Latest / the Visual Historian - "A Photographer's Journey" / Rock & Roll drummer with a camera!

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Rock & Roll drummer with a camera! · the Visual Historian - "A Photographer's Journey"

0:03
SPEAKER_00: Everybody, welcome back to the visual historian.
0:08
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna talk about this rock and roll in a minute.
0:14
SPEAKER_00: Everybody needs a little juice in their blood.
0:17
SPEAKER_00: Kind of wake up a little bit.
0:20
SPEAKER_00: Come on, you can handle about eight more seconds of this.
0:25
SPEAKER_00: So this brings me to my attention.
0:29
SPEAKER_00: Um I need to get something off my chest here because I believe my listeners uh deserve to know more about what they're listening to, who they're listening to, and what they're getting what they're getting into by uh being on this podcast.
0:44
SPEAKER_00: And I'm at a point in my life and in my career where I I get it, you know, when the older guys get older, they get more brash, they they say things they probably should have a filter on their mouths for.
0:57
SPEAKER_00: You know, I get it now, you know.
1:00
SPEAKER_00: I'm in my 50s and now I get it.
1:02
SPEAKER_00: You know, there's so many things that just used to make more sense that kind of sort of does not a lot these days, you know.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, we have opinions.
1:11
SPEAKER_00: But this is what I wanted to bring to the table today.
1:15
SPEAKER_00: I am I'm gonna I'm gonna write, I'm gonna read to you what I just wrote, but I'm getting ready to go outside and record this visual and get it out there on TikTok.
1:25
SPEAKER_00: Because, you know, I'm a firm believer that if you know yourself and you show everybody who you are, you'll attract like-minded individuals.
1:36
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
1:37
SPEAKER_00: This all goes back to what you show is what you'll receive.
1:42
SPEAKER_00: So uh first things first, let me just read you what I wrote, okay?
1:48
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm reading this, I don't I don't know by heart yet, so it's gonna sound like I'm actually reading it, not like I'm gonna be in front of the camera.
1:54
SPEAKER_00: So here we go.
1:56
SPEAKER_00: I'm a rock and roll drummer who picked up a camera in college and built a photography career beyond anything I imagined.
2:04
SPEAKER_00: Three decades later, my passion hasn't changed.
2:08
SPEAKER_00: Your wedding should be about you, not me, trends, or Pinterest boards.
2:14
SPEAKER_00: I'll keep your day on schedule, capture the central photographs, and focus on the genuine laughter, emotion, and unscripted moments in between.
2:25
SPEAKER_00: My goal is for you to remember how much fun you had, not how long you were in front of my camera.
2:32
SPEAKER_00: I bring Gen X work ethic, decades of experience, and relentless energy to every celebration.
2:40
SPEAKER_00: I show up early, I work hard, treat everyone with dignity, respect, and love.
2:47
SPEAKER_00: And in true New Orleans fashion, always give a little more than expected.
2:51
SPEAKER_00: We call that Lanyap, y'all.
2:54
SPEAKER_00: If you want a visual historian who will push beyond the predictable and kick ass for you, we need to talk.
3:03
SPEAKER_00: So when I wrote that earlier, I was in the car and I spoke to uh my notes on my phone.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: And I was able to summarize that when I got back.
3:14
SPEAKER_00: And that there's been some bottled up energy inside of me for the past handful of years now, where, and I'm sure you're in the same boat, you know, we all try to fit in.
3:26
SPEAKER_00: We all want to, you know, blend, create photography, or have a type of business or speak a certain way that is highly likable, and you know, dare I say trendy?
3:42
SPEAKER_00: Not really trendy.
3:43
SPEAKER_00: It's just, you know, if you go into a business meeting, you want to talk business language, okay?
3:48
SPEAKER_00: If I'm at a rock concert, I can drop F bombs all day long and fit in just fine.
3:54
SPEAKER_00: They don't work, vice versa, you know.
3:57
SPEAKER_00: But there's one problem I've been having over the last, you know, I don't know, seven or eight years, I guess, was I've been screaming how my website does not really honestly portray me a whole bunch.
4:12
SPEAKER_00: And I I understand that takes video, and I'm trying to get more video of myself, which is why I'm writing things like this, so I can go record myself and get it out there, you know.
4:23
SPEAKER_00: And the truth is, I've worked extremely hard to get to where I am.
4:28
SPEAKER_00: And when somebody asks me uh these days, you know, how do you feel about your competition?
4:34
SPEAKER_00: Ah, so that rock and roll badass son of a bitch on the inside of me, that rebellious F you looks at these people and I'm like, I'm like, you know, your your your competition is just people in your same price range-ish.
4:52
SPEAKER_00: But the thing about people in the creative industry in general is we all thrive so hard on what makes us different.
5:02
SPEAKER_00: So it's really difficult to say you're asking me to compare myself to another photographer when there's only one me, dude.
5:12
SPEAKER_00: So shut the hell up.
5:14
SPEAKER_00: You know, like I have a problem with that question, and I don't want I want you the photographer with the camera.
5:21
SPEAKER_00: You're you're learning this craft and you're trying to get good.
5:24
SPEAKER_00: And yes, you've got people you look up to, and short as Instagram accounts that you swear you'll never be as good as.
5:31
SPEAKER_00: Man, if I I hope you get this from me today, all right.
5:38
SPEAKER_00: When you finish this podcast, it's not gonna be very long, but what I want to instill with you is that rock and roll passion that I have.
5:46
SPEAKER_00: A lot of kids these days, and I hate to even say that phrase, kids these days.
5:50
SPEAKER_00: I am not the old guy by any means, okay?
5:52
SPEAKER_00: I'm still that 23 23-year-old dude with the heated passion on the inside to always get better, kick freaking booty, do amazing customer service, be polite but badass, dress nice enough to where you feel good about the decision you made when you hired me, and wash, rinse, repeat.
6:14
SPEAKER_00: That's a lot easier said than done, brother.
6:17
SPEAKER_00: Because when you deal with people, you deal with all kinds of people, and you deal with people who do not respect you and those who do.
6:25
SPEAKER_00: So all of that is part of the experience.
6:28
SPEAKER_00: All of that is over the decade or decades.
6:31
SPEAKER_00: You know, there's so many things I can't teach you, but when somebody says, you know, what makes you different or blah, blah, blah, you know, they're not wrong on the question because I think we need to just do a better job of showing that off.
6:46
SPEAKER_00: And the problem with social media uh in general is that people love trends.
6:51
SPEAKER_00: I mean, come on, TikTok actually tells you to follow the trends, so you'll go quote unquote viral.
6:58
SPEAKER_00: I don't think viral really exists anymore.
7:00
SPEAKER_00: I think there's just videos that work and videos that don't.
7:04
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of noise out there, you know, there's a lot of blah.
7:08
SPEAKER_00: And if you're following other photographers and their work looks like a hundred other photographers that are doing the same shots, the same posing, you know, the same.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: I've got to put that on, vibrate.
7:24
SPEAKER_00: You know, that the when you I can I understand clients who are shopping, and if they are browsing and are only seeing the same as everybody else, um, and they're looking for something a little bit more bolder or unique or whatever their style is, you know.
7:37
SPEAKER_00: I think the more obvious you are on that line, the easier it is for you to just be you.
7:46
SPEAKER_00: You get it?
7:48
SPEAKER_00: And that's what I have been feeling lately is that I feel like, you know, even going back like eight, nine years ago, you know, a wifey and I would I would be doing an Instagram post, and she's like, show a detailed shot.
8:01
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, what the shoes?
8:02
SPEAKER_00: Give me a flipping break, man.
8:04
SPEAKER_00: And she goes, Well, it's what's going around.
8:05
SPEAKER_00: I'm going, I can give two shits about what's going around.
8:08
SPEAKER_00: Like, I want people to like my photography for what I do, how I see, what's the creative stuff?
8:13
SPEAKER_00: Those cool candidates, shots that should be black and white.
8:16
SPEAKER_00: And you're telling me, don't post a black and white on your profile because it your whole profile grid needs to be bright and colorful.
8:24
SPEAKER_00: God, that ticked me off.
8:27
SPEAKER_00: I just that rebellious side inside of me that wants to be different, wants to be the rock and roll guy that was like, let me do this beat that's gonna bounce in your chest, and when you leave our gig, you're gonna remember what we did.
8:41
SPEAKER_00: You know, and I think photography is is gotten so flipping blah.
8:47
SPEAKER_00: And I'm sad to say, guilty of it.
8:51
SPEAKER_00: You know, trying to fit in.
8:53
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'm trying to earn a check here.
8:54
SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to get people to love me and trust me.
8:58
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, locally, those who know me, it's easy.
9:01
SPEAKER_00: They know me.
9:02
SPEAKER_00: They know me.
9:03
SPEAKER_00: I'm a nice guy, but I kick booty.
9:05
SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm fun.
9:06
SPEAKER_00: I mean, come on, I love to make you laugh, I love to have a good time, you know, but at the same time, we got work to do.
9:12
SPEAKER_00: And I know how to bang it out.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: I know how to work with all the vendors, I know how to create a timeline, I also know how to stick to a timeline.
9:18
SPEAKER_00: I also know why timelines can also suck from time to time.
9:22
SPEAKER_00: The instance and the event is always different.
9:26
SPEAKER_00: So this one stamp on somebody's wedding does not copy and paste on everybody's wedding, dude.
9:35
SPEAKER_00: It just it that's just the truth, okay?
9:38
SPEAKER_00: So my point of today's podcast is to encourage those who are screaming on the inside like me, that I'm being I want to be myself.
9:49
SPEAKER_00: I want to be more myself, and that does not mean you need to have pink and blue hair.
9:53
SPEAKER_00: It's not what I mean.
9:54
SPEAKER_00: What I mean is show off the photography you want to show off.
9:59
SPEAKER_00: You know, attract those people who like those shots that you do.
10:04
SPEAKER_00: You know?
10:05
SPEAKER_00: Um, if you go to my Instagram, you can go down my grid, and I've I've got both, you know.
10:10
SPEAKER_00: I've I've got those detailed damn shots and uh vendor-friendly images that are shareable, and you know, then I got the cool stuff in there that I'm super duper proud of.
10:21
SPEAKER_00: And if I had it my way, it would always only be the super duper cool stuff.
10:25
SPEAKER_00: But that's not what wins votes, man.
10:28
SPEAKER_00: That's just not playing in the sand, I guess, in the industry you're in.
10:33
SPEAKER_00: You know, in this case, I'm speaking of the wedding industry, and uh, I'm tired of it, I'm exhausted.
10:41
SPEAKER_00: I really am.
10:42
SPEAKER_00: So I have a birthday coming up in a couple of months, and every year that goes by, I'm starting to face the facts of what really matters more to me.
10:53
SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, everybody wants to talk about mental health and all these aspects of life.
11:00
SPEAKER_00: And again, I'm screaming on the inside.
11:02
SPEAKER_00: It's like, Jesus, man, all the sharp edges of life's reality right now, I think are difficult for most people.
11:09
SPEAKER_00: Like 99% of people is pretty difficult.
11:13
SPEAKER_00: You know, if you work in a job that you're really not in love with, you have to obey by all those sharp edges just to have a job.
11:21
SPEAKER_00: And then you go home aggravated, you don't love what you do, wash, rinse, repeat.
11:24
SPEAKER_00: Yay, life is wonderful.
11:25
SPEAKER_00: Hey man, I get it.
11:27
SPEAKER_00: I really do.
11:28
SPEAKER_00: Because I do quite a few jobs that are just paying the bills, and then I've got my jobs where I'm so damn proud to be a part of.
11:37
SPEAKER_00: You know?
11:38
SPEAKER_00: Um I love my commercial events mainly because I get to do something I can't do on other local jobs.
11:47
SPEAKER_00: When these people are coming in town from Massachusetts or you know, Illinois to Texas, but not so much Texas, they're close enough to us.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: But if you've never been to New Orleans, I get to be the city's ambassador, one of them.
12:06
SPEAKER_00: You know, when this company comes in town and they have a trade show, and then they got three days of doing things and dinners and parades they're gonna hire for to escort their people from you know the hotel all the way to one of the clubs um in the Bourbon Street French Quarter area, the experience that they get from how we speak to them, how we handle them, how we show them what we do.
12:31
SPEAKER_00: And I I get to I get to do this reset button every time with these commercial people because they're not from here, you know?
12:38
SPEAKER_00: So I get to show off.
12:39
SPEAKER_00: I get to do what I do, you know.
12:41
SPEAKER_00: I get to make them laugh.
12:42
SPEAKER_00: I get to show them kick booty photography while they're having a damn good time.
12:47
SPEAKER_00: And they're like, man, that's a really cool candid you got.
12:50
SPEAKER_00: I said, thank you.
12:51
SPEAKER_00: If you weren't doing it, I couldn't shoot it.
12:53
SPEAKER_00: So the more fun you have, the better they look.
12:55
SPEAKER_00: And they're like, right on.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: You know?
12:59
SPEAKER_00: Um our locals, um, we're more used to what we do here.
13:06
SPEAKER_00: And if there's anything that I could say about our local wedding photographers, let's just bring it down to just the photographers, okay?
13:16
SPEAKER_00: So there's something that we do locally here in New Orleans or Louisiana in general, I guess, but I mean our weddings are different than most around the country.
13:26
SPEAKER_00: When you go more north, they always have a sit-down dinner, they always have a cocktail hour, and it's just spread out a lot longer.
13:38
SPEAKER_00: Um if you only know New Orleans as a party place, or only a drinking place, or only a food, you know, place, and you think we all sit on a porch and smoke a cigar and rock back and forth and just you know wait until the morning paper comes the next day.
13:57
SPEAKER_00: Man, we are some of the hardest working creative souls in the industry.
14:03
SPEAKER_00: Period.
14:04
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely freaking period.
14:06
SPEAKER_00: You don't understand what we have to go through to get the kind of shots, to get the same kind of coverage that you do, with all that time, we have it more squeezed down to you know, two hours before the ceremony where they're getting dressed, hotel or wherever.
14:22
SPEAKER_00: And then we transport to let's say we're going to the church at a ceremonial location.
14:27
SPEAKER_00: Boom, we do all that.
14:29
SPEAKER_00: We immediately go back up and do the family pictures, and we get to the reception, and these girls pay for either a three or a four-hour reception.
14:41
SPEAKER_00: Now, we already banged out the family shots in less than 30 minutes because the church Nazis want us in and out, right?
14:50
SPEAKER_00: And then we get to the reception, they make them, they feed them in the back, we get we get a chance to take a breather, set up our lights, man.
14:58
SPEAKER_00: The band introduces them, and we are out rocking.
15:01
SPEAKER_00: We are partying, we are dancing.
15:03
SPEAKER_00: People are drinking, they're eating, they're in the background.
15:07
SPEAKER_00: We have so many things in our way sometimes.
15:11
SPEAKER_00: But my point is we don't we don't have these long, drawn out days that can be a little envious for the sake of having more time.
15:21
SPEAKER_00: But at the same time, all of us local photographers would tell you our weddings are way more fun because it's a party, straight up.
15:28
SPEAKER_00: Everybody knows locally, man.
15:30
SPEAKER_00: Get through the ceremony, it's party time, like straight into it.
15:34
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, the only other thing that we kind of threw in the mix is whether they do a first look or not, which is added more time before the ceremony, which is great.
15:44
SPEAKER_00: Let's work really hard three hours before the ceremony, and then it's a regular wedding for us.
15:52
SPEAKER_00: So we just jam a lot in our time.
15:54
SPEAKER_00: We don't have much time down, you know.
15:58
SPEAKER_00: I mean, usually when there's a break somewhere or just, you know, the back third of the reception, we'll find time to sneak away and you know, get a few bites to eat of something and uh just keep on rocking, man.
16:12
SPEAKER_00: You know, water bottles are in the bag and we keep going.
16:14
SPEAKER_00: I always have protein bars in my camera bag.
16:17
SPEAKER_00: So when I'm seeing TikToks, people talking about they need to feed us vendors.
16:22
SPEAKER_00: Man, they don't sit us down.
16:25
SPEAKER_00: They don't make a table for us or nothing.
16:27
SPEAKER_00: I mean, give me a break, dude.
16:30
SPEAKER_00: We like working, we we're there for a reason, man.
16:33
SPEAKER_00: We want to get all those cool moments.
16:35
SPEAKER_00: So anyway, uh, I don't want to veer too much off into that realm, but New Orleans photographers, we work our booties off way more than you realize we do.
16:49
SPEAKER_00: You know, I mean the amount of variety that we create in a shorter amount of time is impressive, honestly.
16:58
SPEAKER_00: And it makes it makes you pay attention, it makes you um better a little quicker, I think, because you have to pay attention or else things are gonna slip right by, you know.
17:10
SPEAKER_00: So, anyway, if you're out there and you're agreeing with me that man, you want to be more you, I highly encourage you to record yourself, even if it's just to record a couple of times just for you to see you, so you can just kind of do that a couple of times so you can get used to being on camera, and eventually come up with something that you throw on your website, throw it on your Instagram story, make it a reel so it stays on your grid, it doesn't just go away after 12 hours.
17:42
SPEAKER_00: You know, you video and photography work hand in hand.
17:48
SPEAKER_00: Even though I say that I am a hybrid photographer, yeah, yeah, yeah.
17:51
SPEAKER_00: I can do some Vig clips, but no, I'm not gonna do long form video and photography at the same time.
17:57
SPEAKER_00: That's insane.
17:58
SPEAKER_00: 100% insane.
18:00
SPEAKER_00: I've got some really good friends of mine that do excellent long form video, and I refer them all the time.
18:07
SPEAKER_00: Working together as a team always gets the job done cleaner, way more efficient, and way more um stress-free.
18:17
SPEAKER_00: Because one person's not trying to save the world here, you know.
18:22
SPEAKER_00: So, anyway, I am hoping I pushed a nerve on somebody, uh, whatever your inner spirit is.
18:29
SPEAKER_00: I'm hoping you are uh gravitating to it.
18:32
SPEAKER_00: And I hope when you go to go to your own website when you get off of this, okay?
18:37
SPEAKER_00: Go to your own website and tell me if it's if the if somebody landed on the page and did not know you at all, would they feel like they knew you?
18:47
SPEAKER_00: If the answer is no, then you got some work to do by this weekend.
18:52
SPEAKER_00: Give yourself a deadline.
18:53
SPEAKER_00: By Sunday night, I need a new home page.
18:56
SPEAKER_00: I I need two, three pages that would really be great if.
19:01
SPEAKER_00: Figure out your if.
19:03
SPEAKER_00: Because the what ifs are only gonna be a question mark until you put the exclamation mark on the finished product.
19:14
SPEAKER_00: You know?
19:15
SPEAKER_00: Go do the work, y'all.
19:16
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing wrong with doing the work.
19:18
SPEAKER_00: I've been doing this for 30, this is my 30 second.
19:21
SPEAKER_00: Jesus.
19:22
SPEAKER_00: To the point to where I'm exhausted.
19:24
SPEAKER_00: I'm I just I'm just gonna start saying over three decades.
19:28
SPEAKER_00: It's not about the years, man.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: It's it's about the experience.
19:31
SPEAKER_00: And how much do you care?
19:33
SPEAKER_00: How much do you really, really care?
19:36
SPEAKER_00: You know?
19:37
SPEAKER_00: So for all of those younger, you know, newish brides right now.
19:42
SPEAKER_00: Um, if your dad is in his early 50s, then he's just like me.
19:47
SPEAKER_00: He's a Gen Xer, and I'm sure he's a ACDC, Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam, you know, that kind of foo fighters.
19:54
SPEAKER_00: I mean, come on, man.
19:55
SPEAKER_00: When the foo fighters come on, does he raise the volume and you say, oh no?
19:58
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, that's me.
20:00
SPEAKER_00: That is flipping me, dude.
20:02
SPEAKER_00: And that's my attitude on life.
20:03
SPEAKER_00: It's how I in my inside my head while I'm working, that rock tune is just blaring in my head, and I'm like, what are these people doing?
20:14
SPEAKER_00: Why are they boring?
20:15
SPEAKER_00: Why is this band not kicking it?
20:17
SPEAKER_00: How come the decor kind of sucks?
20:18
SPEAKER_00: How come?
20:19
SPEAKER_00: Why in God's name is XYZ?
20:22
SPEAKER_00: It's a whole different story, man, when everybody is hitting hard, everybody's cooking, you know?
20:29
SPEAKER_00: The band is just nailing it.
20:30
SPEAKER_00: The people can't stop getting off, they did they won't get off the dance floor because they're having way too much fun.
20:35
SPEAKER_00: They're not used to us, man.
20:37
SPEAKER_00: They're used to these long, drawn-out, boring ass weddings, and they, you know, turn up the really good vibe music like the last hour when the old people are gone.
20:45
SPEAKER_00: Anyways, we do, man.
20:47
SPEAKER_00: And it's not what we do, it's not how we live.
20:50
SPEAKER_00: So even though the event that you're paying me for, whoever you are, whether it's a wedding or a commercial gig, I don't care if it's just headshots at your office, it's about you, man.
21:02
SPEAKER_00: I want you to enjoy the experience that I can bring to the table.
21:07
SPEAKER_00: Because it's not just photography anymore.
21:10
SPEAKER_00: Now it's me connecting with you as a person.
21:12
SPEAKER_00: Now I want you to relax.
21:14
SPEAKER_00: Let's talk for 30 seconds, man.
21:16
SPEAKER_00: How you doing?
21:17
SPEAKER_00: How'd a wife and kids?
21:19
SPEAKER_00: How are your friends?
21:21
SPEAKER_00: How's the business?
21:22
SPEAKER_00: You know?
21:23
SPEAKER_00: A 30-second conversation goes a long way quick.
21:28
SPEAKER_00: Instead of, hi, I walked in and I am the pro photographer, and we're gonna take pictures right over here, and I'm gonna need you to sit on the chair for headshots and stop it.
21:39
SPEAKER_00: Stop it.
21:40
SPEAKER_00: That's that's not me.
21:41
SPEAKER_00: My people don't sit no more, they stand, I work with 'em.
21:45
SPEAKER_00: You know, clothes were designed to be worn standing up.
21:50
SPEAKER_00: So if you've got, you know, ladies with beautiful dresses and the way it the cut is down, then they're a center line.
21:59
SPEAKER_00: That looks It always looks perfect on them standing.
22:02
SPEAKER_00: And when they sit, if they don't have good posture, that looks off.
22:05
SPEAKER_00: My guys with the coat and tie, man, when you sit, you're bunching.
22:10
SPEAKER_00: Give me a break.
22:11
SPEAKER_00: So anyway, there's a lot of quote unquote rules over the years that I am personally responsible for breaking and changing.
22:20
SPEAKER_00: And nobody knows about it.
22:22
SPEAKER_00: You know?
22:23
SPEAKER_00: It's nothing to brag over.
22:24
SPEAKER_00: It's just me working.
22:26
SPEAKER_00: Like I'll I'll throw this out at you.
22:27
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
22:28
SPEAKER_00: I'll we'll close the podcast out with this.
22:31
SPEAKER_00: Back in the film days, when we only had 30 shots on a roll of 220 film negative, okay, on a large camera.
22:41
SPEAKER_00: The frames, the number that you look down to your camera and you see how many you have left, that was our guide.
22:50
SPEAKER_00: I mean, really, we would look down and say, oh, geez, I got 12 shots left out of 30.
22:55
SPEAKER_00: I didn't realize I shot that.
22:57
SPEAKER_00: Can you believe we used to photograph an entire wedding with less than 300 images?
23:04
SPEAKER_00: Like that's how many rolls of film we shot.
23:05
SPEAKER_00: So if we sold a package and we knew what our profit margin was, we knew what our cost was, and it was based on, say, a pro pack.
23:13
SPEAKER_00: A pro pack was five rolls in a box.
23:17
SPEAKER_00: We called it a pro pack.
23:18
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
23:19
SPEAKER_00: I always dipped into pack number two.
23:21
SPEAKER_00: So how many rolls into pack number two depended on whether I made money or I started paying for them.
23:28
SPEAKER_00: I was paying for those rolls of film because it went into my private, so I'm paying for it.
23:32
SPEAKER_00: And it never fails.
23:33
SPEAKER_00: I usually went two over maybe three.
23:38
SPEAKER_00: So that's five, six, seven.
23:42
SPEAKER_00: So seven times thirty.
23:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, man.
23:45
SPEAKER_00: That's that's not even that's crazy, right?
23:48
SPEAKER_00: The entire wedding.
23:49
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so we used to get to the reception, say we went upstairs to the room to do the group shots, and we used to do bride, then add the groom, full length close-up, bridal party, looking at me, click click, everybody do a fun shot, click, you know, and then okay, if you're family, uh everybody just scoot away.
24:13
SPEAKER_00: Let me get the guys.
24:14
SPEAKER_00: So, what we used to do, here's all the guys and the bride.
24:18
SPEAKER_00: Then we would wait while the reception venue would give each guy a champagne glass, and I would make them all extend their hands evenly.
24:30
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
24:31
SPEAKER_00: So from a wide shot of everybody toasting, basically the bride, you're looking at me.
24:36
SPEAKER_00: Click, it's one shot, man.
24:38
SPEAKER_00: Dude in the left blinked.
24:39
SPEAKER_00: Oh well.
24:41
SPEAKER_00: Then I would bring the glasses in together.
24:46
SPEAKER_00: I I would take a lower angle.
24:51
SPEAKER_00: In other words, the camera's here, the bunch of glasses is right in front of the camera's lens.
24:56
SPEAKER_00: So I'm not really getting the guys.
24:58
SPEAKER_00: I'm getting maybe the first two guys, okay?
25:00
SPEAKER_00: But the bride and groom is right there.
25:02
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, hey guys, y'all look at me.
25:04
SPEAKER_00: Here's the champagne glasses overlooking them, click, and then everybody look at the bride.
25:08
SPEAKER_00: And I'd back up and quickly get a shot of everybody looking at the bride.
25:14
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
25:16
SPEAKER_00: I deleted that shit quick.
25:19
SPEAKER_00: Not so much quick, but I mean, it wasn't many years into my career where I was like, is this really important?
25:25
SPEAKER_00: Like, does anybody care if we do this shot or not?
25:28
SPEAKER_00: Like, it's just a shot.
25:29
SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
25:30
SPEAKER_00: Somebody created it and I said that's a great idea, so I did it too.
25:34
SPEAKER_00: So then I started going to the venue and I'd be like, hey, um, did the bride ask for the champagne shots for the guys?
25:43
SPEAKER_00: They all they usually said no.
25:45
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, okay, if the bride didn't ask for it, we're not doing it tonight.
25:50
SPEAKER_00: And they always were excited because they knew that was at least eight minutes of time that we can skip and push right through it.
25:59
SPEAKER_00: So they're taking care of their clients, me too.
26:02
SPEAKER_00: You know, get through that section quicker so we can get on to the first dance.
26:05
SPEAKER_00: Everybody's happy.
26:07
SPEAKER_00: Nobody was asking me for those pictures afterwards.
26:09
SPEAKER_00: Nobody even we knew about them.
26:11
SPEAKER_00: Nobody said, Oh, my friend's wedding, you did his shot, you must do it too.
26:14
SPEAKER_00: No, stop.
26:17
SPEAKER_00: You know, I did the exact same thing when we used to go to the cake table in the beginning, and out the blue, there would have champagne glasses on the cake table.
26:27
SPEAKER_00: And it used to be either the bridal party get back there or just the guys.
26:34
SPEAKER_00: And at first I was like, you know, we don't have to do this again.
26:38
SPEAKER_00: I just did it upstairs.
26:39
SPEAKER_00: Just the guys looking at the bride.
26:41
SPEAKER_00: Why are we doing this one?
26:42
SPEAKER_00: And it would take up so much time.
26:45
SPEAKER_00: So, one of the weddings, I showed up, and is the girl was putting glasses down, just plastic little champagne glasses, down on the table.
26:56
SPEAKER_00: And I stopped the girl and I said, Can I ask you a question?
27:00
SPEAKER_00: Do you can you find out if the bride requested this?
27:03
SPEAKER_00: Or is this something that we're just doing because it's habit?
27:06
SPEAKER_00: She says, You know, I really don't know.
27:08
SPEAKER_00: She went and talked to the person who handled the bride and groom, and they came back and she says, No, she had an exodue.
27:14
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Delete these cups.
27:17
SPEAKER_00: She goes, Really?
27:18
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, I'm not getting these guys who are halfway drunk without their jackets on, their hairs are a mess.
27:23
SPEAKER_00: We're asking them to go get ready again just to come do this shot that's not even important.
27:28
SPEAKER_00: And she's like, I'm with you.
27:31
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, we're deleting this.
27:33
SPEAKER_00: So that shot is gone.
27:36
SPEAKER_00: Yay! I have personally been snipping the dingleberries of the wedding format over the years, and I'm so proud to say that how things are today, as candid as they are, as you know, we're pushing through the day with more time to the bride and groom.
27:56
SPEAKER_00: I am very proud to be a part of that.
27:59
SPEAKER_00: Extremely proud to say I knew things were dumb back then and I helped cut that crap out.
28:06
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
28:07
SPEAKER_00: That's my rock and roll attitude.
28:09
SPEAKER_00: You know, following the rules when I have to, but still be a little rebellious to ask questions.
28:15
SPEAKER_00: You know, ask why.
28:17
SPEAKER_00: Is it important?
28:17
SPEAKER_00: And look, when they said, hey, the bride does want this, I'm like, sure, no problem.
28:21
SPEAKER_00: I'm here for her.
28:22
SPEAKER_00: Whatever she wants, man.
28:24
SPEAKER_00: I am her guy.
28:26
SPEAKER_00: But nine, eh, eight, eight or nine out of ten times.
28:34
SPEAKER_00: If I had an idea about something, it was it was a good idea.
28:38
SPEAKER_00: You know, unless the wedding coordinator comes over to me and she goes, Um, why did you want to move these glasses?
28:44
SPEAKER_00: I think I had this like one time.
28:46
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, they mentioned that the bribery didn't request this, and she goes, I want that.
28:51
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, so she looked at me and like, hey, look, don't take me the wrong way.
28:58
SPEAKER_00: But if you didn't ask for this shot, it's not that important.
29:02
SPEAKER_00: Why are we wasting time when when they they can take a handful of cake shots, feed their, feed each other, slam some champagne?
29:08
SPEAKER_00: I get all the emotional stuff, boom, they're done, back on the damn dance floor.
29:13
SPEAKER_00: She's like, I get it.
29:15
SPEAKER_00: I do.
29:16
SPEAKER_00: But tonight I I do want this shot.
29:17
SPEAKER_00: I said, fine.
29:18
SPEAKER_00: So she got the shot.
29:20
SPEAKER_00: Bride didn't care about it.
29:22
SPEAKER_00: And hey, I'm paid to be there for the bride.
29:24
SPEAKER_00: So whatever they want me to do, I am all yours, you know?
29:28
SPEAKER_00: So if you want to have a damn good time and put fun first, even though there's uh a shot list that in the back of my brain I know we need to get through the basics of every single wedding.
29:40
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you gotta do your family pictures, you gotta take pictures with your mom and your dad and your girls and him with his guys.
29:46
SPEAKER_00: Like, there's a whole list of things that make up the procedure of a wedding day.
29:52
SPEAKER_00: So if somebody tells you um that they don't do any of that, they're they're damn liars.
29:57
SPEAKER_00: They're liars, man.
29:59
SPEAKER_00: There's no way you're taking family shots without directing at all.
30:03
SPEAKER_00: It's just impossible.
30:05
SPEAKER_00: We can't get people to stay in one area to be ready to be called for the picture.
30:10
SPEAKER_00: You think it's just gonna happen and you can just squeeze a picture from 10 yards away?
30:15
SPEAKER_00: No, give me a break.
30:17
SPEAKER_00: That is too funny.
30:19
SPEAKER_00: All right, you guys, I am gonna uh do my normal outro.
30:27
SPEAKER_00: So, just so you know, on my YouTube channel, I am not adding music anymore, unless it's my band.
30:34
SPEAKER_00: Because even though I paid for certain businesses online, they do the royalty-free music, I'm still getting claims after I stop paying them.
30:44
SPEAKER_00: You know, like you can't use the songs anymore, or whatever it is.
30:47
SPEAKER_00: Anyway, I love my rock and roll that we've been doing for a long time, and I'm glad you're here.
30:53
SPEAKER_00: Peace and love, you guys.
30:55
SPEAKER_00: Later.