Original subtitles

Hey guys, hope you guys are, I always

feel like a broken record kind of hope

you guys are doing well and staying safe

and you know the verbiage that we all

use it's been it's been chaos it's what

we on when did this all start march

or february march felt like a year so

let's go march april may june going into

july yeah it's been uh it's been wild

it's been wild i'm sure for everyone it's

been more wild for some than others uh

if any of you have kids it's extra

crazy uh thank god school's done you know

it's it's funny i never thought as a

parent i would be like oh i can't

wait till school's finished you know it's it's

been nuts but you know what it is

what it is it's we've had a lot

of fun here i'm sure everyone's kind of

the same you have a lot of chaos

it's a shit show it's great it's bad

it's whatever it is what it is it's

normal it's new normal um but anyway again

i hope you guys are doing well i

hope you guys are staying safe i hope

you know you guys are making the most

of it uh some people are probably back

to work in a different way than what

your summer was probably expected to be um

you know either less weddings uh no work

some work uh more than likely smaller weddings

more allotments which isn't a bad thing uh

i think a lot of us love allotments

so this is kind of like now it's

almost forcing people to shoot allotments or to

have allotments um but yeah wherever you guys

are in the world whatever's happening um i

hope it's going well as best it can

and you know this isn't a forever thing

which i think is hard to think about

sometimes or to realize or to remember but

you know in the grand scheme of things

i hope we look back in five years

and i'll be like hey you remember that

year that was an absolute gong show holy

shit um but we just got to get

through it and do the best we can

and stay safe and be kind and yeah

so anyway let's move on i'm going to

touch base today on curation it's you know

the connection that i talked about um the

editing all that stuff but i find curation

is probably the number one thing of getting

your clients to connect and getting them to

you know allow you to shoot where you

want to shoot or what you want to

shoot um it has such a dramatic impact

on the type of clients you guys will

be booking but it also will have a

huge impact on how your clients act during

the shoot so it's i just i start

right let's just jump right in one of

the things that i talk about at workshops

all the time and conferences and you know

if i do mentoring is this idea of

show what you want to shoot it's such

a simple it's so simple it really is

guys but i feel like one of the

common things that i see over and over

during portfolio reviews and you know talking with

other photographers all around the world is you

know we go through their your portfolio your

blog post and i often hear is oh

i haven't got around to it um oh

don't look at that i know i gotta

update it but then one of the following

complaints later on the conversation is i'm just

not getting the type of clients that i

want to work with and this idea of

show what you want to shoot is again

such a simple term but i feel like

we all neglect it at times so it's

so simple really all it means is if

you guys want to shoot outdoor weddings you

need to shoot outdoor weddings you want to

shoot indoor weddings you need to shoot indoor

weddings maybe you love shooting party pics you

need to show party photos it's again going

through your site looking at it as is

this the type of work i want to

shoot again so whatever it is you want

to shoot your images have to be in

line with that genre so you're attracting the

type of clients you want to work with

okay um one of the things that i

think for me when i start curating my

work and my social media feed and my

website is i always think about it as

your client your ideal client needs to be

able to put herself because usually it's the

bride's booking us needs to be able to

put herself in your photo okay so that

means she needs to be able to flip

to your gallery and imagine herself in that

moment in that environment in that location in

that chaos um and when they do that

when they can picture themselves or when they

can put themselves in your images that's when

they connect with your images okay we want

i think we all want we can all

agree that we want clients whose desire to

create is in line with your desire to

create whose sense of adventure whose you know

willingness to do something that you think could

result in an incredible photo matches up with

their sense of adventure okay we don't want

i know i've had it i'm sure we've

all had it who we ask clients to

say hey look at this incredible steam coming

out of the ground and i said hey

can you just walk across this muddy field

you know jump across these rocks and then

stand and essentially what smells like rotten eggs

well you're completely getting blasted with moist hot

stinky air because the photos are gonna be

incredible and if they're like no i don't

think so then they're really not quote unquote

your ideal client right you want clients who

are already there they're already like yeah shit

let's do this you know i trust what

you do they trust the process then they

trust the work that you're going to create

so they don't really think twice when you

ask them to go and okay so i

think one of the years and years ago

i was talking like probably 13 years ago

i was having coffee with a photographer here

in calgary and you know one of the

i was kind of chasing a lot of

fads and editing techniques and all this stuff

and one of the things that he said

i'll never forget he said the images they're

hiring me for today need to be the

images you want to make tomorrow okay so

what that means is if you're constantly chasing

editing techniques you know tilt shift lenses aren't

such a big thing anymore i don't think

they're but if you're constantly chasing like what's

cool and the fad and that type of

thing that's really cool right now but in

12 months is it still going to be

cool are you still going to want to

be shooting those images so we have to

think about it client emails you tomorrow hey

i love your work you know i love

the way you edit all this stuff you

know they're super hyped they're super pumped on

the way your work looks but that's right

now if you're chasing the fad so next

year next july you go to shoot it

and that's not your style anymore then what

do you have to do you have to

shoot images in that style from 12 months

ago and again now what's happening is you're

creating work that isn't really you and you're

attracting clients that you really don't want to

attract okay um it's one thing you know

hearing that and then being in this industry

now for almost two decades it's something that

i've really started to notice in photographers we

all look up to or who inspire us

is that their work is a very accurate

representation of who they are as people so

think about it i'm sure you guys all

know lanny and erica from two men their

photos convey a really sense of like energy

and passion party and if you've met them

personally they're just that they're super they have

a lot of energy they're very passionate about

what they do and their work is a

very clear indication of who they are you

know narav patel out of california amazing portraits

very calm very quiet very soft images and

narav himself is very calm very quiet very

soft uh fair haristi you know i think

i'm sure we've all seen fair seen him

at conferences met him personally um fair is

his work fair is you know his work

is unique it's creative it's bold and fair

is unique creative and bold fair is his

work and so i think we have to

remember to be true to who you are

and your work will become a very honest

representation of yourself and by doing so you

guys are going to start to attract clients

who get it clients who just connect with

your work not only on a creative level

but on a personal level okay and those

are the best clients we've all been to

weddings where you know one saturday you go

to a wedding and your clients are kind

of fighting you and kind of like humming

and hawing on different ideas that you have

or you potentially may be offering to them

like hey go stand over here this will

be really cool and they're kind of like

we just want to go party or we

just want to get back we don't really

want to take time and then you kind

of get home and you're like what the

shit just happened there and then next weekend

you're shooting a wedding and you're like hey

i think it'd be amazing if you guys

went up on those rocks because the sky

is gorgeous and the light's popping through and

they're already heading in that direction and when

you guys get clients like that or when

we get clients like that we come home

from those weddings and we're like shit if

i could just take 20 of those couples

and do that every weekend that's incredible so

those are couples that connect with you guys

connect with us as photographers on a creative

level and a personal level okay so while

you guys are curating your work to share

online we have to ask ourselves these three

questions this is what i ask myself so

would i like to shoot something like this

again would being in a similar location inspire

me or make me happy and will this

image attract the type of client i want

to work with again okay so would i

like to shoot something like this again would

being in a similar location inspire me or

make me happy and will this image attract

the type of client i want to work

with again okay so if you guys ask

yourself these questions and the answer is no.

The answer is no to any of them

then why share that particular image?

Why would we want to shoot something again

if we knew the first time it didn't

inspire us?

Okay why would we want to shoot something

in another location that you didn't enjoy shooting

the first time?

You know if you love shooting outdoors on

cliffs at sunset and but we're sharing work

in ballrooms in the middle of downtown well

those two ideas you know what you're wanting

to shoot and what you're showing you shoot

aren't lining up.

And then again why share an image that

doesn't attract the type of client you want

to work with?

Okay like I said just a few minutes

ago our clients need to be able to

put themselves within your images as they look

through.

We want a bride or I'd like a

bride that can put herself in her shoes

here on this cliff at sunset and if

a bride comes to my website and she's

like well I'm getting married in a ballroom

you know I'm gonna have a huge dress

I don't really want to get dirty I

want everything to be perfect I don't really

want my hair to blow and she looks

at this she's probably gonna flip right past

it because she doesn't connect with what this

image is.

Okay and that's totally fine.

Alright so let's look at our website.

So if we let's say we have 50

images okay we post 50 photos to our

website that's our gallery okay if only half

of those images are a true and accurate

representation of who you are as a photographer

so 25 are you know these incredible photos

that you see on the left and the

other 25 images are photos of who you

are and who you want it in the

type of client the type of environments you

want to shoot what's gonna happen is you're

gonna attract half your clients are gonna be

connected to Photoshop sitting on the back of

swans or groom riding broom or yeah groom

riding broom groom riding bride and that's what

they're gonna attract they're gonna be able to

put themselves in those images and the other

half of your clients are gonna be the

put themselves in the other half of those

which is those are the good Saturdays and

then the swan photos are the bad Saturdays

okay so I think a lot of times

when we start to post work on our

website or our blog or social media at

times we start to post images that we

feel that maybe other people want to see

okay that we feel like maybe our client

that we just shot they want to see

it okay or the florist or the wedding

venue or the hair and makeup artist the

wedding planner all this stuff but I always

to me it's like what do I want

to see on my feet what do you

guys want to see on your feet and

we have to look at our feeds as

it's our business and it's a representation of

who we are okay if your couple asks

you to do this groom riding the I

don't even know what the hell's going on

that photo but if they asked you to

it doesn't mean you have to show it

you can shoot it deliver it and be

done with it you don't have to show

it okay we have to remember what is

it that you guys want to see on

your website so I challenge you guys I

think you know as we have time at

home and maybe not shooting as much is

to go through your website okay so go

through your website or go through that folder

of images that you have that you post

to your website or your social media okay

and scroll through them quickly and I want

to the reason why I say quickly is

we can't take a lot of time on

each individual photo because we as photographers will

quickly look at the emotion of the photo

but then we will quickly go to the

technical side of the phone okay what was

it shot at what preset they use was

it shot at one two one four I

wonder you know what camera gear he was

using or she was using okay we need

to understand that clients most clients don't really

give a shit about any of that stuff

they book photographers on feeling they book or

they inquire through photographers because their photos made

them feel something so we have to choose

photos that make you feel something okay so

if it makes you feel something it will

make your ideal client feel something okay so

we have you know one of the things

I remember hearing years ago is if a

clients going through your website and all of

a sudden the internet crashed and one photo

was stuck up on their screen is there

an image on your website that wouldn't represent

you or you wouldn't want to represent you

as a photographer okay and if there is

if your answer is yes to that but

those photos need to go okay so for

me when I go through my website every

photo if it was just one photo stuck

on the screen to me would be a

indication and a good representation of who I

am as a photographer and what I want

to create going forward okay again if there's

a photo on there that doesn't represent you

as a photographer or in a location that

you want to shoot again or you know

the type of client that you want to

shoot with or whatever that is and it's

not really and it's one of those photos

where you're like I don't know why that's

on there it has to go okay so

in addition the website another platform we use

online is blogs okay a lot of us

blog a lot of us sometimes don't a

lot of us are lazy like myself at

it but one thing that I see over

and over again when I do portfolio reviews

at workshops is the amount of images we

as photographers are blogging okay what I feel

is if we're putting let's say we blog

a hundred photos let's say you're blogging a

hundred photos and say thirty of those photos

are unreal like they're incredible which is what

I see a lot I see a lot

of people's blogs so there's a ton of

images but there's like these I call them

like the diamond in the rough okay it's

these amazing pieces of work that are kind

of getting diluted from everything else that's so

-so okay so what happens is as couples

are scrolling through your blog they're kind of

missing those like really important key photos that

represent you because they're kind of getting lost

in the mix okay so diluting work amazing

work with so-so work kind of takes

everything to be so-so okay it's kind

of like that expression you're only it's only

as strong as your weakest link if everything

is getting if everything's diluting those incredible images

we need to kind of start to curate

it down just to show incredible work so

these numbers I don't know if you've had

a chance to read them but you know

Chi Chi and Harsh almost 8,000 photos

I shot I delivered 539 blog 27 you

can go through 6,700 deliver 458 23

62 delivered 271 blog 24 you know 1

,500 on an engagement session delivered 59 blog

7 so I shoot a ton I don't

stop shooting I bring a huge amount of

memory cards to a wedding and I shoot

a lot but what I do is I

shoot and then when I curate and when

I go to call those images I just

kind of deliver the you know three or

four the best I take out everything else

okay and when then I blog it's even

a smaller amount so it's like one incredible

photo and I see it in people's blogs

and I'm sure if you guys go through

your blog and you're honest with yourself you'll

see blog posts where it's like you know

she's like this you know she's hold he's

holding her and then she's like this and

then he's like this and then like this

and then down and arms here it's like

the same photo just boom boom boom boom

boom instead of the boom just give them

one boom like take out everything else just

one photo okay so by effectively curating our

online presence we're gonna create probably the most

important thing that allows us to create the

work we want to create and that is

trust okay trust from our clients you know

our clients having a firm belief in our

abilities is key we have to understand that

real connections come from a sense of comfort

which is directly related to trust and trust

comes from familiarity and familiarity is result of

consistency okay so I'm just gonna say it

again understand that real connections come from a

sense of comfort which is directly related to

trust trust comes from familiarity familiarity is a

result of consistency so if we think about

this if we think about who are the

people that we feel most comfortable with okay

my guess is your answer is going to

be those who you're most familiar with okay

ones that have been there consistently for you

so for example your family mom dad siblings

your partner your best friend the reason why

we feel the most comfortable of these people

is because they're the people you trust the

most right your trust allows you guys to

be your true and honest self with those

people okay so again if you have your

clients trust they're gonna feel comfortable they're gonna

open up and they're gonna genuinely connect with

each other okay and because of having that

strong curation in your work okay and a

sense of consistency in showing your work right

what your couple see is a consistent feeling

or toning or posing or lighting okay it

gives them a good indication of what it

is you do and what it is you're

after in your work so for me when

those incredible storm clouds come in and the

wind picks up and it's threatening to pour

I want my couples to have such a

high level and trust in me and what

I'm gonna create for them in the midst

of that chaos that they don't run okay

that they trust when I say hey guys

this is gonna be amazing we might get

a bit wet but trust me it's worth

it for the photos okay they don't ask

to go inside they wait it out and

we just create work okay I have spent

years trying to create work to showcase how

incredible these chaotic environments can be how beauty

can come from such chaos okay I find

in these type of situations they hold each

other just a little tighter they touch each

other with just a little more passion and

they genuinely connect with each other because they

trust what it is I'm gonna create okay

and that's gonna go for you guys if

you guys are consistently showing showcasing work they're

going to trust the process okay another benefit

which is kind of like an what's the

word like a side benefit I guess okay

is they're gonna trust you but curating your

work down to specific look is definitely gonna

affect how they act with each other during

portrait time okay you know I use the

example of two men and landing there because

their work is some of the works party

like I I don't get I don't shoot

parties like they shoot parties okay I don't

even I've never been to a wedding that

parties like their weddings okay but I feel

it's because their work attracts the party client

right my work doesn't attract that because I'm

not showing it okay so if your couple

see the high energy the piggyback rides of

running jumping in your work they're more than

likely gonna act this way during your portrait

time okay on a side note on the

other side of the scale is if they

see for me if I'm showing connection quietness

calmness they come to the session you know

with their energy and expectations in line with

that okay so just like the idea of

mirroring you guys don't mirroring is during sales

processes couples will tend to mirror what they're

seeing in your work now it's not always

perfect it's not always like 100% of

the time but curating your work in a

way that reflects what it is you'd like

to capture definitely influences your couples behavior either

consciously or subconsciously during your shoot so remember

guys as you curate your work effectively you're

not only gonna start to attract and book

the type of clients that connect with your

work on a creative level on a personal

level but it's gonna help you build trust

from your clients that you need so that

they give you that freedom they give you

that freedom to create the work you want

to create and aside to that is it's

gonna have a very direct influence on how

your couples react and behave during your shoot

so that's a quick you know curation again

it's there's a ton but to do with

curation but I feel like again the number

you know as you guys start and maybe

watch this video again show what you want

to shoot I think that is probably the

best place to start and then you can

start to weed or you know create and

curate work down to a specific look you

know outdoors indoors whatever like somber happy playtime

whatever that is but show the type of

work you guys want to shoot when you're

blogging you don't have to blog everything okay

look at your blog not as like a

pick time gallery or pixie set gallery but

look at it as like the best of

the best the best okay deliver all those

five six seven hundred photos but it doesn't

mean we have to blog five or six

or seven okay so again guys thank you

so much for being a part of this

thank you for being here every month I

do these as I can you know it's

like everyone it's just it's mayhem you know

for me with four kids homeschool that's over

thank God but again I do truly appreciate

you guys being here as always leave any

questions comments in the comment section and I

always do my best to get around to

it and reply as best I can ask

me anything you want let me know what

you guys want to see and again I

hope you guys are all staying safe and

healthy and we're starting to kind of get

back to work I guess depending where you

are some parts of the states are exploding

which is crazy but again I hope you

guys are all staying safe and I hope

you're doing well again alright thank you so

much guys for being here and yeah I'll

talk to you guys soon okay bye