All language subtitles for 1.06 - The Energy Triangle

So, here's the secret to getting lucky, right

here.

Okay, so we call this the energy triangle.

And realizing our performance potential as wedding photographers

hinges on the ability for us to manage

the energy that's within this triangle and how

it's divided up into three ways.

And it's as critical to getting lucky as

buying a lottery ticket is.

And it's all based around a simple truth.

And we're going to go through those three

ways separately, just to warn you.

But it's all based around the simple truth

that we all have in the middle of

the triangle a finite amount of energy, a

finite amount of attention, a finite amount of

mental bandwidth that we can draw upon as

wedding photographers.

And so this triangle represents how our energy

is divided up into three ways.

Okay, so over here we've got our technical

thoughts, our concerns, lens choices, flash settings, camera

settings, basically anything to do with the mechanics

of our equipment.

Okay, over here we have our self.

Okay, so this is our fears, our inhibitions,

our self-talk, our headspace, basically anything to

do with our self-consciousness.

And then down here is all the energy

that's left over.

He's brought all the energy that's left over

to fart.

What?

Why'd you do that?

Okay, down here is all the energy that's

left over for art.

Thanks.

And this is our job, right?

This is our storytelling.

This is our light.

This is our composition.

This is our moment.

It's where all of that comes together.

And this is where luck strikes always, right?

Luck never strikes when you're wrapped up in

the technical settings of your camera trying to

figure out your flash settings.

Or luck never strikes when you're wrapped up

with that ego inside your head having an

argument about whether or not you're a good

photographer or if you're thinking about the blog

post, right?

Luck always strikes when you've got all that

energy and mental bandwidth put into your art.

So we're going to talk about these three

things separately.

But before we get into that, we want

to look at what this whole triangle is

centered around, okay?

The whole thing is centered around total available

energy.

And our entire approach to wedding photography really

relies on us tapping into every last drop

of ourselves, okay?

It's kind of our motto, right?

It used to be our motto.

All in, balls out.

That's our motto still.

All in, balls out.

I don't really like the term balls out.

It feels like a bit of a man's

club.

Every one of us, all of you are

hungry for success, right?

We're all hungry for success, validation, acceptance, okay?

And that's key, right?

Because we can't teach motivation.

But are you willing to work harder, okay?

Because luck is a dividend of blood, sweat,

and tears.

And photography, especially documentary photography, is not so

much about how much you know or how

good you are, okay?

Often it's just about how hard you're working,

okay?

It's about physical work, determination, perseverance, thinking, waiting.

Maintaining curiosity, which doesn't sound like hard work,

but that is hard work.

It is, yeah.

And embracing all of that has been instrumental

for us, okay?

The harder we work, the luckier we get.

We're probably going to recommend a number of

books throughout this course.

We are going to recommend a lot of

books throughout this course.

One of them is Outliers.

Outliers.

Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell, okay?

If you haven't read it, it's awesome.

One of the things in that book is

the 10,000 hours of practice.

So they basically did a study, and they

looked at high performers across all different disciplines,

from artists to athletes to musicians, and they

found that there was a common denominator of

10,000 hours of practice.

That's how much practice is required to become

a master of something.

And Eric and I, I remember when I

read that, and I thought about it, like,

even now, we've only photographed about 150 weddings

total.

If I start adding up the hours, we

haven't necessarily…

We might be approaching the 10,000 hours

now.

10,000 hours of practice.

But really, when we think about it, we've

been training for wedding photography our whole lives.

We had a head start.

For us, it was from our roots in

mountaineering and athletics, where we already learned how

to work hard for something that we care

about, like how to pour ourselves into something

wholeheartedly, how to just fucking go for it.

And we've all had head starts, right?

So really, every wedding for Eric and I,

it's all in, balls out, start to finish.

When we wake up in the morning, I've

got Eye of the Tiger playing in my

mind.

There's like a five-foot flame shooting straight

out my ass.

That triangle is huge.

And you're really annoying to deal with on

the morning of the wedding.

Well, I'm usually stressed.

I can be an asshole.

But you don't have Eye of the Tiger.

No, I'm more like Enya.

Everyone's going to have their own vibe that

gives them that maximum potential.

But, I mean, we care, right?

We're in it to win it, and we're

ready to go.

We're not mailing it in.

So we're starting from maximum potential energy.

And we like to go start to finish

because we feel like it's kind of like

playing the full 18 multiplies our stats.

It multiplies our chances.

Just being there buys you a ticket.

And this isn't the important stuff, right?

But that's exactly the point because all that

morning preparation stuff, that can be a total

creative playground with no consequences.

If I mess up every single shaving shot,

who cares?

He's shaving.

So I don't have to play safe, right?

I can swing for the fence, play the

jackpot.

And later on in this course, we're going

to get into deconstructing all kinds of our

photos and breaking them down, reverse engineering what's

going on technically.

But in this case, for example, what's happening

is it's in the bathroom.

Really small.

Small little bathroom, off-camera flash, wide, like

24-millimeter lens, balancing precariously up on the

toilet seat with the lens pressed up into

the beveled corner of the mirror and reflected

in an iPhone.

So that's technically what's going on, but really

it's taking a chance.

It's trying something that might totally suck, buying

a ticket.

And we also like shooting start to finish

because it allows us to tell the whole

story.

All the cool things that happen in the

moments leading up to the wedding.

And also, while they're getting ready for that

main event, we're building trust, acclimatizing them to

our presence.

And really the best way to become invisible

is to always be there.

Our friend Sergio...

Sergio Lopez.

Sergio Lopez, he uses the analogy, it's like

you want to be like a bad fart.

It's like if somebody farts in the room,

everybody notices it at first.

But then eventually you start to acclimatize and

eventually you don't think about it anymore.

Until someone new walks in the room.

It's like at a wedding.

Somebody new comes in, it's like, whoa, paparazzi.

But nobody else notices it.

And when we're in a documentary storytelling mode,

that's exactly what we want.

And this might actually be a good point

to mention that for Erica and I, our

approach to weddings is very documentary.

Exclusively documentary other than portraits.

So portraits is another thing.

We'll get into that.

We coach them through everything.

But apart from that, which is like 5

% of the day, the rest of the

wedding is a wedding.

It's not a photo shoot for me and

Erica.

We don't direct anything.

We don't stage anything.

We don't ask anybody to do anything for

us or ask anybody not to do anything

for us.

So we just let the reality of the

day play out however it's going to.

And we try to document that as interestingly

as we can.

Okay?

And so that's a fairly fundamental thing to

know because it really frames kind of everything

that we do with our cameras at the

wedding.

And the difference is just a little side

note here.

The difference between, you know, we don't claim

we're photojournalists.

Definitely not because we're switching light switches on

and off sometimes and we will move things.

But we do take that documentary approach and

that we're not staging.

Yeah.

And there's kind of like a spectrum, right?

We're all somewhere on the spectrum.

And the analogy we use is like on

the one end, we've got like the Jerry

Gionis who's really good at what he does,

right?

And the wedding is very much a photo

shoot.

And he crafts and directs and stages everything

a certain way.

Well, maybe he doesn't.

We don't know that for sure.

Maybe I'm wrong.

But he definitely has more.

He gives more direction than we do.

And then on the other end of the

spectrum, we've got like Tyler Workin, a good

friend of ours.

And I can say with pretty much 100

% certainty that Tyler Workin won't even turn

on a light or move a water bottle.

Hardcore photojournalist.

So we're all somewhere in that spectrum.

Yeah.

We tend to be much more this way,

okay?

But that's not to say there's no rules.

There's no right way.

There's no wrong way.

It doesn't mean we won't sometimes, you know,

ask someone to do something again for us

or whatever.

There's no rules.

Yeah, I'll just basically ask myself, okay, if

I do intervene here in some way, is

it going to interfere with their experience, especially

if it's going to interfere with their experience

in a negative way, right?

But I do want to say it is

hard to straddle that middle ground, okay?

Like one of the reasons why we will

go out of our way to not direct

at all, even if we're tempted to get

something to line up for us, is because

it sets a bit of a precedent, okay?

And so as soon as I give some

direction of any kind, then they start to

look to us for direction throughout the day,

right?

We get grip and grins throughout the day.

So we'll actually go out of our way

to just totally let reality play out and

respond and react to that as best we

can.

And on the energy triangle itself, that approach

for me allows me to put 100%

of my mental bandwidth on reacting.

I'm not thinking about directing one little bit,

like what I want them to do.

Everything is just focused on anticipating what's going

to happen, being in the right place, and

reacting to what actually happens.

And quite frankly, it allows us to create

different work because we're focused on the uniqueness

of the individuals as opposed to inserting our

own ideas and putting their wedding into what

we think it should look like.

So the work inevitably is unique because the

people are unique, and the day is unique,

right?

So- Yeah, a lot of our most

creative images have come out of necessity.

Like we had to figure out a way

to do something because we were forced into

it.

We had no option to direct them into

something else, right?

And you'll see lots of examples of this

when we go through the full wedding day

as well.

Okay, getting back to the wedding day itself.

We went off on a bit of a

tangent there, but that's okay.

So we start first thing in the morning.

Start first thing in the morning, and then

we usually go right through to the end

of the dance.

And this is the way Lanie and I

like to shoot weddings, and we've designed our

business around this approach, right?

We don't- We shoot 10 weddings a

year, so we can put in, you know,

21-hour wedding days.

And so just keep that in mind.

This is the way that we've designed our

business and the way that we like to

shoot weddings.

So we'll shoot right through into the end

of the dance.

That's our favorite part of the day.

But I can honestly say, like, at the

end of a wedding day, when we're packing

up, oh, my God, I am more mentally

and physically exhausted at the end of a

wedding day than I was at the end

of any marathon I've ever run or any

mountain I've ever climbed.

And it's not so much the physical work.

I mean, the physical work's exhausting as well.

I mean, we probably do 400 deep knee

squats on a wedding day.

My legs are tired.

They're achy.

But what's most exhausting, but also most rewarding,

is that you can't stop thinking, right?

You can't stop being curious.

You can't stop trying to find moments, and

you can't stop trying to find interest in

the event.

And that's what's most exhausting.

And that's what we're paid to do.

That's what we're paid to do, yeah.

So our worst enemies on a wedding day

are boredom, fatigue, and complacency, right?

Those are our worst enemies.

And these aren't simple shots that we're showing

you.

We had to work really hard for them.

And it's not...

I mean, it's not so much the technical

challenges of the shot that we had to

work really hard for, it's the mental challenges,

right?

Like, anybody can leave their shutter open and

pop a flash.

That's not difficult.

It's the mental capacity to keep on pushing,

keep on striving, keep on looking, keep on

being curious throughout the entirety of the wedding

day, when it would be so easy to

just mail it in, right?

And quite frankly, weddings can be really boring.

I mean, that's maybe a dirty thing to

say in our industry, but weddings are boring.

So...

On the surface, they're boring.

On the surface.

You have to actively find that interest and

search for that interest.

I mean, the dance floor is a very

moment-rich environment.

There's lots going on.

But when you think of the bulk of

the wedding day, on the surface, it's boring,

right?

It follows a predictable timeline, right?

Predictable, scripted timeline, right?

But underneath the surface, it's incredibly interesting.

You just have to look for it and

find it.

Beneath the pageantry.

Beneath the pageantry, yeah.

Okay, so essentially what we're doing is stacking

the cards in our own deck, okay?

By making this triangle as large as possible,

okay?

So we're starting from maximum energy.

More importantly, though, than how much energy we

bring to the wedding, okay, is how that

limited energy supply gets divided up in these

three directions, okay?

So we're going to look at each of

these three, and we're going to start up

here with technical, okay?

And this is going to be really brief

for now, okay?

We're going to dive into technical later on

in the course in great detail, but for

now, we're going to boil it down to

two imperatives, okay?

Practice.

Practice, practice.

And simplify.

Simplify, simplify, simplify, okay?

So first of all, practice.

This has to become muscle memory, right?

And the good news is that it can

because our brains allow us to do highly

technical tasks entirely subconsciously, right?

It's like driving in traffic, changing lanes, stick

shift, right, while having a conversation, right?

We can do all of that at the

same time.

Or like when Roger Federer returns 140 mph

serve, right?

Like if you think about that, that's a

highly technical task, right?

But he's not consciously thinking about his swing

trajectory or the angle of his racket relative

to the ball, right?

He's making all of those technical micro decisions

entirely subconsciously, okay?

So that frees up all of his energy

so he can just react, okay?

And how did he get to the point

where he can do that?

So we've got to practice and dial in

that muscle memory.

And we have to simplify.

Because if you look like this, right, like

we just can't move and respond, right, and

tell a story.

Eric and I have both gone to, we'll

probably share some stories throughout this course from

the foundation workshop, which we've both done separately.

Erica sent me first like maybe four years

ago or something, four or five years ago.

It was a Christmas present, okay?

He thinks it was a Christmas present for

him, but it was actually a Christmas present

for me.

Because he was getting it unbearable to shoot

with, really.

He'll get into it.

Okay, so but what that workshop was, for

those who don't know, it was essentially a

photojournalism workshop for wedding photographers who don't necessarily

have, most of us don't have a background

in photojournalism, right?

And so essentially what you do is you

go out on an assignment and you document

a story.

And then you come back and yet in

the group you basically critique the work.

And so I showed up for my assignment

with two cameras, five lenses, two flashes and

transmitters, grids, gels, and a big clunky light

stand, okay?

And one of the things that your team

leader does partway through the assignment is they

come and they check in on you, right?

Partway through.

My team leader was Ben Chrisman.

And the first thing he did when he

came to check in on me was he

took away half that shit, okay?

Even though, even though when you were packing

for Foundation Workshop, like you should listen to

me once in a while because I told

you exactly what Ben Chrisman told you.

But you will listen to Ben Chrisman.

I needed Ben Chrisman.

We could have saved $4,000 if you

just listened to me.

But anyways, that was game changer.

It really, because from that point on I

was able to move and respond and react

and get into the storytelling.

So we've realized the more we can simplify

our equipment choices and our technical choices, okay,

the faster we can react.

So we want to minimize the technical variables

as much as possible so that when shit

like this comes at us at 140 miles

per hour, when luck strikes, it's just sheer

reaction.

And when you think about it, so much

of what we have in our camera bags,

actually not even just in our camera bags,

so much of what we own in life,

like the possessions that we actually have, we

just have for security, right?

Like, well, I'm going to bring this lens

just in case and I'm going to bring

this light stand just in case.

And when we have all those choices on

us, it takes away our strength of using

one of those choices.

And lots of people think creativity comes from

lots of options.

Creativity actually comes from limited options.

The more limited your options and what you

have to work with, the more creative you

have to be to figure it out.

So just keep that in mind next time

you're packing your camera gear.

Like, what do you really need?

Okay, so practice and simplify until you don't

have to think.

Which leaves lots of energy left over for

the rest of the triangle.

Okay, so what we're referring to on this

side of the triangle is our ego, our

fears, self-talk, headspace, self-consciousness.

Basically anything that's going to take attention and

mental bandwidth away from technical and away from

our art.

Another way to refer to it is your

mental fitness, right?

How to manage and deal with everything that's

going on up here so that you can

perform to your potential.

And it's really fitting that I'm talking about

this side of the triangle because it is

an absolute mess inside my brain most days.

And then you get inside my brain on

a wedding day and it's probably quite entertaining

for you, but it's quite hard for me

to live with.

So some of the things that might go

through my...

Well, not might, that always go through my

brain on a wedding day.

At some point, I'm usually questioning my career

choice, wondering if I'm really in the right

profession.

Do I really want to be a wedding

photographer?

I'm really not enjoying myself right now.

We are definitely going to have to rethink.

Why am I even a wedding photographer?

I hate photography and I hate weddings.

This is so boring.

This is my inner ego talking, right?

This is the biggest heckler in the crowd

of my own performance.

And what I've come to realize is that

I can't get rid of this voice.

No matter how hard I try, I cannot

get rid of this voice.

It's just there.

This is so gimmicky.

This is like everything else you've ever done

except worse.

These photos are lifeless.

God, you are such a bitch.

Why am I so anxious?

Where's my aperture button again?

And I have this voice too.

I'm sure like this is not...

I'm sure most people have this voice and

most people can relate to this voice.

And in fact, if you can't relate to

this voice, you might be a psychopath.

So you might want to go check that

out.

I bet you anything all the bridesmaids are

flirting with Lani right now and pulling on

his ringlets.

But yeah, we can't get rid of this

voice.

It's just there.

But we can choose whether or not we

engage with the voice.

Whether or not we listen to it.

Whether or not we try and reason with

it.

And I feel like reasoning with it sounds

like a good idea.

But it's really not a good idea.

Because this voice is like rooted in thousands

of years of evolution.

Trying to reason with that voice inside your

head would be like trying to convince Trump

on climate change.

It's just ceaseless, ceaseless striving.

But we can turn down the volume on

that voice.

And we can decide not to engage with

it.

Because what I've realized is that if we

engage with that voice, have a conversation with

it, try and reason with it, listen to

it in any way whatsoever, it puts a

massive brick wall between us and what's going

on around us.

We can't possibly be present and in the

moment if we're having this conversation with this

voice inside our head.

Or if we're thinking about the blog post.

If we're comparing ourselves to other photographers.

If you think about it, our ultimate goal

as photographers, and it doesn't even matter what

kind of photographer you are, our ultimate goal

is to make the viewer of the image

feel as though they're present in the scene

that they're looking at.

Like to feel as though they're present in

that actual photograph.

And how can we achieve this as photographers

if we're not present ourselves?

How can we achieve this if we're thinking

about the blog post?

Or we're comparing ourselves to other photographers?

Or we're thinking about fearless awards?

Past and the future hold absolutely no relevance

on a wedding day.

Only thing that matters is the now.

Present.

And these are the kind of photographs that

make us the photographers we are.

These are the kind of photographs that make

us photographers of humans.

When we're fully present, when we aren't engaged

with the voice inside our head, when we're

truly there, listening, hearing, feeling, experiencing that wedding

or those moments, it's almost like a little

shift happens.

A tiny little shift.

It's barely noticeable.

But instead of you having to go and

find those moments, find those award-winning images,

it's like they subtly pop out and they

find you, instead of you having to go

find them.

And these are the images that stand the

test of time.

So, thankfully, we've learned a thing or two

about how to quiet this voice and how

to conform to our potential.

And sometimes surprise ourselves and create something completely

unexpected and go beyond our potential.

So the good news is, just like that

technical side of the triangle that Lani talked

about, with practice, practice, intentional practice, and intent,

practice and intent, you can get yourself into

the optimal headspace so that you can perform

to your potential and pursue that luck on

a wedding day.