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Lesson Info

Building A Photo: Hard Work

So this is one my favorite examples of had to work hard physically as well as mentally um so this was the exit these people were going to exit out of the reception, okay? So the so the corners like we're gonna have candles out there I go okay, so I walked out there with my assistant and I'm like that's interesting they're fake candles, by the way, but whatever um and I might this interesting like let's see if I can figure how to shoot this because when they run out of the out of there they're not gonna get one shot at this, right? So I actually I think I spent a good hour and a half planning this photo on what I was going to do when it happens I would walk out there I shot this scene that's boring, it's horribly boring then I'm like you maybe I could go up, maybe I could shoot up top well, that's not gonna work right? And I'm like, ooh that's getting closer right that might work, but it's not quite, it doesn't have enough to it yet, so then I came back out, but then I had to go back in...

and shoot dancing right then I got and then and then when when there's a law I would come back in right and so I get in closer, so I decided to tell the camera to give some more dynamic in this to the dynamic, like a dramatic, you know, kind of lines and then there's a girl, a girl having to be smoking out there, so I used her as my as my, like kind of test and it's kind of a cool photo, right? And then what I did was once I found my composition, I went back in took my assistant, kate, who is amazing she's not with me anymore, but she was such there's, like the best system in the world anyway, so we took the light stick and I walked up to the bride to the brightest thing. They're talking to someone I took the light stick, and I made it the same height as the bride and then I so that way I could plan where my composition, wass says, I don't want to cut the bride's head off, right? This kind of is what goes into doing remote cameras, it's almost the same thing, right? You gotta work really hard and all that stuff, and then so that way, when the time came that they're actually believe I knew exactly where I needed to be, and I pre focused and I waited right, and so here they come right the good thing is no other guests came out if other guests had come out that I would be screwed right cause they might block them so here they come and watch the composition I don't think it changes much at all right seats tiny bits right good thing is those are both of her sisters this is the wedding you know where the where the sister was like this remember that from today right so that so those air both of her sisters so her mom and her this is this is their favorite image from the entire wedding because it sums everything up right so they're coming out I'm just shooting I just keep shooting through it right I can't wait for the moment cause I don't know what the best moments going todo shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot and then boom right there it is that's the frame right there and he goes out of the frame see that and then I do this which is horrible right they did show more people okay but you probably would have seen them anyway so I had to go for something and there's the final the final frame right not cropped it all like this is literally exactly as it shot look out lucky I got his hand is right there she's clapping it's it's perfect isn't it right so I just work hard work hard mentally work hard physically work harder for the client right, this is that one I'm gonna tell you about with the remote camera. So they, uh he owns a a limousine company in town that drives brides and everything. And so that's how I knew him, and he asked me to shoot his wedding and they met because she used to be one of his drivers. So when they left the reception that night in their car, I was like, well, we need to make a great picture with the car, but I'm like, I'm not having posed with your cardy did that enough, so I went out there and mounted a camera on the front of a bentley. I'm in the back seat with a remote, triggering it as they're driving right and it's really funny, but I got bored because they're driving for a while so I could stop lights. I would like a peek up my head up and take a picture of me like, I just creepy guy in the back seat anyway. But you know what? I love this photo I absolutely love this boat is still one of my favorites, you know? And I just I just tried something different, and I put I put my thoughts into what my talents are. And I'm like you know what I could build things that could macgyver things and I and I and I worked hard I went out there during the reception went out there for like an hour to try and plan this picture out and so here's here's the rig right so I mounted a tripod to the front of a bentley with my magic arm then I showed you yesterday connected to the to the bumper behold the tripod and then that still wasn't good enough so I found a bungee cord in the trunk of the bentley and I put a bungee cord around the hood him on like that that should be okay right? It'll be okay it won't pop off and there's the there's the pocket wizard you know all this stuff it's it's just an awesome awesome photo and it was worth it you know I don't know they love it you know but I love it it was great for me you know but uh and this's another one that if you really want to read kind of exactly how I trick you did that all this stuff it's totally in that petey and I know you're interested in that it seems like yesterday that I wanted to mention to you it's in that it's in that remote cameras pdf that's on the the store this store dot working photo dot com you know it's kind of cool but just doing things to like get different images you know my assistant actually shot this but we but we but we worked hard because that church would be full of people so we worked hard to get her in a good position and put this light down here you know, because I'm actually right there peeking around the corner you know so it's like they just go for it you know just think think outside the box um and so it's also it's also about like just going further you know, I think I think it's just these are my favorite this is my favorite time so I know that I know that jen there was some question jeff story about like the hotel rooms and stuff like that I'm goingto I'm goingto this no this is what I'm talking about right now about it so there's any questions that you want to bring up about that is perfect but I rated thank you yeah I love I love love love, love love the end of the night and it's the hardest of to shoot but it's the best most real photos it's over at that point you know and and and they're just like right? But it takes commitment it takes a commitment and it's often times I'm saying it that reception for like four hours and it's just kind of the same people dancing and I'm like I just want to go home you know and so it's hard to really commit to this stuff but this was carrie carrion zack and they were on their way back that is shot at sixty four hundred eso fifteenth of a second at one point four like I literally I don't know if I can get anything that's that same picture I don't know if I can get push the camera further and that was on a five d mark to write and andrzej pick uh and uh that's the green from the streetlight as they pulled up to a stoplight interesting story about this which I really love is so you got to know your gear right? I told you that you have you have to know photography inside and out if you're gonna be able to swing for the fences and think around situation so I was right in the car I didn't have a flash right cause I'm like a like a like a flash that a ruin everything we get to the hotel and there's a there's like a hip hop youngsters youngster listen I sound like I'm an elderly got these youngsters you know it was like like like almost like a prom e type hip hop type thing going on you know like a party and they invited the bright in dance with them and I'm like, oh my god I don't have a flash like it's pitch black in there had no flash and so there was another photographer there that was from kansas city and I said and he had a point and shoot a little jeanine cannon jeanine or something that I like. Community. I need your help. He's. Like what? What? I go, I go. I need you to stand, like, right here, and I'm gonna count to three. And when? At the count of three, you take a picture, right? So I had my shutter open for, like, two seconds and I cheats focus as good as I could. And I said, okay, I was just like, one, two, three, and I would hit my button at two, and then he would take his photo, and I would use his flash toe light up the people, right? So I do a couple of times I had to I had to get the exposure, right? So and then I'll just dial down the aperture until there's, right? And then I beat him, and I'll be walking round about right here, okay, one, two, three and is like chick too, you know, and in the flash go off, just, you know, and you just got to know how that stuff works so you can actually plan that I've used other people's flashes. From like like that I wasn't like actually in cahoots with and I'm like I want to use their flash like so I will set my exposure and try and like time and see if I can catch somebody's flash you know stuff like that yeah go ahead you say it was like pete stark when they were dancing how did you manage to focus? Well um you know what that is right? I did do that back then. That's another secret weapon I totally forgot about that. Yeah. Okay, so cannon this is this is amazing. I figured this out. I'm so glad you asked that cannon makes a thing called an s t e too what it is it's like they have an std three right now for the new six hundred artie flashes whatever but don't don't get that one because it doesn't have what it needs. So the std too used to trigger flashes like the five eighties it would it would it would infrared trigger flashes so it's a wireless transmitter it's about this big but what it does is it actually has a focused assist beam on the front so I use that all the time to grab focus and really dark rations to s t dash to yeah yeah so I forgot I had it back then on this yep that's how I got it so I was wondering how I got focused remember anyway so you just go further, you know, you know, just just do stuff, and it might be something different for you guys, right? You know, you might not want to ride in people's cars and get them yawning like this, but you just do whatever is what khun set you out from a crowd and do different things. Does that make sense? You know, um this was in the hotel room at the end of the night. She wanted me to do it or what? You're wanted me to go there my great we got in there and she jumped on the bed and I'm like totally doing that for me. I just know it. So I shot that. But then as soon as they I kind of forgot about that and they laid down I love this photo, you know, this is one of ah feelings toward I want to you never know what's gonna happen. He's he's surprised her with all of their favorite things in the hotel room and into the night and there's like natural light and funny, you know, natty light beer and beef jerky. I think it was, you know, and just work hard that's all I got to say is work hard because you know that thing I talk to you about when I when you asked if I go in the car and you drive them or something that who asked that question did you ask that question yeah right so this is one of my one of my most proud images okay um this was my friend janine again it was raining that day I don't know why this worked out this way but I ended up driving them home that night in their minivan tone and not release her and guess who's in the passenger seat jim kirsten curson hostin shot me yeah grayson shot with me it was awesome was such a great day what a fun time and she was in the passenger seat right in her and I are just chit chatting you know and uneven jeffrey and the way back seat of the minivan like their family's minivan just like hanging out right and I'm like driving and I'm like oh that's that's pretty cool in the car behind the light is from the car lights behind the cart that the car behind and so I just got my exposure and I'm driving the car in the rain the middle of night and I'm just trying to shoot this photo as I'm driving and I got lucky that they kissed and jeff has funny lips when he kisses I guess and it was lightning and I was trying so hard to get a bolt of lightning in front of the car that would have been like well, you know, it didn't happen but you know it's just like I mean, why not? You know, I got to lose I'm driving the car and I'm just like talking to kirsten sounds like tea, you know, and she's like yeah wears this kind of money so it is just a really, really, really fantastic a fantastic photo so we are at the end of that segment we sure are there any questions for some questions? Yeah, great let's do it um all right, so this one is from let's see thiss one is from what we're going to a lot of them in right now this is from lavender photo and another another person ask this is well, I'm really afraid when I get low people's faces chin start to get bigger low angles being on flattery and green yes people's noses yeah let's let's talk about talk about talk about the challenges and what you are you you know, you know, a again it's the moment yeah, right it's the moment that matters and one reason why I get low a lot is because I get out of people's field of vision and it allows me to disappear, right? And so um and it's usually background so honestly mean quite quite, quite honestly it's like I'm not I'm not worried about that like I can't worry about that kind of stuff because that monique story I told monique with how she said she didn't like the way she looked in eighty percent of our photos remember that I mean, you know she had I mean, we all got him look, I was watching that video my dang knew was dead so they call it yeah, you know, on and so I mean, we've all got him way all know we have them, you know, there's certain times I won't I won't do that for portrait, you know? But I just have to get over that so they have to you have to wrestle with that yourself and if you don't if that just bothers you to the core, then just don't do that and figure out ways to shoot other ways and make those pretty pictures with the moment as well, right? Cool and like we've talked about over this three days we talked about it with kirsten is like the kids, the grandkids either there's ones that are going to have the memories of these photographs will be looking at them it'll be so endearing so I would imagine I mean that's the hope, right? Right I mean hope is is that our generations from here on out you are not going to become more and more vain yeah, right and it's not going to be just about like what everything looks like but about like who people were and and preserving that that legacy you know in that in that history exactly so dave king would like to know you you've been referring to your assistant but could you tell us a little bit about how you go about choosing your assistant who you will grow with styles of shooting and are you only using experience photographer is not using experience photographers um so and I know my current assistant if she's watching this she's probably sick and tired of me talking about kate but um you know, kate kate was like, I mean she's actually the perfect assistant right? And and the reason she was the perfect assistant for me was that she didn't want to be a wedding photographer, right? So that's my biggest criteria is not not not not that you don't want to be a wedding photographer, but you have to commit to me for a least a season. Okay, right. So therefore if I try and find experience shooters, they're not going to able to do that they're not they're not willing to do that because they know that they could go out and make more money doing on their own right and so and I've also noticed that experience shooters aren't in it for the assistant part they're in it for the photography part so there when they're lighting for me, you can tell they're bored they want to be shooting right. And I can't have that. I need them, like on, you know. And so kate was actually with me for seven years, which is, like, great out of this world, like, on mean, just unimaginable, right? And so tory was, ah, gau, that came after kate, and she was only for a year, you know, and she was great, and she and she's, uh, she's, a photographer and trying to learn, you know, and so most of the people that want to learn from me and sell my debts. So they, you know, that's, what they do it. And then so, yes, basically, I find people that are like beginners, basically, like, I can teach you to shoot. Yeah, I know, but I need you to be common, sense driven and work, and and a hard worker.