The One With Our Preparation

Welcome back, friends!! We know it's been a while so we have a couple life updates for you. Also, as we approach the coming wedding season, we thought it would be the perfect time to walk you through all that goes into our preparation! Whether it's weddings, real estate, or family sessions, there is a lot that has to take place in preparation. Check it out!

If you have questions you would like to submit, please email us at info@theredletterdays.com

For inquiries and information about our services, please visit our website at www.theredletterdays.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Hello, everybody. Hello. You're laughing already.

SPEAKER_04 0:10

I didn't know if I was gonna mess it up again.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

That tells me this is gonna be a great episode.

SPEAKER_04 0:19

I was like, am I supposed to do that? I don't I don't know. We didn't talk about it.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

Welcome back to the Red Letter Days podcast. We are your hosts. I'm Sean.

SPEAKER_04 0:28

And I'm Michaela.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

And we are back for so the previous episode that you guys will have probably heard 1.9 or whatever with our friend Johnny. Um that we hit we had scheduled that one for a while back.

SPEAKER_02 0:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

Um and um and some things happen. We'll we'll catch you guys up here real quick. We'll do a little recap on what's been going on. April has been a uh a doozy.

SPEAKER_04 0:56

It's been like a tornado, yeah. A little bit, but but also good things. Yeah, great things, but just a lot, yeah, a lot, a lot of stuff.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

So um, but anyways, we we decided um to do this one um on preparation. You'll see it in the title. Um, since we're kind of we're almost there, sweetheart. We're like right around the corner. We'll be into wedding season and and we're pumped about it. So but before we get into it, let's do a little let's do a little catch-up because there's so much.

SPEAKER_03 1:31

It's been a little while.

SPEAKER_00 1:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:34

A little minute, I almost said.

SPEAKER_00 1:35

Let's start, let's start with a with a good one, like a high, like a high one.

SPEAKER_03 1:40

Okay.

unknown 1:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:42

Our daughter. I was waiting for you to chime in. I talk too much, so you need to take the ring a little bit.

SPEAKER_04 1:49

I feel like I talk a lot. Um okay, so Emma turned 13, which is a big milestone birthday.

SPEAKER_01 1:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:57

Um, it's very strange. I don't really like having two teenage teenagers. I mean, I do. I love it. They're great kids, but like also.

SPEAKER_00 2:05

Well, she's she's our baby.

SPEAKER_04 2:07

Yeah, she's our baby. And like how are they both teenagers now? That's that's the part I don't love. It like went so fast. But also, she's had this little like um teenage divaness in the best way. She's not like a a snarky kid, but she, you know, like for a while.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

She loves teenage culture, quote unquote. Uh, I would say so. Yes, she has adopted the teenage culture long before she has officially become a teenager.

SPEAKER_04 2:39

So yeah, so it feels like in some ways, she has all always been. I mean, not always, but for a while, yeah, been a teenager. But now it's official.

SPEAKER_00 2:48

Now it's official.

SPEAKER_04 2:49

So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:50

She had a great time with her friends.

SPEAKER_04 2:52

We had birthday week. It's always birthday week around here.

SPEAKER_00 2:55

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 2:56

Um, but yes, um, we had a lot of a lot of fun moments. Her birthday always falls right around spring break. So oftentimes that means a lot of her friends are out of town. Um, but I think we still made the most of it, even though there was a smaller percentage of them.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

Yeah, no, I think um I was actually pleasantly surprised with how many of her friends could come out to her her friend party. We usually do like a friend uh or a family gathering, dinner, birthday for her, for the kids, and then uh like a friend thing.

SPEAKER_02 3:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:29

And so considering it was spring break, I was pleasantly surprised at how many of her friends were actually available and able to come out.

SPEAKER_04 3:36

So yeah, and we did this cool thing. I don't know if you guys have heard of it, but it's called Swimpley.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

I hadn't heard of it before before this.

SPEAKER_04 3:45

So it's really cool. I have seen it like online in some random thread that I got into and never had a need for it. And then this is great because if anyone knows for like spring break birthdays or fall birthdays, the weather is very um unpredictable. Yeah. So need an indoor option or swimple is a site where you can rent private swimming pools. So people who have pools on their property can list them essentially like Airbnb, but for pools. And the one we went to was amazing, it was so cool.

SPEAKER_00 4:22

Yeah, I mean, even some of the ones that you were showing me on the site and everything, because you know, you you think of something like that, and you're like most of the pools that I see around here are like just above ground, and but there's some really nice properties with some like hidden gems of pools and everything, and so this one was I I did not expect to walk through the gate on that property and see that they had a whole pool house, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:53

It was all indoors, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 4:54

It was great, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:55

It was really and the guy uh the owner came out and walked us through everything, like wow, he was just super nice and accommodating, and it was a really nice first experience.

SPEAKER_04 5:06

Yes, I agree.

SPEAKER_00 5:07

You had you hadn't done any other any other bookings with no before, right? That was the that was the first experience for you, right?

SPEAKER_04 5:15

I just had friends tell me that you know they had done it and they enjoyed it, but what a cool idea.

SPEAKER_00 5:20

Yeah, great idea. We started talking like, man, wouldn't it be nice to be able to like invest in a private like this? Would actually be pretty pretty nice to to have something like this. And yeah, it seems like it would be pretty substantial as far as just some side income or whatever, anyways.

SPEAKER_04 5:41

Yeah, that's a whole that's a whole getting off topic, but squirrel.

SPEAKER_00 5:44

It was it was great, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 5:46

So yeah, check it out if you're looking for a place to swim. Because we had done like um where do they go?

SPEAKER_00 5:52

Swimply.

SPEAKER_04 5:52

Swimply.com.com, okay.

SPEAKER_00 5:54

Swimply, like swim and then P L Y.

SPEAKER_04 5:58

Yep, okay. Like Simply, but swimply. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:01

That makes sense. Yeah, very good. Okay, yeah, that was that was really fun, and the girls had a great time and good times, yeah. Yep. Um, and then yeah, we had a little family gathering too for for her birthday, and so and then last week we went to the wooden shoe tulip farm and did some new pictures for yeah, another first for me. I hadn't been out there yet.

SPEAKER_04 6:26

Yeah, yeah. It's epic. If you haven't been to that place, you should go.

SPEAKER_00 6:29

Michaela's been wanting to take us out there for quite a few years now, so it was Yeah, like 10 years or something like that.

SPEAKER_04 6:36

It's it finally happened.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

Finally happened.

SPEAKER_04 6:39

Yeah, it's beautiful. It's a bit of a haul for us because it's in kind of Woodburn area in Oregon. So yeah. So yeah, hard to get everybody there, but we did it. We did it. It didn't rain on us. No, it was beautiful. Yeah, I'm sure I will eventually share photos.

SPEAKER_00 6:55

Yeah. But the the thing that was cool to me was like it was so accommodating for for families and stuff like that. I know you've mentioned that it gets really busy on the weekends, but so busy. I don't when I hear that, I'm like, well, it's it's pretty out there, I guess, with for the pictures and flowers and stuff like that. But there's a whole line of food trucks, there's shops, there's vendors, there's rides.

SPEAKER_04 7:21

It's a whole thing, it's a festival.

SPEAKER_00 7:24

Yeah, and then even you said on the weekends there's like um uh hot air balloon, yeah, rides, yeah. Uh, which I saw a sign for. Like that's that's pretty legit.

SPEAKER_04 7:34

It's epic.

SPEAKER_00 7:34

Yeah, they don't mess around. No, it's really cool out there. So yeah, uh, you guys should check that out. What's what's it called again?

SPEAKER_04 7:42

It's called Wooden Shoe.

SPEAKER_00 7:44

Wooden Shoe.

SPEAKER_04 7:45

The Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival. It's pretty well known.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 7:48

Um the flower realm or whatever. Flower realm. Yeah. Um, but it's it's beautiful. I think it's wrapping up now, but maybe next year.

SPEAKER_00 8:00

I loved uh recreating some of the photos because I remember you took Emma up to Woodland.

SPEAKER_04 8:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:06

Um quite a few years ago. Um, and then she was 10 years, yeah. She was that was 10 years, okay.

SPEAKER_04 8:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:13

All right. And um just adorable photos. Um, and then recreating those now. Yeah. You sent me some of those side by side ones, and immediately I'm just like, oh my gosh, she's getting so old, so fast. It feels like it went by so fast.

SPEAKER_04 8:32

It did.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

But that was I love recreation of photos like that. I do too. Memories, and that's really fun. Um so I'll I'll do the downer one. Okay. Um, and this so yeah, this this really put everything like pushed everything back for us because we had we had stuff planned. Um like literally the next day. I was gonna have Johnny come out and we were gonna do the podcast, but we had a devastating thing happen. We lost our our dear uh cat Milo. Um I think so you know some of you will know Milo. He he was our introduction into the cat world. Um Emma got Milo uh on her sixth birthday as a surprise. Um our our third wheel sister, Raquel, actually drove out and picked up Milo and brought brought Milo back um to the house. And so um, and and we didn't have a name for him yet or anything. Uh she she brought him back and and I got to meet him for the first time. I think Rylan was there too. You know, I saw a picture of him too holding Milo when he first met him, and he's so little too.

SPEAKER_02 9:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:48

Um, but he had this very pronounced M. Um, he was a ragdoll uh cat, and he had this very pronounced M on his head.

SPEAKER_04 9:57

Yeah, like in his coloring.

SPEAKER_00 9:58

In his coloring, yeah. And it just my the name Milo just came to my my mind immediately uh when I saw that. And so it was a good name so I I named him um, but everybody was pretty on board with that pretty quickly.

SPEAKER_04 10:13

So yes, tell them his middle names.

SPEAKER_00 10:17

Socks. Yep. Uh he had white, the cutest little white paws, and he would stand so proper on the corner of the tables or wherever, and he would put his little white paws together, and it just looked like he was wearing a pair of socks. Yeah, because his legs were not white, so no, yeah, like short socks, like just covering his his toes on the on the front paws, and then the longer socks on the back legs and everything. But yeah, socks.

SPEAKER_04 10:45

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

Um, I can't remember the other middle names.

SPEAKER_04 10:48

I think I deemed rude his second middle name.

SPEAKER_00 10:54

You should elaborate.

SPEAKER_04 10:56

Um no matter how hard I tried, I could not get this cat to love me the way that I loved him. And so I was frequently calling him rude.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

Yes, you were.

SPEAKER_04 11:11

Yep. And he was, but in the best way, he was he was a good boy.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

He was he he had the the aura, I guess, of just being like king of the world. Like everything belongs to him. We are at we are his servants at his beck and call when he wants to go outside. We let him outside when he wants food, we feed him all the things. We are the peasants, yes, yeah, and if he decides that he wants to be close to you and lay next to you or even on you, yeah. Ooh, that was a big deal around here. You are the chosen one, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 11:49

Yeah, exactly. Which was not me. Sometimes it was you, very rarely. And then you had to cancel all plans for the day. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 11:59

Because the cat was on your lap. That's right. So I think that's a common across the board cat thing, though, in the cat world. If the cat decides they want to lay on you, you just you're done. You you can't do anything.

SPEAKER_03 12:10

It's all over.

SPEAKER_00 12:11

Cancel all my plans, cancel all my meetings, clear my schedule.

SPEAKER_04 12:15

Yep, and then you clear the schedule and then he gets up. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 12:18

Don't move, don't move, don't move.

SPEAKER_00 12:23

Oh, but yeah, those were some of his names. Um, but yeah, he introduced us to the cat world. He was the best. Yeah. And uh this was really, really sudden and uh no warnings this time around. He did have a close call a while back uh where we almost lost him.

SPEAKER_03 12:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:43

And uh we were able to to get him back that time. Um, but unfortunately, this time he was ready to go home. Um, and so that was a really tough night because McKay or uh Emma was up with me that night.

SPEAKER_04 12:58

Yeah, it all happened like in the middle of the night.

SPEAKER_00 13:00

Yeah, happened in the middle of the night. I just happened to be up still, which I'm not normally. Um, so I was thankful for that. Um noticed there was something wrong. Uh Emma sat with him while I called in and they said bring him in immediately. So uh it was just it there was no good news, unfortunately, uh when I brought him in and everything. So it was it was very sad. It was it was really hard for for us, and uh, and so he will be he will be dearly missed. He will be. Yeah, yeah. He was a he was a great addition to the family.

SPEAKER_02 13:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:34

And uh even Zoe was around and put up with him for a while.

SPEAKER_04 13:38

And yeah, Zoe was our dog.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 13:42

For a baby, yeah. So yeah, it was uh it was unexpected, it was like I don't know what it is, but when we lost Zoe two years ago, it was the same time. So it was like the week of Emma's birthday. So it was just once again like, what is happening? You know? So um, but I think that you know, she handled it really well. She was able to focus on the positives and then you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:10

We had some good conversations, the two of us, that night. Um, when I had to call her and let her know that um because I I fully expected to bring him home that night and everything. I was willing to to spend I d I don't know how much money we've spent on that cat over the years, but he well, he is the king. Yeah, so it was uh you know, every time Emma would be like, but we'll do whatever it takes, right? Mom, right, Dad? Yeah, big eyes, yeah, exactly what she has done.

SPEAKER_04 14:38

Like you can picture it, yeah. Blinking.

SPEAKER_00 14:40

And so um that was that was really tough. And uh, but yeah, so that was that was the big bummer of the month. Um and uh but yeah, she's she's doing well. Um she was I I was really thankful because because we had those good conversations about it and because we kind of focused on the positives and everything, she was still able to to enjoy her birthday, yeah. Um with her with their family and friends and stuff like that. So so yeah, that was those those were that that was the biggest, I think, update that I just wanted to share that kind of put things off for us. Cause obviously something like that happens, you're not feeling up to doing much of anything, let alone do a podcast or whatever.

SPEAKER_04 15:28

But we love our pets pretty hard.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

So yeah, that's I mean, I think I think that's probably pretty common. I mean to to introduce, you know, a a pet into the family. And I mean, I me being the dad and I I've tried I I had uh dogs growing up. I didn't have any cats. Well, I guess we had one cat, maybe two cats or whatever, but I was never close to the to the cats at all. I was always close to to our dog. Um my dog growing up, his name was Shadow, and so um and uh but yeah, you just get really, really close. They become members of the family, um and so losing them is like really, really tough. Yeah, but like as a grown-up, as the dad, I've tried not to get attached because I know what's coming and I know it's gonna be my responsibility when the day comes, unfortunately. And so I try, I try my best not to get attached, but they just wiggle on in there. I just love them, yeah. Yeah, they do, they just except for the fish. Yeah. Just keeping it real.

SPEAKER_04 16:46

We've lost a few of them. There was no mourning. Sorry.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

In fact, there might have been a little laughing.

SPEAKER_04 16:56

But you really can't snuggle a fish.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

No, you can't. Yeah. So now our little Luna uh is is the the solo Batterbury pet, the Batterbury household pet right now.

SPEAKER_04 17:10

Yeah, it's weird.

SPEAKER_00 17:11

Yeah, but she's doing okay.

SPEAKER_04 17:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:14

She she might seem like she's a little out of sorts sometimes when she meows and and everything, but nothing super out of the ordinary for her. She's she's always been kind of like uh I can't figure out what's going on in your head.

SPEAKER_04 17:28

Exactly. She's getting to eat more food now.

SPEAKER_00 17:31

That's true. She doesn't have to share or wait for her moment. Normally she'd yeah, Milo would just come and take care of both sides. They have their little automatic feeder, and every time I would go on. So yeah. Anyways, but yeah, those are those are the big updates. Um there's probably some other things that we've got.

SPEAKER_04 17:56

I mean, we've been busy, like it's been a surprisingly busy off quote unquote off season.

SPEAKER_00 18:03

Yeah, obviously, Easter happened this this month too, so a lot of big things happened uh for Easter and everything at church.

SPEAKER_04 18:10

Yeah, you've been doing a bunch of shoots. I've had several shoots.

SPEAKER_00 18:13

Yeah, just yeah, yeah, busy, busy. We're doing it, yeah, yeah, which kind of helps. It does, it helps, but it just means we're that much closer to to wedding seasons.

SPEAKER_04 18:23

I know. I'm so excited. Yeah, it does still feel like it's a little bit away, but um, but like every day is one day closer.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:32

Yeah, it's gonna be a good one.

SPEAKER_00 18:34

Well, let's talk about prep. And this is our prep specifically.

SPEAKER_04 18:39

Yeah. This was um when I did that poll a while back, this was the second voted topic.

SPEAKER_00 18:45

Um yeah, this is like our our personal prep, um necessary prep that how we get ready for a shoot or a wedding day. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:56

Uh um, I think I'm probably gonna end up just naturally defaulting to wedding day, but it kind of applies to all the things, really.

SPEAKER_00 19:05

Yeah. I I think there are some things in here that I saw on in our notes that will apply um to other shoots that I've done outside of weddings, but specifically about forgetting things. Yeah. So because of those uh instances, uh, we've I've had to create my own kind of checklist going down the line and making sure we do that. But um, yeah, I think this will be good.

SPEAKER_04 19:38

All right. Let's dive into it.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

Let's dive in. Okay. Go for it.

SPEAKER_04 19:44

So um you mentioned checklists, and I would say that that is imperative to have a checklist, especially when you're, you know, kind of just getting back into the swing of things or just starting out um on some bigger jobs or jobs that you know you're not in a regular rhythm to do, so you haven't memorized your checklist yet. If you haven't memorized your checklist, then do a physical checklist. Like write it out.

SPEAKER_00 20:10

Yeah, I I would even say if you're if you're so confident, like 100% I have everything, still do a checklist. Go through your checklist and make sure you have this. I guess we're speaking to our fellow photographer, videographer friends, and everything in the industry, but there have been multiple times where I'm like, oh, like I I got this. Yeah, I have all my stuff in the same spot every time, like nine out of 10 times, yeah, or 99% of the time, or whatever. It's that one, that one percent of time where I I'm just in a routine, I'm in a rhythm. I have my stuff in their places, I know that I have everything. I've had everything for the past 20 shoots or whatever. And then I show up and I'm like, oh crap. Like I decided to switch out a lens uh because of this one thing that was abnormal. Like it wasn't it wasn't something I normally do or um, yeah, just something.

SPEAKER_04 21:18

I think that makes a lot more sense for you since you switch lenses all the time. Yeah. And think I'm like definitely smart for everybody to have a physical checklist.

SPEAKER_01 21:28

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 21:28

Um, I do find myself when I we are in like the the thick of it where there's every day is the same thing. Like I will just immediately when we get back, put it all right where it needs to go to the next day. Exactly. Um and then it's all right there.

SPEAKER_01 21:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:44

So I don't guilty. Maybe I should have a physical checklist to check then. But I don't change uh change my lenses.

SPEAKER_01 21:50

No.

SPEAKER_04 21:50

So everything stays in one spot. Yeah. But if you're m moving them around, then definitely Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:56

And there's move more moving parts probably with with what I do. Oh, yes, for sure. Uh, on my shoots and everything. So there are more items that I have to make sure that I have, and I have to make sure that they're prepared and ready to go for those shoots. So I'll give you a for an instance, I guess. So, like for so for weddings, there's a specific uh like itemized list that I have for weddings specifically. But when I go and do like a talking head or interview style shoot, that requires a different set of equipment that I wouldn't need to take to wear. Definitely. Um, and so and so I have I have my list with all my items, but then like I can go through and be like, okay, I don't need that for this shoot because this is the shoot that I'm going to. Yes. But as long as I have it on the list and I go through the list and it's there and it's not like out of sight, out of mind kind of a thing. Yeah, that's smart. Which kind of goes along the lines of making sure that we have things on the calendar, you know, for our schedule.

SPEAKER_02 23:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:03

That's the same exact thing. If it's not on the calendar, I'm not gonna make it. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna go.

SPEAKER_04 23:10

It's not in the brain.

SPEAKER_00 23:11

Yeah, it's not in the brain. Nope. So um that's the the same exact thing. So sometimes there's there's been a couple times where I've showed showed up to a talking head interview style shoot, and I haven't had my my boom pull for my audio. Like that's a big deal. Um, and so, or even a stand to hold the boom pull, or you know, just stuff like that. Like that's the boom, the boom is the the microphone. It's a it's a shotgun microphone that extends out and sits over the talent, and then I can get really close to them for audio source. Um, and so it's nice and crystal clear, kind of like you're hearing now. Yeah, like uh just like this. Um, and so if I don't have that, then that's a that's a big deal, and that's gonna be a huge downgrade in audio quality if I have to try to rig something else up. But I do have backups, but I love the boom pull. I love uh the the sound of that and everything. So that's just a for instance, for example, kind of a thing.

SPEAKER_04 24:12

Yeah, and there have been times where both of us have had to run each other something that we have forgotten.

SPEAKER_00 24:19

Yeah. Um like just the other day.

SPEAKER_04 24:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:21

You had to you had to run out a uh a lens to me because I went out uh to do, I do a lot of real estate stuff, and um I usually use a specific lens for my real estate shoots, uh which is really wide. It's a 14 to 30 millimeter lens. Um, I use it for all my real estate shoots. For some reason, I swapped out my 24 to 70 f4 lens, which is a lens I never use, and I'm not exactly sure why I even threw it in there. Yeah, I know. I can't remember, but yeah, I showed up to the site and walked in. I always I always walk in and meet and meet the folks first, and then I walked out to get everything prepped and then realized I didn't have my lens, so I called Michaela immediately. I was like, Oh, can you run it out?

SPEAKER_04 25:12

Yeah, and I was able to because luckily you were available. Yeah, I I think there is a an extra layer of paranoia when it comes to days where we know that there's not like a safety net like that.

SPEAKER_01 25:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:27

So um, I don't know about you, but I've had countless nightmares, like actual nightmares um of me at a wedding and forgetting something and like a wake up and I sweat. Like like one time I had a nightmare of it was I like I didn't even have my camera. Like my case was empty. And for some reason, in the nightmare, it was like ceremony time, and that's when I realized it, which would never happen. But I was like, do I do this on my phone? Like, what do I do? And of course, weddings are always out in the boonies, you can't just call somebody. So so I think that for wedding days, especially, there's an extra layer of um paranoia, so you can check your list more, like triple check it. Where things like that when you're um switching what you're doing over and over, you maybe can not be as nervous about it, so you don't thoroughly check as much, but it's a good reminder always to have a checklist and and go through it.

SPEAKER_00 26:33

Normally it only takes one time for me to to course correct, and then you know, normally stuff doesn't happen again. But um, yeah, that that boom the boom pole thing specifically, twice now I've had an issue or three times.

SPEAKER_04 26:51

And another thing to check, uh not just on a checklist of having your gear, is make sure your stuff is charging. Um, I have had instances where my batteries have sat on the charger, or so I thought, all night, and then uh woke up and they didn't charge, and then you're out of time. So, you know, those kinds of things are the things that through experience you're like, okay, yep, I need to make sure these are working properly. All of our gear has to be tested to make sure it's working properly.

SPEAKER_01 27:23

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 27:24

Um, and not the morning of.

SPEAKER_01 27:26

Nope.

SPEAKER_04 27:27

You know, you need to be ahead of the game so that you can troubleshoot if you need to.

SPEAKER_00 27:31

Yep. I've actually been doing a a whole day when we get close to getting back into wedding season where I go through each piece of equipment thoroughly and test everything thoroughly um to make sure that everything is up to par in working order and ready to go for a new season.

SPEAKER_04 27:50

Yeah, that's good because technology can just randomly give out on you.

SPEAKER_01 27:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 27:56

And there's no reason for it.

SPEAKER_01 27:58

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 27:58

Or, you know, if you use your gear a lot like we do, then it gets tired. It needs some updates or cleanings and all those things. So you definitely have to put in the time to make sure it's all working. You don't have anything go crazy on the day.

SPEAKER_00 28:14

Yeah. Batteries and and then cards, obviously, um are the the biggest things to make sure that are ready to go. Uh I have a hot take, I guess. Okay. I don't know. I don't know. Mo most most people in our industry who I see or I follow, they don't keep cards in their cameras.

SPEAKER_04 28:37

Really?

SPEAKER_00 28:38

Yeah. Um, they keep them in you know, card case or or whatever. Um, like when they're when they're not working, they'd pull the cards out of their camera and they'd that's terrifying. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 28:51

I mean, I guess I okay. No, you go, I'm and then I'll tell.

SPEAKER_00 28:55

But I always keep my cards like I I I offload all the footage or or hand them to you for for images or whatever. And then as soon as soon as I'm done, yeah, I will put them right back into the slots in the camera. And so I don't because I don't want to have to worry about one more thing. Um to like especially small something small like that and everything. And then with you, if I if I if we do a wedding and I give my cards to you, then I'll ask, Are you are you done? Like, yep. So and then I'll bring them back over and put them back in the in the cameras.

SPEAKER_04 29:32

So I think I know why a lot of other shooters do that, even though that freaks me out because what if you show up and you have no cards?

SPEAKER_00 29:40

Yeah. Um that's the reason I was bringing it up, because I can't imagine.

SPEAKER_04 29:45

Yeah. No, thank you. Um but our cameras are different than a lot of other cameras. So we ours take CF Express or XQD cards, yeah, where they have most other cameras have SD cards.

SPEAKER_01 30:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:01

Right. So I have seen several people online who are like, I don't I have a specific SD card for every wedding, and I don't format it or use it again until I've delivered that. So it's essentially another hard drive for them. So they have like a catalog of them.

SPEAKER_01 30:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:19

Um, which I say is sure, that's great, but your SD cards are like an like a tiny fraction of how expensive our CF Express cards are. Like you can buy 15 or 10 at least for one card. So like there's no way we could afford to do a a card for every wedding and save it. No. Um I mean, yeah, especially right now because cards have gone up so much. But I mean, it's not like we're not backing them up over and over.

SPEAKER_00 30:54

So yeah, multiple places.

SPEAKER_04 30:58

So it just seems like there are different ways to do that. So if you do that, that's cool, but don't you ever worry about forgetting cards? Because that would be my scary nervous nervous thing.

SPEAKER_00 31:08

I'm sure they have a process or whatever, but I hope so. I'm like, Yeah, I don't want to have to worry about one more thing. Of course, I do have it on my checklist, but still.

SPEAKER_04 31:19

The cards.

SPEAKER_00 31:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 31:21

I'll I'll just walk through well and having backup cards because sometimes a card can fail.

SPEAKER_00 31:26

Right. Here's my video equipment checklist. I'll roll through a couple things that are like random.

SPEAKER_03 31:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 31:35

That like my fill and the fill rods and the holder.

SPEAKER_04 31:41

Yeah, nobody's gonna know what that is.

SPEAKER_00 31:43

Do you even do you even know what that is?

SPEAKER_04 31:44

I have no idea.

SPEAKER_00 31:46

Like this is just random stuff that I would never need that on a wedding day, but for a talking head interview shoot, sometimes I might need a a positive fill or a negative fill, uh, depending on how the light is is sitting in that room or whatever. Um gaff tape.

SPEAKER_04 32:04

Tape. You can never have too much tape.

SPEAKER_00 32:08

Extension cords.

SPEAKER_04 32:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 32:10

Like that's not that's not something I need all the time. Like most of the time, I like we like to run stuff off batteries for weddings so that we're not creating any more tripping hazards or anything like that. And we can move stuff quickly around if we need. Yeah, but but sometimes um like I have to put my put my lights like way far away, and the fall off from the distance uh means I have to turn the power up. And so that means that'll that'll drain batteries more. So sometimes I just like to put those on power, and so extension cords come into play there.

SPEAKER_04 32:48

Or what if your battery just fails?

SPEAKER_00 32:50

Yes, you know, exactly. What if which and vice versa?

SPEAKER_04 32:54

What if you're you lose power and you need battery?

SPEAKER_00 32:57

Yeah, you know, there you go. Yeah, we have backup batteries and stuff too for that. Um, and uh, but yeah, here's the the mic boom and holder. But I I I'll put notes like if needed. So I mean, obviously I I know that, but just the little that little stuff helps.

SPEAKER_04 33:15

Maybe we can share a screenshot of your list.

SPEAKER_00 33:18

I mean, I can I can't really fit it all in one screenshot, but yeah, and two screenshots those are just a couple examples of things that I don't you would forget them if you they weren't allowed. Sometimes I would. Yeah, yeah. Like uh, yeah, sometimes I might. And so that's just to re-emphasize the point. Like, it's good to have visual reminders uh as part of our routine, uh as part of our process, as part of our prep.

SPEAKER_04 33:47

Mm-hmm. Yeah, well, I think people underestimate, and granted, not every um photo video crew runs the same way we do with the amount of gear we have. I mean, we get teased sometimes by how much we bring.

SPEAKER_00 34:02

I've been called Batman before. Uh wedding videography Batman.

SPEAKER_04 34:06

Batman, yeah. Hey, but you're prepared for anything.

SPEAKER_00 34:09

That's right. That's true. So actually, one of my clients just said the other day they they really appreciate how I always come prepared for anything. And I and I've felt really good about that.

SPEAKER_04 34:19

That's awesome. I mean, always be prepared. I don't think we were Boy Scouts. You weren't, right, were you?

SPEAKER_00 34:26

I wasn't a regular Boy Scout, but I did some Boy Scouts.

SPEAKER_04 34:29

Yeah. So I think we both kind of have that mindset. Is I'd rather haul it all with us and just have it there in case we need it. Yep. Then not bring it and wish I had.

SPEAKER_01 34:41

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 34:41

And so there is so much, not just our cameras, not just, you know, even a tripod or whatever, which you have several, um, not just audio, we have to haul lighting, and that's separate for both of us. So video light, yep, uh, photo lights like flashes. Yep. Um, and then even stuff to carry our stuff.

SPEAKER_00 35:06

Yes. The thing to carry the thing.

SPEAKER_04 35:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:09

Yeah. So we because when you get there, you usually have to haul it across something.

SPEAKER_04 35:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:17

Ooh, let's talk about our favorite piece of gear that we have.

SPEAKER_04 35:20

This for that is your favorite. This is probably yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:27

I think two, so two years ago now, I think. I think we've had a couple years, yeah. I think we've had it for, yeah. I think this will be our third wedding season with it. But I got to the point, because I I we I always try to be efficient with how I pack things and and how I maneuver our stuff. So I have cases that like rolling cases and stuff like that for things that have helped with the heavier things, um, especially like stands and stuff that's like really awkward to hold and carry across a certain distance or whatever. But I decided to finally find like a little cart, like a portable, you know, breakdown, setup, tear-down kind of cart. Um, this is it's it's so silly and and but it's been the most useful tool yes I think I've spent money on ever.

SPEAKER_04 36:24

It cuts our load-in time in half, at least. Because at least it's there's first of all, for every wedding venue, it's very rare that you pull up and just unload right there. You always have to haul everything a great distance.

SPEAKER_01 36:42

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 36:43

And when you pull up with a car full of stuff, I mean, we're not like the DJ, but we might as well be the amount of gear that we end up having to bring, especially if we have the photo booth. But um, yeah, so it cuts it down significantly. And it just, I mean, there's nothing like starting the day when you're like completely drenched in sweat because you just hauled several heavy things across a giant field, you know. So exactly helps with that, helps your mindset too, because you're not scrambling. So it was a good investment. I think that I have seen more and more of them come out.

SPEAKER_00 37:23

Yep. Um, yeah, there are there are like production carts and stuff like that that people have used for a long time, but for these simple, like this wasn't even a hundred bucks, this is probably 70 bucks or something like that to buy this. Oh man.

SPEAKER_02 37:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:38

Um, and I've even used it during like during the day in the wedding day because I I have a a little lighter, more simplified setup now, but I used to have uh giant cameras, huge batteries, monitor on the tripod kind of a thing, huge lenses, like it was super heavy, and I have three of them to set up for the ceremony and then haul them to wherever the reception is, kind of a kind of a setup.

SPEAKER_04 38:05

It's not fun to carry there was a cross to build a lot of things.

SPEAKER_00 38:08

I feel so bad when I have to run off and do something, and then I have to leave my second to you know like haul those across or whatever. And it's like you can't carry all three of them at the same time. You can you can barely carry two of them at the same time.

SPEAKER_04 38:22

Try as I might.

SPEAKER_00 38:23

Yeah. And so so now that we have that cart, you can just you can break down the tripod or you know, shorten the legs, um, and then you can actually just lay them in there carefully. Carefully, but like they're all ready to go and they're still set up on the tripods. You just pull them out, extend the legs, set them up where you need them, and then you're good to go again. So that's it's been just a great tool to have. So if you haven't gotten one of those yet, I highly recommend it.

SPEAKER_04 38:52

Yes, and then I would add a little note to that though, because actually, this is a note and a request, because with all of this gear comes a lot of cases and um stuff that carry the gear, and it is not the most pleasing to the eye, especially when you're trying to have a really pretty, clean wedding aesthetic.

SPEAKER_01 39:17

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 39:18

And oftentimes at venues, there is nowhere to put that. Yeah. And so by default, everybody always tries to cram everything by the DJ booth because he usually has a table. Although a lot of DJs have like their own setup now that's really clean and pretty. And so they do not want your stuff there. And I don't want it there, I don't either, but that's like kind of like the where else do I put it thing. So um, same with, you know, like we will often put the cases back in the cart, but then still it looks like unfinished if that's just sitting out, you know. So we'll try and find a corner to put it in or whatever. But then we did come up with this was your idea too, um, bringing our own table and tablecloth.

SPEAKER_00 40:01

Yep, little folding table.

SPEAKER_04 40:02

Yeah, to put not in like the main room, but somewhere off to the side, yeah, where we can use that as like a staging area to put, I mean, especially for you guys, like you put your gear together and it takes a minute. You have to have some space to do that, you know.

SPEAKER_00 40:19

So it's been really nice to have the surface to be able to set up, build our cameras out, that kind of stuff. Yeah, have the drone ready to go, have a secondary camera, this just stuff sitting on top, ready to go. Yep, and then being able to hide our cases underneath because of the the tablecloth. It looks really clean. It does. And a lot of people have have mentioned that it's it's really nice. You know, we it's obvious we put effort into that.

SPEAKER_04 40:43

So um venues, if there's a space for that, like or if there's not, please like think about it. That's you know, like if there's a staging area, real yeah, it's better if it's close to where everything's happening so that we don't have to run or get locked out or whatever. Then that is just a game changer for the the media team. So, anyways, yes.

SPEAKER_00 41:06

It's it's a big deal and it's much appreciated when they do have space like that.

SPEAKER_04 41:10

So that's part of our our prep to make sure we have an an area like that.

SPEAKER_00 41:15

Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 41:16

Bonus points if there's access to power.

SPEAKER_00 41:18

Yeah, please, that would be great. Although we don't we don't rely on no power there, but like especially if it's a really long day, yeah, and we have to recharge batteries. Um, yeah, that's that's great if if we can have access to power. Um but yeah, thanks for bringing that up. I totally forgot about that, but that's been a big deal when we when we know that we can bring it and set it up somewhere at the table. Because sometimes we we know that we're not gonna have any place to to set it up anyway, so we just don't worry about it.

SPEAKER_04 41:51

Yep. So but anytime we can, we will.

SPEAKER_00 41:55

Yep, exactly. Weather.

SPEAKER_04 41:59

Weather.

SPEAKER_00 42:00

There's chapter how how do you prep how do you prep for weather in the Pacific Northwest?

SPEAKER_04 42:06

Oh my gosh. Okay, so I feel like becoming a weatherman or meteorologist or whatever it is, yeah. Is that what you call it? Yeah, um, is like another hat that we have to wear. And granted, I don't know how it all works, like with the cold front or whatever, but um stalking multiple weather reporting sites for hourly, weekly, whatever, watching radar, not just um what it says the day is gonna be, but actually looking in the space we're gonna be, what the radar says. Like this is something we are doing constantly.

SPEAKER_01 42:44

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 42:44

Like this is this is a part of our day.

SPEAKER_01 42:47

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 42:48

Throughout the day.

SPEAKER_01 42:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 42:49

Um, because it matters what the weather's gonna do for us. It matters where we're gonna shoot, what our plan of action is gonna be, it matters what we're gonna do with our gear. It's it's all very important and relevant.

SPEAKER_00 43:02

Yeah, and it's not just rain or no rain, it's cloud cover or no cloud cover. It's where's the sun gonna be? At what time of the day, like which direction are we facing during this time of day and all that kind of stuff. Like, yeah, there's so many things that can be.

SPEAKER_04 43:17

Is it gonna be windy?

SPEAKER_00 43:19

Yeah. And and then even on the on the because I fly drone, and so that's like a whole other layer. Because then now I have to check where's the where's the cloud level at? Yeah. Um, like can I even fly? Because I have to fly a certain uh feet underneath the cloud level, yep. Um, and everything. And I have to check airspace. So on top of the weather, I have to check airspace to see if I'm in the proper airspace. Like that's that's been a whole other layer. Um, and if we are in an area where I have to ask permission, like you have to do that ahead of time. Yeah, is it is it just through lank? We call it L A A N C. That's that's through an app that I use to be able to schedule a specific flight in a specific area for a certain amount of time at a certain level.

SPEAKER_02 44:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:10

Uh AGL, which is above ground level flight with my drone. Like I have, I have to, I have to go through now the the length through the app that I use, that's instantaneous. So that's not that big of a deal. But if we are in a restricted airspace where I do have to get permission, where I have to call into ATC or whatever to get permission, um, that can take a decent amount of time. It's true. So so I'm not I'm a rule fall rule follower. So I'm not gonna be the kind I'm not gonna be the guy that shows up and and sees something like that and it's just like, oh well, I'll just do it anyway. Like that's never gonna be me.

SPEAKER_04 44:50

Well, it's illegal.

SPEAKER_00 44:52

Yeah, exactly. And I and I get so frustrated with people that just do things because they they don't care, they feel like the rules don't apply to them.

SPEAKER_02 45:01

That's well, they're not gonna get caught. So why not?

SPEAKER_00 45:03

You know, and that has continued to make it harder and harder for us drone pilots to operate in freedom without having all these restrictions and all these regulations all the time.

SPEAKER_04 45:16

Yeah, you ruin it for ruining it for everyone else. Yeah. Come on, guys, do it right. So also, like in case you didn't know, you cannot commercially, which if you're making a profit off of whatever you're doing, you cannot uh fly a drone commercially without a certification.

SPEAKER_00 45:32

And it's even it's even more tedious than that. It's it's the intent of the flight. So not even if you're making money off of it, if you intend to share it for views that is gonna give you income or something like that, or promote your company or anything like that.

SPEAKER_03 45:47

Marketing, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:48

Yeah, like that's all covered under the Part 107 uh license and everything. And so it's it's a big deal.

SPEAKER_04 45:55

Which you have to take a full course on, you have to have an exam and you have to renew it.

SPEAKER_00 46:00

Renew it, yeah, every two years.

SPEAKER_04 46:02

Um, so yeah, just there's a little tidbit that makes sure and you have to register your drones. Oh, yes, that too.

SPEAKER_00 46:09

Yeah, and so there's a whole other world that I've invested in for that kind of stuff, but it's a service that I love to provide.

SPEAKER_04 46:16

It has And you're so good at it. Oh, thanks. I love it.

SPEAKER_00 46:20

It's actually become a lot of fun uh to do it and everything. Like when I was first starting, it was pretty nerve-wracking. Sure. Um, not only just because I'm flying a drone and I'm like worried about just crashing or whatever, but also because I'm worried about people like coming after me or whatever, you know. Like, what are you doing with that drone? And obviously, we know people are pretty on edge and everything as far as surveillance and stuff, and so um, I do I do my very best to be invisible, to, to get the stuff I need within regulations, and then and then leave. I don't like to to hover or take too long with that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_03 47:02

And so that's good. Hi, Emma.

SPEAKER_00 47:07

Our daughter.

SPEAKER_03 47:10

Morning, sunshine.

SPEAKER_00 47:13

Uh but yeah, so that's a whole other whole other side of the prep that we have to do. Yeah. Um is weather and radar.

SPEAKER_04 47:22

The conditions. Um, it really does affect like our game plan for the day, where our first choice uh location is gonna be versus where we're gonna have to pivot. And I always want to have a backup plan before going into it. Like so I'm not just on the fly going, um, well, let's go over here, you know.

SPEAKER_00 47:40

Yep, right.

SPEAKER_04 47:41

Yeah, all of that is part of it.

SPEAKER_00 47:43

Um, you're being proactive, not reactive.

SPEAKER_04 47:46

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 47:47

Yeah, as much as we can. Seriously. We have to be ready to be reactive.

SPEAKER_04 47:51

We're always on our toes, but yeah, absolutely. Um another thing, so we'll just I know it's getting lengthy, but no, is it?

SPEAKER_00 48:00

Yeah, we're good.

SPEAKER_04 48:01

Yay. Um, okay, so the other thing that is proactive is self-care. Um, this is something that's difficult because but our job is so cush. Yeah, it's such a cushy job. What what no?

SPEAKER_00 48:17

Um like we literally just we don't do anything and we go out and take pictures and it's super easy.

SPEAKER_04 48:24

Like, okay, isn't okay, that's a whole like side thing.

SPEAKER_00 48:27

That could be another podcast episode.

SPEAKER_04 48:28

Yeah, like what do you do? Yeah, because nobody seems to fully understand our jobs, but yeah, anyways, um, there is something to the responsibility of knowing that somebody is fully relying on you to capture the biggest day of their life.

SPEAKER_01 48:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 48:46

So you have to kind of be responsible about that, right? Like think about putting yourselves in dangerous situations where you could potentially be taken out of commission because you're injured, or yeah, um, you know, trying to take care of a sickness before it becomes a problem. Like avoid getting sick if you can, which is hard, but we do have things like we you know, just start chugging the emergency or whatever, you know. So those kinds of things are important, not being reckless. Yep, you know, taking care of yourself as much as you can.

SPEAKER_01 49:22

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 49:23

Um, we have learned this the hard way a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 49:27

Do you You're gonna bring up that story?

SPEAKER_04 49:30

We haven't brought it up, have we? Or did we? I don't remember. I think we might have. We might have, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:35

But yeah, we can we can circle back to that.

SPEAKER_04 49:39

Yeah, I mean, there's just for years now, there have been like instances where people I mean, we can't put our family fun on hold because within reason. Yeah, like I am not going to go try extreme uh tubing on a lake right now because I probably am going to hurt myself.

SPEAKER_01 50:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 50:02

And I cannot have my arms injured or my legs injured, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 50:06

So yeah, I'm just gonna be the party pooper and be like, it's kind of like it's kind of like being an athlete or something like that, I suppose. Where but yeah, I so the story she's referring to, we'll hit that real quick. We had a a New Year's Eve wedding that we were booked for, and we decided the day before we did um it was gonna we were gonna go up to the mountain, up to Mount Hood and have a family snow day and everything like that, and just have a great time.

SPEAKER_05 50:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:36

And so we found a little spot for the kids to pull out the tubes and play in the snow and stuff like that. Um, and there's this back road that was just full of snow and everything, so we're not expecting anybody, let alone any cars. No. Well, next thing we know, there's this little sedan, yeah, just trying it's trying its very best to get out from apparently they drove deep into this area, and I don't again, I don't know how they even got back to to where they did, but they're they're coming uh towards us to get out to the main road again. And um I'm thinking, oh my gosh, they're gonna get stuck. And sure enough, they got they get stuck. And so long story short, I tried to help them get pushed out of of the where they got stuck and everything, just tried rocking them back and forth. I ended up popping my knee out of place, yeah. Um, and that was really excruciating. That was really painful. Um, and so, but I mean, the wedding the wedding was the next day. I had no backup plan. Um, I had nobody else. Obviously, I don't think anybody would even be available. It's New Year's Eve, so um, but yeah, put a put a did I put a brace on my knee or wrapped my knee or something like that? Yeah. We drugged you, yeah, took pain pills, um, and uh but made it through. Yes. Um, and the the film turned out actually, I was pleasantly surprised um with how much coverage I was still able to get, considering. Um, but yeah, those are the kind of things you keep in mind, like not putting yourself in in situations where you could potentially get hurt because people are relying on you for those the the wedding days specifically, those are those are moments that cannot be recreated.

SPEAKER_02 52:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 52:28

Um, and so not only being prepared and ready to go to get the shot on the day, but the self-care in preparation to be there and so they can count on you for that day. Yeah. Um yeah, it's a big deal.

SPEAKER_04 52:40

So you know, getting sleep, yeah. Yes, yeah, even like getting sleep the night before, you know, just if you can't, if you can't, just still to this day.

SPEAKER_00 52:50

I s I struggle. Like if I know there's a we have a wedding the next day, I'm like, uh it's like the anxious butterfly of like exactly anticipation.

SPEAKER_04 52:59

Yeah, but yes, trying as best as you can, being smart about that, right? Um not going out and partying or whatever, you know.

SPEAKER_00 53:08

Oh, you know us, you know us.

SPEAKER_04 53:10

But yeah, those those kinds of things, like taking care of yourself, unless our friends call us out for dessert and drinks after 8 30, 9 o'clock at night. Oh man.

SPEAKER_00 53:22

Shout out.

SPEAKER_04 53:23

We love you guys. That's just proof of our love.

SPEAKER_00 53:27

Oh man. Um, I don't remember the last time we left the house at that time.

SPEAKER_04 53:32

Yeah, we're so old.

SPEAKER_00 53:35

We are, but we aren't. It's it's funny. We're we're pretty young parents, um, and we got married young. So, like we are young, we're only 41 years old. Yeah, but we've been married for 21 years this year, yeah. And we have an almost 18-year-old son, so we're in a much later stage of life at for our age, and so that always is funny, yeah. Because we kind of get set in our ways like an old couple, old married couple. It's true, which I'm good with.

SPEAKER_04 54:08

I'm I mean, we're kind of old to old, so it works.

SPEAKER_00 54:11

Yeah, I love getting old with you.

SPEAKER_03 54:14

Oh romantic. So romantic.

SPEAKER_00 54:21

Like whenever you see the videos of the old couples like going for walks in the park or whatever, stuff stuff like that. Like, well, that's gonna be us somebody.

SPEAKER_04 54:29

Okay, have you seen the um it's like a meme, it's a f uh side by side of like what it was to be like a 45-year-old woman in the 90s versus now.

SPEAKER_00 54:41

Like uh it's like the golden girls, oh yes, yes, yes, what they dressed like, you know, or whatever versus now.

SPEAKER_04 54:49

Like I feel like maybe our souls are closer to those.

SPEAKER_00 54:53

I agree.

SPEAKER_04 54:53

Like, I agree, even though 40-year-olds look like 20-year-olds or whatever. So yes, anyways, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 55:01

I'm not I'm not afraid of getting old at all. So I'm actually I'm enjoying the the journey. Likewise. Yep.

SPEAKER_04 55:10

It'd be great if you know the the body moved a little bit faster without aches and pains or you know, those kinds of things, but it's fine. If my knees didn't hurt after a wedding day or whatever, but it's fine. I will take it.

SPEAKER_01 55:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 55:28

Um, okay. I also have clothing and shoes on the list.

SPEAKER_00 55:32

It's it's a big deal. Like it's so it might sound silly to some people, but it's kind of a big deal.

SPEAKER_04 55:38

Yeah, I mean it it's good to have a plan on what you're going to wear and make sure it's um functioning properly. Yep. And um wardrobe malfunctions. Yeah, I had one of those ones.

SPEAKER_00 55:50

Gaff tape to the rescue.

SPEAKER_04 55:52

Oh my gosh. You guys, it was like a jumper. So it was a one piece and it was it was really cute. It was like my favorite wedding outfit because it was it I didn't have to worry about like adjusting things.

SPEAKER_05 56:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 56:07

Um and right before the ceremony, okay. First of all, McKenzie was shooting with me, and I love her dearly. She's amazing. We need to have her on too. Yes, we do. Um she she's always reminding me that I need to drink water.

SPEAKER_01 56:27

It's good.

SPEAKER_04 56:28

It's that's it's a great, great quality to have. But um, I don't like to have to worry about finding a bathroom on the wedding day. Like obviously, you need to. I I get it, but like I'm busy.

SPEAKER_01 56:42

Yeah, right. So I got things to do. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 56:46

So she's always bringing me water, especially on a hot day like this day.

SPEAKER_01 56:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 56:50

And so then I had to go to the bathroom.

SPEAKER_01 56:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 56:53

Well, when you're in a one piece and it zips in the back, yeah, it's hard.

SPEAKER_01 56:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 56:58

Okay. I figured it all out, but sometime somehow when I re-zipped it this time, it broke the zipper. And so my whole backside was exposed. And I didn't realize this until like we're about to start the ceremony. And I'm like, wow, it's like breezy. And we were the ceremony was separate from like all of our stuff. Separate part. Yep. And so I had to quickly ask, I think it was the DJ if they had gaff tape, because ours was not even there. And give me a long strip of tape, and we just taped me up.

SPEAKER_01 57:39

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 57:40

And it did hold, but yeah, yeah, not ideal. Not ideal. Yep. Um, and I should have probably had a backup outfit, but I don't think of that.

SPEAKER_00 57:52

I mean, yeah, backup outfit, but I guess not a bad idea. Another next level of of preparation.

SPEAKER_04 57:59

If I wear another jumpsuit, yeah, I will bring a backup outfit.

SPEAKER_00 58:03

Well, you found a solution now, didn't you? With your new jumper.

SPEAKER_04 58:08

Oh, yeah. There's there's a new one um from Halara that has like uh it how do I explain this?

SPEAKER_00 58:19

I mean, the the female audience will understand.

SPEAKER_04 58:22

So the back side of it, it like it looks like a jumper. It is a jumper, it's all connected in the front, but the back side has like a stretchy waistband um in the back and a hidden um seam so that you can pull the back side down without having to unzip it. Yeah, it's genius, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 58:44

But yeah, perfect.

SPEAKER_04 58:46

I could have used that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 58:49

Hindsight.

SPEAKER_04 58:50

Yeah, but anyways, there's nothing worse than um going to put on your your outfit or shoes and you're you know getting ready to go so you don't have a full day to clean it and finding it's dirty or broken or ripped or whatever. So yeah, this is one thing for us when we're in the thick of it. Um our shoes. Yeah. Enter the thick of it. Huh. Wow, that was like everywhere during COVID. Okay. Um, so when we're in the thick of it, yeah, we wear shoes, like we have different shoes for different levels of formality for weddings, but a lot of the summer ones are outdoors in like dirty areas, not dirty, but you know, like nature. Yeah. So you're walking around in in fields or whatever, our shoes get dirty.

SPEAKER_01 59:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 59:48

And they don't look nice anymore after one full day of trekking around all the fields.

SPEAKER_01 59:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 59:53

So if you're doing back-to-back weddings and then the next day you go to put on your shoes and they look like you just like stomped through the mud, no good.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:02

Yep, no good.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:03

Something you need to check out before that.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:06

Yep. If it's just dust, take a take an air compressor to it.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:10

Oh, that's smart.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:11

Yeah. So I got a little handheld one, but I have our air compressor in the garage. So I can do that if it's d if it's just dusty. But if it's muddy.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:20

Pressure washer?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:22

Sure. Then you just need time for it to dry. No, but I I I have found we've both found sets of shoes that kind of fit that, you know, they're they're casual yet classy.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:41

But they're comfortable. That's the important thing.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:43

When you're on your feet for 10 plus hours of the day, plus carrying an extra 15 pounds of gear.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:52

You need you need comfort, you need support, and everything. And so, yeah, we found some some decent shoes for that and everything. Of course, we got the nicer stuff. Like, I got my boots um for for nicer and even my dress shoes now.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:06

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:06

When I have to go work for Josh.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:09

Because he's a fancy boy.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:10

He's a fancy boy. How do your feet feel after those days?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:16

Those are nice shoes, actually. So no complaints. Yeah, no complaints.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:19

I feel like maybe guys have the leg up there because women's like nice, nice shoes or very formal shoes are. I don't know. Maybe other people have found solutions. I have not for formal, formal shoes. For women's shoes.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:34

Maybe I just need to wear the dude ones. Yeah. Do you think they make them in my size?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:40

Yeah, maybe size threes. Maybe. You'll have to go to the junior section.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:48

Oh, go to the little boys. And then they won't have the support.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:53

No.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:54

Yeah, that's the problem. Um, okay, so another thing that we do for prep is just a lot of communication with our couples or families or whoever we're working with. And we've talked about this before, but the questionnaires, um, our notes that we share, that we just have everything in one place so that it's easily referenced and accessible on the day is so helpful. And also make sure that you download anything to your phone before you get out of service range.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:27

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:28

Make sure you just kind of anticipate the worst um case scenario. Like if I had no power, no weather, uh no good weather, no um service, what would I do? You know, and then and prep for that.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:44

Yeah. Um something that I gotta give props to Emma Berman real quick because something that she's done for us for a while now is create a really pretty little timeline that we can use as our wallpaper on our phones.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:58

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:58

She didn't know. Which has all the the time and everything, and that's from your your timeline that you you send out to all of us. But she takes the time to make a really nice, pretty one. So all you have to do is just grab your phone, just look at it, yeah, and then it wakes up and then you can see it real quick.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:14

Um, that's that's been really, really nice. So shout out, Emma. Good job. Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:19

Debe. Um, so that and also like studying it before you're there. I mean, oftentimes I will finalize the notes the a day or two before.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:35

Um, of course, we start them way before that, but that's when we like really start studying them.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:41

Right.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:42

And then even when we're driving to the wedding, we're verbally walking through the day, we're verbally confirming things that we need to keep in mind, you know, sensitive situations or goals that we have.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:55

That's mostly for me because I have a really short attention span. And if she tells me too too far in advance, then I'll forget everything.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:02

Well, in your defense, we do a lot of weddings.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:06

We do.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:07

So it's really easy to mix details up.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:10

So But I'm not naive enough to not admit that's just not one of my strengths. Well, okay.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:16

So it's okay. Um, but all of that is something to do like a refresh on at least right before you're going into it. But don't make the first time you're looking at it be when you are going there or get there. Yeah. Because that's not gonna work out for you.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:33

Yep, yep. Um exactly.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:35

Yes. And one other thing, probably the last thing, unless you have another one to add, is like real talk.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:43

Like yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:45

We touched on it in the episode with Johnny just a little bit, but the imposter syndrome is real. So uh it's not uncommon for at least myself, I don't know about you, oh yeah, to have moments where I'm like, do I remember how to do this? Is this do I even know what I'm doing? And I just start looking for inspiration or how I've actually not too long ago typed in how to pose a wedding couple.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:13

You know, yeah, you know, but I've been doing this 15 years. I just like search that.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:19

And then I mean, oftentimes there's reassurance in the fact that everything I'm finding is stuff that I already have done or whatnot. But sometimes you're looking for something new and refreshing and just um finding that inner voice of like, you're you're just like stale and you don't have any cool new ideas, and you're not, you know. Yeah. And that is the I I'm assuming a very human nature, but also the nature of the creative mind to not want to be stuck, to always want to be giving your best or or creating new exciting things.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:53

And so that's something Yeah, it's staying relevant too. Yeah. Like it's that's all part of the journey and everything with A vastly, you know, and very fast growing industry and everything. And ever changing.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:06

Ever changing. And um, but yeah, that happens to me all the time, especially for things that I don't that either I have a large gap in between when doing them, like weddings, or specifically shooting photos with you at weddings. That's true. Because I don't do that nearly as often. And so every time when I know what my responsibilities are going to be uh on on those specific days, I'll look up poses for groomsmen, you know, just like fun kind of inspirational stuff like that. Like, and I'll comment all the time. I don't know if I remember how to do this. That kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:40

That's our running joke. Like, yeah, do we think we can remember this? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:44

Yeah. But something that is that has been helpful. Like we just did this the other the other night is pulling pulling up, um, and me specifically, but pulling up old highlight films. Um, and just remembering the the joy of of the couples that we've been able to be a part of in the past and the films and how they came out, how they turned out and everything.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:06

And and I'll and I'll watch them and I'll I'll still be surprised by some of the things that are in there, or you know, the dialogue that's in there, and I'll have forgotten, or something like that. That stuff is is fun to not only reminisce, but it also reminds me of who we are.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:25

Um, and and who we've built red letter days to be. And so that is an encouragement for me to know that we're still we're still getting bookings, you know, we're still getting to meet new people, we're still getting to do what we love, even after all these years, after all we've been through, yeah, um, and all that kind of stuff. And so not only do we reach out for outside inspiration, but I I am encouraged whenever I look back at some of our old work and everything and and reminded of the couples that we've been able to work with and watching those old films and stuff like that. It's it's okay. It's a good reminder that we we are exactly where we're supposed to be. We're our the product we deliver, quote unquote, is exactly a representation of who we are, and then in turn it's a representation of who the couple is and stuff like that. And and so I am encouraged in that. But yeah, that's really good. Yeah. Yeah, I think it's so easy to compare yourself to other people and other, you know, artists, and it it's really not fair to yourself to do that because they're on different paths, different journeys, and they're in different spots and different, you know, like and it's a healthy balance too in that, yeah, because I think there is uh a certain health to doing that because that will always push you to become better, you know, or to think outside of a box that maybe you've put yourself in that kind of stuff, but like find inspiration. Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:56

There's a quote that I heard heard um pretty early on in doing this, and it stuck with me. It's it was the only photographer you should be comparing yourself to is your earlier self.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:11

And it's good. I that was just it stuck with me because while I love, like you said, looking for inspiration in other places, maybe being inspired to learn new things, like new lighting tricks or new whatever it is, you know. Yeah. Um, because we should always be learning and growing. Yeah. But the most growth, where you should measure your growth, is looking where you've come.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:34

Right.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:35

And um, I just I like that. Yeah. I think it's healthy to have both, like you said.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:41

Good. I think that's a life thing too, just in general.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:44

Because I think naturally we as humans, especially nowadays when we have access to all the social media and stuff, you're constantly comparing your life to other people.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:55

That's true.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:56

Um, and so the important thing is that you see how far you've come. Like if you were if you were able to come face to face with yourself 10 years ago and have a conversation, they were able to see where you're at now and everything. Like, what would they say? They wouldn't be disappointed in you, I'm sure of it. And so they would be like just pumped beyond belief. Like, I can't believe, you know. So that's something to keep in mind for us today. That's a good, that's a good note to end on, I think. Yeah, that's a good one. Um, hopefully this was helpful to to our listeners. It was helpful to me. Maybe.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:32

I mean, it's nice to just chat about it. Yeah. And I think there's a lot of aspects in to preparation that people have no idea.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:39

Right, exactly. Yeah, how much actually goes into it.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:43

Everything. There's a lot. There's a lot every single time.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:46

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:47

It's not just a prepare once and then you're good to go.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:50

It's every single time before every every single shoot.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:54

So true.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:54

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:55

And after, maybe we'll get to that someday. All of our postwork.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:59

Oh, yeah. That's a whole other beast. Yep, it is. Holy moly. All right, guys. Anything else?

SPEAKER_04 1:11:05

No, I think I've talked long enough.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:08

I think it was a good episode.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:09

Oh, good.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:10

Yeah. And it was really good, literally in preparation for the wedding season. That's just around the corner.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:16

So I need to go check my checklist.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:18

Yep. Lots of good reminders. I was just looking at my checklist. I'm like, there's things that I need to pull off of here. There's things that I need to add into there.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:26

Um, it's been a while since I've actually gone through and edited the things, but um, yeah, excited for the the new the the upcoming wedding season.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:35

Yes, me too.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:36

Love you so much.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:37

Love you.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:38

All right, bye guys. Thanks for tuning in. Thank you. We'll see you in the next episode coming up at some point in the near future.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:44

Bye.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:45

Bye.