Episode description

Our guest on this week’s episode of the B&H Photography Podcast is Sam Hurd. While he is primarily a wedding photographer, I have no doubt that he could photograph anything and make it look interesting. Hurd is also a portrait photographer; he dabbles in landscape work; and is a passionate photo educator. A few minutes listening to this episode and it becomes clear that he can articulate his process as well as he can execute it. He offers “deconstructions” of his images for his Patreon followers and teaches his style, technique, and gear, but today we focus on his “side hustles,” on the methods and platforms he uses to engage with clients and make extra money from the wedding photography he is already doing.

We start by discussing his Patreon platform and how he uses his wedding-photography images and insights to build a following of “patrons,” who pay monthly subscriptions to follow his tutorials. We then jump to Stocksy, and how his well-curated set of stock images, mostly taken at weddings, creates an additional revenue flow. He also speaks of DVLOP, which is a site that markets presets that he has created while processing his wedding work. Of course, each of these ancillary platforms flows into and out of each other not only to gain him clients but to improve his photography. He mentions several times how the challenge of producing interesting tutorials has forced him to be more inventive.

Despite a very simple kit when shooting weddings, Hurd is also a self-described gearhead and he and Allan bond over their love for vintage glass and discuss recent purchases, including the Hasselblad 907X 50c and the Canon R6. Finally, we touch on Hurd’s first professional gig, as the staff photographer for the National Press Club, some of the famous faces he photographed, and the odd but practical practice techniques he developed to practice his portraiture. Join us for this very informative episode.

Guest: Sam Hurd

Photograph © Sam Hurd