the pain and the anger. I've heard countless times from friends that they stopped posting in Facebook groups because of the rude behavior from men and the condescending comments on their posts. And if you don't have any female photographers as friends, well, moving on, let me share my most recent mansplaining story. So I posted some lighting tips for headshots in the group that I frequently contribute to so I'm not exactly an unknown entity in that group. And my posts centered around how to use a large softbox as a quick and easy high key background for headshots. I showed a couple of recent examples of headshots using this method, because I thought it would be helpful. The photos I posted were shot in landscape format, which is how I now capture most of my headshots. Why it gives me in the client more cropping options, I can crop in the classic vertical portrait format, I can crop square, or I can crop more panoramic, which is a handy option for Facebook page banners or videos or billboards or whatever. The point is, this is a more contemporary and usable format than the old school shoot Titan vertical only method. And again, remember that the purpose of this post I'm talking about was to show this high key lighting technique. And the photos were just examples of this technique. In fact, the photos posted were the uncropped versions that this client had requested because they wanted to be able to crop as they want as different needs come up, which is actually quite common when working with companies. So I shot them a little looser, and I shot them, heaven forbid, in landscape format. So you get the Picture, a lighting and technique post that people found very helpful with a lot of comments to that effect. Then a man's planer decided he needed to be heard. He had to be heard as no one had heard his opinion yet. Frankly, no one had asked for his opinion. I didn't post asking for opinions, or comments, or asking, Hey, guys, what do you think of these photos, I posted a helpful tip as a lighting and headshot expert, which I kind of am. So mansplain, or chimes in with correcting me on my usage of the term headshots. And how they are really what I posted, were really head and shoulders or bust photos, and then more details on what a headshot really is. And for me, the clincher was this, I could almost let those go until the last line. And the last line read these professional standards have been around since the 1800s. So why is there any question? Wow, condescending as Jim? Yeah, I won't swear on this. I want to. Wow, why is there any question I didn't? I don't think I posed a question. pretty aware of what a headshot is. So now understand that this happens all the time to women in our industry, that many just choose to remain silent and move on. They've learned is not worth their time. I, on the other hand, have the opportunity to put my male privilege to good use for once. Couple that with my superpower of possessing an eighth degree black belt in sarcasm. I could not, of course, let this one go. So my response, dear man Splinter that didn't actually say that. But now they say that I kind of wish I did. Thank you for clarifying that I along with many or most others here have been doing it wrong. I promise that I will give back all of the hundreds of 1000s of dollars I've made doing not headshots over the past 25 plus years. I'll change everything on my website. And we'll be sure to provide the correct definition to clients as well to ensure that they only buy and receive real headshots. To which I added you know what else was around in the 1800s the Garrow types the Pony Express cholera and flash powder snarky Yes, a little immature, probably. But have we met the point was the call this bullshit out in yes publicly shamed the mansplain er in hopes that it gives him pause the next time. It probably won't. But it's worth a shot. And by the way, since it is Super Bowl Sunday when I'm recording this, the score on this exchange is 43 to three it's a blowout 43 likes or laughs in my replies to four to just three likes on his mansplaining and it's a safe bet that I looked to see who the three people were who were supporting the man splinter. And I've got my eye on you. So this ain't happening on my watch. So help a sister or brother out, quit mansplaining and call it out when you see it or tag me and I will be happy, absolutely giddy to take the offender out to the verbal woodshed. Here's the latest news from Godox and lowline. It's been a little quieter from Godox is everyone there's been enjoying the Chinese New Year break so I expect more announcements coming soon. Instead, I wanted to point out something that many people have missed Godox has moved more heavily into the audio and video segment of the industry and as launched a number of wireless mic options, as well as an excellent touchscreen remote monitor. The GM 55 is a five and a half inch 4k HDMI touchscreen on camera monitor. It's designed to work for videographers, but I use it for many of my headshot sessions because you'd all do headshot sessions Believe it or not, I do them wrong, but I do headshot sessions. So I use this especially when I need to maintain social distancing at a corporate headshot session because there's many of these companies that have social distancing requirements still, and I know I tend to agree with that. So you know He's neither here nor there, but I want to comply. I'm out the GM 55 Do a light stand using one of the quarter 20 ports it's built into it that I connected to my camera with a 10 foot HDMI cord. The client can stand and view the photos on the monitor while I cycle through them on my camera, all while maintaining a safe distance. So they pick out the one that is their favorite. I can flag it in the camera and I also write it down and move on to the next person. It's a very quick and efficient way of previewing or viewing and selecting photos for headshots on location or in studio. The color on the GM 55 monitor is excellent, and it's easily adjusted if you need to dial it in to fit your particular camera. It runs on a standard Sony type video battery like the NP F 970. That's what I use with it. It'll run for hours. The GM 55 is $199 and MoLight. The battery and the HDMI cord are sold separately. In MoLight News the new mo lighter curved reflector arrives this week, and we've added these to the webstore so if you want to get a jump on them in order one of the first to arrive Go ahead. I wouldn't discourage you. Regular price is $179 but the introductory sale price is just 159 Take your lighting headshot game up a notch with this fabulous reflector or take your lighting and not headshot game up a notch with this fabulous reflector. Am I still better? Yes I am. So just visit go molight.com to learn more. Thank you again for joining me for a Monday morning cup of Mo please subscribe and follow. I will also be posting more information on the podcast Facebook page, so be sure to follow that as well. And join the Monday morning cup of Mo podcast group where you can ask questions suggest topics and join the rest of the community as we grow this together. Talk to you next week.