June 20, 2023 • 21 mins
Have you ever stopped to consider what truly makes a photograph magnificent? Is it the perfect pose, the trendiest location, or something deeper that transcends time? Brooke and I dive into the world of photography, focusing on the importance of capturing real moments over picture-perfect trends.
Join us as we discuss Chris's recent experience hosting Lens and Light, a photography workshop that went beyond our expectations. Learn how our conversations about introversion and extroversion revealed fascinating insights into social situations and the importance of understanding how each individual processes their emotions and thoughts.
Where do we draw the line between artistic creativity and capturing the heart of a moment? As photographers, we have the unique privilege of immortalizing memories for those who later experience loss. We debate the delicate balance between pushing our limits and ensuring that we prioritize the human connection. For all our introverted wedding photographer friends out there, we'll share our thoughts on overcoming challenges and making sure that you can seize those unforgettable moments.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, you are listening to the Everything Is
BS podcast with Chris Stiles andBrooke Brady.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
In an age where social media trends trump
realism, two photographers chatabout the beautiful events they
photograph and the push tocapture real moments over the
picture perfect trendy day.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
We want to discuss how people view perfectionism
and chat about encouraging amore authentic and genuine
experience.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
So, whether you're driving, working, editing photos
or just looking for a quickescape, pull up a virtual chair
to our coffee table chat.
We'd love to have you.
Do you see Nellie right now?
Do you see her?
She's almost done with it.
Oh my gosh, she destroyed that.
You can see the light throughit.
(00:47):
We're talking about a lick matthat I just bought Nellie not
too long ago, and it's her newfavorite thing.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
So I did not know what a lick mat is.
I've never seen that before,but it is genius.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
It's genius.
It is a mat that you kind ofsmush.
Some you could do like banana,you could do Greek yogurt, which
one of my brides just told meabout And then I do some peanut
butter too And basically I justsuction it right to a door so
that she doesn't have to likelean in and really get it.
So right now Ms Nells isoutside enjoying herself, so
(01:20):
that we have some peace andquiet and we can record without
her breath going.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
So what do you put on the lick?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
mat Today.
She's got some frozen yogurtand she also has some frozen
peanut butter.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Do you vary it up?
Do you switch it up betweenthose two things?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Honestly, I only put like bananas in there other than
that Does she have a favorite.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
She's only had for like four days.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Has.
She told you the favorite.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Huh, has she told you the favorite.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
She looks everything off, so I don't really know, but
she's going at it.
So, chris, you just had lensand light.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
I did, you did Tell me about it.
How was it?
It?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
was It started too, and I stopped you because I was
like no podcast.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
It went even better than expected, so it was a lot
of work in the last seven dayspreparing for it.
It looked like a lot of work, itwas.
It was just like everything Youknow, it's more work than you
expect and I even expected a lotof work, and in those last 48
hours, even specifically, it wasthe crunch time And but luckily
(02:20):
I had a lot of help.
Like my studio mate was thereto help me set up the day before
, i had some of the instructorscome in the day before.
They came and stopped andhelped a little bit, so that
went well.
But the main goal was, for themost part, based on the feedback
that I've received so far wasachieved, which was which was
awesome.
So in in multiple ways too.
So, secretly, i had two goals,and it wasn't just for the
(02:46):
attendees, but it was for theinstructors as well.
I wanted to see them.
I wanted to see them take aleap of faith and go forward
with their own, with their ownprojects, post this with some
new level of confidence thatthey can publicly speak and do
it.
Well, they didn't know it, butwhen I asked them to do this, i
(03:07):
did not give any indication ofhow long.
So when I told everybody, yeah,you're going to be doing an
hour and a half, there weredefinitely.
That's me, chris, it is, it'snot But it's.
But I knew that they'd be ableto do it.
I've seen what they can talkabout and an hour for these kind
of things is just a little tooshort, because We want to do
some hands-on stuff too Andthere's always that, like you
(03:29):
know, when the wedding rolled,there's always the transition
time that's never accounted forwhen planning.
So when you get a you know aschedule from a bride and it
says like 455, we're gonna dothis and 505, we're gonna do
this, and it's like I see thatActually that's gonna be at 430.
Yeah, it won't happen like thatAnd it could, but it's extremely
(03:51):
risky.
So I knew that an hour withjust moving around that many
people from a sitting positionto hey, we're gonna get up and
take photos now, that just takestime in itself.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
So within the hour and a half you also had like
hands-on stuff, so they weren'ttalking the entire hour.
Some were, so some of thepresentations were more
discussion based.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
More than anything, it was just because of the
nature of the topic.
So one of the topics was, youknow, a lot of specifics about
Instagram and how to make themost of it.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
That was Niki's right .
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Yes, yeah, niki, she did amazing And I love seeing
the questions that just keepgoing, keep popping up and
feeding off each other.
So when you're the one that hasthis vision and you watch the
audience take part and likereally get into it, sitting back
and watching, it was sorewarding to see, just like it's
(04:43):
almost like if, just like go,be free, do the thing, and it
just happened.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
So I have to ask you, what was your favorite part
Like?
was it a piece of knowledgethat you gained?
Was it watching everybody kindof do the thing, Or was it at
the very end, when you werepacking up and you were like I'm
done?
Speaker 1 (04:57):
It was well.
I will say the safe answer is alittle bit of everything.
The hungry Chris, the Doramarketplace was the caterer for
lunch and the cookies which theydid not.
There was no indication.
I had not been there and hadnot seen their cookies before,
but I've had great feedback fromDora marketplace as far as
(05:17):
other people and said that, yeah, their catering is incredible.
They worked with the locationthat we did and they'd been
there so I knew it would besmooth.
These cookies were ginormousand I ordered two cases of them
and I was like I didn't needthat.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
So it brought some here.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I know I should have, yeah, failure.
And so secretly, that was oneof my favorite things, because
those cookies were bomb.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Because you got to take them home.
That's why.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
But for the actual workshop, i think my favorite
part was seeing everyone alittle bit.
Sounds terrible, but seeingeverybody a little bit
overloaded with information Andthen coming back the next day
and whenever there was downtime,so any of the in-betweens of
(06:05):
the presentations, watchingpeople that hadn't met each
other before just walk into ourlittle break room and just grab
a cup of coffee and they'rediscussing And they're
discussing what they just saw.
So it was like, again, just asuper rewarding feeling.
Taking people that don't knoweach other All they have in
common is photography and abusiness potentially and just
(06:28):
seeing them talk about the tipsand the tricks and the details
and everything like that wasawesome.
It was so awesome.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Well, i think in a previous podcast we talked about
how I talked about how Ithought that the networking
alone was worth the money, andobviously that is the case
because I'm seeing all of yourChris has a.
he's doing a wrap around.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
He's doing his freaking microphone cord.
Yeah, his microphone cord.
It just keeps going right in myface awkwardly, and Brooke and
I are just staring at each otherand it's just slowly keeps
coming right in front of my face.
It's really weird.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
But I'm even seeing all the people who were at lens
and light and I'm seeing themfollowing each other, and even
from the Instagram stories thatI was watching I was no part of
that at all I could telleverybody was having a really
good time.
There was a lot of really good,useful information.
I've seen some layflats thatare stunning from it, like it's
awesome.
So congratulations on yourfirst workshop.
(07:22):
Great, it was great.
That's awesome.
We had a fantastic time.
So it's the next.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
And, yeah, at the end I did lay on the floor and just
like look at the ceiling and go, oh my god, and the place was,
i mean, a disaster.
At the end It was a total mess,chaos.
One of our like storage roomswas you couldn't even walk in
there.
It was overflowing with stuffAnd between both days it was
just like we'll get to iteventually.
We'll get to it eventually.
And I think it was Jamie who Ishowed the studio with.
(07:49):
Someone asked her like oh mygod, you need help picking this
up, and she was like, withoutskipping a beat, she was like no
, we're just going to burn it tothe ground.
Look at this, i'm not evengoing to deal with this.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
So when is your next workshop?
What are you thinking next?
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Oh, we have a lot of ideas, and will it be?
Speaker 2 (08:03):
called Lens and Light still.
Is that Absolutely OK, cool?
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Lens and Light name is sticking around, so I really
love that name.
I think it hits the mark onwhat it is.
So, yeah, absolutely, congrats,thank you, thank you.
Yeah, as far as what goes next,there's a lot of discussion,
there's some ideas, there'sideas about taking it
potentially outside ofConnecticut Sweet, yeah.
So there's some traveldiscussion going on And there's
(08:30):
also discussion of doing ittwice per year.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
So I think it's so funny that you're such an
introvert And this is like yourbread and butter, like this is
what you like to do, becausewhen you're done with it, you
describe yourself to me like ohyeah.
And then I'm laying on thefloor Like I would just want to
die.
And I'm the same way When Ileave a wedding.
I'm like I don't even wantmusic in the car.
I'm like I just need to bealone.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
I can't get words out .
Anyone listen?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
to that.
You're just driving itperfectly, but AM.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
So I've read that there are some people that do
not have an inner monologue Andthat's that's scary to me,
that's like psycho stuff to me,that's I can't think about that.
Because I'm thinking about that, i need that silence because
Have to see a hole in my shit?
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Yeah, she's drinking the is that salt or water club
soda, baby Club soda And it justjust missed the miss the mouth.
Does it more often than I amproud to say we're both doing
good this morning.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
That's fantastic.
So, yeah, there's some peoplethat don't have an inner
monologue, and that's crazy tome That.
So what's going on in theirhead?
What are they thinking about?
Speaker 2 (09:36):
It's just like a, like a bouncy ball.
Just my, my, my It's.
you know what it is?
It's the TV screen where it,like, goes to the side and then
it goes to you know what I'msaying.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Yeah, like the logo jumps across.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
It's like a thought goes in their head and it's like
boom Changes colors every timeit hits the side.
Yeah, why, why?
What was I saying about that?
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Saying the introvert portion of it and just like
laying down.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
So that's what I was getting with the inner monologue
thing.
So yeah, it's.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
I think that, generally speaking, introverts,
we we have such sometimes a deepinner monologue that when we
are surrounded by extroverts orare extroverting just in general
, you don't get to use that Andit, like it weirdly exhausts you
and catches up like you needthat that alone quiet time to
basically process everything andthink about it.
(10:25):
So is that you?
Speaker 2 (10:28):
100% like the thing is is like when I'm doing
something where I'm like superhands on, like nothing out of
that exists Nothing, likeliterally nothing.
I, if I go to a wedding, i amsolely your wedding photographer
.
Like I almost act like I'm nota human with my own, like I
don't have my own problems, likeI'm just I am here for this
(10:49):
thing and I'm here to be withyou and I am yours today.
And then, as soon as I get inmy car, i'm like, oh my God, i
can unzip my human suit.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Unzip the human suit.
That's a great way to put it.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Yeah, i've got my little devil inside and I just
unzip it right from the top.
So, yeah, i just think it's sofunny because, like, we both
have described ourselves asintroverts to each other and our
definition of introvert is sovery different It is.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
It's very, very different, and it's a there's
there's an extrovertedintroverts and introverted
extroverts, and I've met bothsides of the spectrum.
I've seen it and it's always a.
It's a good eye opener to never.
You know common phrase Don'tjudge a book by its cover,
because you don't know howsomeone is processing and
working things out, and such.
So I have.
(11:39):
I did not used to be such anextroverted introvert, but I've.
I've pushed that boundary, andit's almost like I have sort of
trained myself to be able tolast a little bit longer
extroverting than I can.
But what I have realized,though, is, no matter what, to
function well in thatextroverted area arena, i, no
(12:02):
matter what, will always needthat, that break, and if I don't
get it, i start spinning mywheels.
And I know when I startspinning my wheels, because I
start getting anxious and all Ican't.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Oh, you don't just live with a solid level of
anxiety.
Yeah, i start getting anxious.
I'm like I have an introvertedintrovert that's at home all the
time with my anxiety actually.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
But you, recently, you're pushing, pushing me in
below a little bit as well.
You're getting outside andcontinuing to try and you know.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Ok, anyway, i'm going to take this and do a little
bit of a turn I have.
Well, it's, it's important tome, probably just because I've
dealt with a lot of loss andwhatever.
And I got some news thismorning that one of my brides
people passed away and it reallygot me thinking and it got me
(12:55):
thinking about like our careersAnd I've definitely this isn't
the first time that I've hadsomebody have somebody, somebody
passed away.
I've photographed like end oflife moments.
I've photographed a lot ofreally heartbreaking situations,
but every single time I seethat somebody loses someone in
their family who meant so muchto them, it is like a weird
(13:17):
reminder how important what wedo is.
And I actually I just talked onmy stories this morning, i
think while you were driving, soyou probably didn't see it, but
I actually had to yell atcricket during it too.
But I just wanted to throw outthe reminder to all of the
photographers that you don'thave to always be pushing
(13:39):
yourself to be super, supercreative or setting up the most
beautiful moments at weddingdays and all of that.
I know it's really, it'senticing to jump in and go, oh,
do this or do that or whatever.
But the importance of standingback and just letting these
moments unfold and capturingthese people with their most
special people is the mostimportant part of your job.
(14:02):
I took the time this morning togo and look at their wedding
gallery and just look for photosof this specific person because
I always just feel like luckyto have been with them when I
see that somebody has passed onand there are so many good
photos of this person in theirgallery, so many candidates of
this person just laughing andhaving such a good time, and I'm
(14:25):
heartbroken for my bride.
But it also made me feel reallyproud that it was just like
cameras up, i captured that andlike it's kind of like I don't
want to sound like cheesy orwhatever, but it is like you're
giving someone a gift, likethey're paying you for it and
they might not realize, likewhat they're getting in that
time.
But when they have thosehundreds of photos to go back
(14:46):
through and they see theirhappiest day with their people
and they're happy too and yousee them laughing and cheers and
it's like a bittersweet, likeI'm heartbroken for my bride
because I know how special andimportant this person was to her
and I've definitely beenthrough that, but it's also a
really good reminder that whatwe do is so freaking important.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Yeah, things that stick out to me with that is the
concept of.
It doesn't have to be when youstarted this off with.
It doesn't have to be the mostcreative, and we focus so hard
in that given moment to providesomething that we surround
ourselves with which is moody,lighting or all the different
(15:28):
things that make us stand out asphotographers.
But, at the end of the day,some of the best photos that I
still look at are ones that areblurry, or and not trendy blurry
, but like accidental blurryfrom, like you know, a crappy
phone or something, an oldiPhone version 2, whatever so,
and we'll look at those.
And it's the reminder that twothings the reminder for the
(15:51):
individual, not the photographerthat is the moment that matters
, and it's the reminder for thephotographer that when we're
there, it can get really you canfall into that, which we do, we
fall into that It has to be ascreative as humanly possible
because that's what they'rehiring me for.
And that in a given moment itfeels like it can feel like work
, and it is our job and we'reworking.
(16:13):
But You know now that thatperson is gone all of a sudden,
all the sudden, that stands outincredibly.
Um, it stands out an incredibleamount.
And you know, the fact of thematter is that all of us
eventually, at some point, aregoing to pass and all of those
photos that you're taking arevaluable, like really valuable.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
So it was just a really solid reminder of like
the human connection and whycause I don't?
I mean, i look at photos allthe time where I'm like, wow,
that's so freaking creative.
Like why didn't I think of that?
Or like I want to try somethinglike that next at the wedding
or whatever, and I try to carveout space and time to be as
creative as humanly possible.
But like I'll speak forpersonal experience now, and I'm
(16:56):
sure you can too My favoritephotos from my wedding are not
the pretty details and it's notall of my stuff laid out in a
flat lay And it's.
It's not any of that.
All of my favorite photos arelike my little nephew cheering
my grandmother.
You know, it's stuff like thatwhere it's like you're never
going to have these moments backand you don't know how long you
have your people for.
(17:17):
You don't know how long you'regoing to even be here.
So, you know, if, if that'ssomething that you fall into,
where you get, like as aphotographer, you get caught up
with like being creative andtrying to literally like create
art, like the art is in front ofyou, it's right there, they're
hiring you to capture theirmoments with their people.
And this is one of the biggestthings that I talked to you
(17:38):
about with my wedding coupleswhen I sign on with them.
As I, you know, i'm alwaysgoing to try to be creating art
but, like, your people are themost important to me.
Your, your moments on that dayare the most important to me.
So, if I, you know, um, if I'mstaying outside during cocktail
hour instead of going in tocapture the details because
something is happening, that'sreally important, yeah, i'm
(18:00):
going to do that.
If I'm the only shooter, likeI'm going to capture your
moments, because that's moreimportant to me and I hope that
it will be more important to youwhen you get your gallery back
that you may not have like thetable setting, but you have the
photos of your grandmother andyour grandfather.
You know, like I don't know, ijust think it's really important
to it gave me a really solidreminder when I saw that she
lost that person.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
It's good to you know , as as sad as it is.
Um, we need these storiesbecause stories are how we
connect right.
Stories are how we, wevisualize ourselves in a given
situation and or try to learn alesson from somebody else's
situation.
Um, and these stories areimportant for wedding couples,
(18:42):
um, but they're just asimportant for us on this end,
because, in the middle of crazywedding season, the day to day
sometimes can just go by reallyfast.
Um, and you, you forget thosethings.
You forget how important it isto remind yourself at, you know,
7pm, even on your feet all day.
We've had to make a lot oftimeline adjustments.
It was a very stressful weddingso far.
Um, and the photographer's job.
(19:03):
We have to, you know, do a goodjob of making sure that we
don't appear stressed.
Um, we have to make sure wekeep everybody on schedule.
Uh, and we, as introverts, wewere really good at, like,
hiding that and just taking itin.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Um is that an introvert thing?
Speaker 1 (19:18):
That the hiding your anxiety and like I would go to
guess if anybody's listening andcan tell me otherwise.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Um, cause I've always wondered how, like at home I'm
like I can fall apart, like I'mlike immediately tears, but if
something happens at a wedding,i'm like no, like it's just
straight face, like nothingbothers me, yep.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
We're.
Introverts are very you know,i'm going to be careful how I
say this Introverts andextroverts are in all different
levels.
We're very we're self-aware, um, i would go to lean towards
that.
Introverts are a little bitmore self-aware because of the
concept.
We're usually afraid of whatother people think.
Um, and even if we're not,we're still, generally speaking,
(19:58):
introverted or we're sitting inthe back, we like to be behind
the camera, um, and thatinherently will.
We're observers, we, we observethe world and we we take
everything in and think about itand process it, um, and we need
to do that at our own time, um,so, in in this realm, it's
really good to take the idea ofan introvert who's a wedding
(20:21):
photographer and we're like Isaid, we're good at observing
and processing everything, butas the wedding is going on, it
may be challenging to do that.
So it's really important tohear these stories.
I'm rambling, but it'simportant to hear these stories
because even when we're um inthe moment, taking a step back
at you know, 7, 7, 30 PM, whenwe're exhausted and we're like
(20:43):
you know, i, i just can't get upagain, like I convincing myself
I did my job, i deserve a break.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, um no, but you get, you
eat your food and you're like,oh my God, okay, like if you eat
like a solid meal afterphotographing us a wedding day,
and you're just like, oh, ithits, oh no, i don't want to do
this anymore.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
We finally sit and it's like, oh God, like I can't
make it.
It's a but you have to remember.
It may not, at the time, feelimportant, but your story that
you are sharing right now provesthe fact that, at some point,
those photos ones that maybe youcould be catching if you're not
just sitting for that onesecond Yeah, it's so important
(21:22):
to.
Obviously it's good to take abreak to eat your food, but also
remind yourself how importantthis role is and to get the
shots, get the ones you know,power through to the end and
make sure and grab those because, um, that five second extra
shot that you may have taken,it'll last a lifetime.
Oh, that's a lifetime.
Hey, you are listening to the Everything Is
BS podcast with Chris Stiles andBrooke Brady.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
In an age where social media trends trump
realism, two photographers chatabout the beautiful events they
photograph and the push tocapture real moments over the
picture perfect trendy day.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
We want to discuss how people view perfectionism
and chat about encouraging amore authentic and genuine
experience.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
So, whether you're driving, working, editing photos
or just looking for a quickescape, pull up a virtual chair
to our coffee table chat.
We'd love to have you.
Do you see Nellie right now?
Do you see her?
She's almost done with it.
Oh my gosh, she destroyed that.
You can see the light throughit.
(00:47):
We're talking about a lick matthat I just bought Nellie not
too long ago, and it's her newfavorite thing.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
So I did not know what a lick mat is.
I've never seen that before,but it is genius.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
It's genius.
It is a mat that you kind ofsmush.
Some you could do like banana,you could do Greek yogurt, which
one of my brides just told meabout And then I do some peanut
butter too And basically I justsuction it right to a door so
that she doesn't have to likelean in and really get it.
So right now Ms Nells isoutside enjoying herself, so
(01:20):
that we have some peace andquiet and we can record without
her breath going.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
So what do you put on the lick?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
mat Today.
She's got some frozen yogurtand she also has some frozen
peanut butter.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Do you vary it up?
Do you switch it up betweenthose two things?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Honestly, I only put like bananas in there other than
that Does she have a favorite.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
She's only had for like four days.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Has.
She told you the favorite.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Huh, has she told you the favorite.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
She looks everything off, so I don't really know, but
she's going at it.
So, chris, you just had lensand light.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
I did, you did Tell me about it.
How was it?
It?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
was It started too, and I stopped you because I was
like no podcast.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
It went even better than expected, so it was a lot
of work in the last seven dayspreparing for it.
It looked like a lot of work, itwas.
It was just like everything Youknow, it's more work than you
expect and I even expected a lotof work, and in those last 48
hours, even specifically, it wasthe crunch time And but luckily
(02:20):
I had a lot of help.
Like my studio mate was thereto help me set up the day before
, i had some of the instructorscome in the day before.
They came and stopped andhelped a little bit, so that
went well.
But the main goal was, for themost part, based on the feedback
that I've received so far wasachieved, which was which was
awesome.
So in in multiple ways too.
So, secretly, i had two goals,and it wasn't just for the
(02:46):
attendees, but it was for theinstructors as well.
I wanted to see them.
I wanted to see them take aleap of faith and go forward
with their own, with their ownprojects, post this with some
new level of confidence thatthey can publicly speak and do
it.
Well, they didn't know it, butwhen I asked them to do this, i
(03:07):
did not give any indication ofhow long.
So when I told everybody, yeah,you're going to be doing an
hour and a half, there weredefinitely.
That's me, chris, it is, it'snot But it's.
But I knew that they'd be ableto do it.
I've seen what they can talkabout and an hour for these kind
of things is just a little tooshort, because We want to do
some hands-on stuff too Andthere's always that, like you
(03:29):
know, when the wedding rolled,there's always the transition
time that's never accounted forwhen planning.
So when you get a you know aschedule from a bride and it
says like 455, we're gonna dothis and 505, we're gonna do
this, and it's like I see thatActually that's gonna be at 430.
Yeah, it won't happen like thatAnd it could, but it's extremely
(03:51):
risky.
So I knew that an hour withjust moving around that many
people from a sitting positionto hey, we're gonna get up and
take photos now, that just takestime in itself.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
So within the hour and a half you also had like
hands-on stuff, so they weren'ttalking the entire hour.
Some were, so some of thepresentations were more
discussion based.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
More than anything, it was just because of the
nature of the topic.
So one of the topics was, youknow, a lot of specifics about
Instagram and how to make themost of it.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
That was Niki's right .
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Yes, yeah, niki, she did amazing And I love seeing
the questions that just keepgoing, keep popping up and
feeding off each other.
So when you're the one that hasthis vision and you watch the
audience take part and likereally get into it, sitting back
and watching, it was sorewarding to see, just like it's
(04:43):
almost like if, just like go,be free, do the thing, and it
just happened.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
So I have to ask you, what was your favorite part
Like?
was it a piece of knowledgethat you gained?
Was it watching everybody kindof do the thing, Or was it at
the very end, when you werepacking up and you were like I'm
done?
Speaker 1 (04:57):
It was well.
I will say the safe answer is alittle bit of everything.
The hungry Chris, the Doramarketplace was the caterer for
lunch and the cookies which theydid not.
There was no indication.
I had not been there and hadnot seen their cookies before,
but I've had great feedback fromDora marketplace as far as
(05:17):
other people and said that, yeah, their catering is incredible.
They worked with the locationthat we did and they'd been
there so I knew it would besmooth.
These cookies were ginormousand I ordered two cases of them
and I was like I didn't needthat.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
So it brought some here.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I know I should have, yeah, failure.
And so secretly, that was oneof my favorite things, because
those cookies were bomb.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Because you got to take them home.
That's why.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
But for the actual workshop, i think my favorite
part was seeing everyone alittle bit.
Sounds terrible, but seeingeverybody a little bit
overloaded with information Andthen coming back the next day
and whenever there was downtime,so any of the in-betweens of
(06:05):
the presentations, watchingpeople that hadn't met each
other before just walk into ourlittle break room and just grab
a cup of coffee and they'rediscussing And they're
discussing what they just saw.
So it was like, again, just asuper rewarding feeling.
Taking people that don't knoweach other All they have in
common is photography and abusiness potentially and just
(06:28):
seeing them talk about the tipsand the tricks and the details
and everything like that wasawesome.
It was so awesome.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Well, i think in a previous podcast we talked about
how I talked about how Ithought that the networking
alone was worth the money, andobviously that is the case
because I'm seeing all of yourChris has a.
he's doing a wrap around.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
He's doing his freaking microphone cord.
Yeah, his microphone cord.
It just keeps going right in myface awkwardly, and Brooke and
I are just staring at each otherand it's just slowly keeps
coming right in front of my face.
It's really weird.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
But I'm even seeing all the people who were at lens
and light and I'm seeing themfollowing each other, and even
from the Instagram stories thatI was watching I was no part of
that at all I could telleverybody was having a really
good time.
There was a lot of really good,useful information.
I've seen some layflats thatare stunning from it, like it's
awesome.
So congratulations on yourfirst workshop.
(07:22):
Great, it was great.
That's awesome.
We had a fantastic time.
So it's the next.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
And, yeah, at the end I did lay on the floor and just
like look at the ceiling and go, oh my god, and the place was,
i mean, a disaster.
At the end It was a total mess,chaos.
One of our like storage roomswas you couldn't even walk in
there.
It was overflowing with stuffAnd between both days it was
just like we'll get to iteventually.
We'll get to it eventually.
And I think it was Jamie who Ishowed the studio with.
(07:49):
Someone asked her like oh mygod, you need help picking this
up, and she was like, withoutskipping a beat, she was like no
, we're just going to burn it tothe ground.
Look at this, i'm not evengoing to deal with this.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
So when is your next workshop?
What are you thinking next?
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Oh, we have a lot of ideas, and will it be?
Speaker 2 (08:03):
called Lens and Light still.
Is that Absolutely OK, cool?
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Lens and Light name is sticking around, so I really
love that name.
I think it hits the mark onwhat it is.
So, yeah, absolutely, congrats,thank you, thank you.
Yeah, as far as what goes next,there's a lot of discussion,
there's some ideas, there'sideas about taking it
potentially outside ofConnecticut Sweet, yeah.
So there's some traveldiscussion going on And there's
(08:30):
also discussion of doing ittwice per year.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
So I think it's so funny that you're such an
introvert And this is like yourbread and butter, like this is
what you like to do, becausewhen you're done with it, you
describe yourself to me like ohyeah.
And then I'm laying on thefloor Like I would just want to
die.
And I'm the same way When Ileave a wedding.
I'm like I don't even wantmusic in the car.
I'm like I just need to bealone.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
I can't get words out .
Anyone listen?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
to that.
You're just driving itperfectly, but AM.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
So I've read that there are some people that do
not have an inner monologue Andthat's that's scary to me,
that's like psycho stuff to me,that's I can't think about that.
Because I'm thinking about that, i need that silence because
Have to see a hole in my shit?
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Yeah, she's drinking the is that salt or water club
soda, baby Club soda And it justjust missed the miss the mouth.
Does it more often than I amproud to say we're both doing
good this morning.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
That's fantastic.
So, yeah, there's some peoplethat don't have an inner
monologue, and that's crazy tome That.
So what's going on in theirhead?
What are they thinking about?
Speaker 2 (09:36):
It's just like a, like a bouncy ball.
Just my, my, my It's.
you know what it is?
It's the TV screen where it,like, goes to the side and then
it goes to you know what I'msaying.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Yeah, like the logo jumps across.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
It's like a thought goes in their head and it's like
boom Changes colors every timeit hits the side.
Yeah, why, why?
What was I saying about that?
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Saying the introvert portion of it and just like
laying down.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
So that's what I was getting with the inner monologue
thing.
So yeah, it's.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
I think that, generally speaking, introverts,
we we have such sometimes a deepinner monologue that when we
are surrounded by extroverts orare extroverting just in general
, you don't get to use that Andit, like it weirdly exhausts you
and catches up like you needthat that alone quiet time to
basically process everything andthink about it.
(10:25):
So is that you?
Speaker 2 (10:28):
100% like the thing is is like when I'm doing
something where I'm like superhands on, like nothing out of
that exists Nothing, likeliterally nothing.
I, if I go to a wedding, i amsolely your wedding photographer
.
Like I almost act like I'm nota human with my own, like I
don't have my own problems, likeI'm just I am here for this
(10:49):
thing and I'm here to be withyou and I am yours today.
And then, as soon as I get inmy car, i'm like, oh my God, i
can unzip my human suit.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Unzip the human suit.
That's a great way to put it.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Yeah, i've got my little devil inside and I just
unzip it right from the top.
So, yeah, i just think it's sofunny because, like, we both
have described ourselves asintroverts to each other and our
definition of introvert is sovery different It is.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
It's very, very different, and it's a there's
there's an extrovertedintroverts and introverted
extroverts, and I've met bothsides of the spectrum.
I've seen it and it's always a.
It's a good eye opener to never.
You know common phrase Don'tjudge a book by its cover,
because you don't know howsomeone is processing and
working things out, and such.
So I have.
(11:39):
I did not used to be such anextroverted introvert, but I've.
I've pushed that boundary, andit's almost like I have sort of
trained myself to be able tolast a little bit longer
extroverting than I can.
But what I have realized,though, is, no matter what, to
function well in thatextroverted area arena, i, no
(12:02):
matter what, will always needthat, that break, and if I don't
get it, i start spinning mywheels.
And I know when I startspinning my wheels, because I
start getting anxious and all Ican't.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Oh, you don't just live with a solid level of
anxiety.
Yeah, i start getting anxious.
I'm like I have an introvertedintrovert that's at home all the
time with my anxiety actually.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
But you, recently, you're pushing, pushing me in
below a little bit as well.
You're getting outside andcontinuing to try and you know.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Ok, anyway, i'm going to take this and do a little
bit of a turn I have.
Well, it's, it's important tome, probably just because I've
dealt with a lot of loss andwhatever.
And I got some news thismorning that one of my brides
people passed away and it reallygot me thinking and it got me
(12:55):
thinking about like our careersAnd I've definitely this isn't
the first time that I've hadsomebody have somebody, somebody
passed away.
I've photographed like end oflife moments.
I've photographed a lot ofreally heartbreaking situations,
but every single time I seethat somebody loses someone in
their family who meant so muchto them, it is like a weird
(13:17):
reminder how important what wedo is.
And I actually I just talked onmy stories this morning, i
think while you were driving, soyou probably didn't see it, but
I actually had to yell atcricket during it too.
But I just wanted to throw outthe reminder to all of the
photographers that you don'thave to always be pushing
(13:39):
yourself to be super, supercreative or setting up the most
beautiful moments at weddingdays and all of that.
I know it's really, it'senticing to jump in and go, oh,
do this or do that or whatever.
But the importance of standingback and just letting these
moments unfold and capturingthese people with their most
special people is the mostimportant part of your job.
(14:02):
I took the time this morning togo and look at their wedding
gallery and just look for photosof this specific person because
I always just feel like luckyto have been with them when I
see that somebody has passed onand there are so many good
photos of this person in theirgallery, so many candidates of
this person just laughing andhaving such a good time, and I'm
(14:25):
heartbroken for my bride.
But it also made me feel reallyproud that it was just like
cameras up, i captured that andlike it's kind of like I don't
want to sound like cheesy orwhatever, but it is like you're
giving someone a gift, likethey're paying you for it and
they might not realize, likewhat they're getting in that
time.
But when they have thosehundreds of photos to go back
(14:46):
through and they see theirhappiest day with their people
and they're happy too and yousee them laughing and cheers and
it's like a bittersweet, likeI'm heartbroken for my bride
because I know how special andimportant this person was to her
and I've definitely beenthrough that, but it's also a
really good reminder that whatwe do is so freaking important.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Yeah, things that stick out to me with that is the
concept of.
It doesn't have to be when youstarted this off with.
It doesn't have to be the mostcreative, and we focus so hard
in that given moment to providesomething that we surround
ourselves with which is moody,lighting or all the different
(15:28):
things that make us stand out asphotographers.
But, at the end of the day,some of the best photos that I
still look at are ones that areblurry, or and not trendy blurry
, but like accidental blurryfrom, like you know, a crappy
phone or something, an oldiPhone version 2, whatever so,
and we'll look at those.
And it's the reminder that twothings the reminder for the
(15:51):
individual, not the photographerthat is the moment that matters
, and it's the reminder for thephotographer that when we're
there, it can get really you canfall into that, which we do, we
fall into that It has to be ascreative as humanly possible
because that's what they'rehiring me for.
And that in a given moment itfeels like it can feel like work
, and it is our job and we'reworking.
(16:13):
But You know now that thatperson is gone all of a sudden,
all the sudden, that stands outincredibly.
Um, it stands out an incredibleamount.
And you know, the fact of thematter is that all of us
eventually, at some point, aregoing to pass and all of those
photos that you're taking arevaluable, like really valuable.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
So it was just a really solid reminder of like
the human connection and whycause I don't?
I mean, i look at photos allthe time where I'm like, wow,
that's so freaking creative.
Like why didn't I think of that?
Or like I want to try somethinglike that next at the wedding
or whatever, and I try to carveout space and time to be as
creative as humanly possible.
But like I'll speak forpersonal experience now, and I'm
(16:56):
sure you can too My favoritephotos from my wedding are not
the pretty details and it's notall of my stuff laid out in a
flat lay And it's.
It's not any of that.
All of my favorite photos arelike my little nephew cheering
my grandmother.
You know, it's stuff like thatwhere it's like you're never
going to have these moments backand you don't know how long you
have your people for.
(17:17):
You don't know how long you'regoing to even be here.
So, you know, if, if that'ssomething that you fall into,
where you get, like as aphotographer, you get caught up
with like being creative andtrying to literally like create
art, like the art is in front ofyou, it's right there, they're
hiring you to capture theirmoments with their people.
And this is one of the biggestthings that I talked to you
(17:38):
about with my wedding coupleswhen I sign on with them.
As I, you know, i'm alwaysgoing to try to be creating art
but, like, your people are themost important to me.
Your, your moments on that dayare the most important to me.
So, if I, you know, um, if I'mstaying outside during cocktail
hour instead of going in tocapture the details because
something is happening, that'sreally important, yeah, i'm
(18:00):
going to do that.
If I'm the only shooter, likeI'm going to capture your
moments, because that's moreimportant to me and I hope that
it will be more important to youwhen you get your gallery back
that you may not have like thetable setting, but you have the
photos of your grandmother andyour grandfather.
You know, like I don't know, ijust think it's really important
to it gave me a really solidreminder when I saw that she
lost that person.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
It's good to you know , as as sad as it is.
Um, we need these storiesbecause stories are how we
connect right.
Stories are how we, wevisualize ourselves in a given
situation and or try to learn alesson from somebody else's
situation.
Um, and these stories areimportant for wedding couples,
(18:42):
um, but they're just asimportant for us on this end,
because, in the middle of crazywedding season, the day to day
sometimes can just go by reallyfast.
Um, and you, you forget thosethings.
You forget how important it isto remind yourself at, you know,
7pm, even on your feet all day.
We've had to make a lot oftimeline adjustments.
It was a very stressful weddingso far.
Um, and the photographer's job.
(19:03):
We have to, you know, do a goodjob of making sure that we
don't appear stressed.
Um, we have to make sure wekeep everybody on schedule.
Uh, and we, as introverts, wewere really good at, like,
hiding that and just taking itin.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Um is that an introvert thing?
Speaker 1 (19:18):
That the hiding your anxiety and like I would go to
guess if anybody's listening andcan tell me otherwise.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Um, cause I've always wondered how, like at home I'm
like I can fall apart, like I'mlike immediately tears, but if
something happens at a wedding,i'm like no, like it's just
straight face, like nothingbothers me, yep.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
We're.
Introverts are very you know,i'm going to be careful how I
say this Introverts andextroverts are in all different
levels.
We're very we're self-aware, um, i would go to lean towards
that.
Introverts are a little bitmore self-aware because of the
concept.
We're usually afraid of whatother people think.
Um, and even if we're not,we're still, generally speaking,
(19:58):
introverted or we're sitting inthe back, we like to be behind
the camera, um, and thatinherently will.
We're observers, we, we observethe world and we we take
everything in and think about itand process it, um, and we need
to do that at our own time, um,so, in in this realm, it's
really good to take the idea ofan introvert who's a wedding
(20:21):
photographer and we're like Isaid, we're good at observing
and processing everything, butas the wedding is going on, it
may be challenging to do that.
So it's really important tohear these stories.
I'm rambling, but it'simportant to hear these stories
because even when we're um inthe moment, taking a step back
at you know, 7, 7, 30 PM, whenwe're exhausted and we're like
(20:43):
you know, i, i just can't get upagain, like I convincing myself
I did my job, i deserve a break.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, um no, but you get, you
eat your food and you're like,oh my God, okay, like if you eat
like a solid meal afterphotographing us a wedding day,
and you're just like, oh, ithits, oh no, i don't want to do
this anymore.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
We finally sit and it's like, oh God, like I can't
make it.
It's a but you have to remember.
It may not, at the time, feelimportant, but your story that
you are sharing right now provesthe fact that, at some point,
those photos ones that maybe youcould be catching if you're not
just sitting for that onesecond Yeah, it's so important
(21:22):
to.
Obviously it's good to take abreak to eat your food, but also
remind yourself how importantthis role is and to get the
shots, get the ones you know,power through to the end and
make sure and grab those because, um, that five second extra
shot that you may have taken,it'll last a lifetime.
Oh, that's a lifetime.
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