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Month 2, Week 1 (Oct 6-12) - Feedback & Weekly Review

Hi, guys. Welcome to our kind of live streaming weekly video here. We've been listening to what you guys are needing, and we're really hoping that this will sort of help satisfy everybody's needs for the weekly video, which would be great. So what I'm when you do is the document the link that we've been sending out to you guys so that you can send in questions. I'm just gonna go through that document and answer all of the questions on it. And then if you do have any questions, if you're sending them over to the Creativelive team using the chat box there being funneled over to me and hopefully I'll be able Teoh, get to all of those as well, that about our So you know, let's get to it very first question this week. What do you do if you have a bride with smaller engagement ring? Do you have any photos of those? Most of my brides have smaller diamonds if my clients have a smaller engagement ring treated exactly the same way that I would a huge diamond, I have clients who have a band for a...

n engagement ring who have a very tiny diamond. A very tiny stone. A very non diamond stone. I don't do anything different. Teoh Those rings that I due to the huge rings, I treat them all exactly the same. Totally. That helps. Alright. Hi, Susan. I just wanted to check something with you. I've unfortunately had to send all of my gear tonight for cleaning so I can't take any photos for the next couple of weeks. I know the due date on the homework is in November. My intention was distant photos from each assignment each week so that I'm sure some would make it into your life dead. It looks like I'm not going to have to send all images from all assignments at once at the end of October if I send them this way rather than sending a weekly and thus giving you more time to put them in your keynote. Well, they still make it into your keen up. Yes, Absolutely. Well, we do have a due date for the images to be delivered. It's midnight Seattle time, the Friday before the live day on Monday. And as long as you have them in on that day, it doesn't matter if you send them in today or a week from now, or it's six o'clock in the afternoon. On the day there do. I will see all of them. All right, Next question. What me hearing mode do you normally use and why do you like that mode in particular? Well, to be perfectly honest, I actually saw this question. I had to go back and look at my cameras to see what metering mode I was working in. And the reason threes I had to do that is because I generally don't look at the metering mode on my camera at all. I did when I was very new in business, and I was my first couple of years of being a shooter. I really rely on my metering mode to help me out, but now I almost never look at it right. Like what? I'm really hoping that the things that we learned in this mentor ship will do for you guys is to instill a skill set into you that will enable you to make decisions about exposure and to make decisions about your settings without having to rely on your camera's metering mode. So I didn't look at mine. I am in Matrix. Uh, that means absolutely nothing whatsoever, because I don't use it. So I know that might not necessarily be the most helpful answer to that question. It has nothing to do with what Modi prefer or what boat I like, because I really don't use the metering modes at all. I meet her in by, uh, next question I've noticed that you list your most expensive package first. Why is this? Is it some sort of psychological thing when the clients look at your packages listing my most expensive package first and buy it? Because if you start like, let's say you started $200 then and you look down, the number just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. I feel like it could become very overwhelming. But if you start off with the bigger number, then everything after that suddenly starts to look a little bit more reasonable. Which is why I do things that way. Next question. All right. My 7200 to 8. The Arctic is likely to be out of action for about a month. I already lost it for two months earlier this year for a very long repair process. This is my most important limbs, and clearly I need a backup. Any recommendations? I was thinking this 7200 and four, but was wondering whether you had experience with the earlier versions of the 200 to A. I can't afford another 72 200 to 8. The are too. So, yes, the 7200 F four is a fantastic limbs. It's wonderful. That said, it is not the same as the 72 200 to 8. If my 72 200 to 8 were down, I wouldn't want to replace it with another 72 200 to 8. Just because those times during the day that I really need that to eight you can't replicate that look with the poor and the F four. While it's fantastic, isn't quite a sharp to focus. It is an ad snappy in low light situations, and it just isn't as big about workhorse, and 70 to 200 to eight actually have to 72 202 eights. When I upgraded to the VR two, I kept my old one. The reason being was I looked up. What I could sell the old 14 and I decided that the insurance policy of having that additional 72 200 to 8 was worth more than I would make from selling the yacht Tolins itself. So I do have an older version, the one we're in back of the 72 200 to 8. It's still a fantastic linds. It's a wonderful ends. There's nothing wrong with it whatsoever, which is by I still have mine. You just you never know. At a wedding last year, I actually dropped my defore and my 72 200. I broke both the camera and the lens, and I was definitely hurting for the rest of the day without that list. So I would look into one of the 72 200 to 81 version back and look for one that's used. And there were some pretty great deals out there for that. So hopefully that helps city that question. All right, let's see. Next question. I've had an exceptionally stressful couple of days after learning and that one of my favorite I feeling one of my Linda's has fungus despite leaving very careful with my gear and not living in a damper human environment. It's a newish lens to so sorry. This is obvious. But how do you store your gear? I didn't care for it. There's so much conflicting information out there, and I want to avoid this happening again. Have you ever had this happen to you? I thought it only happened. Toe old lenses are badly cared for once. First of all, this terrible like nobody wants Ireland's toe fungus in it on second of all, I've never had that happen to me, even living in Florida, where everything was really humid and I was on the beach all the time. I've never had a lens get fungus e. That sounds actually all and as far as how I care for my year. Yes, there is absolutely a lot of information out there about temperature controlled and lighting controlled and optimal storage solutions that I don't leave my beer in the car or anything crazy like that. But I also don't store it in any sort of fancy location. My gear is always in one of three spots. One, it's either here in my studio, which is where I'm at right now in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, which is just the building with central air and heat worth in my apartment. Or it's in my husband studio and Haddonfield, New Jersey I don't do anything crazy assed forest temperature controls or anything like that. I just want to make sure that out of the direct sunlight and it's not somewhere that's too hot or too cold, there are probably better ways one could care for it. But for 13 years, this is sort of how I've taken care of my stuff, and I've never had a problem. Knock on wood. Next question. All right, you mentioned it. Depending on the reception room you choose to use off camera flash and next off camera flash on camera flash or just on camera flash. My question is, what scenario would you Onley use on camera flash? Can you describe what that reception room would look like? I can't describe what the reception room would look like, but I could describe what the lighting conditions would be like on. But really, a lot of these questions are asking very kind of nitty gritty, super specific things. But I find that for a lot of these questions, the answer is largely situational. So, for example, if I'm in a reception room that has the D. J. Has set up lots or that the videographer has set up light or there is, you know, environmental room light set up that I can use to eliminate my background or that throw a little light on the dance floor. I might not need an off camera light because I'm getting supplemental light on the dance floor. It doesn't matter if the room is a massive ballroom or a small ballroom. It's the quality of light that I'm looking for. I will only use on camera flash when the rest of the light in the room is enough to add depth and dimension to the space. And again, it has nothing to do with size of room or daytime or nighttime were amber gels or anything like that. It's just what is the rest of the light in the room look like? If it is a very dark pit and there's no up light and you know there's not a lot of separation between your subject in your background, then I am absolutely going to use some sort of 2nd 3rd sometimes even fourth off camera light to make that to really create a sense of mood and feel and separate my subjects from their backgrounds. But if they've got up lights on the wall, that's doing that for me, if the D J has set up lights that they're, you know, streaming onto the dance floor and a good but not a bad way, I might not need another flash. It is very largely situational on the room. I know that doesn't directly answer your question because there are no hard and fast rules about that. Hopefully, it will sort of illuminate no pun intended what I do in that sort of situation. All right, next question. Hold on one second. Lous. The document is flying away from May. Okay, Next, pushed in here. How my plan. The logistics of capturing a couple's portrait within an expansive landscape type of shot. I love the images where the couple is tiny and the landscape is expansive. For example, a large tree and acres of land with a couple walking again in hand. I just can't wrap my head around being so far away from the client and being able to direct them if they can't hear me. And also am I using a wide angle in this situation? How do you instruct the client in this situation? Holy depends. It depends on how far away from the client I'm going to have to get it if I am, you know, 50 feet back and using a wide angle lens, I could probably still screaming them. But if I am a football field away standing on my car, I'm in a building and I'm shooting down. Obviously, they're not able to hear me, and that's where my assistant really comes into play. I will literally call her on the telephone and talk to her and tell her what she needs to tell the clients to do. So she's on the ground of the clients. I'm wherever I'm going to the I call her and we just communicate that way. And I'm not sure the second part of this question says, and also am I using a wide angle in this situation? I think you're asking whether you should be using a wide angle in this situation, and the answer is I can tell because it really depends on the scene. Sometimes if I'm shooting a couple in a landscape and they're going maybe small and the landscape is going to be expansive. I still want the compression of a long England of a long limbs because I want that final look to the image, and in that case, I just I have to get even further back so that even with the linens compression, I can still be widened up to show the scene. Sometimes I want the foreground background relationship of a wide angle lens, and then I don't have to be as far back from them. So it really depends what Lindsay I'm choosing and what focal length I'm shooting at depends on what type of foreground background relationships that I want my subjects toe have to the scene that they're in. That's how I choose whether anybody the long lens or a wide angle lens for this sort of portrait. All right, next question. Hi, Susan. This is something very specific that I've been struggling with during family formals and broaden three portrait when the bride has a thick dress that players out of the bottom. I have trouble getting the bride and groom close enough together. Same things with family formals. I have trouble getting the relative next to the bride close enough, and it often looks awkward, especially since I angle the bride and a little bit and her dress goes out even farther in the back. Any helpful tips for this? Well, usually first things first. The person standing next to the bride has to put their feet under her dress that lets them get a little bit closer to her while hiding their feet under her dress. And second of all, if you're looking like the side of a bride's dress and it's a big bet, I'll have him come in directly on the side and make like an indention in the bell shape of the dress so that it still bills out in front and it's scoops in so that the person constabulary it and then it bells back out in the background. The same thing is, if you contra pell Oh, and it dents in. It still has a front in the back. You can just sort of tuck somebody in there. Honestly, this isn't This isn't a problem that I run up against very often. I have clients with really huge dresses. I just get in there? Well, actually, I don't get in there. My assistant gets in there because I'm shooting. She gets in and just sort of tux and moves the dress so that it is in a flattering position for the bride and also a flattering position for the photograph. I hope that helps. All right. Next question. I feel as though my customer service is quite above my client's expectations and that provided by photographer assume. Sorry, wrong emphasis. I feel that my customer service is quite above my client's expectations, and those that, provided by photographers might consider running competition at the end of the night. After having completed photography for a wedding, I often have tremendous client feedback. Her Billy. The same is true when my clients view their edited images weeks later. Regardless, I do have trouble getting written testimonials from clients. Do you make any particular effort to receive written testimonials? And if so, can you offer any insight or suggestions for me in this regard? I don't ask my clients for testimonials. I actually don't ever ask them for testimonials that something that will probably start having to change. Pretty soon as I realized the power of S E O for reviews. They're right about you online, but I don't ever reach out and ask the client for a testimonial. I kind of believe that they're spending a lot of money on their photography there, really investing in this service. And when all is said and done at the very end, I shouldn't ask them to do anything for me. I put it out there. You know, if you want to write me a testimonial, this is great, but I definitely don't follow them or chase them or sort of try to get them to do it. You know, I don't t answer the question. I don't make any particular effort to receive any right into written testimonials from clients at all. All right, next question. One more question. I shoot engagements in West, which is roughly 80% of my annual working income. However, I also do family portrait when I receive increase for them. Currently, both my wedding in the family portfolios were on the same website under the company name of flashback photography. Most of the photographers in my area seemed to follow suit. Some even advertised their wedding photography on the same website as a completely distinct genres such as newborn baby or nature and wildlife. Do you feel it wise for me to keep the two genres together in this way? Or does doing so make it look like I specialize in everything and therefore have no real focus thoughts and suggestions or kindly appreciated? When I was in Florida and I had a portrait studio where I very heavily focused on the babies and Children, I had to logo's two different attendance tripling for Portrait's and Susan Stripling weddings, and I had two different websites for it. I am about to put a portrait section on my current website, and it's not going to be under a different logo. It's not going to be under different branding. It's not going to be under a different site. I really feel like the old feeling of put into the genre's on your website makes it look like you don't specialize in anything. I think that there's no problem with that as long as the work is incredibly good, because if someone goes to my site and I have weddings and I have commercial and I have portrait's and all of them are excellent. Then I'm going to look like a photographer that can shoot anything. And that's not a bad thing when the work is all good. So I really think that I'm trying to read the question again. Sorry. I think that what you're doing to get the two genres together in that way is perfectly fine. As long as the work for the weddings is a strong is the work with a portrait and vice versa. Next question. I've been shooting weddings for a couple of years, and I find myself repeating a lot of shoots. Do you have a tip for how to not get bored and how to be creative every time? Oh, you know, I do about 50 weddings a year. And do I repeat stuff? Of course, Ideo, and repeating yourself isn't necessarily a bad thing. If you have something that works for you, like for example, I do a window like portrait of almost every single client that I can repeating that doesn't mean that I'm not being creative. It means I'm being consistent. And do I get bored of first? I get bored, you know, I get tired and I really wanted Saturday off and sometimes even a wedding, and I'm just not feeling it or the clients just aren't giving it to me or nothing is really going on, and I get bored. There is no way to keep yourself from being bored at work, no matter what your job is. Being bored at a wedding every once in a while is totally and completely normal. There's a difference between being bored and being burnt out or really heating. You do for a living. I'm not burnt out. I don't hate what I do for a living, but it is very much a job for me. And do I get bored sometimes? Yeah. And, um, I at my most creative every single time I go out to work. Not really. Some days I'm more creative than others. Some days I'm or on than others, and that's just, you know, that's just completely normal. So I think that I find I see a lot of photographers really stressing out about I'm getting borderline not being very creative, you know, your business will come in periods of growth and periods of level list. Like right now, I'm in a period of level nous, but I don't feel that that is diminishing my work in anyway. So I wouldn't really, if you start finding that every once in a while you get boarded a wedding. I don't necessarily think that that means that this guy is falling, so I think you'll be okay. All right. Next question. There's a lot of questions here. Okay, some of these air homework questions some of these are not. So my questions are as follows. Number one. Should we watermark images that we send in? You can watermark them or not watermark them. Whatever makes you have number two. What resolution should we set our images to? I have mindset to 72. That's fun. Number three. When shooting details, What settings are you averaging? Minor F 22 88th of a second and 3200 eyes. So it is a very old lens, and I'm having a lot of trouble with focus. Well, first of all, there there is no universal setting for detail photography at all. I try to keep my shutter speed as low as possible. That will let me keep my eyes so as low as possible, and I can handhold in a very low shutter speed because the details are getting up and moving away from me to say I shoot them all at one certain F stop would kind of be misleading because I absolutely don't. They range anywhere from 352 F 22 depending on what type of detail I'm shooting and what I'm going for with the final image. So there are really no averages as to the settings that I'm going after. And you know, I have a very new limbs, and I still have trouble with focus because macro photography is tricky. So 90% of the time, even with my brand new 105 millimeter, I'm focusing manually, all right, and before with getting ready shots. These are typically more like detail shots from a hands going up the back of the drive shoes enjoy being put on. Is that right? Well, there is no right or wrong, like there's I'm not going to tell you that what you're shooting is wrong, because what you're shooting is what you shoot. You know, I'm not here to make you guys be clones of me. And every once in a while I see somebody post a picture on the Facebook group, that is, that is a direct copy of something that I've done. And I'm not talking about a bride in front of a window or something like that. But the opposed the hands, the movement. The gesture is a duplicate of something that I've posted, and that's fine for practice. But I don't want you guys going out to weddings and duplicating things that you've seen on my block because then you're just copying me and you're not being yourself. The most important thing that you could do is to be yourself. So if you shoot details by shooting them like if you should getting ready part make liking shoot details there is no right or wrong. There is only what is Writer roam free you and I can tell you what that is. And the last question is number five bride alone. How the expletive did you talk your brides in the sitting on the floor? I can't and yet talk one bride into it. I just tell them to do it. It's really in the delivery of how I tell my clients to do it right. Like I make sure that the bridesmaids were out of the room. Makes the moms are out of the room, and then I don't pose it like a question. It's just the thing you're going to do, you know? Hey, Brian, you're gonna come over here and sit you down on the ground and we're done. I'll help you get right back up. All right? Help on down. And nobody ever tells me no. You know, if you say it with insecurity, if you say it was paid you minds like, is it gonna be okay? Like I don't think you're gonna get dirty? That's gonna make them nervous. But if you say it with confidence and kind of with authority, I had anybody tell me no in years. All right, Next West, John. All right, this is sort of it's not from the same person is before, but it's sort of an offshoot. To increase my income. I'm looking at portrait's and newborn portrait. Would you have a different branding and website for this business or have them all together on one side? Can I can tell you right? Like it depends on what you're going for if you are. Wedding work is very dark and very dramatic and very moody. Under a newborn work is very light and bright and vibrant. Interviewed entity and the styles air conflicting. There would be a great argument for having different branding and putting them on different websites. I'm not planning on splitting my portrait off my wedding website because I want my portrait clients to see my wedding. Working on what? My wedding clients to see my portrait work. And they were both in the very, very similar vein of photography. So you know to just say, hey, should I split them? I can't give you a yes or no, and it would be really irresponsible for me to give you a yes or no without knowing more details about your business in your style and what you're going for. So okay, next question. How do you best handled cold leads, especially from bridal shows? What is the appropriate and most effective way to follow up with the brides who stopped our booth? I already talked to us after that first email. What is the best way frequency and method to make the convention? I think that's conversion. Thank you. I don't know. I haven't done abroad and showing 10 years. A bridal shows were not very big here. I don't have any mailing lists or ways to Cold Call or anything like that. If I were to answer this, it would just be a guess. I don't have any sort of data to back up any sort of any sort of the information about bridal shows. So, unfortunately, I you know, I will answer your question if I can, But if I don't know, the most honest thing I can say is, I don't know and about bridal shows? I don't know. I'm sorry. Um, there's another question about bridal shows. How do you follow up to get bridal show leads to move from window shoppers and serious buyers? I am not a bridal show expert. I'm I'm incredibly sorry. All right, so this one sort of a question from month one. So talk about an imperfect world right now and struggling with how to fund my business. I met the very infant stages of my professional career without each client base. Much of my business is funded through my own personal investment. As it happens, which isn't a whole law, I said quite a lot of time prioritizing his investments based on return and necessity. But it's very much a chicken before the egg conundrum. I need more funds, isn't on marketing to get clients, but I need more clients to get funds to spend on marketing any example. Out wants to show my client so that they buy the album, but blah, blah, it's all the same rhetoric. I'm so hesitant to ask these kinds of questions because I end up feeling like I'm making excuses instead of finding solutions. But stuff and I'm feeling a bit desperate should stick to my guns, focus on what I can do and be patient. Or should I hassle and take what I can to make some money for my business? I would definitely try staying the course. I know that it's really frustrating, like it took a solid five years for my business to really become profitable and to really get off the ground. So I'm gonna happen in a year, and it's not gonna happen in two years. It is a very slow and steady climb, and anyone who tells you that you could do this overnight or anyone who could tell you tell you you will go from nothing to a total success is scamming you. I don't know any way that you could possibly do that without experience, without putting in the time without continually beating the bushes for her leads. And we're for old and getting out there. We're going to networking events and starting to make friends and starting to get to know people in the industry. This is, you know, it's a marathon, not a sprint. And unfortunately, those those first early years were really frustrating because things aren't happening, even if you're ready for them. But you just have to keep on keeping on, and it will come to you. I am certain that it will. I'm curious about how you to discuss the timeline with your clients. I know that you said that. You ask for an hour. Couples Portrait's knowing that you will most likely get 1/ hour. What other things you set up or ask time for? Stop right there. I don't ask time for things. I'm not. I am not the photographer that is going to ask you for a lot of time. What I do with my clients is I talked to them and figure out what things need to happen during their day. What things were their priorities. You know, for example, I'm not going to say I need an hour of time for your family formals. We're gonna talk about your family formal, gonna talk about the number of groupings that you have and then, you know, recommend how much time that we need for that. So it is different. I'm not asking them for the time. I was telling them how much time it's going to take to complete the things that they want to complete. You know, for Bride Portrait's guys getting ready, etcetera. If if I had to invent a timeline, I would say I need about two hours of getting ready, which includes women, men details, all of that stuff. I need about 10 minutes with the bride alone, about 45 minutes to an hour. Family formals, about 45 minutes to an hour with bridal room together. The thing that I always glued out who's out on will be the bridegroom together because there are only so many family formals that you can cut out during that time. Dan. Next question. How early do I arrive I arrive early and they want me to arrive right like they're covered his hourly. They could pick how they want t when I want, when I want to start on the end. But we talk about the timeline. There is no start two hours before the ceremony or anything like that. It's something that I collaborate with clients to figure out. And what what time I arrive also depends on if they were seeing each other before the ceremony. If we're doing any portrait's before the ceremony, all of these things factor in when figuring out my arrival time. The next part of this question when you're working with the destination bride they discussed within their timeline over the phone. Skype, er, cetera. How did you deal with them differently than a typical church wedding? They're not different than a typical church wedding, whether it's a destination, which I don't really do much anymore. If it's local, if they're in Philly, if there in D. C. I don't meet with people to do these, you know, for those of you to watch 30 days, you saw me meet with a client. That's because that was way more effective than you watching me on the telephone for an hour? Nine times out of 10 I'm gonna do the timeline. I'm gonna do the planning of the day over sky or over the phone with them. We almost never meet in person. So next question carried out, I'm doing my venues as instilled in my research about venues. I found that all of them charging amount to the couple if they don't hire any of the photographers they have is recommended in their lists. I've also heard that to be on that list, you have to pay an amount to the restaurant or venue for each wedding that you shoot there. Is there any advice you can give me based on your experience to face the situation? Sure. I mean, we get that here all the time. My way of getting around, That is probably the most passive aggressive way of handling this. That is, it is possible, but it works. So let's say you know the charging amount of couple. If they don't hire any of the photographers, will that states like there's not much that you can do about that. And there are in use around here that do that and the clients that really want me. They pay this be to the venue, which is very flattering, but kicked back part where you have to pay an amount to the venue for each wedding that you shoot there. I'm not giving you a percentage of my profits. I don't care who you are. I don't care what then You you are I don't care how badly I want to work there. I'm not going to be extorted in my business. So what I will do if the new says Well, you know, whatever. Whatever collection you book with your client, you have to pay 15% of that us as a as a vendor feed. It's really kick back the call it of intervened. It's really kick back. That's the really So when I told him is no problem whatsoever when I and lose the client for the wedding because I can't include this on the same line as my package price. There will be a separate line on their invoice that will say 15% surcharge Teoh venue. You know, I'll just have the clients cut you a check directly. That way it's much easier, you know, I do it myself. I have to. Market is income. And then I sent it out that taxes Don't worry about it. Glad to get it to you. I'll just put it on the invoice and have a client you directly. And at that point in time, they freak out because they don't want the clients to know that they're charging. You know, they're making their vendors pay these terrible kickbacks, and that usually manages to get them to waive kickback. But honestly, I'm not gonna work in a place that makes me pay to work there and then makes the client paid to bring me there. So it's sort of one of those very hard and fast rules that I I you know, I just won't change on next question. All right, Susan, stepping back a minute from all of the shooting. Do you? How do you say? Motivated? Always without ever letting disappointment are overwhelming feelings. Drive you down for long. Well, that's a two part. How do I stay? Motivated? Always. I'm not motivated. Always, right. Like with any job. Do you always want to get up and go to work? Of course not some days you want to hit a woman stand and stand bed, But I'm a professional. This is what I do for a living. So I get up and I go out there and I do it. But letting disappointment or overwhelming feelings drive me down for long. You know, there are a lot of wedding photographers who feel what they do very passionately and who are very tied into the art that they're making. And they feel their work very intuitively. And their their personal emotions are very wrapped up in the work that they mine or not. You know, I'm I'm not disappointed and I'm not overwhelmed ever when it comes to shooting weddings. And that's not because I've been doing this for a long time. That's because good it has anything to do with that. It's because from Day one, even when I was a brand new photographer, my photography business was my business. It's not my life, you know. It's not who I am. When my husband and I are at home, we don't sit around and talk about photography about how awesome we are, anything like that. We watch Netflix and we are, you know, I have my personal life that has nothing to do with my business at all. So I don't get disappointed and I don't get overwhelmed because it's just work now. You know that said, this is the middle of all wedding season and I'm dying over here like I'm so tired. I had an album meeting today and I had a potential client committed for 30 and the guy that I share the studio with, he was a good shot. So there was a lot of makeup artist here, and when I'm done with this, I have to go pick up my assistant from the train station and then we have to drive 3.5 hours to Albany and they were shooting, waiting for 10 hours tomorrow and then we drive overnight and that I should wait for 12 hours on Saturday in Philly. And you know, I haven't had a nap in, like, six weeks, but I chose this for myself. So what I do get overwhelmed it because I get overwhelmed personally because work sort of takes up a large portion of my life and I feel like I'm not really taking care of my personal life in the way that I should. But as far as getting overwhelmed with work, I find that having a really strong separation between work and your personal life will help do that for you. All right, next question are So here's the first question here. I'm an engineer of his past about photography, and so I second shoot for a full time photographer. In addition to that, I should Indian event solos. Since I don't have the infrastructure of a full time photographer, what are your suggestions for online galleries and printing orders? I've heard about SmugMug, but I don't know what storage it provides for free vs paid membership. Why wasn't polio and I loved in polio is $249 a year for a business account with unlimited J head uploads. And if you don't want to do the print order in yourself, there is an option when you put a client gallery online for you to choose what their fulfillment options are, and a lot of times I just choose fulfillment through em. Picks dot com that when anybody places an order online is automatically paid for in Sicily by M picks, and I don't have to touch it, so you can definitely do it that way. So getting towards the end of some of these questions here, all right, What is your plan B when you can't get the person doing the toast to stand facing the bridegroom. I've had some instances where the person speaking was uncomfortable going anywhere but the side of the bridegroom for their speech. I've also had time for the deejay. Said they didn't want the person speaking to be away from the head table. So when you can't use your directional in short lighting method where your assistant turns the flash towards the speaker, the bridegroom, what do you do? Well, we just do what we can do, right? Like every single wedding is not gonna put the person giving a speech in a place that I want them to. Sometimes there next to the bridegroom, Sometimes they're behind the bridegroom. We still come at it from the exact same lighting method. But if there's only one direction to turn the flash in, she just she just turned the class in one direction. I am responsible for moving around so that I am sure that the light falls on the person's face in a flattering way, and sometimes I have to wait for it. And sometimes it's really hard total. But in this past weekend, where they were up against a white shir background, the person giving the toast should behind the bridegroom and bride groom turned around the entire time. Well, there are almost no pictures of the brides or the room spaces during the toast, because there was no way for me to get at them. You know, every scenario is not going to be perfect, and all you can do is the best that you can dio. Next question. Hi, I would love to know. How important do you think this always keep pushing your business forward? When do you decide to stop growing in either business or creativity in terms of her creativity? Do you try to put something new to each wedding her each season? And how do you know that it's time to change direction? Creativity creative? Well, I'm not going to change direction creatively. I'm not going to suddenly wake up tomorrow and decide I want to shoot like Elizabeth Messina. That's just not, you know, my style is my style and it's not going to change. I'm never going to stop growing in business or creatively, ever. I really feel like things are always evolving. Things are always changing. I can always become a better photographer. So in terms of when will I stop? The answer is never. I find that I don't try to bring some thing you teach wedding your obsession. I just try harder every single time that I go out and use the cheesy sports term of giving 100% or 110% every single time. If I'm giving my all every single time I go out and shoot, it's like giving your all every single time you go and work out right. Like if you lift as heavy as you can every single time you work out. Eventually you're gonna realize that you're lifting heavier and heavier and heavier just by continuing to practice. And shooting is exactly the same way next. So here is a situation. You're in a hotel room with the standard window at the end of the room. You set up the bride to use the window lighting while she's ready, but the question is, do you turn out all those formula lance in the room and just use the window life. I don't know what I see the room. Sometimes the lamps in the room add to the ambiance of the room, someone they take away from the ambience in the room. And I can't give a hard and fast blanket. Answer on what I would do without seeing the roots up. All right, regarding Benschop. How close to the light sources your range shot set up need to be. And do you shoot both rooms ring on the bride's rings together in same shot it. So how do you position them together if the groom's room is twice the size of the bride? During the last wedding I shot, I couldn't credibly place the bride during on top of the groom's as it kept falling through. I know guys, like some of these questions air so incredibly specific, and I feel like some of people are really over thinking some of these questions. How close to the light source to use urinals? Shot said. That need to be. I don't know if you're using a flash, and that's going to be different based on whatever the flash power. But if you've got a window with strong light coming through, that's gonna be different than a window with weak lights coming through. And I need to sound like I'm being flippant by saying it needs to be as close as it needs to be. But without seeing your set up and seeing your lighting, I can't tell you how close or how far away you need TV. For example. Right now I'm sitting in a bank of Kino Flo lights like That's what's in front of me lighting me up here, and if my hand is really close to the light, it's really bright. If my hand is back here, it's really dark, right? But if this were a window and it were overcast, you know, maybe this is too close when I'm using a Kino Flo. But this would be the right spot if it were a window when it was overcast, so I really can't say. And as faras positioning them together, I just stopped up till they look right. Sometimes they're stacked on each other. Sometimes they're leaning on each other. Sometimes they're leaning on something. There is no hard and fast rules. How it has to be at all. All right, Do you use a client feedback form? If you do? Why? I don't know. I don't have any sort of form for client feedback at all. Aren't I feel that my bring shots never quite sparkle? I've been trial and error with many different lighting scenarios, and I just can't seem to get the light going through the diamond the way I like it. Suggestions for how to set it up or what to look for. I can't like telling me the urine shots never quite sparkle. I'm not going to be able to help you figure out what's going on until I actually see the rain shots. So the person that asked this question if you can make sure that you submit bring shots for the life pretty easy. I can definitely take a look at them and tell you sort of where the issue might be. But without seeing them, I can't tell you how to set it up or what to look for without seeing the problems that you're having and the other side. The other question is along the same lines. What's the best way to go about non diamond Rabies. I shoot them exactly the same way that I do actual diamond rings. So are clear. Diamond rings are quite diamond or whatever. What are some things that you say the bride's to move them into opposing your photograph alone? This tends to be you and my brother the most self conscious and even the most come even more comfortable. Brides sometimes clam up because they go were there, aren't sure what to do. Their hand. Except there were comfortable leaning on their group. Normally great and getting them to move into a natural pose It. Almost every time I have a bridal luncheon clam up, I just keep moving. Or while I'm talking to her, right. Have you ever seen Jerry Be honest? Teach. He's really great at this showing how he's constantly engaging with, and he's constantly talking to them while he's posing them. So I'll get in there and I'll literally be talking. The person is, I'm closing them, you know? So what I want you to do is I want you to turn your head this way and took it down and they'll talk to her about her makeup, or then I'll talk to her about the weather or just keep up a steady stream of chit chat. I find that that relief, um, breaks up a lot of the nerves a lot of the time. All right, what are the main things? You shoot for the getting ready portion hair makeup or just getting dressed, etcetera. Are there key moments that you look for or just captured the time? Is it in foals? Well, for the getting ready portion, I'm just capturing what happens as it unfolds and tear. If it's makeup, it's getting dressed. Whatever is happening that I'm going to be documented. The second part of this question says, I suggest my bride ready in a nice, clean location and suggest hotels that will work. But sometimes it ends up being in a random wearing somewhere. I don't mind. Having pictures is simply capture what the day was really like. But I also like having some clean shots suggestions on how to do this, other than making editing and black and white, or I'm not sure that means I don't always shoot the hotel room. Sometimes I shoot in people crowded House's. Sometimes I shoot in a small apartment, sometimes I shoot in a church basement. It doesn't matter where I'm at. The principles of how I use light and how I set up the scene is exactly the same, whether it's in a hotel or it's an incredibly Asian. And if it's clutter, that doesn't mean that it has to be black and wife. Next question. All right, in so many of your images, there is a certain darkness besides the like coming from a window door, etcetera. You shut it off to get that darkness around the rumor that post processing I love the dramatic feel, However, in a lot of my getting ready rooms, I'm not doing that erotic feel because the room seemed to be brighter again. There is no hard and fast rule is how this is done. Sometimes it's by shutting off the rest of the lights in the room. Sometimes it's by my positioning of the find in relation to the light. It there is no I can't say that I always shut like, off and whatnot, but I can't tell you that it is not done in post production. It is. It is generally 99% of the way. There I might add up and yet or a slight darkening and post production. But it is done with the existing lights. But to list out a hard and fast rule is exactly how I get there. There really is none. All right, next question. There are a couple there, several cushions in here that are talking about having problems with focus on my ring shots and having problems with, you know, things. Being Christian, having probably foreground background. How did you do this? I can't I can't tell you how to improve the images that you're shooting until I see the images that you're shooting. So you know anyone who says, You know, I'm having trouble getting a transition from my foreground to background in my ring shots. I can't help you until I see what they look like. So I feel like a lot of these questions will be really answered. If you send in images that are having that problem for the live critique, I will be able to speak to them directly. All right, next, this time. Among one question. My finances were totally out of whack. I've been doing everything wrong, wasn't focusing on the money and how to music's my benefit, but don't send it doesn't make sense, OK, now we're so often our finances and behind in debt because I screwed up. How do you suggest starting from point blank to get back on track and get ahead when there are so many things to work out, you just have to start, right? You have to sit down right now. You have to take, you know, track of all of your finances. Reptile listed all out of the list out all of your debt. You have to set up a plan, and you just have to start, You know, how do you get back on track? You just say today is the day I will get back on track and you do it next question. Okay. Um, do I have a recommendation for a lawyer in the New York metro area or a C p A. In the New York metro area? I don't my accountant and lawyer or based out of New Jersey. I don't know anybody based in New York. Unfortunately, next question Do you ever turn up to the broader preparation the client's house, her parents home feel disappointed and I'm creative What do you do to improve the images in camera again? It's a getting ready in dark small rooms and meth e spaces. I don't ever tell my client that they have to get ready any specific place if they want to get ready at home. If they want to get ready in their parents home, we just have to make it work. Do I show up and feel disappointed? Uncreative. Yeah, like all the time. 19% of the time I walk in and I'm like, you know, for once I would really like to just have handed to me. But you know, that's not the way it goes. So I just have to suck it up and make the best of it. And to say, What do I do to improve the images in camera again? That such a generic question that it's completely impossible to answer. I just always going back to the absolute basics, finding good light, finding good compositional scenarios, choosing the correct gear for the scene and then just doing it all right. How can I take my photos for my website long on social media and it's fraud. It's enough. I can't answer this question about fraud because I don't even actually understand what's being asked. I'm sorry if someone whoever out there wrote in the question about protecting photos from website Blawg and Social Media. You could hit me with it next time. I'm just not sure what's being asked here. All right, um, next question. There's a black line on my images. Radio transmits tried last two weddings, which my 1st 2 weddings as well. To use the off camera flash, I bought a set of radio transmitters and the set of his body. That's important. I noticed that some of my images have a dark zone on the lower bottom. There some settings on the camera. The flashlight should be aware about the same problem every time I use flash with the trigger. You. Did you check your shutter speed? I need to know what your sink speed is on your camera. For example, if you can't, let's just pick it up, pick a number. If your sink is a 250th of a second and you're shooting in 320th of a second, you're going to get a black bar on your image. So go and check your cameras or your flashes. Thinks being your camera, your shutter speed might simply be too fast. Next, the question is regarding shooting during outdoor ceremonies with harsh, constantly changing contrast. Life well in actually okay with the results of a lot of my harshly lit ceremony shots, it still strikes fear in my heart that overexpose the bride's dress or have no detail on the faces of the bride or the groom. I do change my exposure priority often for a variety, but I'm just curious to know what you do in situations like this or what the standard school of thought. In a situation like this, there is no standard school of thought. You just have to do the best you can. You can control the lighting in a ceremony. You can't control the scenario that you're in. Then there is no harder pass rule about how it's done, other than to simply go out there and just survive. All right again, we're kind of still in ceremonies regarding churches with terrible grade or right parking. How do you deal with color pass when you're not allowed to use flash and you are allows you slash do you ever use on camera flash during a ceremony doesn't seem intrusive if the color passes off. It's a very simple fix it in post, and I do not ever use off camera flash during the ceremony. Even no matter what, I don't care how dark it is. I feel that it is very intrusive and disrespectful. I will use it for professionals or recessional, but I won't do it for actual Sarah. Okay, this is a question regarding challenging, like very ceremony. Other. I often couple standing in front of large windows with pretty backlighting, but I remain confused about exposure, settings and meter, and during these situations on this spot meter for some of the close up shots, I always seem to get a halo around the couple tests. I really don't know how to take a pretty shot of the scene improperly exposed for that without accepting some degree of under exposure or the halo of lighter on the couples. I mean, listen, you're shooting a ceremony. You can't add slash. You have to be in one spot. The lighting situation is not ideal. Your choices are either under exposed and makes the silhouettes or overexposing blow out your background, those air, honestly, your only two choices. All right, next question is in a second. It's a little oddly format. It, um, one second you guys about this. I just didn't engage in session with a plus sized bride halfway concession sheen for me that she doesn't like profile pictures because of her chin and profile shots were a large part of my style. You have any tips for working with plus size brides? And I don't really. I treat all of my clients exactly the same in terms of posing. However, with plus size brides, I am a little bit more careful. If they have a veil over, get around their arms, I will tend to shoot up or shoot down. But it happens to me every once in a while where client will be like, I hate my profile and I'm like, Well, okay, I'm gonna keep shooting the way I shoot. And, you know, you don't have to like the profile images. You can dump them later. But, um, you know, in the middle of a session, I can't completely change my style to start shooting in a different way, So I would just keep on keeping on the way that you dio. Do you suggest you tell them to keep Chen's down? But if you're really looking, proposing advice, I'm not a heavily opposed photographer. I would highly suggest checking out some of the supervised videos on Creativelive. She is opposing master, and it is very opposing all types of body ties. I have a super hard time focusing on brides. Clashes with my 85 14 Keep having the focus beyond her forehead, and I don't notice until it's on my computer. Do you have any tips with this? Uh, no. And you just have to make sure that your focal point is directly on the eyelashes. And if you're still continuing toe, have the same problem. There is absolutely nothing wrong with switching over to manual focus and doing it that way. All right, hop over here to the document about 10 minutes left. There are a lot of questions. I don't know if I'm gonna be able to get all of them. I'm going to try. Do we owe withering shots? I've noticed that with many of the shots because of lighting, possibly how close I am to the subject and seeing more imperfections with the stones and metals because of the 105 millimeter, Do you normally have a starting distant point? Where to shoot your rings? Uh, listen, if there are imperfections in the rains, whether you're free to be back or 20 feet back, you're still gonna see imperfections in the rain. I don't have any sort of starting distance point or anything like that. They're bringing the perfect ring isn't perfect, and there's not much I can do about it. I don't mean to sound flippant, but you know it is what it iss. All right, question to I read. Your mom puts on alien skin today. Are you often using techniques like you did in the last photo? Adding the red Claire to the left side? No, no, not at Not at all, actually. Usually, if you see a color pass to the side of one of my images, it's because I've held something in front of the camera that was just an example to show what is possible with it. But what you would see from me would be the first image where it's clean on the side. And if I wanted to put something on the other side. It could be by shooting through something. This was just to show another alternative of how you can get out there. Q. Three with multiple camera flashes at receptions. Do you use more than one at a time, or do you have them all? Oh, with multiple often verifies receptions. Do you use more than one at a time, or do you have them all on separate channels and switch depending on where the subjects are? It depends on what I'm going for. Sometimes they're all in the same channel, and they're all fired at once. Sometimes they're on separate channels and they're firing separately. It depends on what the room looks like. It depends on the kind of final look the medical, including my trying to do something very high contrast, trying to do something where everybody is more evenly lift. More often than not, I'm firing them on the same channel. Usually I really only have two going at one time, so that's what I do. All right. Model released is when you're shooting the wedding party and the Children. You have a clause in your contract that covers these under the model release Or do you have each wedding? Party members. But no, you. Do you have a wedding party member sign a release? No, absolutely not. There's a blanket release in my contracts that basically says, If I'm coming your wedding and I'm shooting it, you know, this is what it is. That's what I'm very careful, that anything that I'm going to put on my block or used in advertising that is not unflattering or something that a client would be very offended by saying, All right, I'm really struggling with shooting into the sun at Golden Hour. I'm getting too much Hayes. Sometimes I'm able to shade the lens. Sometimes I'm not. How do I deal with this? If you are getting hes, it is simply because there is too much sun getting into your lens. You either need to shade your lens, either by having an assistant holding Hold something up over your linds, or you need to move yourself into a shaded place so that while your clients might be in the sun, you are in the shape. So if you're still having problems with this, I was suggests admitting an image that shows this so that I can offer up a little bit better. All right. Your clients ever order Prince three years and polio proofing gallery. Sometimes not all that often, but sometimes I think you now said you bring props to ring shots, toe weddings. What prompted that? And what do you have on hand now to help? No, I never bring props. I don't I joked that, you know, I'm close to bringing prostate, and one time I started wanting to bring cross. But no, I don't at all ever bring props. All right. Next, I've noticed that you use the to 1 24 How do you like this lens? I have not read good things about it. I love it. It's very sharp, very crisp. It's very light. It's very versatile, you know. But I'm only one person's opinion. You know, if there are people out there who are having problems with that, I'm sure they exist. But I've only been using it for about six months, and I found it to be very consistent and very, very sharp. All right, I shoot like a d 600 but I found in receptions where it's darker that a lot of times my camera have a hard time finding anything to focus on. However, I really have this problem with the D 5100. Is this ever an issue for you with the D four? Is an upgrade necessary? Or is there some kind of trick to focusing and dark for dim lighting situations? I can't speak to the D 600 or the D 5100. I've never used either of those cameras. I do find that my defore and my Defour absolutely performed better in low light than any other camera body that I have in my that there are more sensitive. They're more robust. They are a quicker, faster, a sharper. I could definitely tell the difference in low light focusing between that and my D 8 10 So if I know that I'm going to be going into a dark place, I bring out the big guns. I make sure I'm using the D for us because I know that it will be able to compete in a situation like that. All right. Next, do you discourage shooting loss of portrait of the wedding party so that you can focus on the bride and groom Fortress. No, I will do whatever they want to a lot time for the wedding that I shot this past weekend. Broader party pictures were more important to them than bribing room alone pictures. Though that is what we did. I would never discourage a client from doing anything. I just want to make sure that I understand what they want so that we can accurately, a lot of time for that, whatever their priority or preference might be. All right, How far into your business did you start to feel like you got your stride and like you found your style or approach for the day? I have moments of brilliance and then, like a what role was that moment? When did it start to feel more confident Inconsistency of shooting about six years. It took about six years, honestly, to start feeling comfortable, probably about eight years to start feeling very confident. It takes a long time. All right, next question can make takes on with gels flash, given that the climate here is really cloudy all of the time without even work, of course it wouldn't. It's never gonna look exactly like sons run, but There's absolutely no reason that you can't use a flash outside to supplement the like or non like that is already there. Alright, what specific duties do you have a recipe? Will that what specific duties you have persistent do during the wedding. I find that when I'm in the moment, I have trouble directing someone. But I hired a second shooter for my second wedding and ended up with too many shots for my taste. I feel like I would benefit more from a solid assistant to shoot a few specific things for me, but I need to put that in writing in advance of the wedding. What suggestions do you have? Um, I'm not sure what you mean by putting all of that in writing in advance of the wedding, Talking about in writing with your client or in writing with your assistant. I don't really know how to answer that one, but specific duties Does my assistant have She parks the car carrying bag? She follows me around, pick up all of the Linda's. I sat down. She changes lenses on my camera for me. She, uh sometimes those in shoots a little bit of the guys getting ready, and she talked to the coordinator. When somebody needs to talk the coordinator and I'm too busy, she should wide angles. At the back of the ceremony, she shoots cocktail hour for me. She holds a light. She poses family formals. She does a lot. All right. Do you find that having sample albums and Avinu brings you clients? No. I find that it does not. However, I find that giving a sample album to a venue enhances my relationship with the venue and that next. How do you decide what you should focus on first, in terms of practicing the techniques you've been learning and disgusting, I would focus first on learning how to find the light. That is what I would absolutely focus on first in all situations and others in all scenarios. Finding the light, whether it's in a reception room or a room wherever it is getting ready or an outdoor location, I would learn to find the light first. That's what I would do. And last question would. Any other focal lengths from at Berlin's work is one of five Mr Personal preference, or is there a technical advantage? I've noticed the night on 60 is cheaper. I had a for a really long time. It was great. I chose the 105 because I really like the compression at 100 and five. But there's absolutely nothing wrong with a 60 millimeter. It is purely personal preference. So we're at almost exactly an hour. I hope that this format worked out really well for you guys that it worked out great for me. My eyes, however, are a little bit blind from the enormous life. There are literally sitting 18 inches from my face on starting missy spots in the distance, and we are at an hour and got through all of the questions that were sent in on the document and that were typed in today. I hope if you asked a question, I got to it and let's get together next week and let's do this again. So good luck shooting for those of you who are shooting this weekend and for those of you who are not good luck practicing and I will see you all next week