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Lesson Info

Dress Codes

There's no hard and fast rule but the last thing you want to do as a zoo I mentioned earlier is you never wanna assume that you are um okay dressed dressed okay or progress properly if you haven't asked the first shooter what the appropriate attire is going to be make sure to ask way do have a couple of horror stories that we're gonna get into a little bit later but the last thing you want to do is go into dressed on our wedding day just it's you're a representation of the first shooters brand and uh you know that first shooter will probably most likely not hire you back if if you're not dressed appropriately so uh you know, during our first year of business I used to always dress for comfort that was my first priority so I would dress would just where uh dress pants and address sure that was my thing and I would jasmine and I would show up to weddings and it wasn't until it was midway through our first season when we were shooting a wedding at a venue with another actually there was a...

nother photographer there that was shooting at the same venue is us and we looked up to this photographer we would you know what jasmine would go to his block or actually see him online so we knew of him he didn't know anything about us I just remember how I was shocked because he saw staring at him he was shooting cocktail hour while we try to play it off like yeah, yeah we're kind of like so yeah so jasmine knew throughout the day that he was shooting there so we were kind of like, oh gosh, you know we'll be crazy if we you know, got to meet him or something so at one point during the cocteau he was shooting cocktail hour and he saw us he saw us staring at him so he walked over to us and he actually introduce themselves and I thought I was awesome it was great we got to say hello but when he was talking to jasmine I didn't hear anything that was going on in the conversation I just saw I couldn't stop looking at his clothes like this is probably the point where I should admit that jd had a man crush e not a man chris I was just shocked that people dress that night it's the wedding's he had a full on suit three piece suit he had cufflinks he had a a tie clip and got a pocket got a pocket teo even smelled good again get men crashed right? So you know, I remember just thinking wow, you know, way saw him we said our good byes and he went back and he was just floating around cocktail hour and he looked just like a guest and I remember thinking to myself that day and we were jasmine I were driving home and that we were both talking about it and jasmine made like that conscious decision teo up our game when it comes to dressing for weddings he said you know what? And I'll never forget what she said she said uh well, what did she say? I'll never forget what she said hold on what it is I know what she said I always I always mess it up I always say the wrong word or something but she said I don't want to dress for the jobs that I have I want to dress for the jobs that I want and that's when after that car right we made she she actually we didn't have a rule but we just said from now on we're gonna incorporate three pieces every time we go out s o that meant I was always gonna start wearing a tie for weddings at least on dh that that only know so all wear ties for ninety percent of the weddings that I shoot, but if I know that I'm the only one wearing a tie I'll definitely just either take it off or if I knew in advance that nobody's gonna be wearing ties then I won't wear a tie but that's usually never the case there's always guests wearing ties at a wedding that we're shooting weddings that we're shooting um so gosh that's kind of you know the best way as a second shooter teo get a good feel for this is uh ask where the wedding's going to be shot if the wedding's going to be shot at a resort like I said earlier if it's a black tie affair make sure to wear either black bow tie or black tie free for the guys I think for the guys it's a lot easier because I treat my son suit like a uniform I have a couple suits and I'll wear them pretty much all the time and I always tell jasmine she should do the same I was like jazz want you just get a couple of dresses ladies and have you know your uniform but you know for ladies I get it they want a lot more variety and for some guys too so now did nowadays that's just like kind of my hard and fast rule I'll ask jasmine what what the guests are going to be dressing like or what where the wedding's going to be and then that will help me kind of make a good educated guess destination weddings on a beach there's no sense for him to be wearing a full suit. However if we're shooting a destination wedding on the beach in the groom in the groomsmen are wearing a suit jd will also wear suit you were in mexico and he was dripping sweat but all the guys were wearing suits, so we felt out of respect to our clients we're going to dress like a reflection of our brain, but also as a reflection of their wedding day. Now, again, we know that we stand a little bit on the periphery, but our goal is to blend in. We don't have camera straps, we have very nondescript camera bags and we have a single camera, right? We want to look and feel not we don't want to be obtrusive to the gas. And, you know, honestly, it's made the biggest difference. I remember when we were a little bit more underdressed way would I would feel like hired help. And you know now, when I shop the wedding's actually, we blend in really well with guests and it's really neat. I like I like the difference that the representation that we leave off now for the brand, actually, I still struggle with this at some time that you know, some points. The other day was what, four weddings ago? We shot a wedding in north carolina, and we usually don't shoot rehearsal dinners, but we were hired to shoot the rehearsal dinner for this wedding on dso. I remember asking jazz and I said, what do you think the tires will be like for the rehearsal dinner? It's usually a lot more casual when we do rehearsal dinners and I don't have to wear a full on suit and jasmine said, you know what? We're going to the south and this is there going to be dressed you know, everyone there is going to be over the top everyone I said it's a very proper thing it's a problem in this house and they're doing up there wedding everyone's gonna be in bow ties and so I thought okay, I was like maybe uh I can still I'll wear a bow tie, but I'll wear some denim jeans and a blazer and you know, jasmine's just like you know, I don't think that's a good move and and and I differed no, I actually wore a tie so so so so not he's not wearing a bow tie and he decided I like l a to the south I was like, you know, I'm gonna look like an artist, you know? You know, the photographer can always kind of dress down the well for a rehearsal dinner I thought I don't need to be there dressed up to the night just for clarification we have the first shooter has its second year, so I think I heard from her judgment on that this read that this recent rehearsal dinner and I show up we go the war, my denim jeans, my blazer and tie and right when we walk in the door, every single guy it's like we were there's a kentucky derby like every guy had bow ties everyone bright green nice well hat's top hat and I turn and I was like, since then you know, I will always defer to whatever jasmine says in regards to what she thinks the first shooter has the best judgment as to what? What, what the guests will be wearing on that day so make sure to ask, um here are actually I'm going to actually get into a few photos that we got from, uh, some facebook members on the face on the second shooter group of like certain way had asked for people to turn in some photos of what they were on wedding days and so I'm going to get into those a little bit start with what? All right, so this is a colorado wedding. It started raining so jd just brought out an umbrella and I was actually in the moment of shooting the bride and her bridesmaids and then jd jd happen get a photo I felt a little silly because right there we actually had a wait until it was one of those rainstorms where he was raining for like two yes and it would just stop and then I'll listen to it start again so I was just standing there for that time when it stopped and then just move off don't get a photo the next girl would come in I go get the next bride rides may bring him in so I was seriously not even shoot second shooting I was way more of an assist umbrella umbrella assistant that day but this showcase is why the decision that jd had made it was going to be a former wedding but it was also held out in the forest so he didn't wear a black suit he wanted to blend in a little bit more with uh the guests in the surroundings so this is a recent outfit that I wear at weddings I liketo not be constricted around my arms but I also want to make sure that the skirts and dresses I wear go down to my knee and this oh this is from emily jane and uh she was it's great because I actually like um I just I just like the variety that we're going to be able to get from watching other people because I don't think you know jasmine and I have a certain style and look and it's good to get variety and I like that she was using to pieces it looks like she's doing a dress and then something to go over it instead of it just being like a summer dress because again summer dresses okay in some parts of the united states for weddings but to look a little bit professional, I'm starting to feel like actually this is starting to feel like fashion police we're not doing that we're actually just encouraging and showing things way want to show what we like because we've gone to weddings and we see photographers wearing sloppy clothes and I feel like it's a bad reflection of our industry as a whole I really do feel like way we have the ability to start changing the outlook wedding photographers are perceived we don't want those vests on the fanny packs and the straps it's like we can go and we can be classy even to be professional and still do a good job I think you ready howard he's ah good friend of ours actually he's from canada and he's definitely dressed sharp like all we have to include radio good again it's a little bit simpler but again the tie really does make a difference oh my god, look at this photo okay? So we asked for elf it's and then this guy danny gorman post a photo of his second shooter and me wearing the same dress so it turned into instagram of who wore it best so it's like a bad version of like us weekly I was like either way I mean I clearly improvement for dress I think it's great because she covers her arms and she hasn't built a small, simple accessory but she still looks really professional. Well, this is uh this is ryan greenlee I don't know if you guys for those of you who watched to restart he was one of our uh one of the in class uh students that had their business made over and he's really you know, I told him I just I love the shoes but I love his pose just like if I could be that confident when I'm dressed up that would be I just need his confidence but part of the reason I like this one it was because he kind of gave a list of where you can get things so pants j crew shirt h and m belt macy's shoes l'd oh so men if you want to create this elven ryan picks you up so this is john sorta I like that she has she shoots in northern council could be very warm and what she did is instead of wearing a short skirt she has addressed like a dress in skirt so it's still keeping her cool but the same time still looks professional she's wearing a pair of flats like that was she looks adorable and she looks professional I think he's waiting photographers ladies there most of the ladies are wearing flats um so uh I just feel like making sure you always have a comfortable pair of flats because I dont jasmine sometimes we have to actually have uh multiple pairs of shoes for on a wedding day it's gonna be on her feet all day obviously so well actually I'll actually paris packed a spare in my backpack also when it comes teo I'm talking to people about what they should wear it's an uncomfortable conversation when you first started working with her assistant she is young she wasn't in industry so she came to the first wedding and she did not look sloppy whatsoever whatsoever but I felt as a representation of our brand and is a representation of what the guests were wearing I just asked her to please wear a knee length skirt and to work close toed shoes because she was wearing sandals and I just felt like when we were at a country club or at a resort it just wasn't I'm betting attire at least in southern california it was uncomfortable but since then that girl dresses short um this is very very boring what I wear black dress I tried to get away from it I know other girls do such a phenomenal job but a black dress will always I don't know what it is with the ladies how they black is great I love how black looks on jasmine I don't know why I think it's just made because they you just need some variation of color, I guess but if you can keep it classy like that I think that that's a great thing that navy blue works well too yes do you have specific flats that you swear by that you buy something that you bought several pairs of over the years? You know, I do find that a wear a tory burch a lot but I don't necessarily think that they're so comfortable it's just I take a pair of shoes and I rotate them actually we're here in seattle and I was like, I need to buy a pair of flats and I found a pair that I loved and I was willing to splurge I turned to him I was like, I'm going to do it I'm gonna buy a nice pair of all weather flats out of my size like the universe is telling me I can't get it well well, I was I could see a future block post this is you know, I feel like this is brandon kid out of orange county and he actually when I saw this photo I thought, wow, I can incorporate a casual, more casual look but yet very, very, very nice he's wearing a bow tie and he looks appropriate to shoot a wedding so again it just depends on your brand and it depends on your clientele, so I'm particularly fond of this couple and these photos the's air the grovers they are based in southern california and what I particularly like about just one? They're just very nice people and talented photographers, but to they started an instagram account stylish foe talk because they were always wondering what other people were wearing at weddings. So if you follow them or if use the hashtag dallas photog, they start highlighting other photographers instagrammed a photo of yourself it use that hashtag and they might feature you so here are a couple featured photographers within the stylish oh tog instagram account. Well, this guy did it up, right? I mean, wow, he kind of did a nice style piece about what he was wearing and where you can also get it. I think he looks extraordinarily handsome. I think he looks appropriate. I think he looks artistic, and I think that his clients I could just look at him and know what kind of client he's attracting. But I think he does a great job with it. And again, another one from stylish photog. This skye, I think, dresses impeccably well, you tell that I think he would shoot higher and weddings, he would probably shoot weddings that our ballroom or resort, um, like destination high end resort stuff. Lastly, this is us shooting of or this judy shooting a laguna beach wedding. It was at a private estate, but guests were showing up in suits and was a slightly more formal wear. Formal attire. All the guys were taxes. So jane decided to our black suit end of black cool. All right, so we're now going to be moving on to a section oh, yes. Season. I just wanted to throw in my two cents that I vote for j d my vote's for jd on the well, I hope he wins the fashion category because he's not gonna win the quote category. Oh, really? Business? Uh, well, not take that for, you know, here's the thing you have to be honest is like, I am very competitive. I will be competitive at doing laundry. You know, somebody had gifted us. We first got married scrabble, which is very nerdy, but it was such a great gift because we're really poor had a lot of friday nights at home, so he started playing scrabble and we got so competitive that I got to a point twice flip the board I'm done with this. We actually have not played scrabble since our first year of marriage because I was just like it's, you or the gate one of you gotta go, so just as it is so extreme when she wins, she is like in your face, like, yeah, like, she'll go run around the house, you know, yelling. And she loses that's, what you get.