Shoot Wisely the Creators Podcast with Amir Ebrahimi

18 Samantha Jacob - Wedding Photography & Building a lasting brand

• Amir Ebrahimi

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WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY
& BUILDING A
LASTING BRAND


Navigating Creativity and Business as a Modern Photographer with Samantha Jacob

Discover how Samantha Jacob, a versatile photographer based in Miami, leverages different cities' energies, combines creative pursuits with business growth, and adapts her marketing strategies in this insightful episode. Whether you're starting out or scaling your photography career, her journey offers practical tips on branding, networking, and utilizing AI tools for efficiency.


Main Topics Covered:

  • Adapting photography style and marketing strategies across Miami, Vegas, San Diego, and beyond
  • The role of Google Ads, SEO, and social media in lead generation
  • Building a unique personal brand through presentation and lifestyle integration
  • The creative potential of lifestyle, event, product, and editorial photography
  • Strategies for entering wedding photography via portfolio development and venue collaborations
  • The importance of location, lighting, and observing moments in wedding shoots
  • Challenges in managing client expectations and workflow efficiency
  • Innovative ideas for wedding photo albums, editorial stories, and print products
  • The impact of AI on photography workflows and post-production
  • Balancing social energy and professionalism during long wedding days
  • Navigating the evolving wedding industry and global destination weddings
SPEAKER_03

Welcome to Shoot Wisely, the Content Creators Podcast. I'm your host, Amir Bahimi. With over 25 years of production experience, as a documentarian, my cameras have taken me across this country and around this amazing world, capturing and telling stories. The Shoot Wisely Podcast is a conversation with fellow storytellers with the goal to inspire. Today's guest is someone who truly embodies what it means to bet on yourself and take full control of your creative path. Samantha Jacobs is a lifestyle and wedding photographer whose journey has taken her from Kansas to Las Vegas through San Diego and now to Miami. Each move, shaping not only her perspective, but her career. She's built her brand through attention, hustle, and a clear understanding that success in photography doesn't just come from talent. It comes from creating your own opportunities. In this episode, we dive into what it really takes to carve your own lane in a competitive industry. Samantha shares her thoughts on the importance of the hustle, how to leverage the tools around you to promote your work, and how to consistently attract and book photography jobs while staying true to your vision. How is it living in Miami in terms of your creative process and just your career?

SPEAKER_04

So different than all the other cities. I feel like every city has its own personality and demographic and ways people book people. So it's like been a learning curve. Vegas was by far probably the easiest for me personally with weddings and allotments, was by far the easiest in terms of getting leads and stuff. Cause it's just so it's a smaller city and a ton of weddings and stuff. Whereas San Diego, a lot of creatives on the West Coast. Like it's just saturated with really, really talented creatives. So standing out in that market was a little more difficult. Um Google Ads was a huge player in the San Diego market for me. Now that I'm in Miami, I'm still kind of in this like transition phase of figuring out what works and what doesn't. I'm kind of back to the lead generation platforms I was on in Vegas, which is great. It just requires more admin and outreach versus the ads were nice because they would just come to me. Um but I have faith. I just feel like it's taking a while for the SEO to kind of catch up. I'm still getting tons of leads from the West Coast. So I will be going back to San Diego and Vegas quite often come fall, especially.

SPEAKER_03

That's one thing I really admired when we talked last time is how much you are in control and take um the lead in the business side of the photography and you know, using the internet and and getting yourself out there. And, you know, like you said with the Google ads. How important is that?

SPEAKER_04

I didn't believe in Google Ads. I always thought it was kind of like a like gambling. Um, because anytime I had tried it without really doing much research, I just lost a lot of money and didn't get much out of it. And then I'd met someone in San Diego who created a huge business that was very niche. And I'm like, how do you even find clients for such a niche company and Google Ads? It kind of just went through the whole process, keywording properly, demographics, just everything. And then I tried it for myself. And it took like two or four weeks, nothing really hit. And then coincidentally, I went to Paris with some friends, and as I'm sitting, we're like all sitting at a cafe in Paris, and I just got like five or six leads that day coming in, and I'm looking at everyone, I'm like, you guys, I think it's working. Finally, I have faith in Google Ads, it's working. So I think it just takes a while because when you first put out an ad with Google, it kind of has to see who's clicking on converting. So it does take a while to allow like Google Ads itself to catch up with knowing your demographic on who's converting for you and then showing those types of people more. But even my demographic now has changed. So I couldn't run the same ad I ran in San Diego. It would have to be a whole different ad out here, is a whole different ad out here. I also raised prices to hit a different crypt demographic. So whereas I'm not booking as much, they're paying much more.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

So it's just also like making my niche of people much smaller. Um, part of me does think maybe I should just go back to lower rates and just work, work, work. But that's like what I was trying to phase out of because burnout is real. And you don't want to show up to someone's wedding exhausted from taking photos. Like that's just not the energy you want to bring to a day like that. So I was like, you know what, I'd be less burnt out if I just cranked up the prices and then just be aware that I'm not gonna get as many leads and as many people booking, but it will take me further because I'll have more free time to do other things and outsource other ways and stuff like that. So what is big in Miami that hit has really popped off for me since I moved here is a lot of events. I never I don't push myself as an event photographer or like a product photographer, but there's so many events out here that the minute you go photograph one, you meet 30 people that have something they're promoting the next weekend. Or I'm just I did a Limoncello company last week and I'm following up with them this weekend for another event. So stuff I didn't initially push for. I mean, I'm happy to do any kind of photographic work, but um events right now are kind of big for me in Miami. But I feel like that's just kind of the lead into meeting people that also know people that are getting married. It's just it just takes patience, which really is hard for me to find sometimes.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I could see the event things working out for you because uh your present your personal presentation is is so striking that in your work is so good that you know some of these high-end events, they don't just even if you're a good photographer, and I'm not trying to say it's um superficial, but it's like even though you're a good photographer, you have to present yourself in a certain way to personality high-end photographer. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. I'm like dancing around the event, talking with everyone, getting to know them. Because you can't just show up, not engage, put a camera in their face, and get like a good photo. They're gonna be like, get this out of it. What are you doing? I'm enjoying myself. You approach, just hang out, have fun. All of a sudden they just want to kind of will you take my photo?

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

And of course, the later, the more the events go on, the more people kind of want their photo taken. So again, patience.

SPEAKER_03

But and how's the product photography going?

SPEAKER_04

I kind of I and I'm liking it more than I thought I would. Just because I am naturally very introverted. So my social battery has a very quick limit. And even though I'm taking like a vent with people, like the main bulk of it is the product, and that's not a person. I can just be fully creative and not have to like gauge a personality or comfortability or posing, or and I can just have fun with it. So that's kind of opened up a little creative door that I guess I didn't realize I was missing. Because even detail shots during weddings, like the ring and the veil and the dress, some of those are some of my favorite, just because again, I can get creative with it. I can throw like the flower on or the ring on a stem of a flower, just be weird. Um, and that's kind of what the products allow me to do. So I don't mind.

SPEAKER_03

When I was in New York, I I uh one of the many jobs I have was was a set designer. And sometimes I would get pulled into like still life and I would work with these still life photographers and I'd be like, wow, this is a whole different thing, you know. And it was kind of intimidating because there was nobody to work off of. But then you have like these objects that you can just spend forever tweaking. And so I think you said that a lot of times the events has a product.

SPEAKER_04

So you're shooting Yeah, it depends event to event. Um I just like shot an event for the event, um, the first event I had here, and then I met someone there who she was a woman-owned company, she's owning a lemon cello brand. She's gonna throw an event next weekend. She'd really like event photos, but mainly focus on like the product. Um, so then just kind of started snowballing from there. It really is a network game.

SPEAKER_03

Have you ever have have you ever done products where people send it to you and you need to create like a little set at home or or in your studio?

SPEAKER_04

No, but I've considered getting like the UGC side of stuff. I've considered it. Um Yeah, I've considered it. Again, it's just like the outreach. It's the admin of like creating portfolios per each type of product and then finding the right emails and the right like I'm not naturally a salesperson. Like I truly am naturally a creative person, and the business side came out because I had to, because like yeah, everything's a business.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

My niece is graduating high school this year, and I told her, I was like, no matter what you're going to college for, get at least a minor in business or marketing, because no matter what you're doing, you're going to need to market yourself and know how business is run. Like that's one regret I do have in my educational life is I didn't, I'm all self-taught on the business side and pretty much through trial and error, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_03

I've just figured out what doesn't work first. I've been reading this sponsor magnet. You should definitely check that out. I'll put that in a link as well. It's it's it's yeah, it just it gets your mindset right of like selling yourself and always being available to like you're not just a creative anymore, you know. You have to think of, you know, and it it talks about like pitches and reaching out to brands and you know, um, when you first start reading it, you're like, I don't have hundreds of thousands of followers. And it keeps telling you, like, it doesn't matter if you have 200 followers, like this is the way you have to approach it. And that's something that I've I'm always like, oh, my work will speak for itself.

SPEAKER_04

No, follower count to booking ratio, there's no correlation for me anyway.

SPEAKER_02

None.

SPEAKER_04

I've never focused on having a huge Instagram following for my photography page, it's never been like a huge I just that's just not not that important as long as leads are coming in, they're finding me through other ways. Amazing. Um, I also feel like to gain a lot of followers as a photographer on Instagram, you have to do a lot of educational things. Like and I I just don't deem myself the best teacher. Like I maybe it's imposter syndrome, but I'm like they can all this information I'm telling them, you can just look up online. But I guess when you hear it from people that you look up to, it's different. Um, but I just I like to stick with the work, like you work speaks for itself, and yeah, hopefully the ads will reach the right people.

SPEAKER_03

That being said, I love your social presence. Like you're you're very fun, you show your work, um, you show uh, you know, just the right amount of yourself. And um, yeah, that's the one thing I wanted to point out is like a lot of times, you know, when you see other people's social presence, you're like, oh, you know, this is too much, or this is too little, or I don't even know what the person looks like, or it's all about the person and what about their work. And I feel like you've like in the last two years, you've hit that perfect stride of like I feel like I can gauge your personality through your page and see your work.

SPEAKER_04

That's good to hear because I I never I never know how it hits on the other side of it.

SPEAKER_03

So yeah, no, I I I appreciate I've always appreciated that about you. The other thing that I've always appreciated about you is um how much you incorporate lifestyle into your wedding photography. And you know, when I think of you as a wedding photographer, I really think about you as um the pictures. I I don't know what you would call them, but the the the pictures leading up to the to the wedding, not the actual wedding pictures themselves, but like all of the pictures that you take of the couples where it's like, wait, is this an editorial of two models or is this oh no, they're actually the wedding photo?

SPEAKER_04

Is it a wedding or is it a styled shoot?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

That's always the goal.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. So I feel like for me personally, one thing that's really helped me with lifestyle shoots is um traveling and just going to different cities and and and you know, um the flavor and the style of different cities and kind of incorporating that into photography. And I when we first did our podcast four years ago, I never really thought of you as somebody that always carried their camera around and was shooting on the street. But since then, I feel like, you know, in particular, and two of my favorite places to shoot is New York and and Paris. And those are both two places that you've been to. And and when I saw that, I was like, oh, let's see this. And then like, you know, for the next you know, week or two or month, I was like, yeah, she's she's getting it.

SPEAKER_04

Paris has my heart. It does.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I bet.

SPEAKER_04

I had a wedding there last in September. It was it just yeah, I agree. I mean, I would try to do that.

SPEAKER_03

So let's let's let's talk with about Paris. What was that experience like going to Paris and being able to capture that?

SPEAKER_04

Insane. So I actually met the couple, they live in San Diego. They had like a small family wedding in San Diego, and then they wanted to send a lot of their family and their friends to France. It wasn't really in Paris, it was in Laval, France, which is a I'm probably I should probably just murder the name of that town, but um, it's about an hour and a half in the countryside. So took a train, they rented out the whole chateau for their family and friends to stay for four days. I don't even know how to explain how amazing it was. And now it has me rethinking if I have if or when I ever get married, that that is just the way to do it. Have everyone come. Every night there's dinners, events during the day. Everything we ate was from the garden at the chateau. If she did all the center pieces with flowers from the like it was just so farm to table French culture. It was insane. It was by the woods too. So I had a ceremony out in the woods. There's a pool, so we had like a pool day. No notes, honestly. It was insane. And I need to do more with those photos. I've been told by multiple people I need to submit them as the publications or do something with them, but I'm just sitting on them right now because I literally took I probably came home with like four or five thousand photos.

SPEAKER_02

Wow.

SPEAKER_04

Um, they probably got a good twelve hundred, fifteen hundred. It was huge. I mean, granted, it was like four days of content, it wasn't just one wedding. So yeah, trying to like narrow down a nice portfolio to build to send to publications has kind of been like a little overwhelming to look at all the options. So I need to get on that because there's some good content in there.

SPEAKER_03

What is your process when you just say you send photos to publication? What what are you exactly are you doing?

SPEAKER_04

So AI has its perks. I do use AI to find bridal publications anywhere and everywhere. There's so many. Martha Stewart Weddings, Brides Magazine, Vogue Bride would be a dream to get into, so we'll see. Um and then smaller ones, rock and roll bride, they're out of the UK. I was in their, I've been in in their publications probably four or five times. Um June bug weddings. There's just all these smaller ones. The smaller ones you can apply to as many times as you want, as often as you want. Whereas the bigger ones like Bride, Vogue Bride, Martha Sur weddings, whatever wedding you submit to that publication, you can't submit to other publications for a period of time. Because if they do run it, they don't want other people running it.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_04

So it's just again time consuming because you're building a portfolio. Then they're also asking, well, what was the brand of the shoes the bride was wearing and the dress and the jewelry and the location? What's the florist email and number? What's it's like so much again, admin and having to get a hold of all the vendors that were a part of it. And the more information you have, the more likely you already get published.

SPEAKER_03

Um So just one second. So the goal is for them to publish it as an editorial?

SPEAKER_04

So it depends. Each one's different. Most of them are real wedding publications. So it's like a section of the publication that they want to display real weddings.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_04

Um, that's typically the ones I apply for. I have applied a couple of times. Rock and Roll Bride was one where we set up a styled shoot specifically for them. And then they just had like a edgy bridal kind of editorial section for us. Um, but most of them are real wedding publications.

SPEAKER_03

So go ahead, what were we gonna say?

SPEAKER_04

Oh, nothing.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, okay. Well uh let's talk about New York. How how was your experience going to New York? Because that's very different than any of the other places you've been to in the States.

SPEAKER_04

Love New York also. As much as I would love to shoot more stuff there, I have pushed ads there through every platform. They just don't hit there. And I think again, it's because of the oversaturation of people already there. Also, it's not very traditional weddings happening there, it's kind of smaller format weddings. So for them to get me to travel out there, they're like, we can find someone closer that's available. So unfortunately, a lot of my work in New York was like editorial fashion friends stuff. So um haven't done any weddings there yet. I would love it, like a New York courthouse wedding. That just sounds like an urban bride in like a white suit. That would just, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, the it what's interesting is when you talked about Paris and um I I shot one wedding where my friend flew me to Ethiopia and it was like an eight-day six-day thing. And that was the first time I realized because everyone's like, oh my god, I can't believe it's a it's like a multiple-day wedding. And then when I went to a couple weddings like of friends, you know, with all due respect, I'm like, this is kind of insane to like do a five-hour wedding and just try to make this all fit into like five, six hours. Like, and what you were explaining in Paris or in uh you know, in the countryside of of France, like it that's the way it should be. I like of course, you know, the economics come into it, but you know.

SPEAKER_04

But by the because we were there for three days in the it was I think we were there technically five days. The first three days was just events hanging out, but the wedding was the fourth day, and then we had like a goodbye brunch the fifth day and left. But by the time the wedding got there, like her grandparents were my grandparents, her uncle was my uncle. Yeah, I have all for the her friends' contacts. Anytime in San Diego we try to meet up, it's like if it's I think it's much better. And for what they paid for the chateau experience compared to what American wedding venues will force you to pay, is almost more affordable. And you get a travel. Granted, kids, it's a little more difficult. But yeah, it had me rethinking how people should be doing weddings, honestly, because you can get so much more bang for your buck if you're not in America.

SPEAKER_03

That's so funny because I I overheard uh I uh we were at a cocktail party and these uh people were talking about their wedding and they were saying how it was um in another country, and the other person's like, that's so expensive. And they're like, actually, we saved money. And I remember thinking, like, what were they talking about? How do they save money? And they're like, because the venues are not like a fraction of the price. The places we stayed were a fraction of the price, the food was much better, everything was locally sourced. Yep. And you know, it's just because you know, here in the States, it's just they know it's such a business that they just jack up all the prices, you know? Like even the rentals of of of uh chairs and anything. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

It's it's just insane. You can go to a venue and say you're hosting a Quince-Nera and they'll give you a rate for four hours. You can go to that same venue and say you want a wedding for four hours, and the price difference is so insane. I mean, it's kind of photography too. Like my event rates and my wedding rates are it's just the market. Also, what was nice about the chateau is everyone stayed there. So it's not like they were booking a venue and then having to book hotels. It was just everyone under one roof, food under one roof, events under one roof, just a whole different experience. And flights during that time of year, it was September, which actually should have been a little more expensive. They weren't crazy. I don't know if it was just like a lucky time to book, but it was just a raid to find San Diego from Miami. So I mean, I'm already halfway there being in Miami from San Diego, so that is one perk about being over on the East Coast, is Europe's like six hours away.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, and the Caribbean is right there, and you know, there's so many, it opens you up to a lot of stuff. Have you you haven't been to Cuba, have you?

SPEAKER_04

No. But there's a Cuban cafe right down the road that I go to almost every morning, and that coffee. You can't beat that coffee.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

You're cracked out all day. I don't know what they put in it, but it works. It works.

SPEAKER_03

How how because you've you've lived in in warm places, Vegas, San Diego, and um Miami. Obviously, Miami's humid, but just like the lifestyle, how how are you how are you liking just living in Miami?

SPEAKER_04

It's a little warmer than I would prefer. And the humidity, I'm a sweater, I'm always sweating. So anything over 80 degrees and a little bit of humidity, I'm just sweating. Um, I trimmed my bangs recently and I was thinking to myself, this will probably be the last time I trim my bangs till fall because it's about to just get so hot that you just can't have everything's in a ponytail.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_04

Um, but it is a much more active lifestyle. I live in South Beach, so I bike around to my gym, I bike around everywhere. Tootsie and I, we walk to the beach. It's nice, but you cannot beat California weather though. Like you just can't.

SPEAKER_03

No, that that those beaches are nice though.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, the ocean's warm. The ocean's warm. I just went to the beach because it was pretty. And you still need like a cardigan here.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

It's like bathwater, the ocean.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Um one thing I do miss about East Coast is summer rain. Like summer like thunderstorms that kind of come and go.

SPEAKER_04

Yep.

SPEAKER_03

That's new for you, right? Or did they have that in Kansas? Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Kansas, spring and fall. And those were like clouds, dark clouds rolling in, lightning from afar, loud thunder. So you get that here, which love. My productivity level on a rainy day is so. So good.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Because I just yeah. It's always beautiful here. And you always like get a little anxiety feeling like, why am I behind my computer when I should be the beach four blocks away? But when it's raining, I'm like, I can get so much work done today. It's cozy. Yeah, can't beat it. I mean, everything is a pro and gone.

SPEAKER_03

So exactly. What I mean, the the major pro is just living in different places.

SPEAKER_04

So, you know, you get to beat uh no income tax. Um they're dismantling property taxes here. Um gas is three dollars.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

So you just it's hard. Politics are a little less uh circus-y. It's just kind of nice to be in a coming from Kansas, it's kind of nice to be in a place that's a little more I don't know, normal's a weird way to put it, but just less less politically forward about certain things.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah. Um what uh do you pursue just lifestyle photography now as and uh nothing to do with weddings? Just because I see your work and I'm just like these like again, these these are editorials, you know. It just it translates so easily to to models. But models are different because they're models and they're not two people that are in love.

SPEAKER_04

Right. So and I love just working one-on-one with someone that takes out half the battle. Half the battle is creating chemistry on camera with couples. Whereas when I'm working with a model, I'm like, what would what photos would I want of me? And I just kind of I mean, that's how I think of every time I shoot anything at the wedding. I'm like, what photos would I want my wedding photographer to capture? I just like and that's just what I do.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Same with the models. But it's hard. Models here, there's Miami's model-centric. Everyone's a model here. Yeah, and most people pay them for them to model. So it's a little more difficult to get models that just want to pay you for work because they have so many people that are willing to pay them for their face.

SPEAKER_03

But are you reaching out? Are you doing that same hustle to try to get just straight lifestyle as opposed to So yeah, I did like a landing page last week.

SPEAKER_04

Just create like a landing page on Canva for like an editorial Miami series I want to do, and I just want to grow more colorful editorials out here because a lot of my old editorials are very moody and dark, and I wanted to do more like poppy, bright colors, beach. Wouldn't say white light, bright, because I never want to go so far as to say I'm that, but just have more of that because that's more Miami-esque. Um, so I did do like a huge Instagram blast to all these influencers and models. If they wanted content, we could do discounted rates just to get a portfolio going. And I've had a few reach back. So it really is just like so much admin, so much outreach. But when you get a few, you get the ball rolling, then they can give you people. It's just you have to stay consistent.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

When I had this conversation with my last guest, is that you know, so many people are are threatened by AI, but um, you know, it's the only thing that threatens me about AI is who's controlled of the final AI. But um, for me, the admin and the writing, it's like AI has helped me tremendously.

SPEAKER_04

Mm-hmm. No, for sure. When it comes to emails, how I should script the message I'm sending out in the DM blast, how I should organize and format the um like the landing page I'm creating definitely helps. Um when it comes and if you're a wedding photographer, I don't think AI is gonna ever get in your way. It's hard to, but headshots and products, I feel like those are two things that AI is slowly kind of making the market smaller. But even like the Limoncello company, they've done some AI imagery on their socials, and it still isn't the same as like personality behind it. It's almost too perfect. And I feel like people, the clean girl aesthetic is kind of over. It's almost like messy girl aesthetic now because people want to know what's real and not because people it's hard to differentiate.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. I can see how the product photography Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Cause you can just there's like apps where you can take a photo of your soda, and then they can do videos and people drink like anything you want. And there's you don't have to hire anyone.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

But so when you post that, it's just a little too perfect, and people see that.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I mean, my friend has a supplement brand that he's starting, and and he was like, dude, I just I I took a picture of the actual product, and I just everything you see on my site is all AI. And for his stuff, it works, you know.

SPEAKER_04

Even you can't for sure you just take a picture of the shirt hanging once, and it'll give you models to put it on, and the models walking. And I'm like, there goes so many people's jobs.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. One thing that I'm I'm trying to do now is is to uh try to sell my work. And um, I don't know if it's really AI, but there's these apps where you know they take the picture and they'll just put it in multiple um settings, multiple, like a living room or a kid's room, or the frame and all that stuff. And I mean that's AI, it's pretty simplistic AI, but it's amazing because you're like, look what that my work will look like in this type of room or this type of room.

SPEAKER_04

Above a bed in the hallway. Yeah.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

That's something that I really want to uh try to get off the ground because um I was really hung up on, oh, it needs to be a series, it needs to be a limited edition. And the printer I'm working with and a couple of photographers I've been talking to, they're like, not at all. Like it's your work, and you don't need to say that it's one of ten or one of you know, it's like, and if you sell to somebody in Budapest, you could sell to somebody in LA or whatever. So and then with AI and you know, the the ads and everything, like it's something that I'm I'm hoping I can. I know, I know for you it's like you can't really sell pictures of people, but you do have you have landscape photography too.

SPEAKER_04

So it's funny you bring that up because I've actually been thinking as I'm like walking around South Beach, there's so many colors, it's so pretty, it's so tropical, there's so many just like beautiful frames you could create. And it got me thinking, I was like, I should create like a Miami Beach coffee table book. Just like start getting in. But again, I feel like I got into a burnout phase where I was like, if I don't have to have my camera out ever right now, I'm not gonna do it. So I don't know. Those wheels have been turning in that sense where I should maybe just while I'm living my life, snap the photos I'm seeing that I think are pretty and then just yeah, create like coffee table books and because you know, there's so much to capture.

SPEAKER_03

I think like the coffee table book is a good idea, but I think I would start with single prints and see how that goes first, you know. Even like not saying you're gonna do this, but like, you know, a a picture of a palm tree, you know, or a picture of a leaf the right way could look amazing in in the right uh location, you know, in a hotel, in in somebody's bedroom or whatever, you know. So for sure.

SPEAKER_04

There's a market for everything, it's just finding the people that need it.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Yeah. So um if somebody is is starting out as a wedding photographer, what what advice would you give them? Don't do it.

SPEAKER_04

Oh man. Um, I was just lucky to live in the wedding capital of the world when I started hitting that niche. So I was able to create a portfolio quickly. Granted, I would meet them at the little white chapel, it'd be at two hours, but I had a bride and a groom to start putting on a portfolio. Um, so if you don't have access to like a bunch of, or even maybe like shadowing wedding photographers, maybe not getting paid, but just being able to like second shoot or assist so you can get your portfolio. It's portfolio, portfolio, portfolio. There's also companies, like there's a couple companies I've worked with. They're out of China, but they wanted me to promote the wedding dresses that they had. So they sent me some wedding dresses and I just grabbed some friends and I was like, you're just gonna be a bride for a day, so I can take pictures of these wedding dresses on you. And that was an instance where I was able to get bridal portraits without I mean, on my own terms and create a how I want and do what I want. Um portfolio forwards hard. The hardest part of getting into weddings is they want to see the weddings you've done. So that's getting a portfolio started is the hardest part. And again, I was just lucky to be in Vegas when I was starting that portfolio because I would crank out eight, ten elopements a week. It was insane. I think there was up to like 300 weddings happen a day there. So I'm like, I just need 0.5% of those, and I'd be set. Um so yeah, I was able to grow my portfolio quick. Also, wedding planners. Wedding planners are your best friend, and if I did move cities so often, I would have been able to curate more relationships. Deep I still have a lot of relationships with wedding planners in both Vegas and San Diego, but they're obviously gonna give a lot of the weddings to local photographers because it's just more convenient. Um, but wedding planners are your best friends because most more often than not, the bride or groom, usually the bride, is going to either look for a planner or a venue first. And venues also have a recommended vendor list. So if you can get in with a venue, that'd be great. They typically only let you in on their list if you've shot a wedding there because they want to see your work in their venue. In San Diego, um, Louis Loft. There's like three different venues under the Louis Loft umbrella. I emailed them because their lofts are really their spaces were beautiful. And I was like, I want on your list. How can I do that? They're like, we need content of your photography in our venues. I'm like, what if I could I just use your venue for like an hour and set up a shoot and just do it? And they let me. I guess you don't know until you ask. So I again got a dress from that Chinese company. I had a smaller florist that was in San Diego that I knew she probably needed some exposure. It was probably under 2,000 followers. Same with hair and makeup. I'm like, you can do great hair and makeup, you need some portfolio work, you want to do a little shoot for me for free. No one really here is making money. We're just here for content. Um, and they all agreed. So I was able to throw together styled shoots in each of the venues, got on their list. And in the two years I was there, I think I did three weddings through their venues just for being on their list. So it's like just taking initiative, I guess, is the biggest thing.

SPEAKER_03

So the thing I love about you is your hustle and you just your ability to just make it work, you know?

SPEAKER_04

Again, I trial and error my way through life, always erring first, typically, but yeah.

SPEAKER_03

How um how important are locations?

SPEAKER_04

Locations.

SPEAKER_03

Like how important is is locations to the wedding like to to shoot?

SPEAKER_04

I think I mean they're they're important. Lighting is equally important though. Like the time of day that certain things are going on is almost more important than because it could be a gorgeous venue, but it could be ceremony at the middle of the day, straight down, weird shadows on the face, or it could be an ugly venue, but you're hitting golden hour and it's just like all you need is like a nice tree or just anything to make it work. I usually feel like I can make most venues work, even if they're not like the most aesthetic. Um, but for me, lighting, I feel like is a little more important. Because I love my flash photography, but I love natural light photography. That's like my my main thing. Um I love a flash during like receptions and people are partying. I can get like the light spurs and stuff, but yeah, I like to try to show the day how it actually was when you were there, which I feel like the flash takes away.

SPEAKER_03

Exactly.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

One thing my brother always told me was um, you know, as a photographer, all you're doing is capturing light on things.

SPEAKER_04

You're a light worker. That's what I worked in the marketing department of my university when I was in college, and he was still developing Philip in a dark room. He was probably 65, 70 years old. He should have retired, but he just liked working there, so he never did. And he was the first person that told me, he's like, it doesn't matter. The camera doesn't matter. It's the settings you're like the lens you buy, the body you buy. That's not really people think that's the most important thing, but it's really not. It's how well you can understand and manipulate light.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

And he taught me so much. Very grateful for that guy. Um, I think he's retired now. He should be retired now.

SPEAKER_03

He'd be he doesn't sound like the type of person that's ever gonna retire.

SPEAKER_04

That's like I think now, I think.

SPEAKER_03

Wow.

SPEAKER_04

But he was he was an old solo hippie that just was obsessed with Darby and taught me so much, so much. Um yeah, light is insane. Studio work. That studio work's a little intimidating sometimes just because the lighting options are endless.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

And it's I'm not the most decisive person sometimes. So I could I would need three times the amount of time to be in a studio just because I want to try everything. Whereas out and on location, you got the light you're given, so you just kind of work with it.

SPEAKER_03

So what type of person should and shouldn't pursue wedding photography?

SPEAKER_04

I think you need to be a romantic because it just looks kind of stale if you're not a lot of the venues that I've worked at, I like to look at the vendor list just to see what they're promoting because those vendors are sending all their shots to the venue and that's what they're using. And it just feels sterile. Like too perfectly, they have lights on the group shots perfectly. I just I like the romance of it not being perfect. Like I like blurry photos, I like grainy photos, I like off-centered photos. And also like you have to capture chemistry, which if you're not like an emotionally in tune person, how are you even gonna know when that moment is happening? So yeah, I think you need to be a romantic. Um never want to work a Saturday or never want to have a free Saturday in your life.

SPEAKER_03

Is it mainly Saturdays? There's not Sunday weddings, it's just usually a Saturday.

SPEAKER_04

I've had some Sunday weddings, and usually that's never because they that was our first choice. Usually venues are more affordable on any day but Saturday, so they just kind of go with what's more budget-friendly. I would love to have a Saturday that's open and my weddings be on like a Friday or a Sunday, but that's always every Saturday.

SPEAKER_03

Uh what what type of person shouldn't pursue? Maybe you're an amazing photographer, but if there's something in your personality that you just don't have, whether it's uh a lot of patience or compassion, because social battery.

SPEAKER_04

If you don't have a social battery, you those eight to ten to twelve hour days fully you're kind of a day of coordinator as the photographer at a wedding. Like the planner's there, but you're the one, I need to shoot you in this location, this location, check the time. Next, you have that one thing, let's make sure you're over there in time. You're like, you kind of have to be on it. Being a type B, I don't I mean you can make it work, but if you're more of a type A personality, it definitely helps.

SPEAKER_03

It's kind of And is the wedding planner kind of there as like helping you produce it as well, or are they just in their own world dealing with stuff?

SPEAKER_04

Sometimes and sometimes not. I feel like the wedding planners are more so making sure the vendors are getting set up in the right place, the tablescapes are looking good, the caters are they like it's they're kind of handling the bigger bulk while I'm taking the bride around, taking the groom around, taking the bridal party around. Um, you just have to be personal too, because you're meeting so many people. So many people. And there's been some I have some awkward and interesting wedding stories, that's for sure, but you just kind of have to roll with it.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Um, and then so obviously you need to focus on the bride and groom, but how do you navigate making sure that you're capturing the guest and the the the environment and you're not really missing anything else that's going on?

SPEAKER_04

I think it's like just the art of observation. You just have to like be there to observe what's going on. When people you see s a group of people talking, they're kind of starting to laugh. Maybe you know they're gonna continue. Like it's just being observant. You have to be an observant person. And I feel like I am even in just everyday life, the details and observing, and it's just always how I've I'm a visual person. So you just have to be a very observant person. And and eventually the weddings just become kind of copy paste. Like a few things throughout the timeline will change, but in the most part, you kind of know what to expect. Like if they're doing the first look at different times, that would differ, like the time that they're doing our couples' photos or the bridal party photos. But besides that, it's always getting ready shots, brides getting her dress on, bridal details, groom shots, mom, daughter, you know, ceremony setup. It's just always the same, besides a few things, maybe. It's always like it's becoming copy paste. I know what to expect every time.

SPEAKER_03

What's a reasonable turnaround? So they they have a wedding on Saturday. When when do they can they expect their images?

SPEAKER_04

Depends on the season. Um if it's like if it's not spring or fall, which are busy seasons, I will try to get them sneak peek 72 hours and turnaround within like 10 days. If it's busy season, sometimes two to three weeks. But I try to do it quick because I want to still edit and produce because I don't edit the same with every album. Like I go based off the mood of the people. Um and I want to kind of still have a good memory of like the day and the people and the energy and what they were like. Um so I try to do it as soon as possible. Also, when I just have too much to edit, it just becomes a bit overwhelming. So I try to stay on top of it. They're happy and I'm happy.

SPEAKER_03

So do they get um the all of the, I mean, do they get a selection of images or do they get all the images, or do you do an edit? Is there is that like determining the price, or how does that work?

SPEAKER_04

So before we I shoot that day, I kind of tell them, I'm like, editing styles kind of depends on your decor vibe. Are you like bright, light, bubbly people? Are you more like sultry, moody people? Is it like a romantic, candlelit wedding? So I tell them, I'm like, I base my editing off of what I think would look best. And they 99 times out of 10, they trust what I'm gonna do. And then I just guarantee them a minimum per hour shot. Um and I just send them all the edited photos that I feel were the best and unlimited downloads for life, which I need to like rethink. The photos are also attached. I'm like, I think I'm losing out on some money opportunities. So when you say unlimited downloads for life.

SPEAKER_03

Well, let me just go back. When you say unlimited downloads for life, so they're up there, and then anybody with a link can continually download the same image. Right.

SPEAKER_04

If I use PickTime as my uh gallery processor, PickTime's great because it also is connected to a store. So prints, canvases, frame prints, coffee mugs, anything you want to make, put a photo on, it's already connected and already creates the mock-ups for you. So they can go into their gallery, click store, and they can then see what their photos look like on canvas. I don't have to touch anything, it's already like in the um, but I feel like I am needing to reconsider giving them just all the digitals for free because more often than not, I feel like they do probably download them. And if they do make prints, it's not through my store. It's probably through a more affordable store.

unknown

Right.

SPEAKER_04

They do know that they're losing quality because the the print companies I work for the best.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. And I unfortunately I feel like maybe they download them and send them to a Walgreens or something, and the thought of that breaks my heart. So maybe I should reconsider the post-production process. It's so much to consider every every step.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

It's yeah.

SPEAKER_00

AI.

SPEAKER_04

I know I need to ask you.

SPEAKER_00

AI help you out with that.

SPEAKER_04

I mean, facing it's Gemini. I do love a Gemini now. I was on Chat GPT forever, and I just kept getting the same thing with Chat GPT. I'm like, I'm so bored of this personality. Give me something new. And I went over to Gemini, and I I like Gemini right now.

SPEAKER_03

I had this conversation yesterday because I've been on ChatGPT and this person was telling me that yeah, Gemini is the way to go. I was like, I'm pretty happy with ChatGPT. And he's like, man, you just give it a try and and let me know what you think. And now, you know, Grox's cool too.

SPEAKER_04

It's a bit controversial though. Groc says some outlandish things.

SPEAKER_03

But my thing with ChatGPT is I I keep telling, I'm like, well, I think you're being a little too optimistic. I need you to be harder on me. Like, I need you to stop telling me that, like, oh, that's a great idea. Oh, let me tell you why that's the right way to approach it. I'm like, dude.

SPEAKER_04

I'm coming to you because there's a better way to approach it.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Uh um what's I about to say? Um, oh, so I I put together a a book on on Blurb, and it it was uh it was a lot of work, but I really enjoyed doing it. Um is that something that you can present to a wedding as as an addition, or is that just way too much work for what's like a wedding gallery? Not a wedding gallery, like you actually put together a like a book or a magazine of the No, almost like it's uh it's it like let's say it was uh a magazine of the event. And you can title it something, and then you kind of have the lead up to the actual wedding, the wedding itself, and then it's like something that you can add to your package where it's like not just a wedding album of just like you know, all the pictures nicely put together, but almost like an editorial of the whole event. The whole day, like the whole experience.

SPEAKER_04

Verbiage of the mood and all the things.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

I mean, that would be amazing. I feel like I would for sure have to always have, yeah. A second, an assistant with me, um, just to like take notes of everything. Cause truly wedding days, I'm bouncing from one thing to the other. Like I'm lucky if the minute the reception starts, I can get a diet coke.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

I'm profusely sweating. I have like 30 cameras wrapped around my neck. Um very rarely do I have relaxed time to like yeah, I would need to bring my assist an assistant with me to like get a story going. But that was a good idea.

SPEAKER_03

Well, it could be like a story of images and just a quote here and there. It doesn't have to be a whole, you know, it could be super artsy, you know, but it needs to be something that is your own. So it's not just like, oh, and I can present a photo album. And it's like, no, it's not really a photo album. It's actually an you know, and I think with your work, it it lends itself to an editorial, and I think you can really lean on that. Oh, is this a a paid editorial or is this an actual wedding? You know, and I think you know, you can even have shots of the location.

SPEAKER_04

Right. I do feel like my photos do look really nice in like collage form as well. Because I can like put certain whereas you just see photo by photo, some of them are like good photos, but they look when you put them in like a group with the other ones, it makes way more sense. And sometimes I'm like, how do I translate that in a way that it can make money? But that's exactly how I could do it.

SPEAKER_03

Because one one thing I loved was, you know, when I was putting my book together is, you know, uh like a through line of color and what what the next image was going to be when I turned the page and if that correlated with, and you know, you you kind of endlessly can play around with that. And it's an amazing way to see your imagery, and it's an amazing way to present your imagery to people in a curated way that is 100% you. You know, and you you you're dealing with people that they're gonna want it. Like they I can't imagine them saying no to that because it's them. It's their it's it's it's your moment to have your own magazine editorial. It's not just like a photo album, you know.

SPEAKER_04

Well, for the amount of money you spend on rentals and flowers and hair and makeup and clothes, it's nice to have as many formats of keeping those things forever as possible because the minute the day's over, the flowers die, you're never gonna wear the dress again. The rentals go back to the company. So it'd be nice to yeah, have a little book so they get more bang for their buck even in those departments. I got paid off the flowers, and now I have a cool book of with all the flowers I paid for.

SPEAKER_03

Exactly. And what the vendors would love it. And also what a great way for the guests to relive very cool the experience, you know.

SPEAKER_04

I'm making a note of this.

SPEAKER_03

What um what do you think your biggest challenge is with capturing weddings? What is one thing that you're like, okay, this is always the one obstacle I need to get over.

SPEAKER_04

And once I get over that obstacle, the social energy. Like I always I get there early and I park my car and I'm in the car and I'm like, okay, and I'll become this bubbly, energetic person for the next 10 hours. And usually the first like hour or two, I can feel myself, it feels a little forced, but then you get I get to hang out with the bridesmaids and the groomsman, and it becomes more flowy and fun. Um yeah, for me it come because how you interact with everyone for me is how depending on how good or bad the photos are. If I'm like keeping to myself most of the day, kind of being a fly on the wall, like posing them as needed, but not like really asking questions or trying to help in other ways, those photos come out different. The photos where I feel like I'm a part of the wedding are always the best photos. Um yeah, for me it's like you have to get a good night's sleep before you have to have so much social energy, like this bubbly version of yourself that is I'll drive home in dead silence. It's like a buzzing in your head from just talking for 12 hours. I'll sleep the whole next day. It's a for me, it takes the social part, is the hardest part. Because also me just going up to people I've never met, grandparents, cousins, that's I'm not naturally like that in real life. That's just truly because I need to do it for work and I need to get everyone to know me. I always make the joke I'm your paparazzi for the day. People tend to love that.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Um yeah, become like because most people don't truly, I feel like most people aren't like the biggest fan of just having someone having a camera in their face a lot. So you have to make them like think that they want it because they do want it. But that requires like how I approach it, which make I need to be like super bubbly, like a little ball of sunshine. I need to be that person in the wedding because mom's stressing out on timeline, the bride's freaking out because her liner doesn't look right, the groom's halfway drunk. I'm like the one like I don't like foundation. I feel like they can come back to them always gonna be like, I can take care of it, I handle it, we can fix this, we can move this to this time. Again, it's kind of like a coordinator role.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_04

Have to have like a bubbly energy because they feed off you. If you're like quiet and not really that into into it and not really excited when you're taking the photos, they're gonna be like, Do I look ugly? Are these what's going on?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Um complimenting them 20,000 times. Sometimes I will have my phone recording, me shooting, and I'll play those videos back, and I'm like, I'm obnoxious. I'm obnoxious.

SPEAKER_03

You're probably louder than you want to be too, because there's music going on and it's loud, you know.

SPEAKER_04

I'm like, I love it, you guys look so good. Everyone's smiling loud. I'm like, oh even the tone of my voice is unnatural. Like, oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_03

It's tough to hear your voice. But what so another thing too is I want to touch on is you know, people may think, like, oh, it's so fun. I can just go to this party and you know, party with everybody. But like I know because you know, I've followed you for a long time, you take very good care of yourself. And how important is it to not just get wasted at the party, like, oh, have a drink. Come on, we're gonna have a toast, and you've only been there for two hours and you're like, you know.

SPEAKER_04

So my relationship in the party scene and with alcohol has significantly shifted. I think that was a COVID kind of transition. Pre-COVID, when I was in Vegas, I was doing the nightlife tarp. I was going to the festivals. I mean, we met at Terrace after hours. That party doesn't start until 3 a.m. So I was just a different type of person. I could handle that stuff. The older I get, I alcohol for me, it's just how much anxiety do I want the next day?

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_04

Do I want three hours of anxiety? One glass, one drink. Do I want six hours of anxiety, two drinks? Um, so my relationship with alcohol in general has just shifted. But I mean, it is nice to get like a nice drink in when you get there, just for me again. Sure. And relax a little, make socializing a little easier. Um yeah, I don't know. I don't have the same like my self-control has shifted. I don't really have an issue with not drinking at the parties. It does help. Having a one or two, but that's all I need.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Um yeah. I mean, granted, a couple events, you know, you s I'm done shooting, I got my content, so I'll stay after. I'm like, I should have gone home. Should have went home. No, I can't edit today because I have a migraine. Yeah. Yeah. It's just in the gym. Yeah. I'm I mean, I'm obsessed with wellness, health and wellness.

SPEAKER_03

So Yeah. Amazing.

SPEAKER_04

How is Los Angeles?

SPEAKER_03

In what sense?

SPEAKER_04

For you. Just you're still there, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Um, yeah, no, I'm still here. Yeah, I I uh I moved here for work. And honestly, when I moved here, um I was just trying to make some more connections because I didn't know where my next step was. Um, you know, I lost uh my uh the last of my immediate family, so I was like, I didn't I didn't really have a reason to be anywhere. And um that's why I went to Japan a bunch of times because I was really obsessed with Japan and maybe I could move there. And um, I had a uh a good friend's father in in Lima, Peru, and that's a place I was really obsessed with. Um I've always loved Barcelona.

SPEAKER_04

Um, you're Barcelona over Madrid.

SPEAKER_03

100%.

SPEAKER_04

Oh, interesting.

SPEAKER_03

You say you're Madrid over Barcelona?

SPEAKER_04

I haven't been, but um okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

No, Barcelona 100%.

SPEAKER_04

More often than all, my friends have been to both are like, you think Barcelona's it, but they always love Madrid more.

SPEAKER_03

I'm like, Madrid is gorgeous. It's beautiful, beautiful, spotless city, and the museums are amazing, and and it's an amazing place to uh to go to, but yeah, my heart's in Barcelona. It's just more more of my vibe. You know, you walk right to the Mediterranean and you know, yeah, Barcelona. But then, you know, I made a I made a person here in Los Angeles, um, and Los Angeles was never so cute.

unknown

Thank you.

SPEAKER_04

It comes so naturally. And she's gonna have the best photos of her whole life.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah. She, I mean, she's shooting a lot now too. I got her a little point and shoot, which is like it's basically like a GoPro, but it's like really cute around it. And um she uh yeah, I just it's amazing the other day because I you know, she fills up her card, so I have to download it. And um, you know, I don't like to share any of those pictures, but I'll I'll send a couple to you because it's it's she's five. Yeah, you know, and the pictures she's taking and the things she's deciding to take pictures of, and you know, the filters that she's using and stuff is just you get to see how she sees life. It's amazing, so cool. Yeah. Um, but to to to to wrap up LA, LA is a place where for it was really hard for me to make connections here. Extremely hard for me to make connections here because people are so overly nice and so like they really want to help you out. And they everybody's got a person that you need to meet. And oh, I know what I need to do for you. And you don't even ask for it. And you're like, wow, that's pretty amazing. And literally 99% of them completely disappear, they completely follow through. I like to say like they overpromise and never deliver. And it was really exhausting, you know, and it was really hard for me to make connections. And then, you know, and then I got my motorcycle, and it just opened up a whole nother world to me of creatives, not like, you know, uh born to be wild type guys. It's like it was it was just creatives in it, and I felt the same thing. It's kind of like uh there's a barrier to entry, so not everybody can do it. And there was a couple places that I would frequent, and you know, you'd meet people and and you would think like, oh, this guy's pretty cool. And then later you'd find out, oh, they're a producer or they're a photographer as well, or they're it was all these creatives. Um, so I found I found my tribe, which also helps out.

SPEAKER_04

That's just hard the older you get. Vegas had no issue meeting people, San Diego. I didn't start meeting people until a year in, was very isolated for a long time. Here, it's I'm just now I mean, I'm almost a year in, I'm just now starting to meet some people. Like it's you have to be good with being alone. It's isolating.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Mm-hmm. So works works either way.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, and then you just start, you know, finding your people. And that's that's that's definitely helped out a lot. And a lot of these guys, they like taking like, you know, uh like we went to Baja, because a lot of these guys are way more advanced than me in in motorcycles and and just adventure in general. So like I went with about eight guys, it was 11 of us, and we rode uh for like five days, we went down the Baja. And that's just you know, the whole time I was there, I was like, I can't believe I have these group of guys that are like leading this tour, you know. So one of the things I'm I'm doing this this season is uh with all my guests, I'm asking them what is their advice to shoot wisely. And you can interpret that any way you you you want. It's something my brother always told me, and he never really explained it. He just it was kind of annoying actually.

SPEAKER_04

Shoot wisely. Ooh. I think you need to just understand light. I think I used to be the person that didn't that would always like as I'm shooting, oh I can fix it later, I'll fix it later, I'll fix it later. And then I pull it off on my computer and I'm like, why did I think that this was ever a good idea to eliminate all of these people in the background, fix this sign? Like when I could have just found something a de better place. So instead of like shooting just to shoot and fixing all the imperfections later, I try to shoot in a way where how can I edit this the least? Yeah, I used to yeah, it's a myth. It's just more work you're adding to your your already thousands of photos you have to go through. And then say you got a good frame, but in all of those frames, the same things are in the background. You have to shift. I'm like, there's two hours, just gone. Um yeah, try to shoot where you would edit it the least, and that also requires you shooting manual and adjusting the light and not just throwing it in auto, which I recently got a mirrorless. I've always been a D, a Canon D series girl. Um, and I wanted to get another D, and the guy at the store convinced me to try the R series. Very reliable, very convenient, very small, but manipulating light on that thing is much harder. The computer's too smart, right? It wants to like kind of fix what you're doing. Um, I just love my D because I can I'm in full control of that thing. Yeah, I guess like just little tweaks like that. But for me, it's shooting to where I have to edit this the least in terms of lighting, background, things to remove. Sometimes you can't help it. Like the beach here, I get so many beach shoots, and you can't help it. There being someone in the ocean with their swimming suit behind you, you just have to kind of go and remove it. Yeah, but more often than not, I would always be like, the light's good, let's just shoot it. And then I'd shoot it, and then the background's a disaster. And I'm like, I'll fix it later. I'll just take some things out. No, not anymore. Yeah, I'd rather shoot less and better than twice as much and just so much to fix. Yeah. That just comes with maturing with photography, I think. You just get sick of your own shit. Yeah, how can I make this more convenient and easier and workflow more fluid? Yeah, just take the time in the moment to I think I always thought I was like annoying the client, or they're gonna be like, how many times do I need to move and shift and how many locations are we gonna try? But now I'm like, you're gonna like it better if you just let me take the take the reins. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Perfect.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Samantha, I really uh enjoy catching up with you. It's always a pleasure to see you. Uh it's always a pleasure to see your work, and I really appreciate your time. If you know someone that would find this conversation useful, please share. Your support is greatly appreciated as we build the Shoot Wisely community. Thank you for listening to the Shoot Wisely Podcast. I'm your host, Amir Bahemi.