Original subtitles

So, practice and simplify the shit out of

technical and use those six guiding principles so

that you can be there, actually be there,

present at your wedding so that you can

be here.

This is all the energy that's left over

for creating art, okay?

And what does that even mean in the

context of wedding photography?

It means something different for each of us,

which is, you know, part of the beauty

of what we do.

But really, when you think about it, what

we're all striving to do, you know, regardless

of what style or genre of photography we're

in, is what David Allen Harvey said best.

Don't shoot what it looks like, shoot what

it feels like.

And this is something that Eric and I

started to understand long before we were shooting

weddings, back when we were climbing and skiing

and shooting adventure, when experiences like our Condor

encounter gave us the perspective that it's exceedingly

difficult to capture in a photograph the essence

of something that really moves you, right?

Like something that was truly beautiful because that

beauty is so much more than what you

actually saw.

It's what it actually felt like to be

there in that moment, in that experience.

And so that's what sort of got Eric

and I trying to figure out ways to

use our cameras in order to capture experience.

And really, ever since the start of our

adventures in wedding photography, that's what we've tried

to do, to show what it feels like,

not just what it looks like.

Capturing the feeling of something that, to us

as their photographers, looking in from the outside,

might actually look quite ordinary.

Capturing it for them how it felt on

the most magic day of their lives.

That's what we're going for.

We can't just show them photos that remind

them how it looked, right?

Faithfully reproducing an unspectacular record, because they didn't

see it like that.

They hardly saw it at all.

They felt it.

So we have to show them photos that

remind them how it felt, or better, okay?

And we sort of feel like this is

probably one of the main reasons that there

are so many couples out there in the

world who are disappointed with their wedding photos.

Because their photos just didn't live up to

their extraordinary memories of the day.

What we, as their photographers, give them will

ultimately change their memory.

And that's a pretty powerful thing.

So if we're going to change their memory,

let's enhance it, okay?

Let Uncle Bob, with his Best Buy TDI,

show them how it looked on Facebook, less

than 24 hours later, and spoil their memories.

We'll show them how it felt.

And that requires stepping outside our comfort zones,

and using our imagination, and our equipment, in

unconventional ways.

And lots of failing along the way.

Being able to do this well has little

to do with knowledge, and everything to do

with simple awareness.

Just knowing what to pay attention to can

make all the difference.

And so many photographers focus on doing things

right, when they'd be luckier to just focus

on doing the right things.

So here's what Erica and I have always

focused on.

The extremes, and the unexpected.

Of all the Michaels in the world, of

all the MJs in the world, how is

it that these two managed to stand out

from all the rest?

And if you think back to all the

things in your life, or in the history

of the world, that have been memorable, or

impactful, it's probably because they were either extreme,

or unexpected.

And in most cases, both.

So if we want our photography to be

memorable, and have impact, and stand out from

everything else, then we have to look for,

and record, the extremes, and the unexpected.