All language subtitles for Q&A held on November 30th 2020

Hello?

Hello?

Hello.

Can anyone hear me?

Can anyone see me?

Yes, we can hear and see you.

I feel like we're in some video game

thing.

Look at some of you guys.

Holy!

You've got headphones and mics.

I feel unprepared here.

Fortnite, Call of Duty.

That's what it looks like.

It looks like we're in some Twitch gaming

room or something.

All right, one sec.

I just got to...

How about now?

Am I clearer now?

Yes.

Okay, cool.

All right, well I think we're...

Can you guys hear that ding when it

dings?

Yes.

Those are people coming in.

Okay, so how's everyone doing?

Good.

Nobody wants to talk.

I feel like that's like 2020 right there.

Everyone's like, how are you doing?

You're like, well, fine.

You know the meme with the little dog

and the room burning?

Yeah, that's 2020.

Yeah, exactly.

I feel like I've said I don't know

more this year than I think any other

year in my life.

It's a constant, I don't know.

I don't know.

It is what it is.

Okay, so I've never...

I've done workshops, obviously, but I've never done

a Zoom Q&A talk.

So I'm just...

Has anyone been to...

Brittany, you have.

Has anyone been to a workshop of mine?

No.

I think Gio, yeah.

Okay, so really every workshop I do, I'm

really just...

Even when I say I'm a patron, I

want...

Whatever you guys need to know, just ask.

I don't have...

I never have set agendas to anything because

I feel like if I talk about something,

someone might hear it and be like, yeah,

that has no application.

Where if you need to ask someone or

ask me something, I just leave it up

to you.

So again, nothing's off limits.

So I kind of just...

I don't know how we'll do it with

a bunch of people.

If someone just starts talking and you hear

someone talking, maybe just throw your hand up

like we're in class and just say, hey,

I got a question.

But yeah, so I kind of just leave

it up to you guys.

I really am just here to answer whatever

you guys want.

Whatever you need to know or whatever you

want to know or whatever you want to

do, fire away.

So I don't know who's going to go

first.

No one.

Cool.

Okay, so...

All right, Meredith.

Can you hear?

Cool.

I'm really curious about how you would...

I don't know.

I mean, I shoot probably 40 plus weddings

a season.

And it gets tedious towards the end of

the season.

You feel like you're just redoing the same

stuff.

How do you not do that, I guess?

Well, yeah.

So I wouldn't say I'm not doing it.

I feel like we all have like...

We all kind of go into a wedding

with somewhat of a formula.

Like we kind of know what we're going

to do, how we're going to do it.

And then there's obviously offshoots with every couple.

It's going to be a little different how

you're going to pose.

Because one pose might work for someone else

and whatnot.

But to me, I would say what I'm

showing online definitely looks different than what an

actual full gallery might look like.

Okay?

So I've always had this...

I don't know if it's a philosophy.

But this mentality going into weddings where this

may be your 40th wedding of the year.

But this is their first wedding of their

life.

Yeah.

And it's the same with locations and that.

I shoot in the mountains a lot.

And you see the mountains and you're like,

oh, Banff again.

But it's like this is their first time.

So I feel like having that mentality or

that thought process going into things where...

This might be my 40th time doing this

or my 20th time doing this.

But this is their first time.

So everything you're doing for them is new

and exciting.

Yeah.

So you can feed off that new and

exciting feeling from them.

This is why I feed off a lot

of my couples.

Obviously location is important.

But I know I get asked, where's your

favorite spot to shoot?

And I'm like, well, I've shot in some

really mediocre spots with some absolutely incredible couples.

And I'll take an incredible couple in a

mediocre spot over an amazing spot in a

mediocre couple.

Hands down every day of the week.

So to me, I think not burning out

or not feeling like you're on repeat is

really just...

If you feed off your couples, run it

through your head where this is their first

time.

This might be my 40th time doing this

pose this year.

But then maybe just do those things that

work for you.

Because we all have that pose that works

every single time.

But then maybe go left instead of right.

Maybe you went right on the angle last

time.

Go left this time.

Maybe you backlit that pose last time.

Side light it this time.

So just those minimal things.

Or shoot the same pose with a different

lens.

Maybe a totally different thing.

So I get it.

I think we all have that feeling at

the end of the season where we're like,

oh my God.

I'm just kind of done with this.

But I think feeding off excitement of couples

is huge for me.

Like I shot Brittany.

I think we're all in those moments where

we get something and we get super excited.

And then we get excited and they get

excited.

And if you can match their excitement or

even bring your excitement up a little.

Not like doing cartwheels, but being happy.

For sure.

Do you want to answer that at all?

Yeah.

I think it's one of those things.

Because I'm totally there with you.

And all my couples say that they love

the energy that I bring.

Which is great.

But I think it's that whole thing.

You do go into it thinking that this

is their day.

And you're going to make them feel amazing.

But like you say, it's that whole, great,

so now I need to shoot this again.

Because from where I am, one of the

places that people love to go is a

place called Tomato Peak.

And not quite Banff, but it's kind of

amazing views around Hawke's Bay.

So they just all want to go up

there.

So it's that whole thing of you don't

want to be giving everyone that same shot.

Yeah.

I always ask this in workshops.

Are you showing that spot a lot in

your work?

I try not to.

That's the thing.

I do and I don't.

Depending on what kind of lighting I get.

You can get some amazing sunsets and stuff

up there.

Yeah.

So I try not to show it as

much.

Yeah.

I feel like that's a huge thing.

I know talking with Jenna, she's shooting a

lot in the mountains.

And she's a lot in the mountains this

year.

And I'm like, well, it's because you're only

showing mountain work.

You're constantly showing the same photo in front

of the mountain.

Wide shot with nice clouds.

And it's like, well, that's what people are

going to hire you for.

So that's what they're expecting.

Where if you minimize that peak maybe and

just focus on more close-up stuff or

in the trees.

Or whatever differentiation that is in your work.

And start focusing that and get rid of

that epic photo.

Because everyone's going to, obviously, they're attracted to

your work.

And if they're attracted to the peak at

sunset and nice light, that's what they're probably

going to say.

Hey, Meredith, we want to go to this

peak at sunset.

And you're like, fuck, what?

I just did this last weekend.

Right?

Yeah.

Okay, cool.

Thank you.

Of course.

Could I maybe ask a tangent to that?

Yeah.

An offshoot.

Yeah.

As you were saying, Meredith, you do 40

weddings.

And you have the impression near the end

of the season you're getting tired.

How has the evolution of the number of

weddings you do, Gabe, had an influence on

that feeling?

I have the impression that my creative sweet

spot is 22 weddings.

But my financial sweet spot is 25.

So I kind of have to make them

marry.

Yeah.

I feel like I'm in the same number

as you in terms of my sweet spot.

I feel like that 20 to 23 weddings

a year kind of works for me.

One of the things I started doing was

increase your pricing by a couple hundred dollars.

Because really, if someone spent, I don't know

what everyone's pricing is, but let's just say

your pricing is $3,000.

Super easy number.

Or $3,100 for eight hours.

Well, if you are shooting 25 weddings a

year, say, and if you just increase that

by $200, that's not a huge jump for

people.

If their budget's $3,100, they're probably not

going to balk at $3,300.

They might be hesitant if you jump past

that next four number.

I find anything in those $33, $34, $35,

$36, $37, $38, those are kind of subconsciously

all kind of the same thing.

It's when you get into that $4,000,

$4,100 sounds way more expensive than $39

.50. It sounds like it's another thing.

So if you just up pricing by $150,

just slowly, incrementally, not these massive jumps, it

might allow you to keep your sweet spot

and then also keep your financial sweet spot.

True.

Right?

Cool, thanks.

Yeah.

Yes.

I think you're muted.

No?

Yes, I was muted.

Sorry.

Well, maybe I don't have that native English.

I'm from Nicaragua.

We speak Spanish.

So if I'm not understood, let me know.

Well, it happened to me a long time,

well, not a long time ago, maybe one

or two years ago.

I used to shoot everything outdoors.

I know that most of your work is

made in the mountains and everything.

And I try to make a switch and

try to shoot some indoors on the couples

and everything.

And the way I see it is reducing

the space that I have for creativity.

So when I go to open spaces like

mountains, I live in Nicaragua, it's a pretty

small country.

And most of the places that the couples

or that I have available in terms of

security and not being robbed or anything are

pretty tight.

And I find myself very struggling when I'm

in the mountains.

How do you keep inspired?

Maybe what's your mindset when you're shooting in

the mountains?

Or what do you look after shooting in

the same places?

I think the biggest thing for me...

So like I said to Meredith, working on

the connection and then the light between my

couples is very secondary to my location and

what I'm in.

Obviously, I'm getting hired for these, at times,

these grand epic scenery shots.

But to me, a connection can happen anywhere

between a couple regardless if I'm in like

a bathroom with nice light.

Like I've shot in bathrooms with nice light

because they have a beautiful frosted window.

And then I've obviously shot outside in the

mountains in nice light.

So I'm always, to me, I don't...

Does everyone know Fer?

Fer?

Yeah.

So I've had this conversation with Fer and

I don't know if we've talked about it

in that video that I did with him

where we just chatted.

But he tends to get overwhelmed with big

landscapes.

He really likes to focus in on like

the couple and then just shapes and all

that stuff.

And when I'm indoors or outdoors, that's really

what I'm going to focus on is more

the couple and the light.

Does that make sense?

Yes.

Right?

Like it's...

I think a lot of us will go...

Like we'll get hired for...

It really goes both ways.

We get hired for these outdoor locations and

these amazing locations.

And we almost get sidetracked in capturing the

beauty of the environment.

We forget at times what's happening with the

couple.

And so we do like these massive landscapes

where it's like a where's Waldo.

And all of a sudden it's just become

like a landscape picture with like this, you

know, super tiny, tiny couple.

And then the flip side of that is

we go into these venues indoors and we

get so caught up that we're indoors and

not outdoors.

We forget, well, really it's about the couple

and the connection and then how we can

utilize light to emphasize that connection.

So I feel like if we focus in

on the couple because the couple is going

to be there, obviously.

Right?

Couple is the one commonality in everyone's work

regardless of location.

Right?

You always start with a couple.

And then you're always going to focus on

that.

And then you're going to add light.

And then if you get the environment, then

you're adding the environment.

But if you focus in on the couple

and light, then everything else will just be

secondary.

And then you can start to work, you

know, your environment into it.

Is that...

Yeah.

Definitely.

Thank you.

Yeah, of course.

Brittany?

So I'm curious about how you light in

flat light.

I notice that a lot of your pictures,

like including in like blue hour, they still

have nice shadows and a nice bit of

contrast.

Whereas where I'm shooting in blue hour, it

tends to just fall flat.

Okay.

I'm curious, are you like side lighting or

what do you look for?

What's the deal?

So I think one of...

Okay, yeah.

So we always don't get this beautiful like

sunset light, perfect, you know, horizontal light from

the side or from the back.

What I'm looking for, if the light is

flat, I'm looking for somewhere that is open

to sky with dark background.

Okay.

Because if you...

Like let's just say you're using...

Let's just say you're in trees, for example.

Okay.

There is a row of trees here.

And it's all forest this way.

But it's just like open field here.

And regardless if it's cloudy or what, if

you put them on that edge or against

that backdrop, you can still underexpose and still

get light, like a line of light, regardless.

It just won't obviously be intense, like a

burst of light.

But you can still get that contrast between

dark and light in your work, regardless of

sun, regardless of anything.

So as long as there's open light, open

cloud, open sky, whatever, and darkness on one

side, you can still get that look of

like contrast.

It's almost like if you imagine it's a

big softbox, as opposed to a big flash,

it's now a big softbox.

Does that make sense?

Yeah?

Yeah.

Okay.

Does that answer what you're looking for?

Um...

No.

So kind of like using nature, like the

trees as a flag, I guess you could

call it.

I would say using anything.

Anything where there is darkness behind the couple.

Okay?

So it could be like, you know, if

you're downtown, let's say there's an alleyway, right?

Buildings, alleyway.

If you put them at the front half

of that wall, there's going to be light

fall off as it gets darker down the

alley.

Right?

So as long as you're looking for darkness,

just look for the dark, and then everything

else is going to, regardless if it's sunny

or cloudy or what, it's going to be

brighter than that.

Right?

So a doorway, like a long hallway doorway

or something, if you put them on the

edge of the doorway and have light falling

into that pocket of darkness, you're going to

get it.

Or a tunnel, like a walkway tunnel.

Right?

If it's cloudy, you're going to see a

much more bright light coming in probably the

first 10 feet into the tunnel than another

20 feet down the tunnel.

Right?

So if you look for dark pockets as

opposed to, you know, just concentrating on I

have no sun, just look for like a

dark cave, essentially, or a dark...

Something that absorbs light.

Light's coming in.

There's always going to be light.

Always, always, always, regardless if it's sunny, cloudy

or what, but if you look for something

that's darker than that, you know, forest, hallway,

tunnel, garage.

Like if you open up your garage on

a cloudy day and you stand on the

corner of your garage and just shoot, you

know, let's say the garage is this way

and you're shooting and you can see light

coming in, you know, and just underexposing by

like a stop.

That back of the garage is going to

go black and there's going to be light

falling in on you.

So really just look for like dark pockets,

dark forest, dark doorways, dark whatever it is

if you can.

Because if you're shooting wide open and it's

cloudy out, there's no contrast.

Right?

It's going to be cloudy here.

There's going to be even light here.

But you need something to separate that fall

off.

So just look for something that absorbs light,

a dark whatever that may be.

Yeah?

Thanks.

Okay.

Cool.

Anyone else?

Gabe, I've been, since I watch all the

videos of you editing, I've been trying to

use with the hands and everything you do

with the couples.

And it happens to me that most of

the couples are like, and I don't know

how to tell them how to do it

right.

You know?

And it tends to be weird.

And some couples, it worked.

But out of three, two, they've been like

this.

Horrible.

So what's your direction to them?

So I find any time a couple is

holding hands and their hands are down, a

lot of the times they tend to do

this.

Right?

They tend to hold hands like this.

They interlock fingers.

Right?

So I just make jokes.

You know, there's, you know, I tell them

don't, if you grip it too hard, you

get like white knuckles.

Right?

I tell, you know, you'll see some of

my poses, like the girls, like her hands

are like this.

And he's like tickling the palm.

So I always say use your fingertips.

Really, really light, gentle, use fingertips.

Because the immediate go-to for everyone, and

it's for everybody.

When you're walking down the street holding hands

with your partner, you don't hold, you don't

touch fingertips.

Right?

You just don't walk down the street doing

this.

You like hold hands.

So when you tell people to hold hands,

they're just doing what they're normally doing.

They just grab, hold hands.

So if you tell him, you know, I

say bring your hands up, and he's going

to run his fingers up your elbow, your

forearm, and you're just going to tickle the

palm of her hand.

Right?

Tickle the tips of her fingers, the palm

of her hand, her wrist, and then back

down to her elbow.

And just tell him to use his fingertips.

Okay?

As opposed to like this.

Yeah.

And interlocking fingers.

Don't interlock fingers.

Yeah.

It looks horrible.

Grab fingers.

Because sometimes you'll see like she'll have her

hand here, or she'll be holding his fingers,

and it looks like he's an amputee.

Like he's lost his fingers.

Right?

Like it looks like this.

Right?

Looks weird in a photo.

Feels natural to them.

Looks weird in a picture.

I think that's a huge thing everybody, and

we all have to be aware of.

What feels natural doesn't always look good.

Right?

Yeah.

It doesn't look good.

Go ahead.

Yeah.

And most of the time the groom's hand

is bigger than the bride's hand.

Yeah.

So it looks like she's getting trapped.

Yeah.

So fingertips.

Just fingers really, really soft.

Yeah.

That makes all the sense in the world.

Okay.

Cool.

Anybody?

Heather?

Hey, Gabe.

Hold on.

Heather.

I think Heather.

Who said hey, Gabe?

Lee?

Yeah.

Okay.

Lee, hold on.

I'm going to give it to Heather for

a second.

Okay.

Okay.

Thank you.

I just wanted to, sorry, I've got a

bit of a cough, so I'm a bit

croaky.

So I hope you can hear me.

I wanted to ask about how you shoot

and how you shoot with white balance.

Do you use auto white balance?

Because when you're sitting in your gallery and

you're for weddings, your photos just have a

really nice warmth to them.

Is that all post-edit?

Yeah.

Tell me a little bit about that.

Yeah.

So I shoot auto white balance for everything.

Unless it's really, really wonky.

I think we've been to weddings or receptions

where they have that absolutely horrible uplighting.

And it's like auto white balance just goes

weird.

So when it's really intense like that, I'll

do manually white balance for stuff.

But 99% of my stuff is auto

white balance.

And then I shoot aperture priority.

So I'm shooting aperture, auto white balance, and

then in post, I'm just warming up or

adjusting white balance, color temperature to what's needed.

Okay.

Cool.

Great.

Thank you.

Yeah, of course.

Hey buddy.

How you doing?

Yeah, not too bad.

Um, it's more like on the business side

of stuff.

Um, just kind of how, when you went

up to like the, the more luxury end

of the market, how did you find it

like attracting clients when you kind of jumped

up like a big price point?

How are the clients or how did I

attract those clients?

How did you like, how did you still

get them a client clients when you kind

of jump up like quite a high price

bracket?

So, yeah.

So I, yeah.

So my, I think my career in terms

of like financial and I charge it kind

of start there's a dog, um, kind of

started here.

And then it went like this and then

I, I didn't go back down, but I

definitely love, I brought it down again because

one of the ways that I started to

attract higher end clients was to show bigger

budget weddings, more details, more ballroom stuff, you

know, bigger dresses, all that stuff that is

associated with big budget weddings.

I think, you know, I always use the

80, 20 rule, like 80% of big

budget weddings are ballrooms, big dresses, that type

of thing.

20% are like people who aren't doing

that.

They just have a bigger budget for like

a more intimate event.

Changing what I was showing online was huge.

Definitely polishing my website, like really focus on

for years.

I had really a site that was super

simple, like super minimalistic, just photos, texts, contact.

That's it.

There was really no about me stuff.

It was just show work, keep it clean,

keep it simple because I find most people

with big budgets, that's all they want.

They just want to see good work.

They don't want all the other fluff around

it.

And then that was really how I started

to showcase that book that do that.

But then I kind of got to the

point where I was kind of tired of

shooting big budget weddings.

Like it was, I think we all, I

think everyone kind of goes on that journey

where we start here, we start to raise

our pricing.

We have this price point in head where

it's like, if I can just charge four

grand, we hit four grand and it's like,

if I could just charge five grand, you

hit five.

And it's always this stepping.

I just want to make, I just want

to break 10 grand.

That's if I can break 10 grand, you

break 10 grand.

And then it's like, well, everything below that.

It's like, oh, I don't want to do

that.

Right.

And you'll start to see, I found personally

clientele change.

When I started to get above the $10

,000 mark, it wasn't for your vendor.

Like you're just part of the day as

opposed to the day.

Right.

Yep.

And my goal in the last probably five,

six years has really been, I want to

be, I know it sounds super egotistical, but

I want to be the day.

Like I want to, I want my couples

to be so excited and on board that

I'm there to shoot their wedding.

Okay.

And then when you get that, I think

we've all had those couples.

We've all had both of spectrums.

We've all had the couple where you're a

vendor and you're just like, just doing a

shot list.

You're just doing the same thing over and

over again.

You're just kind of like pose, you know,

and they just want to party and drink.

And we've all had the couples where they're

like, you do whatever you want.

We trust you.

We'll just follow your lead.

And I think we agree.

We want the couples that say, we trust

you.

We'll just follow your lead.

Right.

So when you, when you was kind of

on that, like the point of going up

to the luxury end of the market, how

did you kind of get them weddings to

kind of then attract them clients?

If you get what I mean, how, like,

you know, how did you get them to

start with the luxury stuff?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I, you know, details, luxury weddings, love details.

Like that's not a question.

Like it's my biggest budget weddings.

They're big budgets because they have massive detail

budgets.

Yeah.

So to me, every fancy wedding that I

shoot, I shoot a ton of details.

Like I will just, just so I can

have it because it is to be honest,

the elopements and the couples that love you

and the small weddings and outdoor, you know,

rustic locations.

They're like, I find, I call it, they

feed your soul.

The big budget weddings feed your bank.

Right.

Yeah.

It's I do what's every year I'll probably

do two or three of what's called bank

weddings where it's like, I'll probably never see

it, but I can shoot one and then

take like three weeks off for four weeks

off.

Right.

So it's like, you know, fair uses the

example.

Sometimes you're a pimp.

Sometimes you're a prostitute, super derogatory.

Oh my God.

True.

Right.

Do these weddings where it's just like, you

just do it because you can't not do

it.

Right.

A lot of money to shoot a wedding.

And at the end of the day we

have to realize we're shooting, we're taking pictures

for a lot of money.

Right.

So to me it's like, I'll do it.

You'll probably never see it, but yeah.

Oh yeah.

It's just details.

I would say details.

That's what I find most of my big

budget clients.

They love the big rooms, the details, the

big dress.

They're not really into like, you know, the

posy stuff for like three hour portrait sessions.

They're like, you got 20 minutes because we

got a $400,000 reception to go to.

Yeah.

Cool.

Cheers.

Hey Gabe, why did you, I don't know

if you stopped making boudoir sessions or why

is there?

Yeah.

Why did I stop?

So I started because A, I wanted a

change of weddings and B when I started

years ago, I found boudoir horrible.

Like it was so, I personally thought so

badly done.

It was this mentality of getting all dressed

up to get pictures taken to look like

nothing, what you actually look like to please

your partner or to please yourself or whatever

it is.

And I thought that's so personally asked backwards.

I was like, why would you dress up

with nothing that you look like normally?

So I was like going, I went into

boudoir with, I just want to shoot it.

No hair, no makeup in their house, in

their bedroom, just supernatural.

And I did it.

And I really, it made, it changed the

way I focused on light, which was huge

for my wedding work because I would show

up to locations indoors.

I had no idea what I was getting

into in terms of what the light was.

And I would shoot it with a light

kit camera and one lens and that was

it.

So it really focused me in on concentrating

on light and the way light hits skin.

That was huge for me.

After I did it for a few years

though, I got super bored of it.

Like it was, it became very repetitive over

and over and over again.

And I remember shooting my last one probably

three or four years ago.

It was in March and I remember leaving

there thinking, that's it.

That was my last boudoir session.

I was tired of it.

It was, you know, I was making money

at it and I kind of, I was

getting, you know, a cool portfolio, but it

was just, it wasn't creatively anything I wanted

to do anymore because I was so tired

of it.

I was like, well, I'm done.

I'm done.

I'm going to eat your quota.

Yeah, it was just, it wasn't, I wasn't

doing anything different.

I wasn't, there wasn't much more I could

do because I was shooting in the same

type of environment every single time.

Weddings, you're shooting all over the world or

shooting all over your local area and different

light, different venues, outdoors, indoors.

Boudoir was in a bedroom every time.

After like a year or two, you've kind

of shot everything you can do.

Yeah.

I actually started making, well, I was, I

saw your work and, and I said, Hey,

I really, I really want to do that.

And, and I started doing it because I

saw your pictures and yeah, I think I,

I did one, I made one like a

month ago and the last, the last one

before that was like a year and a

half ago.

So, but, but yeah, I actually got inspired

from your, your job.

So awesome.

Hey again.

So out of curiosity, so with your weddings

timelines, do you guide them with that?

Like do they tell you what they want?

Like they want sunset, they want this, or

is it more sort of driven by how

their day is put together?

If that makes sense.

Probably a bit of both, I would say

like, so I'm very hands-on with my

couples in terms of their timeline.

Like I want to know, and it's one

of the things I talk about in all

my meetings at the beginning when I meet

with couples is I'm not going to meet

with you today and then disappear and see

you next year.

Right?

Like I want to be an open book.

So any questions you guys have during the

wedding day process of planning fire me emails.

I can help.

And I always use the, you know, the

analogy, this is your first wedding.

This is my 400th wedding.

So I know if you're budgeting an hour

for this and I know it's only going

to take 20 minutes, well, we can add

another 40 minutes to some other part of

the day without adding more time.

But yeah, I work very closely with my

couple's timeline or with the planner.

If they have a planner.

I want to know to me, everything else

is kind of, I look at wedding timelines

somewhat selfishly because I want to know how

much time I have to shoot and what

like everything else, like I can't control dinners

and all that stuff, but I want to

know, Hey, if I can get you guys

out at sunset for 40 minutes during the

reception, I'm going to, I want to take

you out.

I want to put that into the timeline.

So we know that you're going out.

Right.

So.

Would you then like, where is the majority

of your timing?

If, is it sunset?

Is it, I don't know.

Will they hit into the reception or is

it.

It's it really is all over the place.

Honestly, like, you know, a typical day obviously

is like wedding ceremony, you know, family pictures,

wedding party photos, bridal port or portraits of

a couple.

And then cocktails reception.

Right.

That's kind of like a normal traditional day,

how it flows out.

And sometimes that's all I get.

You know, I might get an hour with

them on the wedding day at four o

'clock in the afternoon, which is as we,

where I am is horrible light in the

summer.

Like it's terrible.

But again, then I'm looking for trees.

I'm looking for this.

I'm looking for that.

But saying that when I have those types

of timelines, I always tell my couples, Hey,

if the light's nice at the sunsets at

nine 30 and you've just finished your first

dance, I'm going to take you guys outside

and shoot.

Right.

Just to get it in their head, to

plant that seed that they know the best

light's going to be at nine 30 or

nine 15 or whatever time that is.

And that you may ask them to go

outside or to go wherever.

Right.

You're probably not going to get your car

and go somewhere, but at least you can

get outside of the venue and go shoot

in some nice warm light.

Yeah.

But I wouldn't promise you're going to do

that, but I wouldn't not say anything.

Just plant that seed telling them it's possible

because you might get at sunset and the

light could be horrible.

And then you're like, well, I don't even

need to go out anyway.

Right.

Or the light's incredible.

And then they're totally shocked that you want

to take them out.

And then it's like, it doesn't work.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Cause that's the issue here.

I'm presuming New Zealand's a lot like Canada

in terms of light.

So like with our daylight savings, like I

always try and encourage people to have like

this ceremony, say four 30 so that by

the time we're shooting, it's still really bright.

So six o'clock, but I try to

push them towards like, we'll do the bridal

party stuff and all the ugly light, because

it sounds really awful.

But to me, I don't really care about

the bridal party.

And then try and take the couple out

while the guests are getting seated.

So like, you know, to, to see a

hundred and something guests, it's going to take

10, 15 minutes at least.

So if I take them away for like

half an hour, and then try and get

them for another 15 minutes at sunset.

And like some of the places that we

shoot, like you say, it's not necessarily an

amazing spot, but the light is fine.

So I'm trying to push people to, to

have pockets of time as opposed to one

sort of concentrated area.

But yeah, I was just really curious about

how, if you went in sort of trying

to dictate in a nice way, how you

chose those or I, yeah, I am.

I, I, I tell all my couples, I

want to, I want to know, I want

to work with you guys on the timeline.

You know, I think we have to understand

that most of our couples are hiring us

because they love our work and they love

our work for a certain reason, right?

They, what they, what that reason is could

be super obvious, but it could be subconscious.

It could be something they just don't know.

Right.

But they're looking to you as the professional,

right?

You know, what's going to be best in

photos.

So I think we have to get more

comfortable, I think explaining to people, Hey, this

is when the best light is.

This is when we need to shoot to

get the best light or the best pictures.

Right.

And like I said, if it doesn't work

out because say the clouds or whatever the

light does, it's just not nice at that

time, then there's no loss.

But at least planting that seed a few

times, as you lead up to the wedding

day and getting final, you know, I always

tell couples send me your timeline before you

finalize it, you know, and just to work

with them and just the constant reminder of,

Hey, the best lights of this time, this

is when I might sneak you up for

15, 20 minutes, just because the last thing

you want is on the wedding day.

If you haven't told them that and they're

like drinking or, you know, he's gotten completely

plowed and you're like, Hey, let's go out.

And they're like, well, I can't even stand

straight or they're like, I don't even, this

isn't part of the plan.

They might be a little more standoffish whereas

if they'd been coached, there'll be much more

receptive to just, yeah, sure.

Let's go.

Let's, you know, let's, let's go do it.

So.

Cool.

Thanks.

Yeah.

You guys are so quiet.

I have a multi layered question.

Okay.

All right.

Let's do it.

All right.

So, uh, I guess it's based on like

lead generation for you, uh, between, so you

just redid your website like last year.

All right.

So how have you found the lead generations

based on your old website to your new

website?

And in comparison to say, Instagram, given you

have a pretty large following, uh, sub layered

into that, do you limit yourself on weddings

per year?

Do you say like, I'm going to do

35 weddings this year and that's it?

Like, you know, you have a cutoff point

so that you're able to kind of pick

and choose what you want.

Um, so yeah.

Um, so I'll answer the last question.

I do.

I limit the weddings.

I usually like to keep it around like

20 to 23 ish.

Like I did 20 2016, I did 28

weddings, but I taught, I think I did

nine workshops and like seven conferences.

Like it was, it was too much for

me.

Like it just, I was done.

Like I, that burnout or after 40 weddings

type thing that we were first started, like

I was so over the wedding world on

2016 and that it was too much.

So to me, that sweet spot is like

that 20, 22, 23.

So I do limit, um, my new site

to my old site.

I find my new site in terms of

like the type of clients I'm getting.

Is that what you're asking?

Or just how many inquiries I'm getting?

I guess, I guess I'm just curious more

on like, you know, did you notice an

upgrade or, um, you know, a higher influx

of inquiries when you upgraded your website?

I wouldn't say I noticed a higher influx

at all.

Like I don't think I went, you know,

I didn't like boom.

Like it was like, you know, getting inquiries

every four minutes.

Like it was, I found the quality of

inquiries was totally different.

Like the type of inquiry, um, I found,

I find now with my inquiries, they're very

much, much more personal.

I get a lot of like backstories as

to their relationship, how they started, what they're

looking for, that type of thing.

I think it's because my website now has

an about me page.

It's a little more personal about me as

opposed to before.

It was just, I don't even think I

had an about me page.

So really it was just Gabe McClintock and

they were just contacting me.

So I find the quality of inquiries is

better with my new website because it's more

personal.

I feel like there's more of a personal

part of me projected out and I'm getting

more personal information back, which has been great.

Um, Instagram.

Yeah.

Instagram is a weird, I get, I get

a lot of inquiries.

I get a lot of inquiries through Instagram.

They're not really, I find direct inquiries through

Instagram.

Don't usually pan out inquiries through my website

and where they, how they found me and

it says Instagram.

Those ones are usually good.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I find any direct messages, Facebook messages, text

messages.

They're very like cold, impersonal.

They know what I mean?

Like there's not really any, they're just probably

sending on the same message to 40 people

and they're just, you know, fielding replies.

Whereas I find when I get the, it's

one of the reasons why my contact form,

if you guys have seen it is like

fill in the blanks.

Like it really makes you work for the

contact, right?

Like it's cause I wanted people instead of

just, Hey, what's your pricing?

Like, I'm sure we've got those.

Like, are you available?

And what's your pricing?

So I wanted more personal information, I guess

more, uh, I want them to invest into

talking to me as opposed to just sending

out a massive amount of emails.

Sure.

Yeah.

I have like this weird thing and maybe

it's just, I live in new England, so

it might just be a new England thing.

And it could be because, you know, in

the wedding game, I'm, you know, getting older,

given I'm 41 now.

43.

So really, I mean like, you know, you

can kind of, you know, so trying to

connect with the younger generation of people that

are coming and getting married now, and especially

in my area, there are so many photographers

who they're getting 90% to 100%

of their leads and inquiries straight through Instagram.

It's like the younger clientele that are coming

through married in the early twenties.

Uh, they don't even go to websites in

my area anymore.

I mean, they're just like, I'm just going

to Instagram.

If I like your stuff, I'm going to

follow you.

Uh, I'll contact you.

And then you just basically go from there.

So it's a weird dynamic of trying to,

you know, filter them out in a weird

way.

And then it's for me, it's like, all

right, how much effort do I actually put

into Instagram as opposed to like the website

dynamic, which I'm used to.

So it's just this weird dynamic that I'm

just trying to navigate at this point.

Yeah.

I think that's the world right now.

We're all just trying to navigate it.

Um, Instagram.

Yeah.

I, I've always said Instagram's probably been, you

know, one of my, I would say it

is my best way to get my work

in front of a lot of people.

Like I said, I would, most of my

inquiries come, were they on my website?

How'd you find me Instagram?

I would say that's majority of my stuff.

Um, the emails I do get are the

messages I do get an Instagram.

I will often say, email me at, or

go to my website and contact me that

way just to see how that plays out

for them, because it might just be, Oh,

that's too much work.

And I'm just going to move on to

the guy who got back to me right

away.

Or it might take the time to direct

them to the website, go through it, contact

me that way.

So yeah, it is.

I get it.

It's hard for sure.

And it's a lot of work, but no,

it is.

It is Instagram.

It is the, I think the number one

way to get your work in front of

a lot of people.

The website to me now has pretty much

been a secondary directing to.

Gotcha.

Right.

Uh, one more followup.

Do you find given like, you know, you

have a, you're very well known in the

industry.

Do you find that a large majority of

your work and clientele comes from other wedding

photographers?

Um, like wedding photographers hiring me?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I do.

I wouldn't say majority.

Um, uh, yeah, I would, I would say

probably it kind of goes like this.

Like I know for a year, a few

years back, I'd say 50% of my

clients were other wedding photographers.

Um, and then it's, I think this year

is a weird one.

Last year is probably like I'd say 25

% a quarter of them.

So it's really, it's this, I wouldn't say

it's all, but I definitely get some, I

get a lot of, I get a lot

of people in the like ad world, ad

agencies, that type of thing.

So yeah.

Creatives, I guess.

But then on the flip side, some of

my big weddings are like, you know, lawyers,

financial guys, you know, people in the finance

industry.

It's, I get, you know, it's the one

thing I can say, I get probably the

biggest mix of clients out of anyone, like

a lot of my friends who are in

this world.

So.

So with those bigger weddings that you get,

do you still find that you're able to,

um, pull like your emotional connection that you

have in your photographs?

Are you still able to pull out that

emotion from, you know, say, and I'm going

to generalize here and say from the men

on that side where, you know, you want

them to be more in touch and more

sensitive and more, you know, showing their emotion

in the, in the moment, um, where I

found, you know, in my area, a lot

of the higher end clients, you know, they're

very stoic.

They, they don't show emotion.

They don't like, how do you, you know,

do you feel like you have to get

that out of them or do they just

sort of like naturally fall into it given

that's what they see in your work?

I would say both like yes to both

of those.

So yeah, I got to work on like,

I definitely got to get it out of

them.

I got to do a little more coaching,

I guess, and direction.

Um, but because my entire feed is that,

or my entire website is that they already

know what I'm looking for.

Like that's never, and it's one of the

things I talk about, like curation and that

like, it's, you never get a hire me.

And I'm going to ask you to like,

you know, take a deep breath, you know,

and just touch each other, tell her how

much you love her by simply touch.

That's never going to come as a shock

to any of my couples.

They're never going to be like, Oh, what

are you talking about?

Like I thought we were just going to

like get drunk and party like it's not.

So I feel like showing and showcasing that

work over and over and over again, definitely

mitigates a bit of that standoffishness or that

stoicness, but it's still there for sure.

Like guys in general, I find are more

so that than the females or the brides.

Gotcha.

Yeah.

Thanks.

Yeah, of course.

Just a quick one on, on the Instagram.

Yeah.

Um, so you said that you get a

lot of you're in the dark.

I was like, I don't know.

Sorry.

She been kidnapped or what?

I don't know.

I just did my dark live.

Um, so with the Instagram thing, obviously, um,

you said you get quite a lot of

inquiries come through that.

Um, how, how would you say they're finding

you on Instagram?

Is that through hashtags or other suppliers or

venues or?

Honestly, I'm not, I don't think hashtags, hashtags

are a weird thing right now.

Like I, Instagram's for me is kind of

just been this way to get my work

out there.

I don't really, I feel like as soon

as I think I know Instagram, I'm like

getting it.

It's like, no, you know nothing.

Yeah.

And I'm like, well, I don't even know.

So to me, I would say it's followers

of followers.

I see a lot of my posts get

people who follow me commenting to other people,

like just tagging people in the comments of

my work.

Um, and I'll notice like maybe within like

right away though, I'll see a new follower

from that person.

Um, but I would say that like people

sharing it or just followers tagging other people.

Like I would say that is probably the

way hashtags.

I honestly, I, I don't know.

I'm going to say no, but I honestly

don't, I couldn't give you that answer.

I've never got anyone said, I found you

by clicking the dirty boots and messy air

hashtag.

Never.

Does that answer that?

Yeah, that's cool.

Hey Gabe, um, do you do any other

type of, uh, maybe commercial, uh, photography or

advertising photography or?

Yeah.

So I had a client of mine a

few years ago, they own an ad agency

here.

They're great.

Great, amazing ad agency locally.

And I've done quite a bit of work

for them just, you know, randomly when they

call me for stuff.

Um, I don't, I've never really pursued it

and pushed it.

And I know for years, I, before I

started shooting destination work, I actually started working

on a commercial website because I was like,

I can't shoot local weddings anymore.

I've been doing this well, 17 years.

And for like 11 of those years I

was shooting in the same venue locally every

weekend.

Like, and I was so done with it.

Yeah.

I was like, I can't do this.

So I was like, I need to do

something else.

So I started the push commercial and then

I pushed that for a bit.

And then my destination world took off.

And then I really just now, whenever the

ad agency calls me for random things, maybe

once or twice a year, I'll shoot it.

But that's it.

Have you ever had a couple that hires

you just for taking the pictures and they

maybe don't, don't really care about your approach

and your connection and they just hire you

just as a, as someone else.

Have you ever had that, that issue?

Like for a wedding?

Yeah.

I, yeah, I've had, I've had a few

couples hire me over the last while.

I don't know.

I'm not a big talk about myself type

person.

Jenna thinks it's because of my name just

to say they had me there and there

was really, it was really soulless.

Like it was, I don't know.

It was just like, I just took pictures.

It was a huge wedding.

I did.

I think I've talked about it at workshops

in the past.

It was like three years ago.

I think the budget was, I think it

was just under a million dollar budget for

it.

And me and the bride did not get

along.

Like we, we butted heads for sure.

But yeah, just, yeah, I've had it.

I don't get it a lot.

You know, again, that was I call it

a bank wedding.

Like it was a big financial wedding, but

it happens.

Did you get good photos?

Well, yeah, you have a million dollar budget.

Yeah.

I'm telling you, it's a lot of like,

there was a lot of stuff there that

was like, holy shit, this is like, and

it was in Malibu.

So it was at like this winery up

on the mountains at the top of Malibu

and like a 14,000 square foot home.

Like I could have given my camera to

my daughters and they would have probably nailed

it.

Like it was, it was, yeah, it was

over the top, but everything about it was

over the top.

Like they, I always, you know, I've told

this story so much, but the bride actually

wanted, does everyone know who the chain smokers

are?

Okay.

So the bride wanted to hire the chain

smokers to play live on her recessional as

she walked out and they quoted her a

million dollars for like the three and a

half minute song to play.

And she said, yeah, let's do it.

And the wedding planner actually talked her out

of and said, I don't think that is

a good way to spend a million dollars.

So they instead built a custom like 50

foot pergola with like flowing silk and brought

in a 35 piece orchestra to play during

her recessional and her processional.

And that was just half a mil?

Pardon?

I said what?

That was just half a mil as opposed

to paying a mil?

It was like, they brought in live animals

for everyone to pet during the reception, like

baby owls, a hawk.

There was like two little foxes, like it

was fresh fruit.

There's that wedding and I had cornflakes for

breakfast.

Again, it was one of those, it was

like, this was a really cool experience to

see it and to do it, but it

really, I don't know.

It was nothing.

Can you hear me?

Cause I just had to change.

Set up.

Yeah.

Heating doesn't work upstairs.

So it was getting a bit cold.

I can relate to that.

I had a very high end wedding last

year.

I think the budget was about 800 grand

and it was, it was like, Oh, it's

horrible.

It was the worst wedding ever.

I mean, it was beautiful, but it was

as, it was as fake as Botox.

Yeah.

A hundred percent.

I feel like I think everyone's been there

or if you haven't, you will do a

wedding like that where it is purely for

show.

It is a hundred percent for show.

Like it's, yeah, I think we all have

those stories where it's like, no, this wasn't,

this wasn't fun.

I was just wondering in that sense, I've

pretty much, I've done quite a few weddings.

I know what my ideal clients are.

I kind of know what they like.

There's two parts of the question.

One side I'm stuck between, it has to

look good and it has to feel good.

The pictures that I mean, I mean, I'm

mainly documentary based, but the connection that you

show in your work is something that really

resonates with me.

So that's what I, that's what I love

about your work.

So that's one side of it.

And of course you can always say, show

what you want to shoot.

Of course, that's what I try to do.

But on the other side, are there other

techniques or other methods that you've used to

identify what your client is and your ideal

client is and how to reach them more

and how to implement that in your website,

your marketing and all of that.

Sorry.

It's a, it's a long question.

No, no.

So one of the things that I, you

know, the other show, you show you want

to shoot and all that jazz, I think

we've all done it or heard it or

if we're not doing it, we should be

doing it.

But one of the things that I put

on my new website in the contact form

was your favorite place and why.

So I wanted to know if someone put,

my favorite place was the Ritz Carlton.

Why?

Because I like glamor or I like opulence

or whatever it was.

I knew that probably wouldn't, that doesn't really

resonate with me.

Right.

I want people to say my favorite place

was, you know, hiking in Patagonia.

Right.

Or my favorite place was a ski trip

to wherever, heli skiing in Alaska.

Like I want, so it was one of

the ways little things that I put in

just to see what people's likes were that

weren't.

So do you like outdoors or do you

like a lot of money or do you

like fancy things?

Right.

Another way, another thing I thought of and

I didn't implement it cause I wasn't sure

how was describe your wedding dress because I

think we can all agree a certain type

of wedding dress.

Definitely 80 20 rule again, fits with a

certain type of wedding.

Right.

So I wanted to know is your wedding

dress super simple while they're probably super simple

in terms of like laid back people.

If her wedding dress was super simple, if

she says my wedding dress has like a

48 foot train, it's like 16 feet wide

and I'm wearing a 64 inch or 64

foot length veil.

Then I'm like, Holy shit.

I don't know if I want to do

this.

Right.

So I feel like those little things in

there without coming out directly and just saying

it's like, who are you?

Like, are we going to get along?

Um, we're ways that I kind of implemented

into my website.

But I think showing, obviously the showing the

work, and I know it, like I said

at the beginning, it is something that we

all say, but I really strongly feel that

it can change everything about what your client

will allow you to do and how much

trust they have in you.

Right.

If you're showing like some of the work

on my website, the couples are soaking wet

or they're under a waterfall and they're drenched.

anybody who doesn't resonate with that would skip

past that instantly which is great right so

yeah.

I'm glad that you didn't see my wedding

dress before you shot my wedding.

Okay 80-20 rule Brittany like it was

you know again like the dress is so

it's a good indicator but again I think

you're the 20%.

I shot Brittany's wedding if that's what you

guys are her dress was big cute did

you have a massive train no?

Oh my gosh Cathedral Link but it was

very fitting for the location.

Yeah it was.

We shot a wedding last season and they

decided that they wanted to do a first

look and they were spending a lot of

money but you know and he had this

amazing like it was a beautiful suit he

had it tailor-made expensive expensive accessories like

he was just like super well dressed and

everything and she had this big princess dress

and literally when and like we have to

cure our couples now it's like when he

turned around to see her his face was

just like he hated the dress it was

just like and she literally she walked away

and she was like oh my god I

should have got the other dress it should

have got the other dress oh my god

it was like he hates it he hates

it it was just like oh my goodness

and so my husband's sick and shoots with

me now he always says to the guys

he's like whatever you think of the dress

just say she looks great just pull your

face and I feel like that's so obvious

I can't imagine I couldn't imagine like you

know your wife or your to be wife

on your wedding day you look at you

be like what is that like that seems

so rude like I don't know it was

it was it was really interesting yeah you

would have thought that she would have known

what he was wearing so therefore you could

fit it in and like it's one of

the sort of higher-end venues in our

area that but planned so much and yes

yeah she had that moment and I was

like how can you go so far wrong

yeah but I feel like there's more to

that relationship than just not liking the dress

are they still together apparently apparently ironically so

they live in Aussie and ironically it wasn't

until after I shot the wedding my brother

who lives in Sydney was like huh we

actually know them they're a weird couple yeah

so always cute there's your takeaway from today

always cue your groom to say he likes

her dress yeah I mean most most guys

are just like super happy to see them

and they think that you know their brides

look amazing anyway if they don't they don't

say anything yeah somebody ever had a wedding

that the couple doesn't love each other yeah

I have I had that that's horrible I

asked a couple to to to have a

kiss just for it was a Catholic wedding

and they received I don't know how to

say it in English but the little red

thing with the wine and yeah the communion

yeah and I asked them after the the

priest is behind them to give the communion

to the to the guests I asked them

to have a kiss and the the groom

was like no I don't want to kiss

you and I'm like holy shoots and she

was like baby it's just one kiss please

do it just for the picture no I

don't want you're not listening and I'm like

okay don't worry I'm just gonna move but

we went to the reception and and the

groom was they they had the first dance

and he went outside with his friends and

and the bride was all by herself the

whole evening so it was horrible yeah we

had one that come from the UK and

literally when they went for the first kiss

she pulled back so

we're running up on an hour does anyone

have any more I kind of a question

okay hello thank you for doing

this I really appreciate it of course and

so I have two questions okay one of

them is you know you take these very

moody beautiful dark photos and I love it

one of them that I can show you

right now it's a big example let's say

this one right that you have yeah so

did you only brighten on post-production her

or do you know because I follow your

your workflow and then you show us how

did you reduce the contrast and the brightness

of stuff like that right but in this

photo particularly she thought she looks bright but

she does not look exaggerated because I know

you tweak a little bit here and there

and I am following your steps of course

with my own touch but my question will

be like how do you manage to have

that darkness without looking too dark yeah so

I think Brittany at the beginning asked me

about how do you get light when there's

no sunlight okay and I said look for

the dark look look for the cave look

for something so that shot is exactly that

it is in the cave right so you

have all this light coming from behind me

on to black rocks she's wearing a bright

red dress that is you know that's just

going to reflect light right so any amount

of soft light coming in on her against

the black background is gonna pop like it's

just it's gonna it's just inherently that's what's

gonna happen okay and then just when I

edit using the contrast part of positive shadow

just a slight edit on her just to

make her pop it a little more but

not too much because then it becomes like

you said you don't have to look fake

exactly having that light behind me on to

a black okay thank you and then my

other question for you will be what about

wedding wire because I just described with them

and I do with them do you like

it how's that work for you I think

I am with them but I think it

was like they added me or something because

I do get emails from them you know

like a few inquiries I don't know if

I've ever actually booked something from them though

I find when you put your work okay

this is like personal opinion this isn't like

this works for everyone but I find when

you put your work clumped in a bunch

of people in a really condensed area it

really becomes about price shopping and mass email

inquiries I mean like cuz it's so simple

for a bride to go in there and

be like are you available next are you

available to me good inquiries come from when

someone like Google's you looks at three or

four websites and it takes more work than

a simple click click click I actually think

they can send out a mass email a

bunch of photographers on those sites to me

work put in to inquiring I find the

inquiry is much more solid than the wedding

wires the not even June like I get

a few emails or buyers from June like

it right here I don't I think I'm

gonna be so okay yeah so if you're

just starting out say it's a great way

to get your work out to a bunch

of people like in a mass area but

I don't know the quality of inquiries that

are gonna come from absolutely yes I understand

actually the wedding wire just bought they're not

yeah so they're getting like huge yeah okay

I understand thank you yeah so I had

a question curious on if you have any

tips or you know faster advice for the

culling process because I feel like I just

completed my wedding season for the year and

you know I'm sitting on about you know

eight to ten weddings to edit right now

and I feel like I spend a lot

of unnecessary time on like culling I feel

like sometimes I spend more time culling than

I do editing which is obviously not a

good thing it's a huge waste of time

one of my biggest things is I feel

like I have to run through it and

comb through it like multiple runs like I'll

go through like a first run through the

cull of like just picking out my favorites

and then I usually do that like one

more time while I'm editing those photos if

that makes sense so I'm just curious if

you have any advice on how to you

know not be as dragging through that process

so when you go through okay I'm gonna

ask you a question when you go through

it a second or third time are you

getting a lot more photos that you may

have missed the first time or do you

find you're just repicking the same ones and

you're kind of I would say it's more

so like eliminating to like going to less

photos rather than like adding more I and

so I guess for more clarification I don't

necessarily have like you know a set limit

that I deliver for galleries I I believe

you do the same thing where I do

like 30 to 50 images per hour you

can expect that upon delivery so yeah so

one of the yeah okay so I so

I can call a wedding like a full

eight hour wedding so probably like 7,000

pictures I can usually call that down to

say 400 500 in an hour and a

half to be done an hour and a

half to two hours I definitely pick on

emotion like what something makes me feel as

I'm going through it okay I find when

I'm shooting say portraits I know during a

portrait session what I'm looking for afterwards okay

like I think you know we've all gone

to a portrait session or the portraits part

of the day and we're shooting we're shooting

we're shooting there's certain things happening that are

gonna make a good picture we know the

ones that don't so I usually skip by

the ones that I know already that aren't

gonna I was just shooting because I was

getting to something that I knew I was

going to select right so I can rifle

through you know 30 pictures really quick because

I knew I know there's about a minute

into that pose where it got good everything

else is just quick quick quick quick quick

reception ceremony I think practice obviously knowing what

to look for I think there's key things

that you need we need to get obviously

but I think it's gonna be practice for

sure I don't know how long I've been

doing this but I find when I first

started my calling and editing would take forever

like it was like I would second-guess

myself third guess myself yeah I'd I'd call

down a wedding and be like well I

must have missed something so I'm gonna go

again right now it's like I don't really

second-guess myself I guess I'm using photo

mechanics so it can rifle through really quick

but I think being aware while you're shooting

of what you're going to be selecting afterwards

I think a lot of us shoot in

the moment and we're just in the moment

all the time shooting shooting shooting and then

we get back to our computer whenever it

is we start calling for me it's like

I'm super procrastinate so it's like two months

later or a month and a half later

but I'm always as I'm shooting thinking this

is what I'm gonna use this is what

I'm gonna use this is what I'm gonna

use and just going thinking ahead while you're

shooting in the day will make it for

me makes it easier when I go to

call because I already know what I'm looking

for already know that all there was a

really cool shot of the flower girl looking

at the bride while she was getting ready

so it's like boom boom boom yeah that's

the one right so yeah I don't know

if that helps at all yeah that makes

sense okay and I mean it's gotten easier

and quicker definitely throughout the process I'm on

my second year now so okay yeah all

right so yeah yeah you're you're fresher yeah

you got you got this has been a

great year so yeah a fantastic second year

yeah it's but I think practice obviously but

again trying to trying to shoot with the

mentality of what you're going to select down

the road right right because then it will

make it very easy because you can basically

clump weddings into sections right getting ready well

there's like you know whatever say 600 photos

well when you go through that you know

how they're getting ready part what was good

you're already looking for it you already are

very aware and the ceremony you know what

you're looking for.

Ceremonies are really easy really you like walk

in a couple emotional stuff couple wide stuff

close-up of her close up of him

ring exchange hug kiss they walk out like

it's really methodical there's little things in between

that but I think if you break it

into sections and then each section be very

aware of what you're looking for afterwards while

you're shooting it'll make it super quick because

you already know oh I know there's like

eight photos in that pose that are gonna

be bangers you just go to them and

select them.

Okay perfect.

If I may because I used to have

the same problem with this as well and

I haven't been doing it for very long

either is for me getting doing it as

quick as possible after the wedding is crucial

because otherwise it's a procrastinating mess and what

helped for me is is I called backwards

I start at the end of my way

up because yeah the best the best pictures

are usually at the end of trying out

but I mean that's what works for me

but it's trial and error really.

I've answered everything you guys ever wanted to

know like I feel like that's super easy.

We can do it weekly.

You know what okay so let me okay

that's great so let me ask is this

I know I always put on post like

what do you guys want to see and

I get like random things but what is

okay so we did this week did you

guys find this beneficial?

Yeah yeah I learned the fingertip thing yeah

so I could look at doing this like

weekly I think I think it would be

cool to do it weekly like we could

you know open it up on like a

Thursday morning or something kind of the same

time and just whatever whenever people get in

they get in you know I think I

I love like I said I love the

Q&A I love the questions because I

find it really targets what people want to

know right specifically like it makes it very

this is for you because you asked this

question.

Now seeing that in the actual just posts

and videos and that what is it that

you guys want to see like what do

you want to see more of?

I really enjoyed your workflow when you record

yourself working with the couples that helped me

a lot that was amazing.

I have a video right now that I

that's with the editor that I'm working on

and it's not GoPro it's actually I brought

in a videographer so it's you know and

I'm mic'd and that so it's a little

more not here but like third-person here

so beautiful yeah so that's coming.

Anything else anything else that people want to

see?

No?

Post about?

Are gear reviews helpful?

I see people like I have friends who

do gear reviews and I'm like I don't

you guys want to see gear like I

I feel like we all know gear.

You don't care about gear though?

I don't really like I don't to me

gears it's a tool like I know some

people are like I've had some people friends

who are doing you know have online stuff

and like I'll just talk about your gear

and I'm like why?

I don't know like maybe but anyway.

I think gear reviews are like the editing

videos.

Editing videos, what did you say David?

I said I feel like gear reviews are

just filler for you know like patreon and

stuff like that it's just sort of like

all right I'm gonna do this video that's

been done 500 times.

Yeah I feel like everyone searched gear like

I don't know what I'm gonna say about

my 5d mark 4 that no one's heard

before like I don't have any like secret

menus that people are like holy shit what

I never knew that like so I just

yeah that's it.

Editing yeah so you said Tim?

I like the like the behind-the-scenes

editing and same thing like the kind of

like the behind the scenes for the shoots

as well.

I think the editing it's it's maybe the

most important thing too.

I've learned a lot watching the videos.

I think the most the most beneficial thing

sort of like you know any workshops like

when I took your workshop in Vancouver is

the hands-on like when we actually went

out and shot the couple like seeing you

work and seeing how you interact in person

so the behind-the-scenes stuff and then

the editing afterwards that's the most helpful stuff

just you know because your work is on

the complete opposite end of the spectrum from

what I do and that's why I wanted

to take your workshop that's why I follow

you now because it's it's it's completely different

from anything that I produce so it's kind

of like one of those you know all

right here's something that's completely different from what

I do so you know you can take

little bits and pieces from it try to

incorporate it.

But yeah I mean I find that stuff

to be the most helpful.

I think personally it would help me a

lot to the posing and directing couples as

I asked you before.

I think that's one of the things that

I struggle with sometimes and I think that

that should work.

I have a friend from Nicaragua too who

took a workshop with you I think for

the Mystic workshops on 2017 or something and

he mentioned some of the things that how

you manage the couple and how to get

the emotions out and everything.

I think personally and and I think that

most of the people here that might help

to how to how to manage and how

to talk to the couple how some maybe

tips on what to do for them to

take the emotions out and have the connection

that we're looking for.

I'm pretty sure that the videos that Gabe

has shown before not to be rude but

that he mentioned that before many times yeah

which is pretty cool.

Yeah yeah I think you know I think

it's one of those putting it out there

I think repetition again like I've been doing

this for a long time so to me

at times it's I know I've talked with

friends about this I've talked with Farrah Jonas

and I've actually talked my video editor Jenna

we talk about it's like I just want

to get everything that you guys need out

because at times for me it feels like

second nature I guess like I just go

in and I already know like it's just

I know what to do so I think

articulating it and getting a video yeah it's

something that for sure I'll do more of

you know I think that's you know that

was one of the things when I was

kind of starting in weddings and working on

connection was how do I get it how

do I get people to relax into each

other how do we get it to look

visually connected even if they're not connected in

the moment but visually look it right I

think that's a huge thing so yeah I'll

work I'll do more of those so I

just wanted to thank you I actually need

to go but it's been really super helpful

and yeah okay thanks Marta yeah

so we're good yeah so you saw your

face here nice of you to show your

face I like to listen that's good that's

good yeah so what I'll do is yeah

if it's something that we want to do

like we can look at doing every week

just to check in like I don't think

we need to like you know I could

post it and we can see you know

it could just be like a weekly thing

we can just come together and ask what

we need to ask or share something that

maybe you did on the weekend at a

wedding and you have questions about but yeah

we can make it happen all right well

thank you stay safe as they say this

year stay healthy yeah and like I said

anything just anything comes up just fire me

put it on patreon and ask me questions

Thank you, have a great week everyone.

Alright, see you guys.

Bye everyone.

Nice seeing you.

Thanks a lot Keith.