This episode is being published on Friday, 20th December and will be the last photography-related work I will do in 2024. OK, apart from doing the next episode, which is due out Friday, 3rd January 2025, that is. Glad I didn’t forget that. Laugh….. So join me as I pick up on some stuff from the past year, which has been an excellent year for me and my podcast so thank you for being with me, dear listener.

Hi, and a very warm welcome to Episode 196 of the Photography Explained podcast. I’m your host, Rick, and in each episode, I will try to explain one photographic thing to you in plain English in less than 27 minutes (ish) without the irrelevant details. I’m a professionally qualified photographer based in England with a lifetime of photographic experience, which I share with you in my podcast.

Here is the answery bit

Ok, there is no answery bit. This is a different episode. I want to finish 2024 with a light-hearted look back at my favourite things from 2024. Why not, eh?

You can listen to the episode here

Or keep on reading – it is entirely up to you.

1 What was the most popular episode of the Photography Explained Podcast in 2024?

Episode 174 – Photography Composition Tips and Techniques – take a bow – you are the most downloaded episode of 2024 by some distance. This episode, released mid-February 2024, has clearly struck a chord with you, my dear listeners, and it’s not just because it’s the oldest episode. It’s the content that matters, and I’m thrilled that it has been so well-received.

So, let’s take one bit out of this episode that resonated with you, dear listeners. It was the questions bit.
 “Here are some questions you can ask yourself before taking a photo.

• What are you taking a photo of?
• Why are you taking the photo?
• What are you going to do with the photo?
• What are you going to include in the photo?
• What are you not going to include in the photo?

 And also the two further questions – the harsh one – why would anyone care about the photo that you have taken?

And the final question – if I take this photo, can I be bothered to edit it?”

It’s easy to take photos for ourselves. Very easy. And it is also easy to take rubbish photos. And this is why we need to think before we take each and every photo—yes, really, dear listener.

It doesn’t have to take forever, although I have found that the longer I take, the better the results that I achieve. I am not talking hours of agonising here – just good old thinking and looking. All I am saying is think before you take a photo. Just doing this will help you to take better photos. What is not to love, eh?

As this was the most popular episode in 2024, a revisit is required. So, I will return to this afresh early in 2025. Yes, why not? It has been added to my list of episodes for 2025 – how utterly exciting – I am already looking forward to that 

2 What was the least popular episode of the Photography Explained Podcast in 2024?

Well, I thought I would cover this, too, for completeness. Hardly my highlight of 2024, thinking about it, is it? Oh, get on with it, Rick.

How could you do this to me, dear listener? Where were you? What was wrong with episode 186 – “Get out taking photos more—but take fewer photos”?

Just kidding.

I thought it was a great subject to talk about – I really did.

Released in August 2024, so plenty of time for downloads. Can I blame this on the start of the summer holidays? The weather being amazing (of course not I am in England) – anything like that?

No. I have looked at the script. There was not a lot in there, to be honest. Shall I revisit this episode? No. I will move on. I was thinking for a second about redoing this episode and doing a better job of it, but no, stop it, Rick, move on. So this is my lowlight of 2024. 

3 What is the oddest photography question I was asked in 2024?

“Does he ever answer a question?” Yep, that question appeared on my YouTube channel. It was a comment on a question that I answered – absolutely baffling. Still, you have to expect the odd question will come your way if you put yourself out there online, and certainly in the wonderful world of YouTube. 

4 What was the best photography question I was asked in 2024?

This is a listener question from Karyn in Gloucester, Virginia. Karyn texted me this.

“Hello, Rick! I am a hobby photographer and learning quite a lot from your podcast, thank you for that! Can you do an episode strictly on lenses, explain in detail what the numbers mean, what is best used for what situation, etc? It can be quite confusing for a rookie! Thank you, Karyn P.S. if you are already done an episode like this, would you mind sharing the number? I haven’t been able to find one. Cheers!”

This produced episode 189 – Camera Lenses Explained – My Beginner’s Guide – a very well-received episode, which is nice. I covered the different types of lenses, aperture, focal length, and all that good stuff, as well as how it all helps us.

And if you want to ask me a question, you can text the show from the podcast feed like Karyn did.

5 Who cares about all this photography stuff anyway?

No one cares as much as a photographer does about all the stuff that we love and are interested in.

Or, more to the point. No one cares. This is a harsh lesson. Let me explain

• No one cares
• How much your camera costs
• How amazing you are
• What a great photographer you are
• How many hours you have spent refining your craft
• That this has been a lifetimes work dedicated to the art of photography
• The lengths that you went to get that photo – this is a new example

• No one cares that you walked 47m miles barefoot through the Sahara desert fighting off lions, tigers, camels, snakes, and other bad stuff to capture that once-in-a-lifetime equatorial desert Northern Lights-style lighting extravaganza.

Why do I say this?

All people, apart from us photographers that is, all people care about is what is in a photo. That is it. Everything else is irrelevant.

I have never issued a photo to a commercial client for them to ask what camera or camera setting I used. I have never been asked if I shoot in RAW or JPEG.

Never forget this.

That is why we should spend time on what we actually take photos of. Because that is all others see or care about.

And a rubbish photo is a rubbish photo. 

6 Rubbish photos

Blimey, this gives the impression that I actually think about and plan this stuff. The best thing I can say is that following that with rubbish photos is a happy coincidence.

Rubbish photos. In the last episode, I admitted that I have many rubbish photos. I explained why this was ok and what I would do about it.

I felt it was important to share this with you all, dear listeners, as there seems to be so much pressure to produce perfect photos every time, which does not happen. And people should know that this does not happen. Life is not like that.

We all take rubbish photos as we practise and learn photography. After many years of taking photos, I still take odd rubbish photos, but I can hold my hands up to this. My podcast is a safe place where we can all admit to things if we need to – I am fine doing that myself as well you know, dear listener.

Now, let’s not all go out and deliberately take rubbish photos – I am not saying that. But let us acknowledge that we take rubbish photos and that the important thing is to admit to it, deal with it, and learn from it.

If you take a photo that is rubbish, just be honest with yourself, delete it, and concentrate on taking a better photo next time.

And you can take rubbish photos with the best camera. 

7 RAW vs JPEG – I don’t know what I am talking about.

I took a pasting for this episode What Is The Difference Between RAW And JPEG Photos? because I did not describe what was happening with RAW files, how and what was being displayed, and all the technical vagaries and differences between the two. I was always going to be on the losing side of this one, as this is a level of detail way beyond my comprehension.

I tried to defend myself and what I was saying, but my heart wasn’t it, to be honest, as whilst the things pointed out to me were absolutely correct, they missed the point – the point being that I explain things without the irrelevant detail. When I am editing raw photos, what I am doing is editing what is in front of me – same with jpeg photos. jpeg images look the way they look, as do RAW photos, and that is good enough for me. This is the point – Lightroom is a visual editor, so we should be happy working with what we are looking at. The amount of processing is determined by what I am looking at and nothing else.

I also got criticism for using RAW in capitals, but it has been this way for as long as I can remember.

Sure, I can oversimplify stuff, I get that, but I do this so we all understand what we need to know and no more.

I need to explain irrelevant details – it has been a while since I did this. 

8 What are irrelevant details in my world of photography?

Irrelevant details are things that we do not need to know, and if we knew them, they would not help us take better photos.

I don’t understand how a camera sensor actually works. Would understanding how a camera sensor actually works help me to take better photos?

No, it would not. And there are those in the photography industry who will disagree with this, I have no doubt.

And I do not really understand how RAW files and JPEG files are presented on screen. This was pointed out to me. What was pointed out to me was absolutely correct, but understanding this will not help me to take better photos either.

Let’s be honest here – I don’t understand how a TV works, how it actually works that is. I know how to turn it on and off, change channels, turn the volume up and down and tweak the display if needed.

I don’t really understand how electricity works either thinking about it, but I know how to use it and also that I am very afraid of it!!

I don’t know how these things actually happen, and I don’t need to.

Irrelevant details are details that will not help you or me, dear listener 

9 My one photo rule

First introduced in episode 152, How My One Photo Rule Will Help You Take Better Photos, this is my splendid one photo rule. This was the end point of me having a good old think about the photos I was taking. It was led by circumstances at the time when I questioned everything about my photography.

And it transformed the way that I approach taking photos. This is it in twelve words.

“Take the time to take the best one photo of one thing”.

I will do a future episode all about my one photo rule in the new year, currently scheduled to be episode 197, due to be published on 3.1.25. Yes, that is the next episode. When I said future episode, I wasn’t kidding!!!

10 What are the recurring themes in the Photography Explained Podcast in 2024?

Simple – these.

• Go out more taking photos.
• Think before you take every photo.
• Take fewer photos
• Take better photos.
• Delete the rubbish.
• Edit the good stuff.
• Use your photos the best you can.
• Love your photography.
• Spend less time on gear
• Don’t listen to the idiots.
• Don’t worry about stuff you don’t need to worry about.
• If you need help, ask me.

11 Why you shouldn’t use flash photography in museums

I knew there was something I was forgetting. I got shouted out for this episode Why Can’t You Use Flash In Museums And Art Galleries?– who am I to tell people to not take photos in museums and art galleries? Well, an interesting development on this one is the news that some nightclubs here in the UK are banning the use of phones on the dance floor – yes. Not that this will affect me, though. It is all about being in the moment rather than everyone with their phones above their heads recording everything. I absolutely love this! Vindication is mine and maybe the start of a move to a better world where snippets of life are not all being filmed by everyone all the time!

OK – That was the answery bit, here is the talky bit

Next year, there will be a change to the format. Well, a few tweaks to get rid of some rubbish. Improve a few things, and make it more enjoyable and to the point.

What is going to change, Rick?

The good, the bad, and what I did once – I am getting rid of this – was an experiment I did not like. I am going to include personal stories, though, in every episode as I tell you what I do.

As for episode lengths, they will be what they will be. But a bit more to the point. Probably slightly shorter future episodes with the odd longer one – that is what I am thinking at the moment. My personal sweet spot is 20-25 minutes.

And I am going to change the ending – it is too long – time to freshen things up. How utterly splendid. I said that and started changing it for this episode, but it looks pretty similar to me!

I was going to title this Photography Explained Podcast – 10 Highlights From 2024 From Me To You With Love. I shortened it, thankfully!

I will continue offering you practical advice on how to take better photos and take good care of your camera lenses and cameras.

What if I use a phone to take photos?

Take fewer photos. Take much fewer rubbish photos.

What do I do?

I talk about this stuff, don’t I? And I write about this stuff, too – check out my blog posts on Rick McEvoy Photography. And I will continue to do both in 2025, dear listener. Oh no, I have just realised it is going to take me about three months to get used to saying 2025 and not 2024! Yes, I struggle with this every year. You would have thought I’d gotten used to it by now!

And I would like to go beyond my real estate photography work, also known as architectural photography. I want to cover my other photography passions, landscape photography and travel photography. Well, why not? The photography skills needed are pretty similar, so why not Rick? Why not?

As a professional photographer, I am looking for the best single composition executed as technically perfectly as possible with every photo I take. That is all. Simple eh?

And there is one other thing I wanted to raise here—how do you take care of a camera sensor? I never followed up on that episode, so I must do that in 2025. Not sure what I am talking about? Check out episode 193, “How Do You Take Care Of A Camera Sensor?” where I said I was going to do stuff but never got around to it.

And going back to the irrelevant detail bit, thinking of digital camera sensors now I mention them, how do they work? No idea.

Some thoughts from the last episode

No thoughts. It was all good. No, sorry, there was one further thought about rubbish photos.

Don’t try to turn a rubbish photo into a great photo in post-processing—it probably won’t work and is not a viable long-term plan. It might work, but this should not be your approach to photography.

And don’t worry about deleting rubbish photos. Sitting on a rubbish photo won’t make it a good photo in future years. Get rid and move on.

Next episode

Learn how to take fewer but better photos in 2025 (with my one photo rule). Yes, that sounds good to me. It’s the perfect podcast episode to start in 2025. It will help with organising photos, reducing the number of photos to organise, and less cluttering hard drives. And then I am looking for new questions, dear listener, and new photography terms to explain, so get in touch,

Right – I am done

If you have a question you would like me to answer, or you just want to say hi, email me at sales@rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk or visit the podcast website, photographyexplainedpodcast.com/start. Or text me from the podcast feed.

It is always lovely to hear from you, dear listeners.

This episode was brought to you by a coffee which I consumed before I settled down in my homemade, acoustically cushioned recording emporium. This is a late morning recording, which will be followed by a cheese and pickle sandwich, no crisps.

I’ve been Rick McEvoy. Thanks again for listening to my small but perfectly formed podcast (it says here) and for giving me 27 minutes of your valuable time. After I have edited out the mistakes and other bad stuff, this episode will be about 23 minutes long.

Oh yes, before I go, I would like to wish you a very happy whatever this time of year means to you and yours, and I will see you in 2025.

Thanks for listening

Cheers from me, Rick

That was the podcast episode.

Want to know more?

Head over to the Start page on the Photography Explained Podcast website to find out more.

And here is the list of episodes published to date – you can listen to any episode straight from this page which is nice.

Let me know if there is a photography thing that you want me to explain and I will add it to my list. Just head over to the This is my list of things to explain page of this website to see what is on there already.

Let me send you stuff

I send out a weekly email to my subscribers. It is my take on one photography thing, plus what I have been writing and talking about. Just fill in the box and you can get my weekly photographic musings straight to your inbox. Which is nice.

And finally a little bit about me

Finally, yes this paragraph is all about me – check out my Rick McEvoy Photography website to find out more about me and my architectural, construction, real estate and travel photography work. I also write about general photography stuff, all in plain English without the irrelevant detail.

Thank you

Thanks for listening to my podcast (if you did) and reading this blog post (which I assume you have done as you are reading this).

Cheers from me Rick