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Summer Watkins Interview Q&A

So do it if we have any in class questions, we'll start with that mark and they will turn it over to commit that's ok? And I'm sorry just wondering if there's like shooting horror our landscape versus portrait? Oh yeah, in terms of like ratio like what we're looking for? Yeah, yeah, that's a really, I'm so glad you asked that question, we because we are wanting to pair a lot of images together, I would say the ratio is like three to one, so three portrait's to one landscape is what we're looking for from the first hot refers perspective I would say as you're shooting on the day you're thinking about so much don't think I need to be shooting in the three to one ratio. What you need to be submitting is a three to one ratio, its image selection and rain should be shooting, but this is the thing is that we'll get something all get some photography will submit to me that will either aids because they bring the habit of not switching out there, you know, being comfortable shooting vertical, ...

horizontal, we're all getting on ly horizontal and I had one where I fold up and they're like the charges, isn't she portrait shots, which ok, cool that's your artistic thing, but that just means that I can't feature it because I have tohave some differences there so that's one thing that's really important for us is to be ableto see both uh does sequence matter like do you want a story told way tell our own story so that's our job not your job so what we do kind of want I'm like the way that you order your images doesn't necessarily matter we do want some from each part or element of the day but again release yourself from that obligation we don't need to see the makeup component we don't I have to see until you know every single thing sin is the best images don't feel obligated to send us a full you know just like when we talked about curating this slideshow shoot everything but you have to show everything and I feel like you're doing yourself a disservice if you make this submission and you include parts where it was a complete area where it was your weakness it'll weaken the overall submission and run the risk of it not being featured so I would say venture I'm just cutting out things that are your weakness so if you know that no different blog's required different or ask for different amounts of photos so but like in your case a you guys we know requests seventy five images would you rather but with one hundred but would you rather see but then just off of her point would you rather see one hundred kick butt images or would you rather see five hundred where? Like she said, maybe trying to include, you know, that was, you know why I say five hundred, because I think that until you are so solid money maker amazed at sending us the perfect images that I am going to want to feature, I would rather have you sent me more, I would just be very careful you're asking for I'm just deal with the real I would I really would we are limited to you would be surprised how quickly I go through two hundred images and I'm like, and I have to pull from there. So the point is, I know I'm being serious, you should. You should check the number of people going start sending five hundred because five hundred is about roughly half of what a photographer would shoot on a wedding two hundred ok, what I agree with everything that is not what we're talking about tomorrow, the number I've kind of I kind of think the number is great at one twenty five and it's summer thinks that there's like this if she thinks that you could run, you can get more, she might just need a one or two more bricks or one or two more of that well, you fifties, a great, great great number, I just feel like you they are just broadcast that photography you know, five hundred e thing you'd be terrible way that again is just because really are so good at in this election and we're so particular and so you know and the harper is too is when you say a gallery it's like well ok but this is super and convene for me to like half yes we're not sending galleries were talking all that to rights don't think anyways all that to say I like more than marry but okay maybe five minutes I was like oh my god you really don't know what you're thinking yes john and they're going to turn it over to online questions so with knowing somewhere and knowing the other blood that you've submitted to is that do you submit one hundred twenty five images pretty standard is that like that seems like a lot very one twenty five one twenty five one fifty and all of those the racial being seventy twenty ten with a mix of three to one vertical in order on horizontal that's just been the pattern cool the more that you do it the more that you realize and guess what how many get from one hundred that's eight hundred fifty how many actually get featured the most I normally do all dio on twenty five I call him rose so it would represent overall was either one landscape or to portrait it's so essentially twenty five photos we can morning and you could say more like forty max okay so what I'm saying that right and that's where like a heavy duty what that's like a big major over and so what we could safely say is maybe thirty thirty to thirty five so after so I sometimes feel like for talk has become so overwhelmed with this idea of submission and has to be this and it has to be that but if you could send summer one hundred twenty five images and if she can glean thirty images from that there's thirty images could be a starting point for you too as a as a platform for you to jam box so don't feel you know overwhelm er you know it's this is such a daunting process no you have to understand that she's so good at what she does is when I see might it might images like appeared and featured on a website I'm just like wow, I never thought about putting that together they're just really good at doing that very thing were to take it over to online questions yes image of his from texas is wondering about proper etiquette on submission acceptance and rejection is there in communication with you you can answer from your perspective but kind of quick and it's really different than tomorrow we'll get into that but typically you're submitting actually say this really quickly you're submitting to bright lights which is a really great online submission process we always have to say yes or no if you are sending to our inbox, everybody says this on their web site in their submission thing that you don't hear back from us within x amount of time that it's been passed on and you can go to someone else and that's only because sometimes our inbox, you know, we don't just log all day, we're doing so many other things, we're running a business, so this admission part is a big part of what we do every day. But if we don't get back to it because our guidelines say, if you hear back from us within x amount of time, feel free to send it elsewhere that's kind of for us, our way of saying, you know, passing along and it's not because we don't love you forever. Thank you so much for sending it to us, but because sometimes, like I either be eating dinner or like sending submissions like, at some point have to like, go to that, you know him saying, that makes sense. Yeah, so we do our best. So I talked about this a little bit earlier, but alec oil is asking if you're new to weddings and submitting, what are the chances of being published? Two editors research the photographer to see if there worthy to link back to or is it completely based on that one submission way we talked about this especially if the submission is kind of on the fence we wanted you know we'll go and say is there are more images can I see more? We want to learn a little bit about the photographer but just because your new does not by any means mean that we would not be willing to feature work and sometimes you know, I think learning this stuff now is before if you're new is actually a huge benefit because you're not having to break a habit you're just creating really good new ones so newness of a photographer it doesn't matter it's just that usually newness means this kind of stuff that they're so caught up in the day I'm just getting through the day that day you know, until you really have I think this is like kind of extra tools in your tool belt so when you go into the day you're ready to take in all these extra tools that normally when you're just beginning you're like oh my gosh, I just you know, I needed it before my lens that whatever it is so I think that's one reason you don't see as many new but it doesn't mean that we are you know oh she's not going you know, it's only this judges start fights is wondering at that they did a photo shoot for a couple that had been married for sixty three years. Do you ever accept submissions from photo sessions for anniversary way featured a couple that had been married? I think it was there something like that, they're sixty eight that rule, so they're sixteen wedding anniversary and they didn't value mule and we feature that just because we love to us as bloggers, we are looking for extra opportunity to engage our readers with something different, something unique, something fresh and so that's me, it's like very emotional something really beautiful, so we're definitely looking for that kind of submission, but it still needs to be lovely still needs to be shot well, like, you know, it doesn't give you the excuse to do it over, you know? So everyone pretty, and it doesn't matter what, at the end of the day, a question from posh photography and you had talked about looking for fresh imagery, but she's asking, do you like wedding submitted in the season that you're currently entering or have just passed that way want waiting? Unfortunately, and I know this is kind of obnoxious because you're very quickly trying to edit your weddings and send it to us and it's already like getting out of that season. But, yes, way. You know, if it's december and you shot this really great waiting in october with tons of pumpkins and goard's there's? No way. I'm going to feature that wedding like even though brides are in december problem claiming october weddings there, looking for seasonal inspiration. So and we have to. Stay in line with that so I'm back sorry index and a real quick which goes back to like this stock believe that I had like time is powerful and what we as photographers is like people will value the ability for them to edit all of their own voters and make it look like such a beautiful thing like their version of their beautiful art instead of meeting releasing some of that this expedited process because there's more opportunities for the photographer ate anything it's like don't have your head so focused on your work that you're not seeing the bigger picture of it so sorry going well I think you know if you have this amazing october wedding if you can prioritize especially prioritize those you don't do your image selection and you pick your favorite hundred fifty one hundred twenty five images that you're going to send to the block and get those done and sent up as quickly as possible to make that kind of seasonal deadline or hold on to it you know and save it for next year if you feel like it's such a solid wedding but it's gonna last but because trend things change so quickly that becomes kind of tough I have a wedding somebody said to me where they got married in skis like on a ski slope on I'm saving it until next year because it's fun it's a great idea but I'm not gonna teach it right now so yeah definitely seasonals important laura lima from brazil is wondering do does great likes published weddings from other places other than the u s are you interested in what's happening in the wedding industry from around the world and a way to get inspiration absolutely that's a great question one of the things that makes that challenging is we notice trends in different parts of the world are very different from what we're doing here and photography trends are very different they're shooting differently and so because the majority of our readers are here and they're looking for a specific style we tend to focus and shoot that's down however there are photographers all over the world that we have featured because they've kind of keyed in on that style and it gives us against something really fresh and interesting to feature that we don't get to feature very often so we are looking for unique amazing locations I don't mind bomber mining's but only if there's amazing shots outside and there's all these beautiful things there so you know it can be a challenge but we definitely are looking for that kind of fresh perspective before I picked that final question women tio know that your web site has crashed sorry summer that actually start that actually has been happening since soon after we started so we like way like the christ waiting czarsky this not that at great like sweating waken go crash because bryan's hopefully watching they get on that thing is her. Jane is my j, so I don't understand, brian, get on that way thought something you think before the final question. Yes, maybe we'll do that after right before they end of you. You sorry, I'm telling you, you're way have that love, really ok, sorry, ok, so this question is go from angela and a lot of car photography. All right, can we reach out to editors and ask what type of style shots you have in mind and try to style waiting to meet that need or, in other words, who are their assignment? Editorial. That's. A really great question. I'm the answer is yes and no, so yes, you can. We've had people that will send us like a really beautiful inspiration board. What do you think of this obviously, inspiration board came from, like martha stewart, weddings and vogue and all these things, yeah, if you could make it look like that. But then the chute doesn't. Always end up looking sort of how we wanted it tio so there's this kind of thing where it's like cool we'd be interested but it's on lee if the imagery is really great like that backs it up so that's one thing that you are sorry hey when other people interjects however no one else goes and what we talked about which is the goal that scene in the story the condition descending an inspiration board it's for talk before were to send summer three outline and including a story this is what the writing group is this is what the groom does for a living this is what the bride as more living this is helping met this's they're married in the cherry blossom field all the sudden never could be like ok and then she could offer insight is do you guys know that the train blossoms on leave awesome two weeks a year do you know that? Do you know that and so shaken after offer more insight into a shoot instead of are these pretty pictures she could get a professional commercial photographer inside yes that is a pretty picture began that for talking for replicated we have no idea but we can give some are more of an idea when she's given a global perspective on what's going to happen and then jean say I see how I can help here sometimes. Well, I mean a little bit more than do you think this well, I feel okay. Yes, yes, that's, right? But I think I don't want it to be where is hard for us? Tio offer too much inside online, if we, you know, like, if I got five hundred people that were like, what do you think? This? Can I do this photo shoot? Well, that's, hard to be like, you know, yeah. Only shooting the cherry blossoms. But you think, whereas if the me the most important part about cell shoot is your vendors on the relationships you have and the people that you pick on being being really careful with these kind of people and here's the thing and it's getting getting more more difficult styled shoots are so beautiful. There are wonderful opportunity for you. Maybe not even just to like it. Billions of, you know, enquiries and business the day that you when you send it in, but more that you are creating a community within your, you know, all these different vendors that you're creating a relationship with all these people that you could begin to start to send one another referrals. So I think it's. Such a powerful thing in that regard, even if it doesn't get published, you guys have all these beautiful images, but being careful and, you know, I think amazing florists and there's, not a jillion silas, but we get I get bombarded. I asked all the time we used that. I would love to shoot for your love, and so it gets a point it's like, well, who am I going to, you know, style for because they aren't it's expensive, you know, we're like coming up with all this stuff. So if you have a team that you're working with and you have these, like, particular special ones, I think it's, just important to make sure that you are being really selected and really careful about here doing it with so that when you do send in, it is featured because it did end up being really great what I see from this class hopefully happening, and I'll call someone in the carpet because this is what I do. I would love to see two separate blawg posts for from her four photographers, and she she sometimes does like these, like behind the eventual interview, different creative members and even create teams in different areas. But it would be so cool for her to give her us inside on what really does work, I wouldn't have come up with that perspective of listen. They're high probability it won't get feature, so you come from it from that place and the goal of you creating a team and just creating, like a very different industry that's already in enough itself as a benefit and in the second thing I would love to see from the editor would be a a shot list, knowing what you buy is looking for, you know, and I definitely think that that would kind of create the traffic in the moment, um, for photographers to use that and look at that before wedding day.