Épisodes

  • Basics, Deconstructed - Editing is Violence - How to Choose What Matters When Everything Looks Good

    Basics, Deconstructed - Editing is Violence - How to Choose What Matters When Everything Looks Good
    Jan 22 2026

    Most photographers drown in the edit.

    Not because they can't see what's good. Because they can't choose what matters.

    This episode is about the violence of editing—the courage it takes to kill good images, the ego that dies in the process, and why great portfolios are built on rhythm, not range.

    I tell the story of a La Jolla shoot where I took 1,900 frames in two hours and couldn't figure out which ones to keep. About losing my sense of up and down. About the underwater feeling of staring at 300 good images and having no idea which one cuts through.

    And about what happened when I finally admitted I was too close to see.

    This isn't about workflow. It's about authorship.

    Topics:

    • Why volume doesn't equal value
    • The question that kills most of your images
    • What actually gets destroyed in the edit (spoiler: it's not the photos)
    • Editing as storytelling, not inventory
    • When to admit you're too underwater to choose

    MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

    Walter Murch – Film editor (Apocalypse Now, The English Patient, The Conversation)

    LINKS & RESOURCES

    Website: http://terriblephotographer.com

    Lessons From A Terrible Photographer (The Book): https://www.terriblephotographer.com/the-book

    Support the show, buy me a coffee: https://www.terriblephotographer.com/support

    Subscribe to Pub Notes (The Newsletter): https://the-terrible-photographer.kit.com/223fe471fb

    Terrible Photographer on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terriblephotographer/

    Patrick Fore on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patrickfore/

    CREDITS

    Podcast written, produced, and hosted by Patrick Fore

    Music licensed through Epidemic Sound & Blue Dot Sessions

    Recorded from my garage in San Diego, California

    CONTACT

    Questions? Thoughts? Hate mail?
    Email me. I respond to everything.
    patrick@terriblephotographer.com

    Stay curious.
    Stay courageous.
    Stay terrible.
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    25 min
  • Heresies - The Proxy - Why Listening to Your Clients Might Be A Bad Idea

    Heresies - The Proxy - Why Listening to Your Clients Might Be A Bad Idea
    Jan 20 2026


    When a client says "I want exactly this," are they hiring you to execute their vision—or are they asking you to solve a problem they can't articulate?

    This is the first episode in a five-part series called Heresies—where we say the uncomfortable things the industry doesn't want you to think too hard about.

    In this episode: Why listening to your client might be killing your work. Why taste is a technical skill, not a preference. And the difference between being a problem-solver and being an expensive tripod.

    We'll talk about threading the needle between "authentic" and "amateur." About knowing when you're hired as an artist versus a technician. And about the clients who want you to recreate their blurry iPhone photos of tennis racquets at impossible angles.

    (Yes, that's a real story. No, I don't want to talk about it.)

    This isn't about ignoring your clients. It's about knowing when to translate what they're asking for into what they actually need.


    What We Cover

    • Why your job isn't just to press the button
    • The difference between consumer clients (hiring your taste) and commercial clients (hiring problem-solving)
    • How to build a visual vocabulary (and why scrolling Instagram doesn't count)
    • Red flags that signal a client wants a proxy, not a photographer
    • What "taste as a technical skill" actually means
    • The museum exercise: 20 minutes, one painting, no phone

    Quotable Moments

    "You're not an equipment rental with legs."

    "Clients don't hire us to give them what they want. They hire us to give them something beautiful. Something effective."

    "If you don't have a vision, you can't translate someone else's vision."

    "You're not a photographer. You're just someone with a camera, waiting for instructions."

    "The cost of saying yes to the wrong client isn't just time and money. It's the slow, quiet erosion of why you started doing this in the first place."


    For Photographers Who:

    • Struggle with confidence when clients have "very specific ideas"
    • Default to saying "yes" even when the request doesn't make sense
    • Haven't developed their visual voice yet (and don't know where to start)
    • Are tired of being treated like a vending machine
    • Need permission to trust their expertise
    • Want to know how to spot bad clients before signing the contract

    Links & Resources

    The Terrible Photographer
    Website: http://terriblephotographer.com
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terriblephotographer/

    Lessons From A Terrible Photographer (The Book)
    https://www.terriblephotographer.com/the-book

    Support the Show (Buy Me a Coffee)
    https://www.terriblephotographer.com/support

    Subscribe to Pub Notes (The Newsletter)
    https://the-terrible-photographer.kit.com/223fe471fb

    Patrick Fore
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patrickfore/


    Get in Touch

    Have a question? A story? Hate mail?
    I respond to everything.
    Email's in the show notes.


    Credits

    Podcast written, produced, and hosted by Patrick Fore
    Music licensed through Epidemic Sound & Blue Dot Sessions
    Episode photography from Adobe Stock & Unsplash
    Recorded from my garage in San Diego, California

    Stay curious. Stay courageous. Stay terrible.
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    49 min
  • Amature - Why I Envy Photographers Who Don't Get Paid

    Amature - Why I Envy Photographers Who Don't Get Paid
    Jan 13 2026
    The war is internal, not technical.Lessons From a Terrible Photographer is a book for creatives who feel stuck, burned out, or disconnected from their work, even though they know what they’re doing.It’s not about gear or technique. It’s about the internal stuff no one talks about, and focusing on why we make work, not just how.Preorders help determine the first print run. Copies ship once printing begins.Preorder here:https://www.terriblephotographer.com/the-bookThere's a woman in Bangkok who's been selling noodles from the same corner for 43 years. She turned down Bon Appétit. Not because she's shy. Because she didn't want to cook for strangers with expectations.This episode started with a voicemail from Jason, a listener in North Carolina who shoots photos of his kids and has no interest in going pro. He called me out for ignoring non-professionals. And he was right.What I didn't expect was how much his email would make me confront something I've been avoiding: I'm envious of amateur photographers. Not because they're bad at what they do. Because they still have the thing I traded away.This is about the cost of professionalization. About the difference between making work because you have to versus making work because the work demands to be made. About freedom, money, and what happens when you refuse to let the transaction define the craft.If you've ever felt like you're not a "real" photographer because you don't charge... this one's for you.And if you're a pro who's forgotten why you started... this one's for you too.Key Themes:Transactional Legitimacy (the belief that payment equals worth)The cost of going professional vs. staying amateurCreative envy and what it revealsBeing "unowned" in a world where everything is for saleThe difference between a career and a practiceEpisode Timestamps:0:00 - Cold Open: The Noodle Queen of Bangkok 1:15 - Handshake & Episode Intro 2:00 - Jason's Voicemail (Part 1): "I'm not a professional nor do I want to be" 3:00 - Confession: Why I avoid amateur photographers (and the envy underneath) 4:30 - Bellingham, 2012: When I was Jason 6:00 - Jason's Voicemail (Part 2): "We doubt our abilities because we are not getting paid" 6:30 - Alison's Story: The physical therapist photographing her mother's Alzheimer's 16:00 - Naming The Enemy: Transactional Legitimacy 19:00 - The Pivot: What professionals can't do (that amateurs can) 22:30 - The Resolution: Neither path is pure. Both cost something. 28:00 - The Restoration: What the professional world needs from non-professionals 30:30 - The Light Leak: Being unownedMentioned in This Episode:Episode 39: Creative directing your own life (referenced when discussing overthinking)Lake Padden, Bellingham WAFairhaven, Bellingham WAMount Baker, WAKey Quote:"You are not beneath professionals. You are adjacent to freedom they lost."For Jason:Thank you for the email. Thank you for the voicemail. Thank you for calling me out. This episode wouldn't exist without you.LINKS & RESOURCES:The Terrible Photographer: Website: http://terriblephotographer.com Subscribe to Pub Notes (Newsletter): https://the-terrible-photographer.kit.com/223fe471fb Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terriblephotographer/Lessons From A Terrible Photographer (The Book): https://www.terriblephotographer.com/the-bookSupport The Show: Buy me a coffee: https://www.terriblephotographer.com/supportConnect: Patrick Fore on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patrickfore/ Email: patrick@terriblephotographer.comCREDITS:Podcast written, produced, and hosted by Patrick Fore Music licensed through Epidemic SoundIntro Song: Free Spirit by Max Volante Episode photography from lucas.george.wendt Recorded in my garage in San Diego, CaliforniaA NOTE FOR NON-PROFESSIONALS (Amatures):If you're listening to this and you don't charge for your work—if you shoot because you love it, not because you're building a business—please know this:Your work matters. Your perspective matters. Your freedom matters.You're not less than. You're not waiting to become real.You're already real.And some of us wish we still had what you have.SHARE THIS EPISODE:Know someone who needs to hear this? A parent with a camera. A hobbyist who doubts themselves. A pro who's forgotten why they started.Send them this episode. Let them know they're not alone.
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    41 min
  • The Fresh Start Fallacy - Are You Building a Boat or Just Floating in a Tube?

    The Fresh Start Fallacy - Are You Building a Boat or Just Floating in a Tube?
    Jan 6 2026

    The war is internal, not technical.


    Lessons From a Terrible Photographer is a book for creatives who feel stuck, burned out, or disconnected from their work, even though they know what they’re doing.


    It’s not about gear or technique. It’s about the internal stuff no one talks about, and focusing on why we make work, not just how.


    Preorders help determine the first print run. Copies ship once printing begins.


    Preorder here:

    https://www.terriblephotographer.com/the-book


    EPISODE DESCRIPTION:

    Three hundred years. That's how long my family has been in America. Jamestown. Virginia. Colonial laborers. Post-Civil War homesteaders in Missouri. And not one of them—not one—ever owned anything that lasted.

    In 1726, when a British clerk wrote "Fore" instead of "Fauer," my family's name changed. But the pattern didn't.

    This episode isn't about New Year's resolutions or fresh starts. It's about lazy rivers, tubes, and boats. It's about realizing you're floating in a system you never chose—and that everyone in your family has been floating for centuries. It's about being the first one to try to get out, even when you don't know how to swim.

    I talk about my MIT PhD brother who doesn't know how to freelance. A wedding photographer who realized he became his father. And why I'm angry at ancestors I've never met for never trying to break a pattern I now have to fight.

    If you've ever felt like you're working hard but never building anything. Like you're trapped between staying comfortable and risking everything. Like you're the first person in your family trying to do something different with no map and no model—this one's for you.

    Not because I have answers.

    Because I'm in the middle of the same fight.

    IN THIS EPISODE:

    • The 300-year pattern: Jamestown to Missouri, laborers to homesteaders—and why nothing changed
    • Why "legally free but economically pinned" explains my entire family history
    • Boats, tubes, and swimmers: understanding the lazy river of life
    • My brother's phone call: when an MIT PhD doesn't know how to freelance
    • Why I'm angry at dead people who had no choice
    • What it means to labor for yourself vs. labor for someone else's dream
    • The question: Do you see the river? And if you do, what are you going to do about it?

    WANT A SEAT AT THE TABLE?

    The Table is a small, email-based conversation space for creative people in the long middle. No apps. No feeds. No pressure. No posting requirements. Just occasional emails about the real stuff—and the option to reply, or not.

    Some weeks you'll get a reflection. Some weeks a question. Some weeks nothing. Sometimes it's about creative existential dread. Sometimes it's about whether gaffer tape smells different depending on the brand.

    It's a pub table. But everyone's wearing sweatpants. And nobody has to drive home.

    If you want a seat, email: patrick@terriblephotographer.com
    Subject line: "I'd like a seat at The Table"


    LINKS:

    Website: http://terriblephotographer.com

    The Newsletter: Sign up for Pub Notes – Musings, updates, and things I probably shouldn't say in public.
    terriblephotographer.com/newsletter

    Support the Show: Help keep the lights on
    terriblephotographer.com/support

    Email the Host: patrick@terriblephotographer.com
    Questions, thoughts, rage at your own ancestors—I respond to everything.
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    41 min
  • The Long Middle - The Third Space - How to Actually Build Community When Traditional Third Spaces Are Dead (And Why We Have to Try Anyway)

    The Long Middle - The Third Space - How to Actually Build Community When Traditional Third Spaces Are Dead (And Why We Have to Try Anyway)
    Dec 30 2025
    The war is internal, not technical.Lessons From a Terrible Photographer is a book for creatives who feel stuck, burned out, or disconnected from their work, even though they know what they’re doing.It’s not about gear or technique. It’s about the internal stuff no one talks about, and focusing on why we make work, not just how.Preorders help determine the first print run. Copies ship once printing begins.Preorder here:https://www.terriblephotographer.com/the-bookYou've mastered the craft. You've built the business. You're successful. But you're still lonely. You're Joshua Bell in the subway—playing a Stradivarius while everyone walks past. You've taken off the costume, rejected the hierarchy, and you're still isolated.So now what?In the finale of "The Long Middle" series, Patrick explores sociologist Ray Oldenburg's concept of "The Third Space"—the pubs, coffee shops, and barbershops where community used to happen naturally. He examines why these spaces disappeared, how COVID delivered the final blow, and why digital spaces (Reddit, Discord) might be Third Space for some people while remaining incomplete for others.This episode is both diagnosis and prescription: why we're lonely, why it's gotten worse, and the uncomfortable truth that you can't find community—you have to build it. One vulnerable conversation at a time.IN THIS EPISODE:Ray Oldenburg's Third Space theory: First Space (home), Second Space (work), Third Space (community)Why Third Spaces disappeared: suburbanization, work-from-home, social media performance cultureHow COVID killed Third Space culture permanently (not just temporarily)The death of Meetup.com and "social atrophy"—we forgot how to be togetherWhy your friend who says "Reddit is my Third Space" isn't wrong (but it's incomplete)The difference between performing and being seen in digital spacesWhy networking events are Second Space disguised as Third SpaceThe Leslie paradox: Patrick's only Third Space relationship is digital and 2800 miles awayYou can't find Third Space, you have to build it—starting with ONE personVulnerability first: Be vulnerable → See who responds → Build from thereWhy you need 2-3 real connections, not 100 photographer "friends" (Dunbar's number)Consistency over intensity: weekly coffee > annual epic meetupThe five steps to building your own Third Space (reach out, show up without costume, witness don't fix, make it regular, expand carefully)What to talk about (the real stuff: struggles, jealousy, exhaustion, the work you're hiding)What NOT to talk about (how busy you are, your big clients, industry gossip)Introducing The Table: Patrick's email-based Third Space experiment for people in the long middleTHE CHALLENGE: Reach out to ONE person this week. Not to network, not to collaborate. Just: "I've been thinking about creative loneliness lately. Want to grab coffee?" Then show up without your costume and talk about what you're actually struggling with.KEY QUOTES: "Third Space doesn't exist until someone creates it. And it doesn't start with a community. It starts with one person.""Digital-only Third Space is incomplete. You need to look someone in the eye. You need to sit across a table from another human. You need to exist in a room where you can't edit yourself before you speak.""You can't outsource belonging. You can't scroll your way to community. You can't consume your way to connection.""COVID didn't pause Third Space culture. It killed it. And we're still living in the wreckage."WANT A SEAT AT THE TABLE?The Table is a small, email-based conversation space for creative people in the long middle. No apps. No feeds. No pressure. No posting requirements. Just occasional emails about the real stuff—and the option to reply, or not.Some weeks you'll get a reflection. Some weeks a question. Some weeks nothing. Sometimes it's about creative existential dread. Sometimes it's about whether gaffer tape smells different depending on the brand.It's a pub table. But everyone's wearing sweatpants. And nobody has to drive home.If you want a seat, email: patrick@terriblephotographer.comSubject line: "I'd like a seat at The Table"LINKS:Website: terriblephotographer.comThe Newsletter: Sign up for Pub Notes – Musings, updates, and things I probably shouldn't say in public.terriblephotographer.com/newsletterSupport the Show: Help keep the lights onterriblephotographer.com/supportEmail the Host: patrick@terriblephotographer.comQuestions, thoughts, rage—I respond to everything.CREDITS:Music: Licensed through Epidemic Sound and Blue Dot SessionsWritten and Produced by: Patrick ForeEpisode Image by Mason Dahl - https://www.instagram.com/masondahlphoto/
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    39 min
  • The Long Middle - Part 3 - The Enemy - How Gatekeeping and Hierarchy Keep Creative Professionals Isolated (And Why We're All Complicit)

    The Long Middle - Part 3 - The Enemy - How Gatekeeping and Hierarchy Keep Creative Professionals Isolated (And Why We're All Complicit)
    Dec 23 2025

    The war is internal, not technical.


    Lessons From a Terrible Photographer is a book for creatives who feel stuck, burned out, or disconnected from their work, even though they know what they’re doing.


    It’s not about gear or technique. It’s about the internal stuff no one talks about, and focusing on why we make work, not just how.


    Preorders help determine the first print run. Copies ship once printing begins.


    Preorder here:

    https://www.terriblephotographer.com/the-book


    Why does a $600 light get dismissed while a $3,000 light gets respect, even when they produce identical results? Why do wedding photographers apologize by saying “I’m just a wedding photographer”? And why do we hide the work we’re actually doing because it’s not the “right” kind of work?


    In Part 3 of The Long Middle series, Patrick examines the hierarchies that divide creative professionals, and admits his own complicity in enforcing them.


    From a tense Zoom call about Profoto versus Godox, to being dismissed in Clubhouse rooms, to looking down on other photographers while feeling looked down upon himself, this episode pulls no punches about how gatekeeping actually works, who it serves, and why we keep it alive.


    IN THIS EPISODE:

    • The Profoto story: when "professional standards" are actually access standards
    • What gatekeeping actually means (and the Kurt Lewin research that defined it)
    • Why the kitchen brigade system is the perfect metaphor for creative hierarchies
    • A scene from Pixar's Ratatouille and how it quietly becomes the emotional center of the episode
    • How wedding, portrait, and fashion photographers face different versions of the same dismissal
    • The pattern across all creative fields: writers, musicians, filmmakers, designers
    • Patrick's confession: the times he's been the gatekeeper
    • Why the hierarchy survives (it's not the people at the top—it's the people in the middle)
    • The Clubhouse dismissals and the Taylor Guitars "cool kids table"
    • How hiding your "wrong" work keeps you complicit in the system
    • What leadership actually looks like: extending an arm instead of pulling it up behind you

    THE CHALLENGE: The next time someone asks "What are you working on?"—tell them the truth. Not the impressive version. Not the potential job. The actual work you're doing right now. Say it like it's legitimate work. Because it is.

    KEY QUOTE: "The hierarchy doesn't survive because the people at the top enforce it. It survives because the people in the middle enforce it. Because we're so afraid of being dismissed, we dismiss someone else first."

    LINKS:

    Website: terriblephotographer.com

    The Newsletter: Sign up for Pub Notes – Musings, updates, and things I probably shouldn't say in public.
    terriblephotographer.com/newsletter

    Support the Show: Help keep the lights on
    terriblephotographer.com/support

    Email the Host: patrick@terriblephotographer.com
    Questions, thoughts, rage—I respond to everything.


    CREDITS


    • Music: Licensed through Epidemic Sound and Blue Dot Sessions

    • Written and Produced by: Patrick Fore

    • Episode Image: Licensed through Adobe Stock
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    39 min
  • Basics, Deconstructed - Framing - Deconstructing Christopher Anderson’s Vanity Fair Portraits: What Every Photographer Needs to Know About Framing Power.

    Basics, Deconstructed - Framing - Deconstructing Christopher Anderson’s Vanity Fair Portraits: What Every Photographer Needs to Know About Framing Power.
    Dec 17 2025

    The war is internal, not technical.


    Lessons From a Terrible Photographer is a book for creatives who feel stuck, burned out, or disconnected from their work, even though they know what they’re doing.


    It’s not about gear or technique. It’s about the internal stuff no one talks about, and focusing on why we make work, not just how.


    Preorders help determine the first print run. Copies ship once printing begins.


    Preorder here:

    https://www.terriblephotographer.com/the-book


    When Vanity Fair published Christopher Anderson’s portraits of the White House’s inner circle, the internet reacted to the politics. But as photographers, we need to look closer. We need to look at the framing.

    In this bonus episode, Patrick Fore deconstructs the word "Framing." It’s not just the rule of thirds or leading lines—it’s authorship. It’s the decision to show truth over comfort, and humanity over "hero energy." Patrick opens up about his own struggle with "cowering" to the moment and why we’ve all become a little too good at making the world look beige.

    In this episode, we discuss:

    • The difference between geometry (composition) and power (framing).
    • Why Christopher Anderson’s refusal to "smooth" his subjects is an act of courage.
    • The "Light Switch" metaphor: How small, boring details tell the biggest stories.
    • How to stop being a decorator and start being an author again.
    • Why being a "Terrible Photographer" means being terrible at following the rules that kill your voice.

    ABOUT CHRISTOPHER ANDERSON

    Christopher Anderson is a member of Magnum Photos and is widely considered one of the most influential photographers of his generation. He first gained international recognition for his work documenting the Haitian refugee crisis, where the boat he was traveling on sank in the Caribbean—work that earned him the Robert Capa Gold Medal.

    Whether he is documenting conflict, the streets of Shenzhen, or the corridors of power in D.C., Anderson’s work is defined by an intense, emotional intimacy and a refusal to provide a "clean" or "commercial" version of reality.

    Find his work here:

    • Website: christopherandersonphoto.com
    • Instagram: @christopherandersonphoto
    • Monographs: Approximate Joy, STUMP, and Pia.

    LINKS

    • Website: terriblephotographer.com
    • The Newsletter: Sign up for Pub Notes – Musings, updates, and things I probably shouldn't say in public.
    • Support the Show: Help keep the lights on
    • Email the Host: patrick@terriblephotographer.com
      • Questions, hate mail, and existential spirals are all welcome.

    CREDITS

    • Music: Licensed through Epidemic Sound and Blue Dot Sessions.
    • Written and Produced by: Patrick Fore
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    27 min
  • The Long Middle - Part 2 - The Costume - Why We Hide Behind Professional Roles

    The Long Middle - Part 2 - The Costume - Why We Hide Behind Professional Roles
    Dec 16 2025

    The war is internal, not technical.


    Lessons From a Terrible Photographer is a book for creatives who feel stuck, burned out, or disconnected from their work, even though they know what they’re doing.


    It’s not about gear or technique. It’s about the internal stuff no one talks about, and focusing on why we make work, not just how.


    Preorders help determine the first print run. Copies ship once printing begins.


    Preorder here:

    https://www.terriblephotographer.com/the-book


    Why do photographers wear so much black? Why do we feel confident on stage but panic at networking events? And why is it so hard to find real community in the creative industry?

    In Part 2 of "The Long Middle" series, Patrick explores the costumes we wear—not just the black clothes and gear, but the professional roles and personas that keep us safe and isolated at the same time.

    From 17th-century Japanese Kabuki theater to APA mixers in San Diego, this episode examines why we choose invisibility, what happens when we need established roles to feel legitimate, and the five-second decision that keeps us from connection.

    IN THIS EPISODE:

    • The Kurogo: Japanese stagehands who dress in black to become "invisible" on stage
    • Why confidence comes from established roles (the stage, the call sheet, the contract)
    • A painful story about leaving a networking event after two minutes
    • How neurodivergence affects ambiguous social spaces
    • Why fifteen years of mastery on set doesn't translate to confidence at a mixer
    • The difference between avatars (who have followers) and humans (who have friends)
    • What happens when you choose the beach over the risk

    THE CHALLENGE: The next time someone asks "How's it going?"—tell them one true thing. Not "busy." Not "crushing it." One honest thing. Drop the shield for ten seconds.

    LINKS:

    Website: terriblephotographer.com

    The Newsletter: Sign up for Pub Notes – Musings, updates, and things I probably shouldn't say in public.
    terriblephotographer.com/newsletter

    Support the Show: Help keep the lights on
    terriblephotographer.com/support

    Email the Host: patrick@terriblephotographer.com
    Questions, hate mail, and existential spirals are all welcome.

    CREDITS:

    Music licensed through Epidemic Sound and Blue Dot Sessions.

    Episode Artwork Photo by @erwimadethis

    Written and Produced by Patrick Fore

    NEXT WEEK: Part 3 – "The Enemy"
    If the Costume hides us, Envy divides us. We're talking about scarcity mindset, comparison, and why we see our peers as threats instead of allies.
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    36 min