Original subtitles

So, I'm going to start this section with

a little ditty about Eric and Lani, two

Canadian kids doing the best they can.

How is that?

Lani's going to be a photography star.

That is not how we're starting.

No, no, no, start over.

Okay, now.

Okay, not starting with a little ditty.

Okay, I'm going to start this section with

a little story, okay?

So, it's a story about something that happened

to Eric and me.

I guess about 10 years ago now.

No, like 15 years ago.

2002, 18 years ago.

18 years ago.

So, a little story about something that happened

to Eric and I when we were climbing

a mountain in Patagonia called Mont Tronador.

And so, we were camped on the glacier.

We woke up in the morning, got out

of our tent, broke camp, put the crampons

on, and we started traversing out across the

ice field.

And it's bluebird sky day.

The snow is sparkling.

As far as we can see, it's just

white ice and snow.

And we look off across the horizon, and

we see these two birds.

And they really stood out because the only

things up there were me and Erica, white

snow, blue sky, and these two birds flying

side by side, perfect flight, with their wings

outstretched.

And as they started to fly towards us,

straight towards us, we started to realize how

big these two birds really were.

Turns out, they're two giant condors, largest birds

of prey on Earth, 10-foot wingspan, like

dinosaurs coming out of the sky.

And condors are scavengers.

So, keep in mind, at that moment, there

were only four living, moving things up there.

And two of them have 10-foot wingspan.

And they soared straight towards us.

And, what, like...

Three or four feet.

Three or four feet, just basically cruised right

overhead.

And they were totally checking us out, too,

because we saw them kink their necks to

the side.

And the sound, because it's completely silent up

there.

Yeah, there's no wind.

Just the sound of their wings just cutting

through the air.

And then we saw their eyes, like, literally

looking straight into our soul.

Our hair stood on end.

Our minds went...

And Two Man Studios was born.

Not at that exact moment.

Well, kind of.

But, you know, those are the kind of

experiences that Lani and I live for.

Like, those are the kind of things that

really shape the world, shape the way that

we see the world, and as a result,

the way that we photograph the world.

So, that was in 2002, which we now

realize is 18 years ago.

And that was about four years into our

relationship.

So, do the math.

We've been together for a long time.

Almost half our lives now.

More than half our lives.

More than half.

We just passed the halfway mark.

Last birthday, right?

So, we do everything together.

We shoot together.

We teach together.

We raise kids together.

We live together, obviously.

We travel together.

Sometimes we sleep together.

And so, you can imagine we often fight

together.

And shit gets real all the time.

And you guys are probably going to bear

witness to that throughout this course.

Yeah.

All of this really started for us in

the mountains.

Climbing, skiing, paddling.

Our passion was, you know, exploring wild places.

And that's pretty much where we fell in

love with each other, but also with photography.

And, you know, we've always lived for adventure.

And photography sort of became, it was our

way of sharing these experiences that we were

having.

You know, all these incredible places, incredible experiences.

That was sort of our device for sharing

those experiences with our friends and our family

back home.

Right?

We had something to bring back and share

the story.

Except it was slides.

This was like old school style.

This was Kodak, slide projectors.

We'd actually like...

Have a dissolve unit.

Yeah, dissolve unit.

So that they dissolve in and out.

And create these slides.

So it's just good old-fashioned storytelling.

We never really sought out to become photographers.

Exactly.

At all.

And so, you know, for any of you

that suffer from imposter syndrome, which is probably

everybody out there, we are right there with

you.

I still have a hard time calling myself

a photographer, to be honest with you.

And I still don't know what I want

to be when I grow up.

And that's okay.

We met in 1998 at the National Track

and Field Championships.

Where Lenny was running the 1500 with wild,

crazy, curly ringlets flowing in the wind.

And I was immediately attracted to him.

But we were both...

I mean, your school was hosting.

But both of us were...

Track and field athletes.

At the time, into track and field and

cross-country.

And that was kind of two decades of

my life actually trying...

The sole focus of my life was trying

to make it to the Olympics.

Which I never did.

But I got to race for Canada at

the World Championships.

And it determined our lifestyle, right?

We were into running and trail running and

mountaineering.

So Lenny pursued mountain guiding.

And I pursued a career in outdoor education.

And you're going to see later on that

a lot of our most important lessons that

we've learned.

That we apply to wedding photography.

Were actually born in athletics and mountaineering.

So our adventure photography started getting us some

recognition.

And it was just enough recognition to plant

a seed that maybe we can do something

with this.

So we started our first company in 2006,

I think.

And it was called Two Man Tent Photography.

And then a couple of years later, around

2008, a friend asked us to photograph her

wedding.

And so we said...

She basically just recognized that Lenny and Erica

know what they're doing with their camera.

Or look like they think they know what

they're doing with their camera.

So would you want to photograph our wedding?

So we said, ah sure, we'll give it

a shot.

We were so out of our element at

that.

It was...

I remember...

You should actually probably refund them.

I mean, they only paid $800, but we

should still refund them.

But I remember the bride, at the end

of the wedding, she said, So what do

you guys think?

Are you guys going to do some more

of this?

Are you going to do more wedding photography?

And we were like, hell no!

We were so out of our element.

It was...

We'd rather be strapped to the side of

a cliff in minus 20 than photograph a

wedding.

That's how desperate it was.

But we were out of our element for

different reasons.

I mean, we were nice.

We were warm and we were inside.

But it was just all this unpredictableness.

All this fast-paced changing lighting conditions.

Just so much out of our control that

we were used to having within our control.

So then another friend asked us to shoot

their wedding.

And people kept on asking us to shoot

their weddings.

And I remember this exact moment, turning to

Lenny and saying, You know, there's a price.

If people will pay us enough, if we

can make a shit ton of money photographing

weddings, let's start accepting these.

So that we're so expensive that most people

aren't going to hire us.

But if they do hire us, hey, we're

rolling in the cash.

So we set our prices, get this, We

set our prices at $2,000.

$2,000 Canadian dollars.

Which is like, I don't know, $1,200

American or something.

Because we would never, ever have paid that

much for photography.

Ever in our entire lives.

And so we thought nobody in their right

mind would spend $2,000 for a wedding

photographer.

Unbeknownst to us, we were the cheapest, most

affordable wedding photographers out there.

And so people started booking us left, right

and center.

And before we knew it, we had like

27 weddings in the book.

I remember at one point, it was probably

around 2011.

And we didn't make any money, obviously.

But we didn't know anything back then.

Yeah, I think it was around 2011.

At some point, we just sort of looked

at each other and it was like, Oh,

we're wedding photographers now.

Looks like we're wedding photographers now.

Let's roll with this.

And most of the things that we hated

about wedding photography, especially with that first wedding

photography experience, the pressure and the fast pace

and the slow pace and the chaos and

the uncertainty and all that struggle, is actually

what we thrive off now.

Those challenges were a threat to us.

I mean, they're still a threat to us.

They still exist at every single wedding.

But we realized that's where all the magic

is as well.

And the opportunities.

And the opportunities, yeah.

So we kind of, yeah, I guess we've

grown to thrive off of that.

There's still parts of every wedding that we

don't love.

Right.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves.

Yeah, we're going to get into this.

We're going to get into this.

So at that time, Eric and I are

still total ski bums, climbing dirt bags.

And then our world got flipped, turned upside

down when these guys came along and changed

everything.

Yeah, pretty much.

We stopped skiing, stopped climbing, stopped paddling, stopped

mountaineering, finally switched careers from mountain guiding to

firefighting.

And we decided, I don't know what we

were thinking, but we decided this is a

great time when we've got two kids under

the age of three to start a new

business.

At like two in the morning.

We're to build our business.

I'm breastfeeding Timmy.

We're to build our business, yeah.

Meanwhile, I'm working full-time in Calgary.

You're working full-time in Calgary.

We've got two kids under the age of

three.

Life is insane.

I call them the lost years.

But we started discovering some other photographers on

the scene that gave us a little bit

of a different definition of photography.

Sort of recalibrated, totally recalibrated our thinking and

the way we think about wedding photography.

Yeah, so Davina and Danielle and Ben and

Aaron Christman in DQ Studios.

Davina and Daniel.

What did I say?

Danielle.

It's French Canadian.

I'm giving it the French Canadian.

But those three for sure.

Christmas Studios, DQ Studios, Davina and Daniel.

Totally, their work blew our mind.

And it was like, it was different.

It was daring.

It was sexy.

It was just…

It was real.

It was real.

It was really, really good.

It was everything we love about photography without

any of the shittiness of wedding photography.

And so it lit a fire up under

our ass to want to take wedding photography

to the highest levels we could.

And our work got better.

It got better pretty quickly.

And the bookings came in further and further

abroad.

And this was all sort of organic.

Our rates started to rise.

And we're going to tell you guys later

in the course our strategy behind that.

And we took on too much.

Especially with Lani working full time as a

firefighter and two kids.

I think in 2012 we had…

27.

Was it 27?

That was our peak.

And you know, 27 might not sound a

lot.

At this point.

At this point.

But when you see the way we photograph

weddings and the way we edit weddings and

the heart and soul that we pour into

every single wedding, it was a completely unsustainable

number for us.

Yeah.

So that was a rough year.

Yeah.

So we started capping ourselves.

We started capping ourselves at 15 weddings per

year, which helped a lot.

And now we find 10 to 12 is

our sweet spot.

10.

10.

12 is too much.

Yeah.

So a lot has changed since those early

years.

You know, a lot.

And we're going to take you through that

whole progression.

At the beginning, we were very good at

making gimmicky shots, shots that got a lot

of attention, eye candy, but they were lifeless,

soulless.

Yeah, and that's what was motivating us.

That's sort of like what we were, that's

what we were getting excited about.

Was the cameras.

Yeah.

Not the weddings.

It was like, how trippy can we make

this?

How many times can we reflect it?

How dramatic can we make the light?

And honestly, and that led to a lot

of recognition for us, but it was empty.

It was so empty and it was soulless.

Well, it got old.

It got old fast.

It got old.

And we burnt out.

Yeah.

We burnt out.

I remember Ben saying to you one time.

Ben Crisman.

Ben Crisman saying, epic will burn you out.

Epic burnt us out.

Epic totally burnt us out.

And it was meaningless.

It felt meaningless.

Right.

And I mean, epic's just a word.

It's an overused word.

But I would say now we still strive

for epic imagery, but what that means to

us has totally changed and grown into something

entirely different, which we're going to really get

into.

And so we're in this constant quest now

to find meaning in our work, meaning in

our work as wedding photographers, which is a

challenge at times.

How are you doing that?

How do you find meaning?

Well, I'd say that, I mean, because a

common question we get is, you know, what

are your- Inspirations.

Inspirator, your creative influences.

And people are often searching for that or

expecting the, you know, so and so photographer

and such and such photography.

But honestly, whereas early on that stuff really

inspired us, but today it's really, I don't

really look to wedding photography for inspiration.

More so other genres of photography, but even

more than that, just everything else in our

life from, you know, from documentaries that we

watch.

Music is a huge, always a huge inspiration

for me.

And then just time outside, time in nature,

time with our kids, exercising.

And actually I would say this year I'm

starting to discover the superpower of meditation, which

is something I've been curious about for a

long time.

But I've got one of the apps now,

so I'm doing 10 minutes a day.

And it's actually kind of really helping to

clear the noise.

Really?

I haven't noticed much difference in you since

you started meditating.

Oh, you can't see inside my mind.

Really?

No.

Anyways.

I'm going to talk a little bit about

this because this is one of my favorite

subjects is the whole idea of inspiration and

creativity.

And I just eat up all these books

about creativity and where inspiration comes from.

And I actually think there's an overabundance of

inspiration out there these days, like a complete

overabundance of it, especially visual inspiration for photographers

with Instagram and Facebook.

And I feel like whenever we go looking

for inspiration in a specific spot, whether it's

through other photographers or through artists or for

music, when we're looking for inspiration, it puts

us in this mindset where we're result-focused

instead of process-focused.

So like when we go on Instagram and

we look at how their photographer's works, all

we're seeing is the result.

That's all we're looking at.

We're not seeing the process that took place

to get the result.

And as artists and photographers, the end result

is not our concern at all.

I mean, we think it's our concern.

But our concern needs to be about the

process that it takes to get to that

result.

And so I feel like whenever we go

and we're inundated with this wisdom and inspiration,

it puts us result-focused instead of process

-focused.

So one of the ways I've really tried

to hone my own inspiration is to stay

off of social media and to stay off

of looking at people's results.

And I read somewhere in some book, I

wish I could remember, but the one line

that's really stuck with me was, create before

you consume.

And we're in the habit, especially as photographers

and especially in this day and age where

we wake up in the morning and we

consume.

Like, you can't get away from it, right?

You just pick up your phone and you're

in consumption mode.

Like, I mean, you can't even have a

bag of tea anymore without an inspirational quote

on the teabag.

So I'm in this habit now of every

morning I wake up and I create something.

And I don't mean to create something physical.

I just mean get myself in a creative

mindset.

So whether that's just watching the way my

kids sleep or watching the way the water

drips down the shower door or noticing the

way the light filters in or the shadows

on the wall, or maybe it's as simple

as cutting my toast in a different shape,

but getting myself in the habit of creating

every morning before I'm consuming.

And that's, that's probably made a bigger impact

on my work than trying to find inspiration

from outside sources.

Nailed it.

Just cut my section out.

That was awesome.

So we're about to start getting into the

real actual meat of this.

Less of the fluff and more of the

meat.

Yeah.

Yes.

So before we do that, there are two

really important things that you need to know

about Landy and I.

Okay.

Two really, really important things.

Okay.

The first is that we suck.

Okay.

Just take a look at some of these

photos.

We take spectacularly bad photos at every single

wedding.

We shoot culling.

Our work is like sifting for gold through

a sea of shit.

Okay.

This photo here, this is what happens when

you leave Lanny alone during family formals.

Okay.

And this is, this is not an outtake.

This is, this is the best.

We delivered this.

Well, no, I didn't deliver it.

but, but I did show it to them

because our clients become friends and I showed

them, I'm like, sorry, I can't deliver this

family photo because this is what Lanny took.

Um, I'm not sure what you told them

to do with their hands.

That thing that you do where they so

battle up.

And anyways, I've guys, clearly I struggle with

posing.

Yes.

Okay.

So this, this, you know, sharing our wisdom,

our so-called wisdom with, with you guys,

all these photographers around the world is super

intimidating for us because in our minds, we

suck.

We do.

And we feel that a lot of the

times, a lot of the time, our, our

wedding days are a complete emotional roller coaster

ride.

No one minute.

I'm, I'm giving myself a mental five high

five and I'm totally killing it.

And I'm like, yes, I'm rocking this off

camera flash.

And then the next minute I'm down in

the dumps and I'm like the world's worst

photographer.

And I'm thinking we're going to have to

refund the bride and groom some money.

Yeah.

So, but the key message there is that

it's okay to suck or it's okay to

feel like you suck.

Right?

Remember we're comparing our everyday behind the scenes

to everybody else's highlight reel.

And you're going to see behind the scenes,

Erica and I, we are not masterful technicians.

Okay.

We are not gifted with talent and we

are not a dream team.

Which brings us to the second very important

thing you need to know about us, which

you probably already know is that we're a

highly, highly dysfunctional team.

Very dysfunctional.

So we're going to demonstrate that.

Now we're going to perform a little skit

of sorts.

Yeah.

We like to call this couples counseling for

wedding photographers.

And all of these scenes that we're going

to act out for you are actual reenactments

from actual moments at actual weddings.

So this is a day in the life

of Erica and Lanny shooting a wedding together.

Which lenses do you want to take with

you?

Well, I'll take the 35 and I'll take

the 50, the 85.

Can I try the 24?

Awesome.

Okay.

What would you like?

Well, I guess I'll make do with the

24 to 70 and the 70 to 200.

Awesome.

Is that okay?

Yeah, I guess so.

Give it a go.

Okay.

Good luck.

Have fun.

Go get them.

Bye.

Bride prep, groom prep.

How'd it go this morning?

I got shit.

Like, we are definitely going to have to

refund them soon.

I- Seriously?

Well, she was getting ready in the basement

laundry room with like 17 bridesmaids and I

just- Couldn't have been that bad.

It was bad.

It was bad.

Real bad.

How'd it go for you?

Could have used at least one prime.

I hope you got that.

What?

The first kiss.

Oh, I was in the best spot.

I was in the best spot.

I had them lined up.

I had them all lined up.

I didn't want to miss the shot like

last time.

I totally missed it.

Why can't you just trust I can get

the shot too?

I'm half of this photography team, you know?

I hope so.

It's not just the lighting manager.

You know, screw you.

Okay, everybody.

Look up here.

No, grandma.

Grandma.

Grandma, over here.

No, not that camera.

Over here.

Yeah.

All right, everybody just bring it in.

Perfect.

I need the flash over there.

Okay, first of all, A, how am I

supposed to know that?

What do you think?

I was trying to communicate to you.

That is not communicating.

And second, get your own flash.

I'm not your assistant.

I'm missing moments.

I'm not your assistant.

We are missing moments right now.

So give me the flash.

Let's do our job.

Get your own goddamn flash.

I'm not your assistant.

I think we should think about a different

method.

Let's just wait.

We shouldn't feel like this happened.

Where are the lens caps?

I don't know.

Fuck it.

Let's get out of here.

Lanny, Lanny Man photography, right?

Amazing work.

Amazing.

Thanks, man.

You do such a good job.

And this is your assistant, right?

No, no.

Hold this.

Sorry.

What are we doing?

It's such a pleasure.

You're the best photographer in the world.

Well, actually, she's better than me.

Yeah, we're a team, but thank you.

I'll definitely hire you again sometime.

That'll be awesome.

Thanks, man.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, out of here?

Now that we've got those two very important

things out of the way, we're ready to

get into the real meat of this course.

So, go grab a glass of wine, a

beer, maybe it's just a nice cup of

tea, tea, or maybe it's even a bowl

of popcorn.

This is where we're going to describe our

whole approach to wedding photography.

We're going to lay down the foundation for

everything that's coming after.

We're going to dive into our psyche, which

isn't an easy task.

Yeah, and you're going to want to get

comfortable for this next section that's coming, which

is actually, it's been broken down into several

smaller videos, but they essentially fit together as

one as one piece that sets the bedrock

for everything.

So you're going to want to give yourself

the time and the space to sit back,

relax, and take these in sequentially, rather than

spreading them out over a week or so,

because they kind of fit together.

Yeah, and make sure you have your notebook,

okay, and we'll see you there for Psyche,

Magic, and the Art of Getting Lucky.