← This Can't Be That Hard
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- [00:00]
Annemie Tonkin
If you've ever stared at your Instagram grid wondering how on earth other photographers are turning those tiny little squares into clients, followers or actual income, you're not alone. For many photographers, Instagram feels like a high stakes guessing game. Equal parts necessary evil and never ending time suck. Do you post more behind the scenes? Should you be doing more reels? Why is everyone else growing and you're just not? Well, today's guest has answers. Kimberly Espinel is an award winning photographer. She's a best selling author, she's a creative business mentor, and she's an Instagram expert. With more than 160,000 followers of her own, she has helped thousands of content creators refine their style, attract their ideal audience, and use Instagram with purpose. And in her latest book, which is called how to make your food famous, she distills the insights of over 40 of the most followed food creators on the platform, including accounts like the Korean Vegan and George's Bakery into a practical, inspiring guide for anyone looking to grow their presence and impact online. But here's the best part. While the case studies focus on food, the strategies that Kimberly uncovered apply to any creative business, especially photographers. So? So in our conversation, Kimberly shares the three key themes that emerged from all of this research things successful creators are actually doing to stand out on Instagram right now. This isn't about chasing trends. It's not about gaming the algorithm. It's about aligning your content with your values, your strengths and your goals. If you've been looking for a way to make Instagram work better for you without turning your life into a constant content creation machine, this episode is a must. Listen, so let's dive in. Welcome to this Can't Be that Hard. My name is Annemie Tonkin and I help photographers run profitable, sustainable businesses that they love. Each week on the podcast, I cover simple, actionable strategies and systems that photographers at every level of experience can use to earn more money in a more sustainable way. Running a photography business doesn't have to be that hard. You can do it and I can show you how. Kimberly Espinal, welcome to this Can't Be that Hard. I am so excited to finally have you on the show. I have known you for years now and it is kind of shocking to me that this is the first time that we are meeting in this particular space. How are you today?
- [02:36]
Kimberly Espinel
I'm good and I'm so excited to be here on the podcast with you today. I'm. Yeah, I'm really looking forward to our conversation.
- [02:43]
Annemie Tonkin
Yeah, it'll Be good. Well, for everyone out there who is not familiar with you, why don't you do like a quick intro and tell us a little bit more about who you are, what you do, and what we're going to be talking about today.
- [02:55]
Kimberly Espinel
Yeah. So my name is Kimberly, ESP Now. I'm a food photographer. I also teach food photography and styling, both as in person workshops and then online too. And I'm also an Instagram expert. I teach mainly food photographers how to leverage Instagram as a marketing channel.
- [03:15]
Annemie Tonkin
And I'm sure we will get into this a little bit more later, but I love the niche, right?
- [03:20]
Kimberly Espinel
We're.
- [03:20]
Annemie Tonkin
We're talking about taking sort of a broad base of knowledge and take niching it way down. There are a lot of people today listening who are not food photographers. They're other kinds of photographers. But of course, actually, one of my favorite ways to come up with new insights, new inspiration, et cetera, is to look outside, you know, take my blinders off a little bit and look a little bit wider. Food photography is not that far from other kinds of photography in terms of. Of the business part of it. But, yeah, I imagine that you're teaching food photographers how to work with. Instagram translates pretty well into all kinds of photography and even just creative businesses in general.
- [03:59]
Kimberly Espinel
100% for sure. So I might use a couple of food examples, but I can definitely also use lifestyle and wedding, and it definitely applies across the board. So. But I'll be mindful of that when I give examples, see if I can come up with ones that don't involve a curry or a soup.
- [04:16]
Annemie Tonkin
Although we are recording this right before. Before my lunchtime. So I encourage you to talk about all that stuff, and then I'm gonna go find myself some sort of fantastic lunch. So let's just sort of start with how you got into this particular kind of the intersection of knowledge that you have. You've done so much in the creative world. You've, you know, photography, mentoring, writing, podcasting. What was it that drew you specifically to researching Instagram strategies in such depth that, you know, now you are an expert and an author on the subject.
- [04:50]
Kimberly Espinel
So I would say I, like, maybe, I'm assuming most people tuning in. I really got into photography not because I wanted to run my own business or because I was a marketing expert. I really got into it because I loved the medium. You know, I'm a creative at heart, not a businesswoman at heart. And so, you know, I just thought, well, if I pick up my camera and I make beautiful photos, people are going to find me and you know, my business is going to bloom and it's going be all, you know, all rainbows and unicorns. And of course that's not how it works. So very early on I realized, okay, I need to make it so that people can find me, people can discover me. And I started my Instagram and, and I started a food blog. Actually. That's how I got into it in, in the first place, some 11 years ago now. Yeah, Instagram was really in its infancy, was just coming to be. And because Instagram at that point, I mean it still is, but at that point was, you know, photo based, very, very visual. It just was a natural marketing platform that I gravitated towards. It just made sense versus something like Twitter that just, you know, was more word based. And my strength really lie in, in the imagery. So it was just a very natural thing to get started on there. And then also back in the day, what I love versus say blogging is that you had instant feedback so people instantly saw your work and had a react it. And that really helps me figure out what was working, what was trending, what I needed to do more of, and so on and so forth. And then of course after a decade plus on the platform, you know, you start putting two and two together as it were. And over the course of that I just became a fascination of mine. But I also felt that for photographers specifically, Instagram is really one of the most powerful platforms. So my latest book, how to make your food famous is all about figuring out how best to leverage Instagram for maximum impact, you know, best business results, most reach growth and so on. So it just became an obsession, I would say. And also because a big part of my business really relies on my Instagram, it's been life changing for me, that platform. And so that's why I've made it kind of my, my mission as it were, to support other photographers in leveraging that platform as well.
- [07:17]
Annemie Tonkin
Yeah, and you have a huge following. I was stalking your Instagram obviously of, you know, well north of 150,000 followers, which is, can be, I think deflating sometimes to people who are starting out and you know, have a couple hundred followers or a couple dozen followers. You know, they're really at that beginning phase or maybe they have more, but they have almost no engagement and they're just like, I don't know, you know, what, what I'm doing here. It seems like the people who are going to be successful on this have already figured it out and I have missed the boat, you Know, there's that. I mean, no matter whether you're trying to grow your business on Instagram or buy a house or anything else, there's that there's always that sense of like, all the people who went before me got the good stuff and I'm, I'm left with the scraps. What do you feel like are especially because Instagram is this ever changing, kind of fluid platform, what do you feel like are today's biggest misconceptions that are kind of floating out there among photographers about growing their businesses on Instagram?
- [08:29]
Kimberly Espinel
Yes. So I'm going to pick up essentially on what you just said, and I would argue that your statement was correct up to three years ago. So it definitely was the case that if you started like I did a decade ago, that you had like a head start, that you've already built your audience, that your reach is just easier to get going and so on and so forth. But I would say that the algorithm have changed in such a way that that is no longer the case. So you could have somebody who has a hundred followers and then somebody like myself who has 150,000 plus, and our content can have the exact same reach, the exact same impact. Like, you know, follower base is actually, it's a good indicator of, you know, whether somebody's content is, you know, maybe worthwhile or interesting or valuable. But it doesn't predict how good a, a content piece will perform. It used to, but not anymore. So I would say now is as best a time as ever to start your Instagram and to take your strategy, to really take the strategic part of it seriously. So that's number one. I think the second thing is a lot of people feel that photos are passe. So, you know, like it's all video and you're not doing video and so on and so forth. So, you know, what's in it for us photographers? So I would argue again that, that maybe around 2020, that was definitely the case where Instagram was pushing reels in such to such an extent that he posted a photo. I mean, you might as well not have, you know, like there was no. But I think they have adjusted things. And I've seen photo posts, especially carousel posts, so where you posting multiple photos or multiple slides can be a combination of photos, videos, graphics, you know, they're performing really, really well. It's just about figuring out how best to do that. So I think those are two misconceptions. One is that the ship has sailed, which it hasn't. And the second is that as a Photographer, we don't have a place on Instagram anymore and that is definitely not the case anymore.
- [10:34]
Annemie Tonkin
Hang on, guys, I have a quick message for you. Hey, friends. Just a quick interruption. I wanted to take a minute to thank you as always, for listening. If you're a new listener, I have a special welcome basket that I've put together just for you that includes three of my most popular, actionable resources to help you build a more profitable, sustainable photography business. You can grab that@thiscantbethard.com welcome. But if you've been a long time listener, if you've been here for a while, I would really appreciate it if you could take a second to leave a review on Spotify or Apple or wherever it is that you're tuning in. Your support helps the show grow, reach more photographers like you, and elevates the industry as a whole, no matter who you are or how long you've been listening. Thank you so much. And now back to the show. Amazing. But I love that you sort of point hard to the fact that you have to be strategic about it. So let's kind of jump right into the strategy piece. So walk us through one of your favorite strategies from the book or from your experience more recently even, and talk to us about why it works as well as it does.
- [11:55]
Kimberly Espinel
Yes. So just to explain a little bit about the book and this, you know, is connected to your question. Yeah. So what I did is I interviewed 40 plus food influencers, I would say so people within the food space, food photographers, food videographers, etc, who were crushing it, who had grown 100k followers in a year or more. Some of them have over whatever, 4 million followers. So obviously they're doing something right.
- [12:21]
Annemie Tonkin
Right.
- [12:21]
Kimberly Espinel
So I wanted to understand what are they doing that, you know, the rest of us aren't doing? What is the secret sauce? And what was important to me when I interviewed these, you know, 40 creators was not to have all of them do exactly the same thing, follow exactly the, the same formula. Because I didn't want anybody picking up the book and being like, well, they do this and I don't do that. So therefore this doesn't apply to me. Like there is an example from every approach under the sun imaginable of people who have found success.
- [12:53]
Annemie Tonkin
Right.
- [12:53]
Kimberly Espinel
So, you know, that was it looked at, you know, 40 plus people, what are they doing? What are the things? And you know, a couple of things that stand out that I feel apply really to photographers across the board. And one, you know, won't surprise you, so to say, but the one of the things all of them were doing without exception, was showing up consistently on Instagram. So, you know, it's kind of like same as like a weight loss journey or, you know, a fitness journey or, or you know, the growth of up your business there. Or even like just think about, you run a restaurant, you cannot just be open one day a week and expect, you know, to hit the jackpot. There has to be a level of consistency and I always say the consistency means whatever it means to you. So if you can show up once a week, but you show up, you know, you've thought about it, it's a valuable piece of content, so be it. I think the sweet spot is around three times a week. And I think it works, you know, on multiple levels. The first thing is you're just going to get better at your craft quicker. You know, you're going to get feedback. The feedback I mentioned, you get instant feedback. What's working, what's not working. Like you just have more data to work with essentially. The second thing is that you're always top of mind. You know, it's not like people follow you and then two months they don't hear from you. And then like, who is this person in my page? You know, like you have that connection with your audience and then also it just signals to the algorithms that you're serious. Like you are really here to, to deliver, to add value. And so I would say without exception, everybody showed up consistently. I mean, some people took it to a whole other level of like six posts a week. And, and I think unless Instagram is your full time gig, that's probably going to lead to burnout recommend that. But I think a sweet spot is around three times a week. The second thing that not everybody did, but a good fair amount of people who were, you know, really crushing it, they themselves showed up on their Instagram. So they were either it was a voiceover that they did over their reels or it was their face or they were showing up regularly, you know, and showing some behind the scenes on their stories. Like their feed had personality, you know, and ultimately we buy from people, you know that, right? That's, that's what we connect with. And I think a lot of photographers, we've chosen our, our, our job because we like being behind the camera right in front of it. And so it's a, it's a big ask, but it is, it is like one of the biggest secret sauces, as it were, is being the face of your business, owning that, connecting on a, on a More personal level. So I would say those are definitely two key things. And then the third one, which is perhaps a little harder to do if you're only using imagery. And I would definitely recommend using both photos. And also reels, is storytelling. So there's something about. And, you know, we can use a wedding photographer as an example. You know, like taking your audience through the journey of prepping for. For the wedding, and you know what to consider, how to pose and then how the final shot came out. And, you know, like, you're. It's. It's kind of a little journey so that you're grabbing people's attention, you're holding people's attention, and then there's like a. A lesson, a value piece at the end, you know, like a nice journey. So I think those are three things that if you can weave them into your content with some regularity or have that front of mind as you create content, those three things, a lot of people are finding success. That's what they're focusing on.
- [16:37]
Annemie Tonkin
I love that. Okay, so let's kind of dive into these one at a time. I'm gonna just ask some more specific questions.
- [16:45]
Kimberly Espinel
Go for it.
- [16:45]
Annemie Tonkin
So when it comes to consistency, which is like, I preach from that Bible every day, I think that when it comes to Instagram specifically, people get a little confused about, okay, so what does that mean in the Instagram space? Are you saying three posts on their grid every week? Are you saying a post, a story, and a reel? Are you saying three reels? Like, I especially. Because there are all these different content types now on Instagram, I think that people can get a little bit like, okay, fine, I can post three posts, but then I'm also supposed to show up in stories, and I'm also supposed to be creating reels, and, you know, those kinds of things. What do you feel like works in a sustainable way for people?
- [17:28]
Kimberly Espinel
Yes, So I would say it kind of depends, obviously, on your goal. But most people, what they want is they want to have reach, so they want to reach new clients, existing clients, and they want to grow their audience. So a lot of people. That is one of the main. Those are the two main considerations, you know, reach and. And growth. And so for that, we're really talking about grid posts. So that means three grid posts. I think that is a really beautiful number to go with. And as I mentioned before, if you can only manage two. But they're killer posts, by all means. But I think three will just allow you to gain some traction for. For the reasons that we mentioned, I Think stories and, and that can be carousel posts or reels or a combination of both. Like you need to find the medium that you can show up consistently with what's working for you. As a general rough rule, reels do tend to perform better generally. So I think it is good to have at least one reel amongst the three content pieces that you're posting a week. But if you nail your carousel strategy, you can go viral with that too. So you know that any as possible. And then as for Instagram stories, that serves a slightly different purpose. And I think if you can only do one, I would definitely focus more on the grid than I would on stories. Stories is more about nurturing the audience you already have. So you're not probably not going to grow or, you know, reach a new audience or find new clients by posting. But what it does do, it creates a stronger bond. So it means that people are less likely to unfollow you. Right. Like if they feel a connection to you. And so, you know, growth is all about new people following you and fewer people unfollowing you. Right. That's, that's where growth happens. So it's definitely helpful. But I would say focusing on original content on your grid, if there's, if you don't have that much time, that's what the basket I would put my eggs in.
- [19:32]
Annemie Tonkin
Love it. And I guess that sort of follows into that second strategy that you were talking about for the photographer who views their grid. And we can talk more about your opinion on this too, but views their grid as like a museum gallery and they cannot have a photo that they didn't take of them or like a snapshot or something, you know, that's a little more behind the scenes on their grid because they feel like that will screw up the overall aesthetic of that is story is the place to do that. Do you feel like. Nope. You just have to get comfortable with, with breaking up the, the gallery wall kind of thing or.
- [20:10]
Kimberly Espinel
So I'm so glad because I'm speaking to like minded people. Like the idea that there's going to be a photo on my grid that doesn't look like picture perfect, right. I can't cope, right. Like, I cannot cope with like, like, like with a phone shot. Like it's not happening. Right. So. But the beauty is that now even retrospectively you can change the COVID of your reel. So sometimes what I do because I create has to look the way I want it to look. You know, sometimes I put a cover photo that fits that isn't 100% aligned with the actual reel that I'm showing, you know, just so that if people come, they can see this is a professional photographer, you know, she knows what she's doing. It doesn't look like some random iPhone situation, you know. So if that is a concern with your grid looking picture perfect, just remember you can create your real cover so that it looks, looks picture perfect. So that was the very first thing. I think the second thing to get into the habit of and that's been a game changer for me is to take curated behind the scenes shots. Usually I will film myself, you know, doing XYZ or, and then just take a screenshot or a shot from that behind the scenes, put my filter on my preset and then it just fits beautifully into my content. And I just think getting into that mindset, like I need to take a few or just, you know, you holding the camera or your camera on the table or something that is just, that hints at, this is a behind the scenes, this is more candid. And I, I actually think having candid or curated, I like to do it created behind the scenes content intertwined with, you know, your actual work. I'm going to use the wedding photographer again as an example. I think it will help your business us because again, you know, think of like there are 10,000 people who can be my wedding photographer. But it is about that connection that I feel to that person. The fact that I trust them, the fact that I like them to be part of my special day. And it's very hard to just gauge that from beautiful photos if I can see them in action, if I can see them interacting with a bride, you know, or you know, just see how, how they present, you know, during the day. Like that's going to give me more confidence to see like doing. It's going to, you know, make me want to hire them more than if I don't know what they look like, what their voice sounds like. So I think there is so much business sense to having those candid moments, those behind the scenes as part of, you know, part of the, part of your feed. I think it's so important just remember to take gorgeous shots, as it were, for your cover. Does that answer your question?
- [23:01]
Annemie Tonkin
Totally answers my question and it's a, a brilliant answer to the question. I really appreciated you going into some depth on that. I really feel like in this day and age and this is different from when you and I started in business, when we started, I think there were a lot of photographers and just people with businesses and websites out There who did not show their faces on their websites. You know, maybe they had a big thing when I was starting out was people showing baby pictures of themselves. I feel like that was a really common thing that you would see and you know, it would be like the little girl holding the toy camera or whatever. And I feel like there are a lot of people, especially to your point, photographers get very self conscious about getting in front of the camera and they just feel like my photos are going to do the job for me. I don't need to show my face, nobody cares about me. I'm going to be on the, you know, behind the camera anyway. But at this point I really feel like it, it's, it's not even just an argument for people want to see you. It's that I feel like at this point there might be some weird nagging doubt in some, in the back of somebody's head and it may not be conscious, but if they go to your website and they're not seeing your face right up close in the camera and if they go to your Instagram feed and they are not seeing some evidence of the human behind there, they start to wonder like, what is it that this person is hiding from? Again, I don't have any research based evidence on that, but I, I just feel like it's less of a nice to have and more of a requirement these days.
- [24:35]
Kimberly Espinel
I think so. I really think so. So for me, the thing is this. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If you're not showing your, your face and you're booked up, you know, for the next three years, then ignore my advice. If you know that you, you're an incredible photographer and your bookings are good, but you just want it to be better. Better. I would say play, play with this as your secret sauce and then just think about your own two things. Just think about your own buying behavior. So, you know, I, for example, I, this, the start of this year, signed up to like a fitness app. I had been following these people on Instagram for at least a year and I felt, you know, I'm into fitness anyways. I follow a couple of different ones and it was just something about how they present. Sure. And what they say and just the trust they installed that made me, you know, subscribe. And now they have recurring inc for me probably for, you know, the next 10 years there it was the, you know, on the surface of it, all of these people I follow, they all probably roughly offer the same. But it was really the, the knowledge, the expertise the way they presented that just instilled a sense of trust in me. And then the second thing that I think we often forget because we're so in our jobs, our fees are, it's a lot of money for people. You know, if you think about a wedding photographer, you know, my day rate is, is four figures. Like, it's, it's a big ask. And there has to be a level of trust that, you know, of course we're trustworthy. We know that, but how can they know that?
- [26:08]
Annemie Tonkin
Yeah.
- [26:08]
Kimberly Espinel
You know, and I think we need to always put ourselves in our, you know, ideal customers position. Think like we're, this is a big financial ask. It's worth it, but it's a big financial ask. And we need to, you know, the barrier of, of is this person trustworthy? Am I going to like them? Are they going to understand my vision, et cetera. Like, we need to remove that barrier and by showing ourselves, by having our voice be part of the conversation, you know, in a real whatever or what, that is just one niggly obstacle out of the way.
- [26:41]
Annemie Tonkin
Yeah. And I mean, I think that we can sit in our resentment as much as we want about, like, I don't want to make reels, I don't want to show my face on the camera. I don't want, you know, these things that we feel friction and resistance about. Or we can reframe that in our minds as honoring our future clients by, you know, going the extra mile to help build that trust or getting out of our comfort zone, because we know that they feel out of their comfort zone. Spending a bunch of money and hiring a photographer. I mean, those. That is a two way street. And I feel like by sort of taking the first step, I will be the first to admit that my this can't be that hard Instagram feed is populated with reels that Dana, my marketing director, is like, here's what we're going to do. And I'm like, are you kidding me? You want me to do what? And it feels super outside my comfort zone. But I also appreciate that, like, it's part of what we sign up for as business owners. And if we can have fun with it, people sense that as well.
- [27:44]
Kimberly Espinel
Definitely. Definitely.
- [27:45]
Annemie Tonkin
All right, so you're gonna have to bear with my brain right now because I'm like, wait, what was the third one? So we had consistency and then we had showing up and tell me again.
- [27:55]
Kimberly Espinel
Third one was storytelling.
- [27:56]
Annemie Tonkin
Storytelling. Right, right, right. And I think I was thinking of that sort of tied in with reels and everything. Else. One photographer that I talked to about Instagram reels, or maybe it was just Instagram in general, was talking about how you can think about reels as mini movies. Like you're coming up with a little story arc. And I remember my initial reaction to that being like, well, God, I am not a cinema. You know, I'm not a film director, and I. This feels like a really heavy lift. But there are so many photographers, probably very much including food photographers, who call themselves storytellers. I mean, we are visual storytellers.
- [28:37]
Kimberly Espinel
Yeah.
- [28:37]
Annemie Tonkin
So are there any specific ways that you have seen that make it a little less intimidating to tell a story in on Instagram? Like, when it comes to a photographer who is tasked with. Okay, you have to now add storytelling within the Instagram platform to your list of things to do. Do you have any tips for that?
- [29:00]
Kimberly Espinel
Yes. I mean, I think the first thing to think about is. Is just a structure of a story. So the first thing. And again, I'm not using here that people haven't stumbled on before, but it's like a hook, something that grabs people. Like, you know, the, The. The first thing. Because obviously we have so much content that we're being bombarded with, like, we need to stop people in their strolls. So it's, it's. It's something like, I always like to start with a pain point, you know, whatever. Worried about finding the right photographer for your wedding or looking for the right photographer for your birth story or I don't know what it is. Right. Like, there has to be like, we, that's how we kind of start the story is like there's a problem and then there is like the, the. The journey, so to say. So this is what it's like. And these are the pictures we can take and da, da, da. And this is how the process runs. And, you know, something that kind of goes. And then finally the, the final images. That's always going to be the conclusion. Like, and I love it when people write on their reel or even in a carousel. Wait for it. And then you have to kind of, you know, and then there it is. So I think a lot of the times, times the story is. Is naturally part of what we create. We just need to, you know, reset our brains, so to say to, to. To make it so. And, and for me, the same, like, I start with ingredients. We have the ingredients, we cook it, and then, you know, we have the final shot, the final image. You know, travel photography as well. You're jumping on a plane, you're packing your Gear, you're there, the. The venue or the, the location, whatever. And these are, you know, the final shot thoughts.
- [30:32]
Annemie Tonkin
Right.
- [30:33]
Kimberly Espinel
And so I think it actually is just there naturally. We just have to learn to think about it and present it in that way. And sometimes I love to do voiceovers because as a podcaster, just like you, you know, it's something that comes to me naturally, but honestly, like, I've seen it done just through the right music choice, you know, like, or just like a text overlay can be so powerful that we just are desperate to see, you know, like, you packed your bags, you took your best gear, you packed your bikini, whatever, and suddenly we're on this beach in Bali and we have these gorgeous shots and, you know, like, we're waiting for that, we're waiting for the conclusion. We want to see, you know, the end. And so I think as long as you think about capturing people's attention in the beginning, you know, having some action bits, some. Some, you know, questions, some intrigue in the middle, and then showing what you're made of at the end, that's your story right there.
- [31:29]
Annemie Tonkin
Yeah. And that's a pretty rinse and repeatable kind of 100 formula, if you will. And I love how much breadth there is. You know, obviously Instagram is huge now. There's all kinds of different people, much, you know, way beyond just photographers. And the storytelling takes so many different forms and is done with so many different brand identities represented. You know, some people are doing funny little stop motion stories and other people are doing these, like, epic travel, you know, gorgeous, like diamonds dripping everywhere type of, you know, brand identity. So that I imagine is just kind of that it's like, step one, tell your story. Step two, think about how that story represents your brand. And as you get more practice and more comfortable and quicker and all that sort of stuff, it. It's like anything when you're new at something, it feels like a giant hill to climb every time. And then you get better and better, and then it happens kind of effortlessly.
- [32:32]
Kimberly Espinel
And I would also argue that we have an edge. You know, we have visual, we understand lighting, we understand, you know, editing. There's so many things that people who are, you know, fresh off the boat, as it were, you know, whatever, running a bakery, they've never picked up a camera. They don't even know, you know, where the camera button on their iPhone is. Like, we have all those hurdles we've already passed. And. And I would even argue, you know, from photography to videography, it's not that big a Leap either. You know, like we have, we've got edge and I think if you're not maximizing that edge, you're. You're leaving money on the table.
- [33:07]
Annemie Tonkin
Yeah. Amazing. I love, and I have always loved chatting with you. We met in the context of a business mastermind where it was all different kinds of businesses represented. And I think you and I were the only two photographers in the group.
- [33:22]
Kimberly Espinel
No, there was one more. Who did, she did birthing.
- [33:25]
Annemie Tonkin
Oh, yeah, no, that's four actually. So. Yeah, so there were a handful.
- [33:29]
Kimberly Espinel
Chelsea as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She did weddings.
- [33:31]
Annemie Tonkin
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it was a small number in the larger group. And in our early conversations, I just always really appreciated how you have, you know, aligned strategy and systems and kind of self awareness with a business that really feels truly creative and authentically you. It is a, it's a wonderful thing to see out there in the world and the fact that you're, you're killing it and doing all these fun things is just so wonderful to see. I feel like I should have led with questions about the book, but give us, give us a little bit more information about the book and where people can pick up a copy.
- [34:11]
Kimberly Espinel
Yes. So my brand new book is called how to make your food famous. It's all about Instagram strategy, what's working, and as I mentioned before, some, you know, the tips come from people within the food space, but most, I would say 95 of those tips apply to any visual artist, any photographer really. So if you want to pay up a copy, you can find at Barnes and Nobles, Amazon, all the places. And if you do get it and tag me on Instagram, that would be amazing. And yeah, hope you enjoy the work.
- [34:41]
Annemie Tonkin
Yeah, yeah. And, and then let everybody know what your Instagram is and where they can find you on your website.
- [34:48]
Kimberly Espinel
So I'm the little plantation on Instagram because I started as a plant based food blogger, so that's where that name comes from. And then I also have a podcast called Eat capture share where I share business and creative tips, specifically your food photographers. But again, lots of it can apply to anyone within the photography space. And then I have my book how to make your food famous and also my first book, creative food photography.
- [35:14]
Annemie Tonkin
Amazing. Such a rock star. Kimberly, it has been wonderful chatting with you. Thank you so much for coming on the show.
- [35:20]
Kimberly Espinel
Thank you for having me.
- [35:21]
Annemie Tonkin
Have a great day.
- [35:22]
Kimberly Espinel
Thank you.
- [35:24]
Annemie Tonkin
That's it for this week's episode of this can't be that hard. I'll be back same time, same place next week. If you like the show. Be sure to check out thiscan'tbethard.com to explore all the resources we have for photographers. And of course, it would mean the world to me if you would leave a review of the show on itunes or Spotify. As always, thanks so much for joining me. I hope you have a fantastic week.