Orion Photo Group Success Story Podcast
Orion Photo Group Success Story Podcast
Capturing Moments: A Masterclass in Wedding Photography with Terri Roper
Get ready for a fascinating tour of the photography world with our guest, Terri Roper, an accomplished photographer with Orion Photo Group. Her love for capturing moments and preserving memories in photos that can't be duplicated is pure magic. She has shot nearly 500 weddings, including a record-breaking 55 in a single year. This episode is brimming with Terry's stories, experiences, and insights that are as captivating as her photos.
Terri's journey, from her initial fascination with fashion photography to becoming a respected wedding photographer, makes for a compelling tale. Drawn in by her friends' request to shoot their wedding, Terry found herself intrigued by the very genre she was initially skeptical of. The conversation takes an interesting turn when we delve into the evolution of wedding photography, it's transformation from the 70s, 80s, and 90s to the mid-90s when photojournalism rose. Interesting tidbits like Terry's experience shooting with a Holga camera and moving to digital photography further enrich this conversation.
In the concluding segment, Terri shares a treasure trove of advice for budding photographers, particularly those interested in wedding photography. She talks about dealing with the hustle and bustle of wedding shoots with a mix of humor and firmness, maintaining her enthusiasm despite countless weddings, and her preferred lenses for the perfect shot. This is not just an episode; it's a masterclass in photography from a seasoned professional. So, don't miss out! Enjoy this enlightening conversation, filled with Terry's experiences, tips, and a whole lot of wisdom.
Howdy, thanks for tuning into Orion Photo Group's exclusive podcast. For each episode we're going to dive into the lives of OPG's photographers and videographers across the country. We're going to talk, shop, hear their stories and listen to any advice they want to offer us up. So grab a tasty beverage and settle in for some fun conversations featuring our little community that's you. Let's go. I am here with a veteran OPG photographer and I'm excited. I'm not going to introduce you, yet. I want to say this is about our sixth or seventh or maybe eighth episode that we're recording. I'm very excited for this guest and for those of you tuning in welcome to this week's episode of Success Stories. I should start with that. I should have led with that, but we're figuring this as we go and this is meant to be a great conversation. I am here today with Terry Roper. I did say your last name, correct, right?
Speaker 2:Yep absolutely.
Speaker 1:I nailed it. I am classic for distorting these interviews and butchering the names, and that should be a pro. Should be getting this stuff right from the beginning.
Speaker 2:Anyway.
Speaker 1:I'm here with Terry Roper, who's based in the Chicago area. She is a veteran in our industry we're going to get into how long she's been a photographer for but she's a very, very talented photographer. I'm really excited that we finally connected. We've had to go back and forth a few times and I'm so glad that she is so, terry, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2:Oh, thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm very excited.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's funny with all the people that we've been interviewing when I've mentioned to during our meetings in the offices, I said I'm going to interview Terry today and everybody nobody could say like everybody was so excited oh, that's so awesome. Yeah, so I'm going to lead with and then I want to find out more about you. But, like I need to lead with the fact that and we I think we told you this when we got together during the photo walk Terry has photographed the most weddings for the Orion photo group than any other photographer in our in our talent network since the beginning. So I have to. I was told that I needed to do this for you to start and and and you know, to say thank you from all the owners and everybody that's ever worked with you.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. Well, I love the company. I just can't say enough good things about the company.
Speaker 1:That's great, yeah, and when we set up this interview, I had no idea about that, so you have photographed it. You're coming up on close to 500 weddings with us, I think the number the number I have here, which I got to verify, is it says 460 that you've done in the past and you did seven. Is this correct? Did you shoot 79 this year?
Speaker 2:No, no, no Hasn't been 79, it's been close to 50, I think.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay. And then I'm looking at it and says this field is not correct. So you're right. And I see my video stopped. I'm still here, yes, yes. So I'm gonna shut my video off real quick so you can see me. It might happen a few times, but I'll just restart it. So well, I'm sorry. So 50. That's still quite a lot of wedding.
Speaker 2:It's a lot. It's a lot. It's been awesome. Last year was just last year. No, it was over 50, because last year, I think was I had 55 weddings, oh my gosh. And then this year I had even more. So last year was my second all-time most weddings I've ever shot in a year, and then this year, I think it's just about that as well. Wow, it's crazy, it's crazy, that's crazy and it's awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean it's great that you're able to do that much work and from where we sit. We thank you for that. That's amazing. I'm curious if you know off the top of your head how many. What was the most you've ever done in a year? For us, just ballpark.
Speaker 2:I wanna say it was, I think last year was 55.
Speaker 1:Wow that's just crazy. That's absolutely crazy, but great. So let's find out a little bit more about you. So I usually like to start off with a little bit of an origin story. How did you get involved in photography and what was the spark?
Speaker 2:Well, I've been photographing since I was a kid, so it wasn't quite the dark ages. But what's happening to myself?
Speaker 1:I'm with you. I'm with you.
Speaker 2:So I was always like the kid. My dad was an amateur photographer, so I would always borrow his cameras and I would say I was like the geeky kid running around the neighborhood asking like, hey, can I take your portrait? So I would just go to my neighbors and I would I mean, I was in my tweens and I would just go to my neighbors and I would just say, can I take your portrait? So I kind of taught myself how to do portraits and then it was one where I would then get the film developed and then I would take it to like the neighborhood camera store and then the guy behind the counter was a photographer and so he would like give me pointers on how to like make it better, how to do it. But I mean, I was like taking like the like the room lamps and using that to make like lighting and just like just really teaching myself about it.
Speaker 2:So I always just and my reason for starting was because I loved looking through my grandparents' old photo albums, you know, like with all the old black and whites, and I would look at these people who were my ancestors, who I never got to meet, and I was thinking, wow, this is just so awesome that, through the mystery and the you know everything about photography I can actually see these people that I'll never meet, these moments in time that will never happen again. So to me, that was why I love photography is because we get to take these moments. I mean, it's an honor actually that we see these moments. You know, I'd like go to a wedding and that people are talking to each other that may haven't seen each other for like a year and we get to. Our job is to be able to see that you know, to know those people, the players, and then to capture those moments so that people from generations that aren't even here yet can look at those and know those people and know, kind of get a feeling for what happened that day.
Speaker 1:And it's so. That's amazing and I find it so interesting how many of us got involved, because our parents may have had an interest in photography. My dad was an amateur photographer for many years. He was pretty good and he and it was the same thing like he would take pictures and we would look at slides on the projector. Now that's you know. I mean, there was nothing better than like an evening with a family with a brand new slide. We set up the projector and we look at the pictures and it was really great and you know I've become a teenager.
Speaker 1:You're like dad, this is so boring but that's what we would do, like that was a Saturday night and we look at pictures. And then when I got you know again like a tween and he let me to start taking his pictures out, we had a cabin upstate and he used to let me go out and take pictures in the woods and that was kind of how you know, I got my start too.
Speaker 2:And yeah.
Speaker 1:And it's funny, I still have some of those pictures printed that I printed in high school on matboard and they sit in a portfolio in the basement now. But and then you kind of also talked about like how you would look at old pictures of your parents and grandparents and you know that was the history of how you learned from your family. That's a whole other thing that I want to unpack now, like the importance of those printed things and how important like that's how you show this stuff to your kids as opposed to putting it on your phone. I was just at a wake back in New York just last week and one of the people that came to the wake was there with their kids and I photographed their wedding. And I mean, I photographed their wedding 20 years ago.
Speaker 1:And she said, hey, do you remember me? And there were. It was an old friend from high school whose father passed away and they had all these pictures, some of them that I had taken. And she said, when we came to the week, I showed them pictures that you shot at the wedding to. Just she knew who these people were and it really meant a lot to me and how important that was and she said oh, my kids love to look at my wedding album, so that's interesting, the importance that you have in that and that's really cool. So you started taking pictures. Was there any formal training to go to college, or what happened after that?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I have my degrees and I have a bachelor's in photography.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay.
Speaker 2:So I went to Columbia College for a year.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And then, because I lived in the suburbs, my parents, my dad, had to like pick me up because at that time Columbia College didn't have dorms. Like my son goes there now and they have dorms and everything. But at that time then, after my first year, my dad said well, we can either build you a dark room at home, because I'd be there for hours, or you can go away to school.
Speaker 1:Well, that sounds like a tough decision.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I don't even know if it took me like 30 seconds to go. Okay, I'll go away to school and I could have done that in the very beginning. But Columbia College was such a great school I just can't say enough good things about it. But, given that choice, like I just loved being in the dark room and then I was like, yeah, I'll go six hours away and you know.
Speaker 1:Okay, columbia College that's based in. Is that some Missouri, isn't it?
Speaker 2:No, that's Chicago. Okay, that's in downtown Chicago. So the whole school is like all throughout the Chicago land area. Well, it's a particular part around Michigan Avenue. So a lot of the I've worked with a lot of photographers and videographers who also went to Columbia College Chicago.
Speaker 1:Gotcha, gotcha.
Speaker 2:It's a big art school.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you're Chicago based, born and bred, right?
Speaker 2:More or less no. No, no, I grew up in Nebraska, I grew up in.
Speaker 1:Nebraska, that's right. We touched on that during the phone walk. I forgot about that. Right, right, right Okay. So, you move from the farms of Nebraska out to the big city.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, we lived in Omaha. My family is from the farms. Yeah yeah, we were big city people.
Speaker 1:Okay, omaha's actually a pretty cool city.
Speaker 2:We were going to visit my family and the farm little segue, and they would laugh at us because we would lock our car doors when we like got to their house and they're like. You guys realize we're in the middle of nowhere and it's like we're from Chicago. We're going to lock our car doors, so it's kind of funny.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's funny. So you went to college. Out of college was wedding photography. What you wanted to do, or like what was the spark? Where did you go from there?
Speaker 2:Not at all, Not at all, and I tell my clients this because my husband and I my husband's also a photographer- oh, I didn't know that okay. Yeah, yeah. So we, when we met, we were both photographers and we merged our businesses together. So I forgot where I was going to go with that. But so I tell it, so we have our own business. So I tell our clients this, because I think it's kind of funny is, when I got out of school I was an artist, I was a photo artist.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you were.
Speaker 2:So I doing like weddings was like never in my mind. Studied studio photography, fashion photography. My first job I got was working in advertising and marketing, doing product photography so. I was an artist. My goal was to do gallery work, which I've done, gallery work and eventually, someday, my goal is to create a photo book or numerous photo books, but anyway.
Speaker 2:So I had a friend and I also worked for different talent agencies and stuff like that, but I was never a wedding photographer. And then I had some friends of mine who appreciated my artistic side and said hey, can you shoot our wedding just like if you were photographing for Life Magazine? Pretend like you're. Like, we'll do your Annie Lieberwitz style. Whatever you want to do Like, we just want you to do it.
Speaker 2:So because of them and I loved them so much I said, okay, I'll photograph your wedding, but I have no experience to do this, I'm gonna do it my way and I'm not gonna do it how everyone else does it. And so they said that's awesome, that's great, that's great. And so I just got that taste of that one wedding and I was like, oh my God, this is fun.
Speaker 2:I love this. I loved everything about it, and so then I started my journey in doing weddings. But I just had to laugh at myself and because I was never going to shoot a wedding.
Speaker 1:And I think there's a lot of us out there, especially around our ages.
Speaker 1:Like what I found interesting was there was such a stigma in the 70s, 80s and 90s about wedding photographers and not wrong in that sense too. Like the stigma was pretty much what it was and it was almost looked at like, well, you shoot weddings, you've kind of felt it as a photographer. And then something happened in the mid 90s. Something changed. I think it was the access to shooting images and photography became cool and then there were photojournalist photographers and things really, really changed. So it's funny to talk to you and say, like I was the same way. I went to FIT in New York City, I wanted to be a fashion photographer, I was going to be a commercial artist, I wanted to be the next Annie Liebowitz or Richard Avedon.
Speaker 1:And studied their work and was in New York City and wanted to be, and I did, and then I got out of college. I did a lot of that work while I was a little bit different, where I started working for a local wedding photographer when I was in high school and I just always worked with him Like my friends were flipping burgers during the week, during the weekends to make money so they could be in college, and I was shooting weddings. So I was making bank back then as a 17, 18 year old shooting weddings. It was so much more money than I could make doing anything else. But the work was grueling and it was really hard because it was technically very, very hard to do but it was interesting. Like you know, I'm never, gonna be a wedding photographer.
Speaker 1:That's terrible. And everybody that I would shoot weddings like my college. This is a funny. I'm sorry this is supposed to be about you. I gotta share it with you. I was in college and my college professor was the head photographer for the New York Ballet and that's all he did. And he somehow took a liking to me and I went to a bunch of ballets with him and was a really, really great guy and really great mentor. But then his daughter got engaged and he knew that I shot weddings and I shot the wedding and he was like you should do nothing else, forget all of this fashion stuff, forget everything else. He says you have a talent for this. And I was like I'm never gonna be a wedding photographer full time. Here we are today, 35 years later, right?
Speaker 1:So okay so you started shooting and that was your spark. You started shooting weddings and the rest is kind of history from there.
Speaker 2:And how many years has it?
Speaker 1:been total.
Speaker 2:I think their wedding was like 30 years ago. I was trying to figure out today like when they got married. I think it was like the early 90s, early 90s.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah and then yeah, so it was that from it, but I still kept, and I figured you'll appreciate this, because during the last webinar that you had, you talked about the Holga camera. So they had a different version of that, the same plastic lens. Oh no, what was the Holga? Because it was-.
Speaker 1:The Holga was a plastic lens.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but what's it? The Diana I was trying to think. So I think I had the Holga, so I shot weddings with the Holga. I shot wedding. I wanted to do pinhole photography at weddings, which I thought would be really cool, to kind of create my own thing. And then I shot recording film, because of course I processed all my own film. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I processed all my own black and white film I hand printed on fiber based paper. Whew, oh, I know.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:All my own prints, so I was so, and then I had a baby. So, then I was very glad for digital. I really like what kicking and screaming. I didn't want to switch. But then I was like, wow, okay, I'll give up all the hours in the dark room and that just become the lab, but without being in the dark room.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I want to talk about that switch too. But for those of you who may not know a pin like I want to unpack some of that. So, like a pinhole camera was generally something that you built and made on your own, like from an oatmeal box or a box I remember I bought like a handmade wooden box. That was a pinhole camera that accepted four by five backs on it. I still have it somewhere. I absolutely loved doing it and what you would do is the camera lens itself was literally a pinhole and depending on how big that hole was was how long you needed to leave your exposure on. Generally it was about a minute to do, minutes in a minute in bright sunlight, longer if it was darker, and it was always kind of like a complete experiment when you did it. But the images were very ghostly and pretty and not super sharp, and when those latent images came up in your dark room tray it was just so cool especially when you got it right.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, I don't remember exactly what recording film was. It was a very low ISO.
Speaker 2:No, it was very high ISO. So what it was was, it was spy film. So the story behind it is that it was spy film and so the grain structure was really. It was different from like 3200, because that was like more of a structured grain structure.
Speaker 2:This was like all over and it was really like because it's what they use to do surveillance. Then they sold it to like the general public and it was a really contrasty, high ISO and I don't know how I got these clients, but I would tell them. I'd be up front with them saying because they knew I was the artist. So I did all the other stuff that I was going to do to get them like their, so like all the parents, because I wanted to make sure the parents are happy and get their post portraits. So then to satiate my creativity, I'm like I'm just going to do this and it's just going to be like a bonus, so if you don't like it, you don't have to use it. But it's just really really cool stuff and I think my enthusiasm on it just kind of like they were like oh wow, they're getting something so cool and unique and special and somebody who really loves it and they want to do it and they want to create something really different and unique from their friends.
Speaker 2:But yeah, that's what the grain structure it was. The grain structure was different. So I'm going to shoot it at like at that time, like 6400 and then I would process it so you'd have to kind of I'm trying to remember now I probably did like a short water bath in it in between the developing so I could bring in some of like the shadows, so it wasn't quite so high.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, so you probably use like a low grain developer.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm trying to remember the developer I used for that, to do it like act taller.
Speaker 1:What was the one? Anyway, we could get caught up in the weeds and that, and then also printing on fiber based paper was very difficult. When you got it right, it was absolutely beautiful and the clients that have those prints from you they're probably still as beautiful as they are to the day you printed them. That's such a lost art as far as I'm concerned, like that dark and printing. I was never really into dark room so much.
Speaker 1:One of my early sparks is I loved working in the dark room because I could smoke cigarettes in there. And this is going back to high school, like I don't know. I think about it now and I'm like let me smoke in the dark room in college too. Like it was crazy. But outside of that I didn't really like the dark room too much. It really wasn't my jam.
Speaker 1:But I think also because of that, there were these crazy resources in New York City that you could go to and what they could do was like there were these labs in New York where you could only go in. It was an invite only, so like a photographer had to recommend you to be a client of these people and they would only take you if they approved your portfolio Like it was nuts and they would just just crazy, crazy black and white labs in New York and there was a very small window that they worked well, but OK. So then you made the move to digital, and I always love to ask what your first digital camera was and what that was like.
Speaker 2:It was a Fuji.
Speaker 1:S2.
Speaker 2:Was that the first one?
Speaker 1:Was S1.
Speaker 2:I think we got the Fuji S1. And our friend Larry, who we knew from a long time ago, is I think he still is like the Fuji rep. So he talked because they were a Nikon, because my other and I were both Nikons, so he had the in on us to help with pricing. We still had to pay the price, but he showed us these cameras it was the first one I saw that I really liked the black and white on Because that was kind of the one that I had to make sure.
Speaker 2:If I'm going to give up my dark room, I want to make sure the black and whites look good on it, and this was like Gosh early early 2000s, Early 2000s, Early early we were we were like, yeah, it was really really early. So, yeah, it was on an icon body.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:So that made it, so it was like easier to use. Yep, yep, yeah. So in the the flesh tones look good. But now I think about I mean, if, like, what we have now is so much different, just night and day.
Speaker 1:I remember correcting those Fuji S2 skin tone files and it was just they were. It was the best looking file, but it was also the worst looking file if it was under the wrong lighting situation and God that that, that tiny little viewfinder on the back of it.
Speaker 1:But it was a fast camera and the only reason that I know it's early 2000s, because it's literally next to me, is an old Nikon D70 that I've been trying to get rid of. I can't get rid of it like and I can't throw it in the garbage. I've been sitting over here and on top of that is my Nikon F5 and I can't get rid of that one either, and I would love to sell it to somebody who wants to buy it and it's theirs. So if your husband or you want to buy it, let's talk after this conversation.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, and it might. You wouldn't believe, cause, like my son, goes to Columbia college and he now he's. He's a film editor and that's like way to him. But he now he's retro because he shoots film.
Speaker 1:Let's talk after.
Speaker 1:Your son will use this camera. Let's talk after, cause I would love to see this go to do. I just pulled the batteries in and it works. It's perfect condition and it was a tank for me back in the day. So yeah, moving, moving to digital was a tough one, especially if you were a dark room person as well. But we're, we're getting to, we're getting close to the end. So I want to touch on some OPG stuff too. So I can't believe we went 23 minutes on this stuff, but that's awesome Working for OPG and you know, as somebody like yourself. The first question I want to ask is is there some advice you could give to somebody who's it's long into the season and you've, let's say you've done 10, 15 jobs? How do you you mean you? You seem to always have a great attitude, like what do you do to keep fresh and keep going?
Speaker 2:Oh boy, that's a good question.
Speaker 1:I know that's a hard one to hit you with.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well cause it's you know it's a I want to say it's, it's a part of it is because I'm a little bit more seasoned in life. I'm going to put that. So you, just you learn a lot as as that happens. But also I just really learned that when you go to shoot a wedding, it's not about it's not about me as the photographer, it's about it's their day. So I always have to remember and go okay, this is about them. And now I've got all of these tools that I know how to use. And so you know, I, you know, like you know that you're, you're there to do that, like when you can have a conversation as you're changing your, your settings on your camera, cause you're already knowing your mind how you're going to shoot, you're already like three steps ahead of where you need to be, cause we know that timeline, or at least I, for me, that's why I work. I, you know, I know that timeline and I'm a detailed person. So I think it's just I always have to remember that it's their day, this is their. You know, cause I was like I've never done this, cause I'll ask a question to me which is, like you know, like a seemingly normal question, like I've never done this before and I'm like, oh my gosh, you're, you're absolutely right. So I just have to go. This is their, this is their time and you know, even though the divorce rate is what 50, 50, they could, but this for this particular day, this is going to be like a day that they want to remember forever and hopefully it'll be on the 50% that stay married. But I just want them to, you know, hopefully.
Speaker 2:I always say I just want them to not have photography be the stressful part of the day. I guess that's what I'm trying to say, cause you know so you hear about so many photographers that do this or do that and I always say I always let them know cause I'm a detailed person. So when I talk to them regardless if they're like my clients or OPGs I always find out the details. So in the day of, I don't have to ask any like embarrassing questions but that still happens, you know. But I just want it to be so, I know ahead. So the photography is not stressful. It's just like go, do what you need to do when I'll do my job to make your life easier that day. I don't want it to ever look back and go oh my gosh, that you know, I mean that's going to inevitably happen, because you know but, I just want it.
Speaker 2:that's how I go in, like fresh. I just want to remind myself every time that I'm I'm blessed to have this job, I'm blessed to be able to go in there and do that, and it's not something that I've always had. I mean, it's just a constant, you know, and some days are you know, you.
Speaker 2:I'd always like that you can have, like something happens right beforehand, but you just kind of have to go. Well, now I get a reprieve from all that because I get to go in and I get to have fun and I get to have a back street entrance to like do whatever I want to do. I mean like I go to a hotel and I can literally go anywhere because I'm the photographer.
Speaker 1:I can do anything.
Speaker 2:I can go backstage, I can step up on the stage and nobody's gonna like Terry get down from there. They're like yay, she's up on the stage taking photos. You know what I mean. I mean it's fun, I get to, you know.
Speaker 1:So I know what the answer is for you. You still treat it like you're almost, in a childish way, like from kids' eyes that you, you treat it like you know, like as a kid, going into it each eye, and that's what keeps it fresh for you.
Speaker 1:But the maturity part of it too, I think is really an important thing to touch on, because I know, as photographers, getting through those first couple of jobs, the first year, the first five years, you're still very much in a learning process. You're learning how to read people, you're learning how to just get through the job and trying to do the best job that you possibly can. But at a certain point there's certain parts of it that go on autopilot, like walking right. You know what's coming next In a Catholic church, you know exactly how the ceremony is gonna go, you know how certain things. So it removes that barrier for you to free you up to think about other things. What creative shots can I get? Can I stand on a stage? Then that's your challenge, right, and staying fresh from that perspective. And then also, I think, from a maturity standpoint, you understand how important the day that you're doing. You understand that people will be looking at your pictures 20 years from now and also remove yourself from that situation in the sense that you're doing the best thing that you can.
Speaker 1:And I think what earlier photographers do is they internalize so much of it about like, oh my God, their timeline wasn't on time and now the day has just fallen apart. I'm not gonna be able to get any good shots. You're at a point in your career where you're like, if I don't get any great shots today, I'm just gonna do the best job I can covering this wedding. You're not concerned about getting the most important shots you've ever took in your career, and I think that's what a lot of early photographers do, and they're always looking for the most important shots as opposed to making sure that they're serving their clients in the way. And that's what you do, and I read your reviews and that's exactly what I see is the service that you put into your clients. That's why they love you so much is because they know you know how to deal with the situation, what to do when something goes wrong, and I'm sure you're very much a calm person on the wedding day too.
Speaker 2:I do hear that a lot. Yeah, I like to be like the calm in the storm because you know there's all this stuff going on and these people have never been through anything like that before, like you know.
Speaker 2:Like the women getting dressed, they're 10 minutes behind and they're absolutely panicking and apologizing to me and I'm like, first of all, every wedding day has an ish to it, except for my start time that does not have an ish, but everything else has an ish to it and things are gonna happen and a lot of times you know you as a bride, you're not gonna know because you're like the last person anybody wants to upset on a wedding day. But we all know this stuff, yeah, and you just you have to be calm and just laugh and you know and just say you'll still get married. But that's not. I mean, I don't really say that, you know, but I know I've never had anybody like I've never had anybody run. I get that question a lot. I've never had that. But they so far they've all gotten married.
Speaker 1:I've had a few, unfortunately never make it to the wedding day but never not show up at the wedding. I've had people I've been in the situation where they're like I'm not going and you know, the bridesmaids are all there and I'm like I'm out of here, you know like this is a private conversation, but you're right.
Speaker 1:A lot of times people will be and I think this is maybe you can offer some advice on this too is when things are going wrong. Typically, the bride or the bridesmaid or parents will be apologizing to you. I'm so sorry this isn't going the way it wants to go and your response to that is so important, so talk to me about that. I think that's really important.
Speaker 2:I just let them know that everything's okay. I mean, I let them know, like, like, like you know, everything has an issue to it and this is not like it's not that I know it.
Speaker 2:I was like you know. I know it feels like that. I'm a very empathetic person, so I'm like you know. I know that it like it may feel like. So I just talk about there because I'm a feeling person. So I mean, I talk in terms of feelings about stuff. So I just kind of calm them down and let them know it's gonna. You know, this is, it's gonna be okay, it's normal. Every wedding is like this. They haven't been through it. And to you know, like just I, you know I accept their apology. You know, even though, if I haven't, just I'd like thank you so much. You know, they just want to be acknowledged that they've done something. You know, like said something. But it's okay, it's cool, we're all good, I've got it, you know. I know it's gonna happen and it's all good. You know we can't do the hugs anymore, so I give them, like you know, the old elbow and say it's cool, it's all good, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know it'll happen and then just you know you keep the smile and just you know. Kind of, so I will like during those formals like a good example is like during those posed photos. That's always to me like the most chaotic time.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I've got a system for it. And so I just stand there, like I'm just so calm, and people always come up to me afterwards, well, like uncles, who like never talked, they just thanked me for like how I've, how I handled that and all I did was I just like I have no problem going. Okay, you over there, like you with the bow tie, what's your name? Jason?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You just straighten that bow tie a little bit, move this, move just a scooch over that way, perfect. As long as you can see me, I can see you. So I mean that type of stuff I just have to. You just have to be jokey To me. That's what works for me. I tend to be kind of jokey and Keep it light.
Speaker 1:Jokey and forceful at the same time. It's a very very-.
Speaker 2:Absolutely yeah. Yeah, I'm good about giving direction while I'm like-.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And when you write over there and people go like, wow, you got that done so fast, like you have no problem about it, I'll just point to people and I'll say the woman in the red dress sorry, I don't know your name, and all moms and dads should. I know your names, but right now you're just mom and dad, bride and groom, and that's that's always the way for me.
Speaker 1:Mom, dad, uncle. I could never remember anybody's name and I would say I'm sorry. The only people's names I'm gonna remember the people who hired me and are giving me my check. I'll remember your names. You might still just be bride and groom Bride, groom, don't be offended, it's just. I know these people need to be in there, so if I identify you as that person, I'm making sure that you're the right person in this shot.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, oh. And one other bit of advice I give to people, I would give to people, is after those post-formals, because again to me that's like so chaotic.
Speaker 1:There's so much stuff going on.
Speaker 2:Is it people what we've done? In that moment there, where you're like I don't even know, like what I've just photographed, I don't know, even though I have, like I stay with that do everything, like everybody who's related to the problem yeah, they're a little thing, they don't have to move. Then we go into the grooms but still things happen and they'll say what we've done. I said, hold on, let me ask my boss bride, here's what we got. Do you think we got everything? I said because she's literally she's the boss, sorry, dude.
Speaker 1:Always.
Speaker 2:You know this and I'll say that.
Speaker 1:He's just an accessory.
Speaker 2:Exactly. I'm like you know, you're just like you're the accessory in this shot, because this is really about her and everybody's like you're absolutely right. They all laugh because they know, because I don't have a hard time, I don't have a problem saying that I'm like or do you?
Speaker 2:think we have everything. Can I let them go? Okay, we got everything. Cool, that's good advice and I think that's one bit of advice is to kind of just, first of all just maintain your sense of humor about it, because it can get really stressful where you just wanna like your head's exploding you don't know what's going on, but just find that center or just maintain that sense of, that sense of humor I think is so important.
Speaker 1:It's hard to find sometimes it is, and there are days, especially when it's super hot, you're running behind.
Speaker 2:Oh.
Speaker 1:And you just all you wanna do. You know you haven't eaten anything, you haven't drank anything and you can get super cranky. Oh, totally. Keeping that energy level can be so, so hard, especially. You just need one guest to be nasty to you and that's all it takes Cause. Generally, the bridal party and family are always gonna be very nice, and you just need that one guest who's been mad at you since the ceremony because you stepped in their way and you have no idea that they've been steaming on it for the last five hours. So okay.
Speaker 1:Last questions.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And then we're gonna wrap up. I always like to ask a Zoom shooter or Prime shooter what are your go-to lenses and how do you like to shoot?
Speaker 2:Oh, I'm totally Zoom.
Speaker 1:Totally Zoom.
Speaker 2:I'm totally Zoom. That's what I, I think when I was in college I did. I had all like a 50 millimeter and a 24 millimeter and then. But then I went to Zoom and I think as well though I shot medium format and I did not have Zoom, so that was.
Speaker 1:those were prime lenses. Those are super expensive there they existed but they were rare.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was back in the day of I shot Veronica. I love square but couldn't afford a Haseblad, so I got the Veronica. So those I had prime lenses, but all my, all my 35 millimeters have always been Zoom lenses I just find it. It's easier because then, like, if I'm shooting like the bouquet toss, I have the option where I can get the bride where she's throwing it, and then I could just Zoom right in because the Zoom's gonna be faster than my feet are gonna be to get me to get in closer for that so.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think I think if you're and I agree with that I think that if you're a solo shooter or if you're working with an associate like you would be in an OPG wedding and you somebody maybe you're not working with all the time I think Zooms are really great because you don't have the opportunity as a prime shooter, you're getting one angle and you're depending on somebody else to get the other angle, whereas if you can't do that.
Speaker 1:That's where Zoom comes in. So, gosh, I think we could. I think we're gonna do another one of these down the road, because we're 30, almost 37 minutes now, and I like to keep them around 30. It's really great. Thank you for doing this. It's really great getting to know you and again from everybody at OPG, a special thank you is coming from them as well. Thank you so much for being here today.
Speaker 2:I appreciate it. I appreciate you asking. It's been an honor.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're welcome and yeah, again thank you. So I don't know when we're gonna release this, but it's right around the holidays. I got my Santa's helper on right after this call we're doing. I got this for my half marathon run that I did last week.
Speaker 1:Oh, awesome, congratulations yeah because the Jewish boy doesn't usually wear the Santa's helper hat, but when in Rome. I guess my whole family is Christian, so I'm the lonely Jew in the house. But anyway, it's great getting to know you a little bit better. Thank you for being on this week's episode of Success.
Speaker 2:Stories Take care now. Okay, bye you too. Okay, bye-bye, okay, bye-bye, okay, bye-bye, okay, bye-bye.
Speaker 1:Okay, bye-bye, okay, bye-bye, okay, bye-bye, okay, bye-bye. All right, that'll do it for this episode featuring OPG's Best of the Best. Would you like to be featured in an upcoming episode or do you have a suggestion for somebody you'd like to hear from in our little community? Please email me. Jake Group with two Ps at OrionPhotoGroupcom. That's, jake Group at OrionPhotoGroupcom. I look forward to hearing from you and hearing your suggestions. We hope that you enjoyed this episode and I look forward to hearing from you and your story. That's it for now. We'll see you on the next episode. Have a great day.
