Monday Morning Cup of Mo
Kick off your week the right way and join master photograper and noted lighting guru, Michael Mowbray, for a cup of coffee and tips and tricks for professional photographers. Michael covers the whole range: lighting, business, marketing, posing, gear, and more. MIchael always shoots straight and gets to the heart of matter while weaving in his own slightly irreverent sense of humor. Michael will also keep you updated on the latest gear from Godox, Golden Eagle, and MoLight.
Episodes
24 episodes
Where is the current trying to take you to?
Are the currents swirling around you trying to pull you in a direction? You can resist and be like a rock in a stream, letting everything flow around you. Or, you can let go and go with the flow of the current. This week I am relating my own pe...
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Season 1
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Episode 24
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9:16
The Experience Business
What business are you in? You might say that you have a photography business. Or maybe you refine that to say that you create custom portrait art. Or you specialize in corporate headshots. Would it upset the apple cart if I told you that you re...
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Season 1
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Episode 22
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14:53
How to quote and win new projects
This week I’m talking about providing quotes for business projects that are maybe a little out of the norm of your everyday work. Many people struggle with these. Hopefully, I can help the entire process much easier for you. M...
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Season 1
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Episode 22
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17:27
Tips for Surviving Inflation and Recession
Inflation and fear of a recession are on the rise. It's a dilemma. Let’s face it. Professional photography is a luxury item for most people. Do you have to have the biggest and best senior portraits in order to survive? No. Not at all. Is there...
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Season 1
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Episode 21
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10:14
How do I overpower the sun?
Here’s a common question I get: How do I overpower the sun? What most people really want to find out is how to balance with the sun; they want to be able to hold the blue sky while using flash to fill in shadows and create a pleasi...
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Season 1
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Episode 20
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14:15
Please stop killing your speedlights
Today I am talking about speedlights, which are great tools when used right. But often, folks expect more out of them than they can deliver. So I’m going to run through the good, the bad, and oooooh, you shouldn’t do that with speedlights.<...
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Season 1
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Episode 19
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13:27
Light Quality: the confusion about diffusion and specularity
I find that folks are often confused regarding the concepts of SOFTNESS and SPECULARITY when describing the quality of light. This is most often rooted in a misunderstanding of what role DIFFUSION plays in creating softness (it doesn’t...surpri...
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Season 1
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Episode 18
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13:25
Softboxes and other modifiers
Here’s a question: how many softboxes and other modifiers do you own? Here’s the follow-up question: can you ever have enough modifiers? Personally, I have dozens. Small softboxes. Large softboxes. Beauty dishes. Long-throw reflectors. Umbrella...
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Season 1
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Episode 17
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13:13
Should we charge clients for storing their photos?
If you're like me, you probably have spent thousands of dollars to archive and store photos. In my case, it's tens of thousands of dollars. Which begs the question: Should we charge our customers an archiving fee for storing their photos? If th...
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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12:43
Knocking off the rust
As we emerge from the slow season like bears exiting hibernation, what can you do to shake off the rust and return to being the well-oiled photography machine that you are? The obvious answer is never to let the rust set in by staying active th...
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Season 1
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Episode 15
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11:35
Which flash should I buy?
One of the most common questions I receive is, “What flash should I buy?” It’s also one of the most common questions I see in lighting groups on Facebook. The answer will vary person by person and will depend on your specific needs, what you ph...
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Season 1
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Episode 14
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9:45
The Power of No. Setting boundaries in your business.
Do you ever feel like customers take advantage of you? Or people in general? Do you feel like you sometimes or even often get the short end of the stick? It can be frustrating.My original concept for this episode was to chat about polici...
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Season 1
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Episode 13
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12:57
The 5 Steps for Turning Failure into Success
Last week I presented the concept of turning failure into success and how we need to be the concierge for our respective businesses. While we can do our best to avoid screwing up, it will happen eventually. The important thing is how we respond...
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Season 1
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Episode 12
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16:09
Turning failure into success
Did you ever screw something up? I mean, like royally screw something up, especially in your business? It happens to everyone. Even with the best intentions we’re not perfect. Something will slip through the cracks, or we’ll make a poor judgmen...
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Season 1
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Episode 11
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12:50
Pricing - The Race to the Bottom
If you have been listening to my series of podcasts, you might be noticing a trend: I’m often taking on the problems I see in the industry. I try to educate everyone on what these issues are, and hopefully provide some insight and ideas on how ...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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16:35
The Myth of High Speed Sync
I want to tackle one of the biggest banes of my existence: misinformation or just plain bad information being shared constantly in photography forums. I sometimes feel like I spend more time correcting bad information than I do sharing and teac...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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12:50
The Cordless Studio
Wouldn’t be great if you could cut out all of the cords in your studio and work untethered to anything? No power cords, with the freedom to put your lights wherever you want. And not have to worry about where to plug them in, or if you have a c...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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10:07
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 ...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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12:14
Lighting with purpose
One of the most common mistakes I see newer photographers make – and let’s be frank, I see some quote/unquote experienced photographers make the same mistake – is that they do not place their main light with an exacting purpose. Maybe they just...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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12:33
Finding the U in your photography
Today’s we’re talking about finding the U in your photography. How can you do that? And why is it important? It’s something that every photographer struggles with when they are starting out. Truth be told, many continue to struggle with finding...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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14:43
Side Hustles
Here’s a question: how did your start your photography business. Did you start part time while working a full time job? Maybe you’re doing that right now, and photography is your side hustle. That’s what we’re talking about today. Side hustles....
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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13:04
What's the deal with LEDs?
Have you noticed there are a lot more LEDs on the market today? 10 years ago LEDs were barely a blip on the lighting radar. Now, there are tons of them out there, in all different shapes, sizes, and power configurations. So let’s talk about LED...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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21:02
