“Show Notes”
This week, Sam and Marcus discussed keeping fit as a photographer. Many types of photography take a physical toll on the body, such as events where you can be moving quickly and carrying a lot of kit. The job also involves a lot of desk work, which can be bad for the body again, but in a different way. There are three areas covered in the show
• Exercise and keeping fit
• Protecting yourself while on the job
• Best practice working at the desk
Marcus and Sam agree that with exercise and keeping fit, the important thing is finding something you enjoy. Sticking at it is also important. Clubs can help with this, as there is a fixed time each week, which enables you to make sure you make it. Things like the gym are harder as you need more self-discipline. It’s important to think about cardiovascular work, strength training and flexibility. Which means you might need to do different activities.
Marcus says he consistently does yoga in the morning and every night, just 10 minutes, but it has made a difference. He notices it particularly at events. Sam and Marcus discuss the idea of using a sit-stand desk. Sam also discusses that it’s good to have an activity that you always do standing up. For example, Zoom calls. The final thing is being aware while shooting of what you are doing. Think carefully about what you are carrying with you. Do you need all of the equipment you are carrying around with you? Also be careful at the event, thinking about how you are carrying things. Look after yourself during the event. Marcus says that for larger events he employs an assistant who carries his bags.
“Show Transcription”
Marcus: Well, hello there, Sam. How are you doing?
Sam: Excellent, Marcus. Very good, and what about you?
Marcus: Yeah, I am very good, you know, etc. So we’re getting into the year 2025, and yeah, things are looking good, thank you.
Sam: Excellent, right, and then today, what are we talking about? I think it’s us two, Marcus, so what are we talking about today, Marcus?
Marcus: Well, do you know what? I’ve just seen a little bit of chat lately on the inter web about photographers talking about fitness, and, you know, I guess, you know, keeping your body maintained as well as your mind. So, Sam, I thought we could have a little chat between ourselves, and maybe to see some ideas that we can come up with.
Sam: Yeah, because there are, there’s kind of, there is quite a lot of physical rigour to the job, isn’t there, and depending on what you’re doing, obviously in a studio, there isn’t so much, is there? But if you’re, you know, out and about doing weddings and doing events, you’ve often got a lot of heavy kit. You often, as you were saying, if you’re getting funny angles, you’re standing on steps, or you’re lying on the ground, or your knees are in the mud. Who was it we interviewed and said they managed to lie on a dog poo in the middle of a wedding or something? I can’t remember. It was somebody we interviewed a year or so ago, and she said, yeah, she laid down to get that shot, and then realised what she’d lied on.
She’d been lying on, and there’s a lot of that, isn’t there? But there’s also, a lot of which I have as well, the desk work you also, which is equally bad for you, or not sitting at desks for a long period of time while you’re doing your processing.
Marcus: Yeah, I think, exactly. So we’ve got a double whammy here. At home, you’re gonna be stuck in one place at your desk, and when you’re out and about on a shoot, especially like you said, Sam, on an event or a wedding, which can be a very long day indeed, 12 hours plus, possibly, you’re gonna be, yeah, and you’re gonna be exerting your body to the max. So look, I think there’s first of all, before we really dive into this, we’re obviously not doctors, and we’re not experts, but we do both of us keep fit, if I may say that, and I’ve got a little bit of experience. I was a cycling coach for Sky. I used to help out with their youth team. So, and I’ve been doing cycling.
Sam: Yeah, and I was a qualified level four kayak coach. So yes, we’ve got a little bit of experience between us. So yes, if you get stuck, I can teach you how to roll a kayak. What more could you need?
Marcus: Ah, I like it. And I can teach how to roll off a bike, yeah. Brilliant. So, okay, let’s, where are we gonna start?
Sam: Yeah, where are we gonna start? Yeah, so I was gonna say, there’s kind of three areas, isn’t there? I’d have thought that the kind of, generally, keeping yourself fit and what you might do about that. There’s the on-the-day sort of events, weddings, what you need to think about, because it’s very easy to just dive in and do stuff and cause yourself problems without just thinking carefully about how you behave and how you might just protect yourself a bit, and the what you might do while you’re sat at your desk to, you know, mitigate that.
Marcus: Okay, so you’ve got daily, what we can do on a daily basis, what can we do when we’re working and what can we do when, let’s call it editing and working from home.
Sam: Should we start with the kind of just general keeping fit type of stuff?
Marcus: I think so, yeah, yeah. Well, look, exercise can take many forms, but I think, really, the exercise you wanna be doing, and you should be doing exercise, start off with doing something you wanna do.
Sam: That was exactly gonna be, exactly, I was waiting for you to finish so I could say that. If you don’t like it, you’re never going to do it, are you?
MarcusSam:
I have been to the gym once in my entire life and I’ve never been so bored. Some people, though, love it. You know, it’s not a, I say you shouldn’t do it. It’s a, yeah, find something you enjoy. Be that going for a run, be that being in the gym, be that taking up boxing, whatever it is. Yeah, you’ve gotta find something you enjoy, don’t you? Because otherwise you’ll give up. And you might need to try a few things, and, you know, and try a few things. So that’s really important. Sticking at it’s really important, isn’t it? So whatever you are doing, anything that you’re changing, finding time. I think it’s almost like, like with your marketing, like with your creativity, make that time. If you say, you know, I’ll do it. So a club’s quite good, isn’t it, Marcus? Because It’s at a fixed time.
Marcus: Exactly.
Sam: So yeah, the gym and stuff is good, but you’ve gotta be more disciplined with that sort of thing. While a club is really quite, it’s eight o’clock on a Wednesday, so I’d better be there.
Marcus: Exactly right, Sam. And there’s accountability there. You’ve got also doing it consistently. So those kind of things matter. I think, I mean, obviously I mentioned earlier about cycling, and that’s my big sport. So I’m gonna put my hand in the air and say a big thumbs up, as it were, for doing, if you’re gonna be doing something, do cycling. And this is why I think cycling is so good, Sam. It’s because you can get exercise while you’re doing, while you’re not exercising. You can be going down the pub, you can be going to the shops on your bike, and you’re gonna be doing exercise. So that’s gotta be a win for a starter.
Sam: So our message is do what you like, but according to Marcus, what you like is biking.
Just get on your bloody bike. Excellent.
Marcus: I mean, and also in cycling, it’s great for your body. I mean, it’s great, you know, not for all your body, I had to say, but certainly very good for your knees and for your joints. It’s also really good for your cardiovascular. There is nothing better than getting your heart rate up than doing a bit of bike riding, especially up a hill.
Sam: So there’s a few things you need to work on, isn’t there? I think there’s three areas, and one of them bicycling is terrible at. So yes, you’ve gotta do your cardio, so you’ve gotta get your heart rate up a few times a week doing whatever it is you’re doing. So your chess club isn’t probably gonna do that. There’s the kind of weight strength stuff, which again, like you say, going up a hill, bicycling does. What bicycling is bloody awful at is the flexibility side. That’s really, it’s not good at that at all. You definitely need to do something else. So some sports are great with that. If you’re doing gymnastics, you’re certainly gonna gain the flexibility side, but for some others, maybe something like yoga, something else is gonna need to come in too, because that, especially to get old, it’s very easy to not to lose that flexibility, isn’t it?
Marcus: Yeah, and you’re right about cycling being, well, road cycling is not good for your flexibility, but if you’re doing mountain biking or just general commuting, that is not bad for your flexibility.
Sam: Your legs are still only going up and down a little bit, Marcus. There’s not a lot of extra range coming in there.
Marcus: Fair comment. I mean, I think, when I’ve read up on this, the sport that comes out numero uno is got to be swimming for your body. That’s the best thing you could do for your body is swim.
Sam: It is, but again, you know, it’s what interests me. I have no interest in getting into a bloody swimming pool and going up and down. I’d probably drown apart from the rest, but yes, sports, like you say, some people do. So they’re the three things on there. You need to work on that strength bit, on that cardiovascular, on the flexibility and do it regularly, make a plan. I sometimes, I do a weekly plan. We took place before. I do a weekly plan, what I’m going to do in my work, but also I’ll put, right, five o’clock, I’m going to now, you know, go and do, you know, go for a run, go for a bike ride, go whatever it is and put that in my plan, which kind of then leads onto the desk thing. You know, what do we do about being sat at a desk? Because that’s the other side of photography, isn’t it? Being sat at a desk for so long.
Marcus: Well, I think, yeah, you’re right. And for this, I’m going to come in with the other thing I do, which is yoga. And that’s a new thing for me. I’ve been only doing it for like three years, but I do do it consistently. I do it every day. And I only do 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes at nighttime, but I was so surprised how that has changed my body. Not quickly, it’s taking a bit, it does take a bit of time because it’s not, you know, intense, but it’s certainly when I, now I’ve noticed that when I’m out photographing, I feel a lot more flexible. When I used to do events before, I’d come out with backache or knee ache and I don’t get those problems so much. And if I do get them, they don’t last very long.
Sam: No, it is really good. And it’s good for balance as well, which, yeah. You know, when you’re trying to get a funny angle in the church and you’re on one leg, trying to get round the font to get the right angle. If you’ve got that flexibility and balance and things, it does help, doesn’t it? And you’re less likely, if you’re doing silly things in an event, to injure yourself if you’ve got that strength, flexibility and awareness of your body, which yoga brings.
Marcus: Oh, 100%, exactly right. And another great thing about balance is, you know, falling over at a much older age is one of the precursors to having, you know, a short life there, I say it, you know. So if you can retain your balance and it’s great for dementia as well, you don’t realise it, but when you’re balancing, your brainwaves are all firing all over the place and it’s really good for preventing dementia.
Sam: That’s it. So I think the yoga is really good, but definitely not on its own.
Marcus: Or Pilates maybe as well.
Sam: Because it’s not, yeah, Pilates. That ties something where you’ve got that flexibility, but with something else, because the cardio kind of isn’t there so much, is it? I mean, there are some particular types.
Marcus: Well, not in the same way. Yeah, I mean, just going back to the cardio and talking about exercise you can do for that. Walking, of course, is another really, really good one you can do.
Sam: And easy to do.
Marcus: They say do 10,000 steps. If you can do that, it’s quite a lot, but if you can do that, it’s great. Is that what you were going to say, Sam?
Sam: I was just going to say, it’s so easy. If you don’t need any equipment, you just step out your door and off you go. Exactly. Maybe a raincoat or an umbrella on a wet day. That’s it.
Marcus: But if you are walking though, you need to make sure you’re walking at a good pace. You shouldn’t be able to talk, ideally, or certainly look for some hills that you can go up. People reckon, doctors reckon, that you should try and aim to get your heart rate in a maximum place for 30 seconds, three times a week. Which doesn’t sound a lot, but that is quite, you know, that is like really going for it. But only 30 seconds, H-I-T.
Sam: Yeah. And then the other thing, which I think you’ve got as well, Marcus, with doing stuff at your desk, is a sit-stand desk. I’ve got one of those and I find it brilliant. I think you do too, don’t you? And it is, just like with everything else, it is easy to put it permanently in the sit mode and not get off your bum. But yeah, I’m saying that whilst sat on my bum, but normally for podcast recording, I’m not at it right now, I’m somewhere else. Normally when I’m podcast recording, I put it stood up. I do meetings stood up. I decided I’ve got to have something to make me stand up, otherwise I will sit on my bum all day. So I make sure every time I do a meeting, I’m stood up. And you could do it for whatever, couldn’t you? You go, right, for every, for 10 photos in 50, I’m going to stand up, whatever it is, just come up with something that you’ve got to, I’m going to stand up for that bit.
Marcus: And also I’ve noticed when I’m doing a Zoom call standing up, I just feel a lot more energised and you can use your hands as well. Like I’m just doing now, you can’t see, but you start to use your hands more and you’re more animated and people do pick up on that in Zoom.
Sam: No, I think you’re right, it is. I mean, that’s one of the reasons why it’s difficult. You are more awake, you are thinking about it more. Maybe you’re trying to keep the call to a sensible length as well, because you’re like, oh my God, I’m going to need to sit down. I’m just going to sit down.
Marcus: But yeah, so yoga, so let’s say you want to, I can speak from my experience. I’ve just said what my experience is. I’m quite new to it, but I do it. I don’t go to a club or a group. I do it online. I do it at home and I just found, there’s lots of people who offer it on that service. It’s lots of lessons on there. I’ve got one or two that I follow and what I did was I just picked out two or three exercises or routines, yoga ones, about 10 minutes each and I just repeated those. So that meant that I don’t need to be looking at the screen all the time. I sort of knew what was coming up next so I could focus on my positioning and whatever pose I’m doing.
Sam: Very good. Well, yeah, I’ve done it opposite. I’ve been to, I’ve not done it for a little while now, but yeah, I got always gone to clubs or classes. So yeah, I’ve done it the other way. Yeah. I think maybe I don’t have the awareness. I think probably my positions would be all over the place if somebody wasn’t there going, Sam, you need to move that like that because you’re in the wrong place.
Marcus: Well, you just got to find the right tutor online or go to groups. I mean, both, just as long as you’re going to do it. The reason I do it at home is because I can just get up and do it really quickly and get over and done with and then have the rest of the day to myself. But also, I was just going to mention something about habits and you might know that book, Sam, Atomic Habits. Have you ever read that?
Sam: I know the book, but I haven’t read that one yet. It’s one on my list. I’ll get round to it.
Marcus: Basically, I can sum it up by saying you build a habit by putting, sorry, you get into a habit by putting one habit on top of another. So for example, for me with the yoga, I know every morning I wake up, I have a cup of coffee. So that means as soon as my coffee is poured, I go and do yoga for 10 minutes. And that really worked. I was surprised. Believe me, Sam, I’m not good at maintaining anything for more than a few weeks, really. But I am still doing it and I do it because of that coffee thing. So yoga, Pilates, anything like that is really, really good to do.
Sam: And then I think the last thing, because we’re running out of time, we haven’t talked about as well, is when you’re out shooting, is being super aware of what you’re doing and especially around heavy bags. It’s very easy to think you need every piece of kit. And I think, first of all, think about what you actually need. And yes, you don’t want to be caught short, but equally there is no point taking around far, far too much stuff. And then think about what you’re carrying. So maybe you have a car bag where there’s more and then the bag you’re carrying has less so that you’re kind of switching it. I think take the minimal with you and think about the bag. So like a rucksack is great because it’s better for carrying, but then it’s not as easy to just grab something out of, so it’s trying to balance how easy it is to carry with the weight and everything else. And just, I think there’s no right or wrong way, but it’s being aware. I think the wrong way is just having everything in a huge bag slung over the shoulder that’s going to do you harm.
Marcus: That’s the wrong way, Sam, exactly. I mean, I’ve got four or five different camera bags of different sizes. And I just basically, depending on the job, I will just pack the camera bag accordingly, just like you said. And it’s surprising how little you can get away with. I mean, if I’m doing headshots for a company, I will take basically one light, okay, one really good light, but one light, a medium-sized umbrella, which can be attached to the bag, but a good quality umbrella. I take one lens, believe it or not, a 50 mil, because I like the 50 mil, and it means I can get close to people when I’m talking. And two cameras, a spare, of course, as well. So I take, and the trigger, et cetera. That’s what I take.
Sam: And also, as soon as you’re there, the light’s down. You’re not carrying that around with you.
Marcus: Exactly.
Sam: It’s a lot of it, I think, isn’t it? And then it is when you’re at the event, it’s getting into the habit of lifting things in the right way, carrying them in the right way, because it’s so easy to be focusing on the event, and afterwards you go, ooh, my back hurts. Well, if you just make sure that you just pick up your bag the right way, and just try not, you know, it’s just taking care of yourself, isn’t it, really?
Marcus: And you’ll get caught up in the moment, Sam, like you’re saying, and you get lost in it, and you’ve got to avoid that happening. I mean, I’m not saying be really considerate all the time, but just be aware of it. If I’m doing a larger shoot, and I’m gonna be taking heavy stands and more lighting, I always employ an assistant these days. And it could be somebody, it doesn’t have to be a photography assistant, it could be somebody just to carry the bags, literally.
Sam: Yeah, yeah, yeah, perfect.
Marcus: And pass me things.
Sam: Right, Marcus, I think we’ve just about come to the end of that, but yes, we’ve got a good few things to talk about we’ve gone through there, so I think we’re really saying, get some regular exercise that makes sure you’re doing strength, cardiovascular, and stretching. Make sure at events you really look after yourself, and just make sure if you’re spending a long time at the desk doing processing, you’re kind of aware of that and trying to mitigate that exercise in the middle and sit, stand desks, all those sorts of things.
Marcus: I love it. You’ve summed it up well there, Sam. You’ve summed it up very well. Well done. Nice work. Perfect. Okay, Sam, thank you. It’s been nice talking to you, and I’ll see you on the next episode.
Sam: Yes, Marcus. And don’t forget, we do have our webinar coming up. So on the 2nd of April at 10 a.m., we have the Shoot to the Top webinar, Charge More for Your Photography, where it’s all about how you can charge more, simple as charge more for your photography. So there are lots of photographers charging low prices, competing with other photographers charging low prices, and that’s a hard place to be. So we’re gonna show you how you can move up to that next level, get those high-paying clients, and stop having to search around and scrabble around for lots, lots of low-paid jobs. So yeah, April 2nd, 10 a.m., you can book on by going to the Shoot to the Top website, shoottothetop.com. You can find the webinar there, and there will be links in the show notes. And Marcus, I will see you next week.
Marcus: Next week, Sam.
