All language subtitles for 1. How to Evoke Emotion

All right guys, welcome back.

Okay, we're going to change tunes now a

little bit.

So I thought, I wasn't going to actually

share all those albums with you, but I

thought with the conversations that we've had, knowing

that a few people are beating themselves up

about where you are at in the industry,

I thought that the old wedding would give

you some inspiration in a different way.

I thought that those three, four jobs that

I showed you, like the vintage album, the

3D wedding album, the David Hockney homage, the

damsel causes distress, I thought that would just

give you a bit of a kickstart with

your creativity.

Like I said to you guys in a

few of the comments that I heard during

the break there as well, it's important that

you just commit to self-development, right?

Just basically book it in.

In other words, one of you asked me

about like a movie, how do I translate

an idea from movie?

Well, what tickles you?

What gives you a strong feeling when you

look at it?

So for example, Once Upon a Time in

Hollywood, who's seen it?

The new Tarantino movie.

How cool is it, right?

I mean, you sort of have to be

a Tarantino fan.

It's got lots of dialogue and it's a

bit gory at the end, but like most

Tarantino movies, but it's really cool.

And I want to do a 60s themed

shoot and possibly even in the spirit of

damsel causes distress, do a story and have

some really cool 70s or late 60s themed

shots.

So I will simply just book it in

like a client, say on this date, I'll

shoot it.

On this date, I'll source the talent and

on this date, I will source the props

and then I'll just book it in like

a wedding and pretend like I just have

to do it.

So like I said, guys, the takeaway that

you should have done from this morning is

not just be inspired.

That was fun to look at.

No, it is basically the difference between successful

people and not so successful is that the

former are doers.

That's it.

They're geniuses.

Every so often you get a genius like

a David and all that kind of stuff,

but that's okay.

But again, ironically, it takes you how many

years have been doing it, David?

45 years.

You know what?

He deserves his success and deserves his eyes

because he's, he's, he's.

Yeah.

Right.

I mean, I've been, I've been doing this

for 26 years.

I've got 20 years to go in terms

of, of, of the experience and wisdom that

David has.

But like I said, guys, you've got to

break those shackles of being intimidated by the

people around you.

Enough of that.

It is not fruitful.

Take away those triggers that make you feel

like crap.

If every morning you wake up feeling like

crap because you can pay yourself with everybody's

best image on Facebook or Instagram, do not

look at it.

I deliberately, like I said, you'll submit many

of you follow me on Facebook and I

often just walk away for a month.

I couldn't care about, about likes.

Likes is just a double tap.

Oh, that's awesome.

Great.

Okay.

Well done.

Great.

What does that really mean in the end?

You know what I'd rather be a successful

husband, a successful son, a successful brother, and

have a successful business with lots of fun.

In fact, people ask me, Jerry, what's your

business plan?

And they expect me to give them a

booklet.

Like, you know, when you read business books

and you go to these business degrees and

they want you to put a business plan

together.

All I simply ask myself in business, what

is, how do I make the most amount

of money with the least amount of time,

with the least amount of investment, for the

most amount of fun?

Pretty good business plan, isn't it?

Once you do that, done.

Every decision, I ask myself those questions above

and beyond the fact that will this make

me happier or not?

It might be making me more money, but

will it take more time away from Melissa

and I?

Probably will.

Is it fruitful?

Do I have to do what I have

to do to do what I want to

do?

As in there's times where there's all hands

on deck, we work our ass off.

But there's times where we just keep on

working our ass off because we want more

money and we forget that we actually have

family.

And we walk all day every night.

And like, all of a sudden, where's the

time gone?

How do we do it?

But guys, I want to turn things around

because yesterday was very much about technique.

We talked about those five steps among many

things that we discussed.

And I said number five was probably the

most important, really, that captures the soul of

the image, which is what?

Number five is what?

Emotion.

So now this next segment is all about

how to evoke emotion.

How to evoke emotion.

And that's a very important one.

So again, let's just take you through those

steps.

Light, location, pose, technique, emotion.

And now it's all about that.

Now, to evoke emotion, you have to relax

people.

With no filter, what, and if you haven't

met me before, what do you think I

would have been like in person?

Whose perception of me has changed since we

met and who haven't met me in person

before?

So with no filter, and you can be

as brutally honest as possible, what was your

impression of me before you got here and

what is it now?

And I'm not fishing for a compliment, I'm

just fishing for the truth.

So let's go, microphone here.

Hi, so I was told that you're kind

of conceited and full of yourself.

Yeah, yeah.

I've heard that a lot of time because

people look at my accolade list and they

say, well, on paper, you should be an

asshole.

But I'm just a guy.

Yes, please.

Jerry, 12 years ago, when I first met

you, I thought that, and it probably had

something to do with the accent, that you

were stuffy.

Right.

And conceited would be a great word.

Sure.

Not on the no, but hell no.

Yeah, yeah.

No, thank you.

But isn't it funny though, that our preconceptions

have affected your, you probably thought, okay, it'd

be good to learn from, maybe an asshole,

but let's just book the seminar and see

how we go.

You are actually quite funny.

As I mentioned, the way I knew of

you is you really inspired me.

Of course, what I saw is like, you

know, how you show your real personality.

Sure.

I appreciate that.

This is getting somewhere.

I'm not fishing for compliments.

Like I said, I'm after the truth and

this is going to prove a point of

mine.

Yes.

Okay.

Didn't have a preconceived notion about your personality,

but David is who actually mentioned you to

me that you were his mentor.

So I just looked at your work only

and I wasn't expecting you to be so

lighthearted and relaxed and funny.

Like it's, I didn't, I didn't think about

it before, but now I'm like, oh my

gosh, like you went from, I just admire

your work too.

I admire your work and you would be

so fun to hang out with you and

Melissa would be amazing.

Thank you.

That's very sweet.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yes.

Microphone.

My favorite thing you said is that you're

inappropriate.

This is me with a filter by the

way.

This is me with a filter.

I've stopped myself like, forget a hundred times

so far, but I've let myself go a

bit further than I thought I was going

to go.

I'm a little bit too inappropriate.

But it told me you were going to

be you.

And so I feel like I got to

see you.

Thank you.

Of course.

Thank you for being inappropriate.

Well, it's funny because like Melissa and I,

we spoke last night over dinner and I'm

like, baby, did I cross the line a

little bit here and there, whatever.

And she goes, maybe, I don't really know.

Like, you know, so she's a bit more

conservative than me.

I'm like, baby, I've just got to a

time in my life where I just want

to be me.

And if that offends you, just get the

hell out of this room respectfully.

Does that make any sense?

Because I'm 46 now.

And when you turn 40, and I'm sure

many of you have lived on this earth

longer than me, but you get to the

point where you're like, you're sick of the

crap, sick of the haze.

Let me be myself.

And even though that that's the feedback that

I've been given every so often, well, Jerry,

I thought you'd be conceited or I thought

this, or I thought you were that.

I don't really care.

As in if people think that of me,

because I'm not that person.

And that's why too many of us, what

we do is we try to impress people

that we don't even like.

Right?

I want it.

No, no, I'm not this way.

Let me.

No, no, I want you to know that

I'm a really good guy.

All I know is that if my like

Melissa's the best barometer, David is the best

barometer.

If he came up to me and said,

Jerry, I'm probably being one.

And that would calibrate me.

But at the end of the day, though,

I think authenticity is very, very important.

So when you're when I'm talking about evoking

emotion, we have to build trust.

And if we don't build trust, well, then

I can't be me and you can't be

you.

I said to you at the start of

the actual, that our journey together, that we

were going to laugh together and cry together.

And before we cry, we have to laugh

together first.

Is there a thought here?

Microphone, please.

Oh, sorry.

Sorry, sweetie.

Go for it.

That's right.

So when I looked at your work, I

thought, oh, my God, he's going to be

intimidating.

The whole thing is going to be so

intimidating.

If you saw my work, you would look

at it and say, Jerry, have you ever

held a camera before?

Why would I be intimidating?

Well, because now what I figured out is

I was looking at your work through my

eyes of insecurity, through my lens of insecurity.

Sure.

And my fears.

I was looking at it through fear.

So now I took another look and now

I can see there's love in every single

photograph you do.

I thought you'd be Mr. Perfection.

It's going to be this way, this way,

this way.

And it's not.

It's not at all.

So now I see heart in the photographs

that I didn't see before because I was

too intimidated by it.

It's beautiful.

Thank you.

That's beautiful.

Beautiful words.

Thank you.

It's gorgeous.

Thank you.

Well, Jerry, I met you several years ago.

How do you remember everything?

I remember faces very well.

And spirit, like your soul, like your energy.

You were just this cute lady with this

really gorgeous accent.

I remember dancing with you the other night.

And in 10 years, I remember that dancing.

We'll dance again, I'm sure.

And sometimes I might.

I mean, look, we meet tens of thousands

of people like every year.

But usually your face is hard to forget.

And especially if you've been in front of

camera or anything like that, we share an

experience.

And then sometimes I might get it wrong,

but I do my best.

So what did you just say?

I'm joking.

Sorry, I just completely ruined that sentimental moment

right there.

Jerry, I need to say that I learned

to put my hands in my pocket all

the way.

Thank you.

I love that.

All right.

So again, guys, I wasn't fishing for compliments.

I just wanted the truth.

And I got the brutal truth, which was

fine.

But here's the thing.

We need to develop trust.

And how do we do that?

Among many ways is this.

Show personal interest.

I do care about you.

You know what?

Last night someone said to me, Jerry, you

don't have to be here.

Well, I've taught all these techniques, and I

want to sit there and just walk away

and have a dinner.

I didn't even have dinner last night until

I left here.

So I'm like, well, wait a second.

So did you see me hopping around everywhere?

I wanted to give you guys instruction, and

I wanted to follow through.

So I showed personal interest, not because I

was getting paid to, because I actually care.

Find common ground.

We have common ground.

We have insecurities.

You had insecurities about your work being sucky,

and I showed you some work that sucked

back then.

Find out your interests.

What's meaningful and valuable?

Probably the most important thing.

And what is everyone's favorite subject?

Themselves.

Perfect.

So I asked deep and meaningful questions.

What's your motivation?

You've seen how I use humor and empathy,

although sometimes maybe inappropriate.

That is actually me.

Not that I'm crude or rude, but I

just think it's fun.

Language is funny.

I think in a world where everything's politically

correct, our differences actually make us very unique.

There are cliches.

There are things that different, you know, we

talk about different races and religions, and I'm

like, well, there's only freaking one race.

It's the human race.

The pigment of your freaking skin shouldn't depend

on what I freaking think of you, right?

Even, and I understand that many of us

have different religious beliefs and things like that,

but your orientation sexually, that's your business.

Like, you know what?

Let God be the judge if that's your

inclination to think like that.

Does that make any sense?

The worst thing to do as a human

being is judge.

It is so liberating when you don't judge

people.

And if you judge someone, how are you

going to freaking get emotion out of them?

If you already have a preconceived idea, well,

you must be this way.

It's so liberating to just be free and

just love everybody until you prove me wrong.

There's only two people I judge.

Judgmental people and specifically judgmental vegans.

Doesn't it piss you off?

You're enjoying this beautiful steak.

It's like, well, you thought you're eating someone's

son right now.

Just let me enjoy my steak.

Genuine flattery.

What did you say?

Tell me something.

Are you well, that's true, but just let

me ignore that bit.

Let me ignore that bit.

What made me feel better was actually going

on safari.

Like, you go on, probably the most, like,

I often, one of my favorite questions is,

what is the most beautiful thing that you've

seen with your own two eyes?

And usually it'll be related to someone's, like

your family or something like that.

Now, what's non-related to family, the most

beautiful thing you've seen with your own two

eyes?

Probably the most beautiful thing I've ever seen

with my own two eyes, apart from this

beautiful girl here.

That is, I was on safari in South

Africa and it was silent and there was

just these little red dust, the smell of

this raw earth and a hundred odd elephants,

these prehistoric gorgeous souls just walking towards me,

filling up my peripheral vision.

I'm like, I could just die right now.

It's so much beauty that we have in

the world.

There's so much crap that we have in

the world.

The difference is that, what are you going

to focus on?

You focus on negativity, guess what?

You get negativity.

I find that we spend, as humans, 90

% of our lives worrying about the 10

% things that happen.

True.

And we don't even learn because our parents

and grandparents and anyone in history made the

same mistakes.

I don't worry about something until I have

to worry about something.

In terms of this, body language, tone of

voice, as a speaker, again, I've been going

left and right here.

I've been speaking to you, speaking to here,

and we're having a bit of fun.

It's important because it keeps you engaged.

I know what it's like to be you.

You've been freaking in this room for the

past couple of days and evening, it'll be

tough.

Even if I had good work, but I

didn't actually use my voice and my pitch

and my pace and my power to connect

with you or ask you deep questions or

ask for your feedback, then you wouldn't actually

take this information in.

With clients, you have to do all these

things and eventually, it's like a craft.

You practice it and you get to the

point where it works.

I said this before.

Let's laugh together and now we're going to

cry together.

When I say cry, we're going to empathize

with each other because all of us are

going through some problems right now, but before

we get deeper, it's funny when you have

someone in front of your camera waiting for

a great shot and they're looking at you

like this.

It's tough, right?

Because they're waiting for magic, but I quickly

turned around, took a quick shot, wanted to

show my future audiences, well, hey, we all

have these blank stares into the camera.

Within an hour, I got this shot.

So, more than technique, we're talking about emotion.

We're talking about how to actually get that

soul of that person.

When I say soul, not as in I'm

going to show every part of this person

with one photograph, but it could be a

side that they want to show or they

haven't even discovered yet and all of a

sudden, I show them and here it is.

So, how do I do it?

Well, it's funny because there are some people,

that Polaroid collage album, there's some people that

will not give you anything.

Focus on the groom in this next video.

And mom and dad go nice and close

like you're just about to kiss her, give

her a giggle, that's it.

Now, you would say that the Asian culture

is not conducive of showing emotion.

They're not really sort of, I've got lots

of Asian friends and they said their parents

would teach them don't show your emotion, but

you can't tell me you're not emotional.

You just don't show it or you don't

want to show it.

Now, I say get the architecture right.

If mom and dad have got their heads

together and they're close, well, the architecture is

just waiting for that emotion, but at least

it's emotional architecturally, physically.

And then we had a bit of a

giggle and as I walked into the actual

bride's parents' bedroom to see the light location,

then I see this gorgeous, her gorgeous mom

when she got married and then a thug

from a Bruce Lee movie.

And it's amazing that we've got this picture.

Now, look at the groom now in this

following video.

That's it.

But I want to enjoy it as well.

So, do you see the five steps there?

Light, location, the windshield, pose, put them in

a position, get my cropping composition right, and

then I'm like, well, just, you know, kiss.

Now, if he did it nicely, done, I've

done the photograph, but he was like kissing

her and freaking looking at the view.

But you would look at that photograph and

you would swear, oh, Jerry, you're so lucky

to have these really cool couples to photograph.

Well, come on, guys, I have the same

problems as you guys.

And with weddings, you've got to do it

quickly, right?

All right, let's get you all with a

drink.

You're going to be out of focus in

this one, nothing personal.

Okay, Mike, just a bit more.

That's good.

So now in that position, just talk shit

as I take photos of you.

Come a little bit closer to the window.

How many shots did I take?

How many do I need for a spread

of a wedding album?

Yeah, Robert De Niro, a little bit, right?

Yeah.

Is that amazing?

I photographed his son's wedding like 10, 15

years ago, and then he got remarried and

there we were.

And sometimes all you have to do to

make someone laugh is ask them to laugh

as stupid as that sounds.

So, light, location, pose, did everything, step number

five is this.

Okay, now, on the count of three, I'm

going to get you crack up laughing for

no reason, you feel stupid, you laugh at

yourself and it'll look real.

I need sounds that help the expression.

Okay, ready?

Ready?

One, two, three, go for it.

So the best man called the groom a

dickhead and that's how we got that little

giggle there.

And the angle added a bit of movement,

it was a bit predictable before.

And like I said, sometimes, see, laughing is

contagious.

Do you see what we're doing right now?

We're all sort of smiling and looking at

what's going on.

And look at how stupid what I say

in this next photograph.

Watch this.

Everyone closer, closer, closer, closer.

I want tighter.

And now very gently, just turn a bit

more so the light hits more of you.

There we go, perfect.

And you found something spontaneously funny out that

way, go.

You found something spontaneously funny out that way,

go.

But you're all laughing, it's stupid.

That's the cool thing about photography is you

can't hear the shit that we say to

get the expressions that we want, right?

But that's what it is.

Now, would you call this a pose or

a natural moment?

Pose.

Then I'll make you laugh.

I must have said something very rude, but

you wait for the ends.

In other words, you pose it like light,

beautiful light, location, pose like that, as in

like this one.

That's the last one, that one.

Then I get my camera technique, composition, cropping

lens choice.

Then I make a laugh and wait to

the end of the laugh.

And there we go.

Have you ever photographed someone with a big

gummy smile with big teeth?

And when they laugh, they do this.

Like it's a whole day.

I'm like, how do you tell a bride?

Like, stop doing that.

We both know you got a gummy smile.

What do we do?

So I said to this girl, hey, I

noticed that when you laugh, you cover up

your mouth.

Personally, I love your smile.

I think you're gorgeous.

You radiate joy.

But I actually prefer your laugh and your

smile towards the end so we retain the

softness in your eyes.

What do you think?

She looked at it.

She loved it.

I'm like, so I'll tell you what.

Today, just enjoy the day.

And when you laugh and have some fun,

enjoy it, embrace it, soak the joy in.

And I'm going to photograph towards the end

of the laugh.

Hashtag, we both know you got a gummy

smile, but this is the way I'm going

to do it from now on.

Right?

Okay, this next shot is the epitome, I

think, of the five-step process.

Watch this.

On her right side and cut away from

behind.

So now let's say, where are we here?

Can I have best man just here?

Yeah, I'm an Aussie.

Over here, mate, just on this side.

Ali, turn this way and just shuffle your

feet in and that's it.

And now, turn your faces into each other

this way.

That looks like a fight.

Ali, have you been nibbling your...

Hey gorgeous, I want you to come in

here, come really close and cuddle up to

the bride.

Cuddle up to her.

She's amazing.

Actually, bring your hand just here.

That's perfect.

I want to remember you last minute to

get you out of the flower there.

And over here, mate, so a bit closer.

I want you looking here, you're looking there,

you guys looking at each other, you guys

looking into each other, you looking over here,

you snuggling in, foreheads touching, okay, you looking

over there and you're looking over there.

In that position, guys, in that position that

I gave you, I need you giggling, I

need you laughing, having fun, on the count

of three.

All right, now, important, everyone, please look at

the place where I told you, do not

look at me, a bit of giggling, a

bit of fun.

Kim, I want to see you look, I

want to see you cuddling this way.

Yeah, that's it, that's it.

And don't look at me.

If I say don't look at me, you'll

look at me.

And the problem is that have you ever

photographed a family portrait, whether it's a wedding

or a family portrait or whatever, and then

the kids are a pain in the butt,

right?

And then the adults are fine.

And then finally you get the kid right

and the adults are going like this.

So this one, you might say, Jerry, what

made you think of that person looking here,

that person looking there, whatever?

It was the first thing I thought of.

Like I said to you, part of the

problem with photography is or any artistic endeavor

is just committing to an idea and executing.

Was that the best idea?

There's no such thing, just pick one and

execute and go.

Now, we said we have a few couples

in the audience, right?

Is that right?

Where was it?

Can I get you guys out, come over

here.

Come, come, bring your phone, bring your phone.

We'll get these guys to tape it.

Bring your phone.

They're like, what's going to happen now?

So give your phone to one of these

guys, girls, whatever in the front, so they

can just press the video record button and

everything.

Now, how do you pronounce your name again?

Just call me Ken.

Ken, all right, Ken.

And how do you pronounce your wife's name?

Erica.

Ken and Erica, over here, guys.

All right, we're going to play a game.

Ken and Erica, we're going to play a

game.

Are you ready for it?

Okay, right here, front and center.

It's a bit scary up here, isn't it?

You'll be fine, you'll be fine.

All right.

So guys, let's pretend now we're going to

take fictitious photographs of you, but we're going

to play a game.

All right, so Ken, come up close.

I want you to hold each other.

Now, here's what's going to happen.

You, on the count of three, you're going

to do everything in your power to kiss

her on her beautiful lips.

On the count of three, you do everything

in your power to avoid the kiss.

The only rule is you can't move away

from where you're standing.

Everything, don't give me this, like just freaking

go for her lips, man, with your lips.

It's like playing tag with your lips.

Are you ready?

You can do anything you want.

We're going to start.

How many photos have you taken right now

already?

We haven't even started yet.

Okay, ready?

So you're going to kiss on her lips.

You have to avoid the kiss on the

count of three.

One, two, three, go for it.

Come on, get it, get it, get it.

Come on.

Come on, man, come on, get it.

How many photos have you taken right now?

At least the spread of an album.

Okay, smart ass, your turn.

Erica, to kiss him on the lips.

Okay, everything in your power to kiss him

on the lips.

Ready?

One, two, three, go.

All right.

Ken, are you normally that quick?

Did he just say that?

All right.

How many shots did you take right now,

fictitiously, in your head?

The spread of a wedding album?

There was like probably 20, 30 shots right

there.

You're going to pick three or four in

that spread.

You're done.

Guess what now?

You guys are all smiling.

If you were the bridal party and I

said, guys, okay, your turn, let's come up.

My energy and your energy is like, oh,

fantastic, let's do it.

Whereas before you get some bridal parties.

Okay, so now we're going to do something

else.

Okay, so I want you to hug her

from behind.

Hug her from behind.

Okay.

All right, beautiful.

Now, Erica, what's your ethnicity?

What's your background?

Hispanic.

Hispanic.

So I imagine you would dance very well.

Sometimes.

It's a shame.

It's a big shame that if you don't

dance or you don't dance well and being

Hispanic, I think that's just really fun.

It's just, you know, like Greece, you don't

know how to cook.

It's a waste.

Um, I dance.

I don't know how.

All right.

So we're not going to like, we're not

going to do anything overly, you know, crazy,

but here's what we're going to do.

So hold his hands on your, on his

hands.

That's it.

Beautiful.

Bring your faces together.

I look diagonally into each other.

Okay.

So here's what you're going to do, Erica.

Erica, I want, you know, you know what

salsa is?

Yes.

Okay.

So leave your feet right there and I

just want you to dance on him until

you make him happy.

Okay.

Do you want the hashtag to that or

you understand what that meant?

All right.

Good.

All right.

Ready?

Now, Erica, don't look at me while you're

doing that.

It'd be creepy.

I can't look at you right now.

Dance on your man.

No, no, no.

That's why I told you one video.

That's a dance on him.

Come on.

Dance on him.

Look at each other.

Look into each other.

Oh yeah.

Come on.

Rub your butt.

Come on.

Yeah.

How many shots have you taken right now?

How beautiful do they look?

Isn't that beautiful?

Did you take the spread of a wedding

album or a portrait album?

This could work with 90 year olds.

It could work with frigging 20 year olds.

How beautiful is that?

Awesome.

You guys are awesome.

Thank you very much.

You can take a break.

Round of applause for Erica and Ken.

Thank you so much.

So guess what?

I photographed the images already and I processed

them and I put them online already.

This is you guys right here.

Watch.

This is the kiss tag game.

This is what's happening.

He's trying to kiss her.

She's trying to avoid the kiss.

Inevitably, it turns into laughter and giggles.

Then she goes for the kiss and we

have some fun.

That beautiful little salsa on his thing there.

Yeah, whatever.

We did that.

And this couple, I already processed the shots.

Basically, she was dancing on the groom, having

some fun.

Giggle, giggle, giggle.

Hello, hello, happy.

Okay.

Can we have our other sexy couple come

over here?

All I know is that if Melissa looks

that hot, like when she's older, I'll be

a very happy man.

You would swear she's Melissa.

This is like a movie where she's playing

an older character herself.

You're married, right guys?

18 years today.

What?

Awesome.

Okay.

It's Jera, right?

And Buddy.

Buddy.

Buddy.

Yes, sir.

All right.

My wife was talking to you guys and

told me a bit about your story.

I was very inspired by it.

So the fact that you had been married

18 years strong, you have such a strong

and healthy relationship.

I pray and I wish that Melissa and

I have just as strong at 18 years,

if not longer.

So thank you for being incredible role models

for us.

So thank you.

All right, guys, I'm going to get you

over here.

There's no inappropriate dancing or anything like that.

It's okay.

Okay.

All right.

So here's what I want to do.

I'll make you to turn around.

I want you to hug her from behind.

Okay.

Bring your face on this side.

Okay.

Just on this side.

So turn this way.

Turn, turn, turn, turn.

Twist this way towards me.

Yeah.

Both of you.

Put your feet.

Both of you.

Yeah.

There we go.

All right.

Now, what I want you to do is

cuddle up your faces together.

Okay.

Turn your faces into each other and close

your eyes.

And now what I want you to do,

so close your eyes.

Close your eyes.

Okay.

Now what I'd love for you to do

is you're going to feel funny doing this,

but just, just go with me here.

Okay.

Pretend like even now you've got three, four

shots already, right?

Very beautiful.

Isn't it beautiful to see love like that?

It's beautiful.

Okay.

So now I want you to pretend like

your faces are two cats.

Now, give me a second.

I'll explain.

All right.

When a cat walks up to your leg,

it'll rub its body on your leg.

So your faces are the cats.

So close your eyes and I want you

to rub each other's faces and rub and

put the cheeks together and move around.

Keep on going.

How beautiful is this couple?

And people wonder why I photograph weddings because

I get to witness that.

Look, I already took the shot.

Have a look.

All right.

So I'm going to give you both a

direction without each other knowing now.

Okay.

I've turned the microphone off.

Um, Jerry, can you come up?

You're done.

So come downstairs.

All the way?

Yeah.

Yeah.

All right.

Buddy.

That's my buddy.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Same position.

So I want your hands on each other's

waists.

No, so face each other.

Yep.

Yep.

So face each other.

Okay.

Hands on each other's Okay.

Ready?

Look at each other.

One, two, three.

Is that beautiful?

All right.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Okay.

Okay.

What I told them individually is I want

you to squeeze, um, like his on her,

but on the count of three, so that

both were given the exact same direction and

they both didn't know what I told them.

And that's the shot that we got.

All right, Jerry, are you done?

I've got, so, so buddy, you stay there.

Let me turn the microphone off.

Which is definitely stiff.

So in the correct, in the, in the

one that, I know, but we have to

position.

You get in the position where it's good.

Okay.

I'm going to take it home.

I love this girl so much.

Switch.

Go to the side that it's going to

work.

Okay.

So over here.

So switch sides, guys, switch sides.

I have no instructions.

No, no instructions.

Okay.

When you're ready, go for it.

We just got that shot.

Look.

Okay.

So what did I, Jerry, what did I

ask you to do?

So tell me in the microphone, what did

I ask you to do?

Just to say something inappropriate in his ear.

Okay.

So tell us what you said.

No, no, no, no, no.

I thought you meant what I said to

you.

No, no, no, no.

Well, what she, and of course, what she

said to me when I started giggling, says,

he's deaf in one ear.

Can I switch sides.

No, but I said that because I wanted,

I didn't know, I wanted him on the

right side where he was supposed to be.

Yeah.

Guys.

Do you know how long I've tried to

get her to say that?

You better do what you said you were

going to do tonight.

Please.

I'm going to send you, I'm going to

make sure my phone number is in your

phone and you'll text me when it happens.

That's awesome.

Guys, this is what a beautiful relationship looks

like.

Beautiful.

Beautiful.

Love that.

All right.

So over the years, I found that I

learned how to make people laugh and sometimes

if I can't do it, I'll get them

to play games and if I can't do

that, I'll get the best man to make

them laugh because why is the best man

the best man?

Because he's really funny.

That's why he's my best friend, so to

speak, from the groom's perspective and we get

a great shot.

Every so often though, you'll get some situations

that you're in where you want a softer

mood and you want something a bit more

delicate and this particular bride, I'm telling you

now, she was stressed.

Friends of mine that everyone was trying to

get a piece of her on the wedding

day and it was just, she could tell

she's like a frightened kitten.

So I got into the bedroom and then

I locked the door and with a proverbial

freaking chair underneath the doorknob and all the

aunties were banging trying to get in.

I said, guys, we need some time and

I ignored them.

In about a minute, they stopped and I

walked up to Melissa and I whispered to

her and I said, hey, I want to

take some boudoir shots of her.

She's barely freaking relaxed, fully dressed, let alone

boudoir.

I said, if I can get her with

boudoir shots, I can photograph her with boudoir

shots and something sensual and beautiful, then I

know that she's going to be relaxed for

the rest of the day.

That was my challenge.

Here's the first shot that I took of

her.

Gorgeous.

Beautiful.

Keep it there, keep it there.

Ooh, just great.

That's gorgeous, I love it there.

That's it.

And nice and soft now, just let the

smile go.

That's beautiful.

Oh my gosh, that's me.

I love it when the people that I

photograph say that because they don't believe they

will look or feel that good, but how

beautiful is she?

Where did I get that idea from?

Maybe a sexier version of this.

Whatever you've done, someone's done it better centuries

ago with a chisel and stone.

I'm obsessed with sculpture.

After photography, it's music, but then it's sculpture

is my favorite art form.

I'm obsessed with how someone could look at

a rock and literally have the patience to

do this and make it better than we

can with humans and a fraction of a

second.

If you want to learn art, do it

that way.

That's the way that they did it back

then, and there's very few modern masters that

can really do that again.

I was told that the father is this

big, burly frigging guy, and he's going to

be hard to photograph.

You won't catch a smile from him because

he's a working class guy.

He's just, whatever.

I'm like, well, I know every father has

a soft spot for their daughter.

Let's give him permission.

Is he doing it there for me?

Yeah, it's going.

Isn't that beautiful?

What lens did you shoot it with?

Does it really matter?

Do you see how the technique, that once

we learn the foundation of technique or whatever,

that it's actually more important about what we

get from that photograph?

That's beautiful.

This, how did I get them to do

this?

I posed them that way, and then I

just said, just with the way your faces

are touching, say I love you.

Then the warmth came over the eyes, the

shoulder went up.

How did I get that right picture?

I said, well, unless you don't love each

other.

Then I started giggling.

What's wrong with this picture?

Mom's looking into nowhere.

There's nothing going on with mom.

Although geographically, architecturally, the emotion is there.

It's beautiful, but then all I did was

say this.

And snuggle your face right into her there.

And guys, what I want you to do

in that position without talking, I want you

to just say that you love each other

without talking, just with your hug and your

embrace.

Just do that for me.

Isn't that pretty?

Then the grandmothers came out, and I didn't

have to do a thing because I already

invoked the emotion beforehand, and so everyone was

already sensitized to it.

The two grandmothers came out.

This is what happened.

One grandma's the emotional one.

One's the cheeky one.

Guess who's who?

They're in their mid-90s right now.

How important is this photograph?

Years ago, very early in my career, I

popularized the notion of doing a reveal with

the father and the bride because I had

never really seen it or witnessed it.

And I'm like, well, let's do it.

And I ended up getting gold almost every

single time.

Watch this.

Isn't that beautiful?

It's amazing that as I'm seeing Luke here

with Holland, there's such a beauty to a

father-daughter relationship.

Of course, every relationship, but there's just something

quite special about that one.

And God willing, and maybe if Holland is

happy with my work in about 20-odd

years, I can't wait to photograph your wedding,

darling.

Won't do boudoir.

I promise not to tell you.

So I had the privilege of photographing Luke's

wedding.

And such a sweet family.

And I quickly realized there was a special

bond between Bethany and her father.

So I did this in a bit of

a different way.

I said, when you dress Bethany, when you

walk out in the room where everyone's waiting

for you, only have eyes for your father,

knowing that I'd probably get a reaction like

this.

Isn't that charming?

Isn't that beautiful?

Then that gave birth to this.

And then that gave birth to this photograph.

And there's mommy, Holland.

And mom is just soaking that moment in.

Bethany has this cute little mannerism when she

laughs, and then dad's wiping his tears.

Isn't that beautiful?

And sometimes I'll do the back-to-back

thing.

Why I like the back-to-back reveal?

Because you can feel the warmth of either

it's the husband-to-be or wife-to

-be or father, whatever.

You feel that emotion, and then you're building

it up, building it up, and then all

of a sudden you turn around.

This wedding, it was raining all day.

This is the wedding that I told you

about that was raining sort of all day.

And all we had to work with was

a little mini veranda.

And I had an undercover area that I

could photograph in, and the water was coming

down.

And we ended up getting these photographs.

And it was beautiful.

Then it was the reveal with the groom.

And it was very emotional.

Isn't that cute?

This is the way I like my family

shots.

Look at the camera smiling, and then let's

play a little bit.

In other words, look at the camera smiling

is saying, this is what I look like.

This is basically saying who we are.

That's what a portrait is really, isn't it?

It's not what I look like.

This is who I am or part of

me.

Here's the reveal with the groom.

All right, say where you are.

All right darling, go nice.

Now, he's not going to be able to

turn around.

I want you to walk up to him,

and I want you to hug him from

behind.

But do not turn around, mate.

Just hug him.

Let him feel your warmth.

I never shoot this much, but every moment

is gold.

Now go back to back to him.

Hold hands.

Head back slowly.

Turn your faces in.

That's it.

Guys, when you're ready, slow, take your time,

turn around, say I love you without saying

a single word.

Go for it.

Stunning, guys.

That was one of the most beautiful things

I've seen.

I got to look at you right now.

Wow.

All right.

Wow.

Okay, I turn to look at you.

I love it.

That's beautiful.

I don't do this very often.

I just want to see love like that.

It's beautiful.

How beautiful was that?

To get, you see how it was like

a volcano of emotion?

Even now I'm getting emotional thinking about it,

because once you're in love, and you're helplessly

and hopelessly in love, you want it for

everybody.

And I photographed some weddings, and I'm like,

yeah, this is not going to work out.

Who photographs weddings?

Who thinks the same thing?

But this couple, I'm like, wow, like this

was the couple, the bird's eye view, full

sun, the naked figure with the guy in

the bottom.

I photographed them five, six years ago.

Then when you see moments like this, look

how proud she is.

Look how proud of her he is.

And you know what triggered this?

He said, he told me after, he said

to her, promise me you'll never leave me.

I did a same day slideshow that night,

as I did for Luke and Bethany.

We put the photographs together.

We picked 100 odd, played them on the

night of the wedding.

This was the reaction to the same day

slideshow of that night.

I swear mom was going to

take me in the back room.

Did you see that?

She was like, oh my God, Jerry.

She said, I can't, I can't.

Every time like something fun happens or whatever

with Melissa and I, we're just like, I

can't, I can't.

So she's given us a lot of joy

over the years.

May I have our beautiful couple back again?

Can we have Jerry and Melissa version one

out here?

Yeah.

Jerry and buddy, if you guys can come

out here for a moment, one more time,

that would be amazing.

20 years later.

All good.

So you guys come up the stage again.

All right.

So guys, there's times in, when you photograph

a wedding and you'll, you'll just say this

to a couple, like you got your camera

over there.

They're over here.

Hey guys, go for a hug, right?

But you hug, right?

Beautiful.

Now these guys are easy to photograph.

Would you agree?

Yeah.

Can I make a promise to you?

This is a promise and I want you

to take me up on it because I

love your energy.

Your 20 year anniversary anywhere in the world

where you want to be photographed, it'll be

my gift to you, Melissa and I, we

want to photograph your 20 year anniversary pictures.

Now, just so you know, Melissa is actually

a celebrant, believe it or not.

She married that couple.

So, um, I would love to see her

get your, you know, a vow renewal anywhere

in the world.

I promise you.

And let's do it.

So just, we're going to connect again.

Beautiful.

I love this.

I love this.

All right, guys.

I love this.

All right.

I swear I'm, I'm looking at, at, at

an older Melissa here, but again, I just,

I see so much joy in you, so

much beauty.

It's beautiful.

There is.

There's no doubt.

No doubt.

All right, guys.

So here's what I want you to do.

Come a little bit closer.

Okay.

Um, just turn a little bit this way.

All right, guys, I want you now to

listen to the words that I say.

Try to ignore the audience and don't look

at me and just listen to the words

that I say to you.

You guys cool with that?

All right.

Hold each other.

I don't want your foreheads touching.

Yep.

I want your foreheads touching and hold each

other, hold each other around the waist.

Beautiful.

All right.

So remember, hear my words, ignore everybody.

Only have eyes for each other.

So guys, what I'd like you to do,

I want you to soak each other in,

breathe each other in, reflect on the incredible

life that you've led.

And all these things that happened in your

life led you to each other.

And in a new life, you're married now

for 18 beautiful, blissful years.

You are each other's rock.

You are each other's strength.

You are each other's joy.

You wake up in bliss.

You go to bed in bliss.

You wake up laughing.

You go to bed laughing.

I want you, although you're hugging right now,

what I'd like you to do is hug

like it's the last time you're going to

do so.

Soak each other in.

It's one last hug.

He's fogging up.

I think we're all fogging up.

Guys, how beautiful was that?

Now, a few of you came to the

tour that I did, the Hattawa Tour, several

years ago.

And a couple of you probably witnessed me

doing this with just a random couple that

I'd never met before.

And we did a 33-city tour, 31

times out of the 33, when I brought

strangers up on the stage here.

That's what happened.

We ended up all in tears.

And then someone from the audience, in one

of the audiences said to me, Jerry, I

think you've gone too far.

I love you and all, but that was

a bit manipulative.

And sorry, I can't be with you.

I was embarrassed.

And she was this elderly woman, very beautiful,

classy, elegant, smart woman that I grew affection

for over the day and with my interactions

with her.

So I disappointed her.

And I said, I'm sorry to disappoint you.

And I said to her in the audience,

as I'll say to you guys now, do

you know when it's the last time you're

going to hug anyone?

No.

Have you, anyone in this room ever lost

someone unexpectedly?

You lost someone unexpectedly.

You didn't know they were going to pass,

there was an accident or something or a

disease and boom, they were gone.

Put your hand up.

Yeah, it's happened to all of us.

And if it hasn't, it will.

I'm sorry for your loss.

I looked at this woman in the audience.

And I said to her, is it the

last?

Do you know when it's the last time

you're going to hug anyone?

And she put her head down.

I knew she had lost someone.

So I said to her, I'm sorry for

your loss.

She started weeping, as many of you are

weeping right now.

And I said to her, and I'll say

to you about the person you're thinking of

that you lost unexpectedly.

What would you not give to have one

more hug with that person that you're thinking

of right now?

Now, what would you not give to have

a photograph of it?

Right?

So why is it that we have to

wait for someone to either get sick or

die to start really appreciating them when you

have the beauty right in front of you

right here?

Have you ever lost someone expectedly as in

you knew they were going to pass away?

They were getting sick, there was a disease

or something, you knew there was weeks, months,

years to live or anything like that.

That's probably more common, you would say.

It sucks, right?

We call the time that we have with

that person that you're thinking of right now,

we call that time with them, we have

clarity.

We think a problem in this day and

age, a problem for us is being in

a frigging thousand ton beast flying machine in

the sky, we're sitting down as we're flying

across the country in the world and we

don't have internet.

Getting a lukewarm coffee from Starbucks is a

problem.

It's ridiculous when you think about it.

But when someone is sick around us or

dying, we actually realize what's most important.

So we call that time we have clarity.

We know what's important.

Can you imagine shooting with that clarity when

the going is good, when we're all healthy

and alive and well?

Can you imagine that, how powerful that is?

That unfortunately, it does take some things to

happen in your life to realize what's most

important, but that's okay.

At least we're still here and we can

enjoy it.

I want you to thank the beautiful gifts

that we all just received from this beautiful

couple.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

You are so gorgeous and you are a

sexy man.

I love you, bro.

I love you.

I can't wait to photograph you and you

in a couple of years.

Come back to Texas.

Well, if you're invited.

So this bride said to me, and this

was a turning point in my career.

This bride said to me, I want to

photograph showing off my relationship with my father.

And I'm like, what does that mean?

Hug, look at the camera, smile.

What do you do with that?

So I thought, well, what happens if I

remind someone of the importance of the occasion?

How powerful would that be?

So that's when I first developed the idea

and popularized the notion of doing the reveal

with the father.

A couple of decades ago, there was the

bride.

I said to her, do not see your

father without seeing me first.

And the same with the father.

So I escorted the father into a room

next to a mirror.

The bride hadn't seen the father yet, and

vice versa.

Like we said, I escorted her into the

room.

Now the father could see the back of

the dress.

I was holding the bride's hands like this.

I held her hands and I said, are

you ready to see your father for the

last time as a single girl?

She turned around and this is what happened.

And then I'm like, wow, can you imagine

the power of just a few words that

can change literally people laughing their ass off

to being overwhelmed with tears of beauty and

joy?

And then I go to the next wedding.

I'm like, let me ask this in a

different way.

So I said to the bride, although from

today onwards, your father will be the second

man in your life, he's always been the

first.

No one can take this away from you.

You'll always be daddy's little girl.

Fathers in this room with a daughter, put

your hand up.

What would you not give to have a

photo like this of your daughter on their

wedding day?

Are you a daughter in this room?

A lot of daughters in this room.

What would you not give to have a

photo like this with your father on your

wedding day?

And this turned into one of the simplest,

but probably one of the most beautiful family

shots I've taken.

It's so beautiful when you understand what's most

important, when you have that clarity, when you

go through things in your life that just

make you understand the true beauty that's out

there.

And to hug like it's the last time

you're going to do so.

Again, that's a powerful thing.

For those of you who don't know, I

was married before.

I grew up very, very religious.

I know the Bible very well.

I got married when I was 20.

I was married for 16 years.

And I knew after two weeks that I

married the wrong person.

For a fierce sense of loyalty and commitment

and religious beliefs, I was loyal right up

to the end.

And I just said to her in conversation,

I said, you don't love yourself, do you?

She says, no.

I says, you have no chance of loving

me.

She suffered from depression.

And I just knew that that was a

wall that we tried to break through, but

we just couldn't get through.

And so I had to make the ultimate

sacrifice per se, let's call it that.

But the ultimate decision to say, I can't

go on.

My family did not know I was having

problems until the day after 16 years that

I said I'm breaking up.

I did not want to be that divorce

guy.

And I said, I'm done.

Now, serendipitously, Melissa's ex, she was also married

for 11 years.

Melissa's ex broke up with her.

I broke up with my ex on the

exact same day on the other side of

the earth.

We woke up to each other's news.

Are you sitting down?

I've got something to tell you.

Are you sitting down?

We were.

There was four of us.

So two couples, we were going to travel.

I had several weddings in and around the

world.

We had conventions in and around.

So they were going to travel with us

for two months.

Then all of a sudden we broke up.

So I had no one to help me.

My ex-wife does not like people, does

not like traveling, does not like photography.

Three strikes.

In a similar fashion, Melissa's ex, they were

both great people, but we just had different

values and different things that we had interests.

Anyway, so there we were.

Melissa goes, well, let's travel.

I'll help you.

The business will stay with the ex.

So there we were traveling for two, three

months together.

Now, I had never looked at her any

way other than a really close friend.

Even now, I see many, many, all of

you women are so beautiful and so warm

and welcoming, but I will never look at

you in a way that will disrespect myself

or my wife.

So I never allowed myself to fall in

love with anyone, let alone with Melissa.

So we were there, like two, three months,

we're traveling, doing what we're doing now, me

speaking, Melissa being there, whatever, shooting weddings.

Then finally, when all the dust settled, we're

there having dinner.

And I said to him once ago, can

you believe we're both single after all these

years?

Who's your perfect man?

Who are you going to end up with?

She starts describing this guy.

And I'm like, that sounds a lot like

me.

As soon as I said that, Riley, I'm

like, I'm in love with you.

You've been there all along.

I've just never been having permission to do

that.

Then after about a minute or two, she

composed herself, went red, of course.

And then she started, sorry, pardon me.

Then she composed herself.

And then she said, hey, Jerry, who are

you going to end up with?

And I said, beautiful girl, five foot 10,

short, funky hair, blue-green eyes, firm breast,

supple thighs.

No.

I described her as a person, but I

was looking her up and down while I

was doing it.

I'm sold.

This is it.

And that was it.

We walked away.

I held her hand for the first time.

We were a couple.

We've been a couple and inseparable ever since.

Thank you.

So when we got married, I mean, when

we hug, it's no ordinary hug.

It's no ordinary hug.

Because I know what the difference between just

hugging someone because you sort of have to

and then hugging someone because you want to,

and it's an expression of joy.

I told you this already, that your style

of photography is dictated by who you are

as a person.

There is no fluke or joke or coincidence

that since I've been with Melissa, my work

has become more soulful, more beautiful, more passionate,

because that's a reflection of who I am

as an individual and with her.

It's amazing when you have that clarity.

When you have that clarity, you're liberated of

gear.

You're liberated of technique.

It makes you understand what is most important.

If I did not photograph this following woman

with empathy, how would history remember this woman?

I walked into the hotel room, and this

was her disposition, and it was one of

the saddest thing I'd ever seen.

She's saying, I'm overweight and depressed.

I should be feeling good or at least

the best I've ever felt because I'm getting

married, hair and makeup done, dress done, but

I'm not feeling it.

I walked in, the negativity was like cling

wrap on my face.

I'm like, how am I going to overcome

this?

If I shot her 20 years ago, 25

years ago when I was young and immature,

I would have just said, well, you're overweight.

It's your problem.

You're negative, whatever.

That's just your problem.

Let me just photograph you.

Let history remember what really happened on this

day.

Young and immature and just shallow, like most

kids are.

This is what she said before I took

a single photograph.

She said, are my fat folds all in

my dress?

How depressing.

I giggled.

I just had to, like, I didn't know

what to say, so I giggled nervously, and

all I could think of, and now you

know my humor.

Now you know.

You'll probably find it quite telling that I

said the following.

I said, I don't know.

I'm just too busy looking at your boobs.

Please don't try that at home.

But it worked.

Did you see what happened?

She giggled and then said, that's all Rob,

Robert is going to stare at, the groom.

Okay, so I've broken the cling wrap, but

I haven't gained her trust yet.

Let's see what happens.

So the way I'm directing her, my voice

is very soft and very subtle, and I'm

being very nurturing with what I'm doing.

Even the way I'm directing her, she's called

me a conductor now, right?

So I'm complimenting her shawl, and she's saying,

isn't it beautiful?

Isn't it gorgeous?

I'm going to walk in with that, and

then she's looking at me, and you can

see that she's begging for, like, I want

you to see me, hear me, love me,

and respect me, which I already do.

She's almost there.

Not quite.

She does have amazing lips, so I told

her, look at what she's doing now.

She's battering her eyelids at me.

Do you see that?

She wants me.

I don't know what to look at first.

I would give up all my trophies to

do that all over again.

What is more important, a trophy on a

freaking shelf or making someone believe in themselves?

That's the first photograph that I took of

her and showed, and guess what?

Do you think she was enthusiastic for the

rest of the day saying, oh my God,

we've got a chance to get great photographs?

Of course.

Was it the flash that I used?

Do you see how stupid it is once

we start comparing what's most important?

Do you understand?

Photography, and especially dealing with a challenging subject,

it's pretty much like being a magician.

Is magic magic?

What is it?

It's a lot of hand, it's illusion.

See, I could be looking at you, and

this is my voice, my energy, my empathy,

my humor, and this hand is putting the

veil over her belly, the flowers over her

belly, her chin up and turning her face,

and standing up on a chair so I

can shoot down.

This is my empathy, this is my technique.

What did we say at the start of

our two days?

I said, I want you to photograph with

the technique of a master, with the empathy

of a saint.

Your empathy is going to be one of

your most powerful tools, and there's no one

that I've met that has radiant empathy, arguably

more so than that beautiful man sitting right

at the back there.

Beautiful energy, and that's, again, I see that

in a feminine way in Melissa.

There's just joy.

There's, I can't, it doesn't take much.

Yeah, of course I did.

The first photograph I take of any bride,

insecure or not, is going to be a

good photograph.

Here you go, oh my God, it's amazing,

great, let's keep on going, let's play.

See, if you photograph your subject through the

eyes of a loved one, you will only

ever see beauty.

You'll never see someone ugly, and I'm telling

you, I made that mistake when I was

younger.

I would dismiss someone overweight as ugly, and

that's just me being ugly, right?

Once you understand that, again, that once you

look through the eyes of a loved one,

you can never see anyone ever ugly.

It doesn't happen.

In fact, I photograph through the eyes of

a loved one.

I photographed part of my own wedding.

I had a dream that I photographed Melissa

and I in a mirror, and I had

a dream that I photographed Melissa's bridal coverage,

and there I was.

Now, I know most of you have met

Melissa in person, at least at one point

during these last couple of days, and you

would say, just like Gera, she's one of

the most beautiful and joyful spirits you've ever

met, and I wanted to capture that.

I find her very, very sexy.

I wanted to capture that.

She is a very confident woman, but there's

a vulnerability that only I will ever know

or see, perhaps.

And I thought to myself, there's only one

wedding in the world where I'll ever be

able to actually get a photograph like this.

Can you imagine asking the next bride, can

you hold my legs?

And here, I'm photographing through a lover's eyes.

So guys, now that you've seen my wife

naked, can you send me a photo of

your wife naked?

Now, I am joking.

I said this at a seminar about a

year ago, and I had three guys come

up to me and show me a photo

of their wife naked.

One with the wife just there, excited about

that proposition, and I'm like, whoa.

It was a joke.

Who am I photographing here?

And who am I photographing here?

I'm photographing my best friend, my soulmate.

And there is many things that we've shared

the last couple of days and on Friday

evening, many, many things.

And between what I'm about to say and

this afternoon, this will be one of the

most important things that you can take away.

And that is this.

If you want to be a better photographer,

be a better person.

How do you feel right now?

I hear drained, exhausted, excited.

How is that segment, we're going to go

to lunch in a second, but how is

that segment flick the switch in your brain?

What is that going to do for your

photography and maybe even your personal life?

What is that going to do?

What should it do?

Learn from my mistakes and realize that you

are not photographing a client.

Give me money, I photograph you.

A client you forget is someone's daughter, someone's

sister, someone's friend, someone's soulmate, someone's lover.

When you start realizing that people are people,

they're humans with real feelings.

And when you divorce yourself, that the camera

is only a tool, then you start to

actually witness and create pure, unadulterated, stunning beauty

that we witnessed only moments ago with this

beautiful couple.

I wish you the same clarity.

Have some lunch.