Original subtitles

So this lesson we're going to be talking

about how to conduct a first client meeting

and or interview.

Now I book most my clients by way

of online.

They will approach me by way of my

blog or by my website and then we

talk about that and then some clients would

like to either meet face to face and

this could happen in person or could happen

over the phone or it can happen over

Skype.

But in all of those situations, I followed

the same pattern.

Now 10 years ago if you were to

ask and say if I ever could picture

myself having a one-on-one meeting with

a client who could potentially be like almost

a virtual stranger, I probably would have laughed.

I would say that would never happen because

in a million years I would never say

that I would ever come to a point

to where I'm comfortable because mostly I defer

to being awkward.

I get very uncomfortable in silences with people

that I don't know and I have a

tendency to feel these long gaps of silence

with just me talking and then I just

talk and then I'm just like, okay do

you, am I a big talker?

Because boy can I talk.

Speaking of talking, do you know the average

rate of person to talk?

It's about like 16 to 17 words a

minute, but I think I go over that

by like 35.

This is me.

So I knew that the things that I

could do during a client meeting could potentially

really hurt me.

Now I find myself having client meetings about

two times a month.

I have a really high booking rate.

Not because I think I'm like amazing, but

because of stuff that I have put out

online there is so much information about what

I put out on my business that if

you contact me there's a really good chance

that you're choosing between myself and one, maybe

two other photographers.

My booking, I know that just average that

my booking probability ranges between 33 and 55

percent.

It's very geeky of me to know these

things but I do and I do that

because I am so intentional with the things

that I put out online that if you

like me online, there's a chance that you're

going to like me in person.

Now my very first client meetings when I

started about 10 years ago were very, very

difficult.

I didn't know what I should be talking

about.

So instead of just listening to the things

I had to say, I deferred to stuff

I thought they wanted.

Oh, the conferences I would go to.

Oh, this is my new camera.

And oh, I invested in this great new

flash and they're just like okay, I thought

that's what people wanted to to know and

so I ended up monopolizing the course of

our conversation and so that we would leave

the meeting, I would be like, I did

most of the talking and I don't really

know much about the client.

They didn't like the way that it made

me feel and I've come a long way

since then so I want to talk about

the things that I have learned as a

byproduct of my mistakes.

What I learned was that brides did not

want to be listened to, they wanted to

be heard.

And that's a difference because if you're just

processing what people are saying, okay, okay, and

you're always thinking about the next thing, what

you want to do is you want to

hear what they're saying in between the lines.

They didn't want to hear about awards or

memberships to photo organizations that you belong to.

Well, that's nice.

It's not the reason why they're going to

book you.

Oh, so you're a member of WPPI?

Done.

Like no, they don't even know.

You could actually say I'm a part of

like XYZ photo organization and it'd be like

they don't know the difference.

The things that we value have very little

value for our clients.

So based on my personal experience, I wanted

to create meetings about the client, less about

me.

Now I can talk about me if that

is what the client wants, but what I've

discovered is that most clients want to talk

about themselves.

It's just a fact.

They're excited about their day.

They have a lot of things to say

to you.

So what I've learned is the best advice

is keep your mouth shut initially.

So what does a prospective client meeting look

like?

Well, a prospective client meeting, in the beginning,

I used to be like so nervous and

each meeting would look different and I didn't

know how to find a way to get

in front of it.

And then I slowly realized that there was

a pattern to every meeting if I stayed

in control from the beginning.

So if I was able to connect the

dots, if I was able to answer all

of their questions as part of a conversation

instead of saying so.

My style is fun, fresh, and editorial.

I average about a hundred images an hour.

It doesn't feel natural.

So the thing that I needed to do

is pull out who they are first before

I get into perspectives.

So a client meeting, how does this happen?

Well, the first thing I want to do

is I want to put my clients at

ease.

Putting them at ease means I have to

meet them on a middle ground, something that

we all connect with.

And in Southern California, the thing that we

all connect with regardless of our age, race,

gender, socioeconomic status, is traffic.

So if they're meeting me, they meet me

at the studio.

I'm like, hey, how was traffic?

Did you guys come up the 5 or

the 405?

And in California, I didn't realize that what

we do is we say the 5.

And out here people say, well, highway 147.

It's like, no, we just say the.

Because that's how pretentious we are in California.

So it's like, hey, did you come up

the 5?

Did you come up the 405?

How was traffic?

Oh my gosh, isn't it just a disaster

at 4 o'clock?

So we're walking into the room.

We're putting them at ease.

I'm going to talk about how their wedding

planning is faring, how that's going for them.

I'm going to talk about making my clients

comfortable.

I meet my clients in a studio, and

there's various places for them to sit.

I give them the option.

Do you guys like to sit on the

couch?

We could sit at the table.

What works best for you?

So I'm empowering them with decision.

So I'm putting them at ease and then

empowering them with the decision.

The first question I ask, how did you

guys meet?

Now, it's not enough for me to say,

for them to say, oh, we met in

college.

I must ask all of the questions to

help build out a story.

Because what happens is after people get engaged,

people always say, oh, how did you meet?

How did you engage?

And it's natural for people to come up

with a canned answer.

We met at college.

He passed by.

I was riding a bike, and he said,

whoa, that's amazing.

And then, boom, we started dating.

But I'm like, okay, if that was a

story that was given to me, what was

your reaction when you saw him?

And then she'll say, well, you know, I

just thought it was a little bit weird.

And then he usually, if he's there with

her, he'll be like, hey, what are you

talking about?

Like, you saw me, and then I was

like, boom, you're in love.

And so then to get them conveying ideas

about their personal intimate lives really brings down

the barriers immediately to the wedding.

What I want to do is I want

to ask how wedding planning is faring.

Now, I ask with intention because, yes, I

want to know how wedding planning is faring,

but it's really important for me to get

the details because the details are going to

help me become a better fit for what

they want.

One thing that's also very important is the

couple will probably like you already if they're

meeting with you.

So if she tells me how wedding planning

is going and she's like, oh, I'm debating

between a florist or, oh, I met this

florist, I can then say, oh, that's fantastic.

I've worked with that florist too.

Or if I have not worked with that

florist, I'm like, oh, I follow her on

Instagram.

Don't you just love those pink blush peonies

that she does?

Those bouquets are just amazing.

Like, so you want to just try to

say that we share similarities.

I see you.

Do you need any help?

You know, anything that I could do to

be of service so that someone will say,

you know, we just decided we need a

wedding coordinator.

And then my first thought is, great.

Do you need a day of, a month

of, or do you want to start planning

now?

Then I come back and like, let me

email you three recommendations.

So I want to find ways to service

herself because the more that she trusts me,

the higher probability that she's going to book

me.

Now, when I talk about trust, people say,

okay, that's great.

How do I get somebody to trust me

within the first 10 minutes, 15 minutes of

them meeting me?

Let's talk about ways that we can build

trust at a client meeting.

We can build trust by working at the

venue before.

So if somebody comes in and says, oh,

I'm getting married at the Four Seasons in

Beverly Hills.

I can say, I have shot at the

Four Seasons Beverly Hills.

Okay, but maybe that doesn't apply to you.

Working, moving on.

Working with other vendors.

Oh, hey, I have worked with that vendor.

Or hey, I follow that vendor on Instagram.

They do really great work.

Or we went to an industry mixer a

couple weeks ago, and I had a chance

to talk with her.

She's really nice.

Anything to create similarities and connections.

You can create trust by working with a

mutual friend.

If somebody says, oh, I saw you tag

this person on Facebook, and my question is,

oh, how fantastic.

How do you know them?

That's so great.

They're such wonderful people.

We're connecting by way of that.

And I think I might have mentioned this

in a previous lesson, is finding commonalities that

are outside of the wedding world.

One of those things could be, oh, we

went to the same college.

You might have gone entirely different years, had

never crossed paths, but by the way that

you went to the University of Seattle, all

of a sudden, you're just like, go Cougs,

right?

You have like this thing, right, Cougs?

Did I just totally ruin that up?

Just kidding.

I totally slayed it.

I did.

I totally did.

Now you guys are like, that's it.

We're done.

Either way, you guys have the commonality.

Obviously, I didn't go to that school.

You guys would never hire me.

Another thing, too, is anything that you could

put out and create commonalities is if you

did not shoot at their venue, if you

did not know of any of their vendors,

if you were not referred by a friend,

if you did not go to the same

college, find similarities that are outside of that.

Talk about dogs.

Talk about movies.

Talk about anything that you can create a

conversation outside of the wedding world so they

can see more of your personality.

Now, at this point in the meeting, I

have not said a single word about myself.

This is like 15, 20 minutes of them

just talking, them kind of creating the relationship

between us, which is great.

Now, what I want to do in my

meeting is I want to keep it short,

and I want to keep it short so

that I can get a pulse.

Where do you want to go with this

meeting?

Where do you want to go to this

meeting?

Because the biggest mistakes that I learned is

me just going on and me just going

on, and then they were just tired of

me.

So how I keep it short, I explain

what an engagement session looks like because I

say the first time that we would interact

with each other would be by way of

an engagement session.

I tell them how to find the right

location.

I tell them how many images they might

expect from that session, and I tell them

how long the shoot lasts.

Those are my three main touch points.

If they ask me more questions about it,

then great.

If not, I'm going to move on because

interest hasn't peaked for them quite yet.

Secondly, I explain how the wedding day unfolds

for us, how many hours I'll be.

All my collections include eight hours of coverage.

If they would like to hire me for

more, they absolutely can at an additional hourly

rate.

I talk about my approach.

This is when I'm talking about my photographic

style.

I want them to have fun.

I want natural photos.

I want to be carefree, and I want

them to feel like their photos can grace

the pages of a magazine.

You will hear me say that a lot

throughout this 30-day course.

I'll tell them how many images they should

expect on a wedding day, and if a

client has a question, this is the time

that she will ask.

And if she still does not have any

questions, I'm going to move forward in the

meeting.

But usually in one of these two sections,

my clients have meetings, and then they get

back to talking.

Thirdly, I explain J.D.'s role.

J.D. is my husband, J.D. is

my second shooter, and J.D. is my

business partner.

Actually, I should say, J.D. is my

husband, J.D. is my business partner, J

.D. is my second shooter.

That is the order.

And I do think, to a way, and

this might rub a few people the wrong

way, but I think it is a competitive

advantage to be shooting with your spouse.

And I'm not going to shy away from

that.

Before, I used to say, like, oh, no.

But it is.

It is impressive to prospective clients.

So because I know it's a competitive advantage,

I absolutely will use it as a competitive

advantage.

I talk about what it means, and you're

going to see it in the footage that

we are about to show.

You're going to see how that actually unfolds,

and then it resonates.

Because I always use the same example.

Oh, well, you know you can be at

a party, and you could look at your

significant other and just give him or her,

like, the look, and then it's like, oh,

we've got to go.

She's hungry.

You know, like, we've got to go.

She's tired.

Like, that look is what you know.

We have that on the wedding day.

You'll see it as we shoot the wedding.

J.D. and I don't have earpieces, but

we look at each other, and then he

knows, oh, got to get grandma's second row.

Like, this is the kind of conversations that

we are having.

Lastly, you want to keep talking about yourself

to a minimum.

This is like a big fundamental, like, changer,

because you want to prove yourself as an

artist and a creative and talk about how

great you are, but figure out what the

client wants to know, and then only talk

about that.

Remember, it is her day.

You are just there to document it.

Now, this brings us back to seeing what

it would look like for a real client

meeting.

This is what we're going to go into

right now.

Now, here is the back story to this

meeting that I need to explain.

I met with Catherine and Corey.

Catherine's coordinator, Jamie, reached out to me, and

she asked if I could meet with Catherine

and Corey in regards to their wedding that

will be in August of this year at

St. Regis Monarch Beach.

Around the same time, CreativeLive asked me if

it would be possible to record a real

client meeting, and my answer was no.

My answer was like, you guys are straight

tripping, but just, yeah, no.

That's just not going to happen.

And then, I guess over time, I started

realizing how valuable it could be, not just

to a CreativeLive audience, but to myself.

A couple years ago, we came to CreativeLive,

and we did a course called Restart, and

it changed a lot of people's businesses.

It fundamentally changed the trajectory of what they

were doing, and one of the things that

I threw out on our three willing participants

as we reformed their business was I filmed

them having a client interview, and I literally

threw them to the wolves, and I'm like,

go.

Well, karma.

Karma.

Because doing this was so disconcerting.

One thing that I want to point out

is that I am naturally awkward, I get

it, but when they had the cameras and

lights set up in my studio, I can't

tell you, I feel like I had an

out-of-body experience.

I felt like I was in my body

having the meeting, and I was outside of

my body being like, shake it up, stop

acting so stupid, find your words.

And at the end of it, I talked

to the producer, and I told her, we

had only corresponded twice.

Catherine, the bride and I, we had only

corresponded twice before this meeting.

I didn't know what I was getting into.

Was I as pathetic as I felt?

And she's like, Jasmine, don't worry about it.

The greater good is that people are going

to learn.

So having said that, I panicked about the

outcome, right?

Because how embarrassing to be like, let me

show you how to conduct a client meeting,

and then they don't book, right?

So this is the risk that we're running

as we go into recording these types of

things.

We're going to give you a sneak peek,

not a sneak peek, we're going to give

you a real look at what this meeting

looked like, so bear with all the lovely

awkwardness that transpired.

When CreativeLive suggested the idea of filming me

during a client consultation, my first reaction was,

no way.

There's something I find extremely uncomfortable about having

my conversations with prospective clients filmed.

But the more I thought about it, the

more I realized it might be helpful, sure,

to photographers watching, but more so, to give

me a unique perspective of seeing what's working

and what needs improvement.

Before a prospective client arrives to the studio,

I want to create an environment that they

feel comfortable in.

I set music, light a candle, and create

a space that feels professional yet personal.

Prior to their arrival, I review their names,

their wedding date, and their wedding location.

Not only does it act as a refresher,

I'm able to organize full wedding galleries to

showcase my work.

For example, today I'm meeting with Catherine and

Corey, and they're getting married in August at

the St. Regis Monarch Beach.

Throughout the course of our consultation, I'll be

answering their questions, but in case they'd like

to see a sample of my work, I'll

be able to showcase a real wedding at

their wedding venue as seen through my lens.

If they're getting married at a venue I've

never seen before, I'll simply choose two simple

galleries and have them ready to showcase should

our conversation lead to it.

Once I have everything ready, I sit back

and hope for the best.

Here goes nothing.

Hi guys!

Hi!

I'm Jasmine!

Nice to meet you!

Nice to meet you!

Hi!

Thanks so much for coming in!

Oh my gosh!

I'm so excited!

Make yourself at home!

Oh my gosh!

Make yourself at home, please!

Oh, thank you guys so much for meeting!

Oh my gosh!

I'm so excited!

I'm so excited to meet you guys!

I mean, we've just kind of briefly introduced

each other by way of email, but I

hear great things about you guys.

I'm excited!

I'm excited!

Thank you for meeting me in the afternoon.

Of course.

That's awesome.

That's great.

What do you guys do?

That affords you the luxury.

I'm in the film industry, so I do

a lot of work from home, like coverage

on scripts and stuff.

And then we also started our own business

with skin care and health and wellness.

Yeah.

Very cool.

So I work from home.

Okay, so that's why the skin is looking

good and the hair is looking amazing, because

I've noticed these things.

That's good!

Thank you guys for being here.

I totally, totally appreciate it.

So before we get into the meeting, because

we don't know each other all that well,

I'd love to hear a little bit more

about you guys.

Yeah.

Ideally, how you guys met.

That's always a fun story.

We met, gosh, it's like, what, three and

a half years ago now?

Yeah.

On New Year's through mutual friends, and then

we were just friends for a couple years,

because we were both in relationships when we

first met.

But yeah, we've been friends for a couple

years, and then we kind of linked up

again about a year and a half ago?

Almost two years ago now?

Just randomly, you guys?

Happenstance happened to be the same place?

My best friend is one of his best

friends, so we kind of got back in

touch again and started talking, and then it

was just like, from there, it just kind

of took off.

It was really easy.

And you guys both kind of fell for

each other at the same time?

Oh, yeah.

Really?

The first time I saw her, I had

to keep my distance, because she had a

boyfriend, and I had a girlfriend.

I was like, I've got to be good

here.

And so then years later, you guys just

reconnected, and then you guys knew the timing

was right.

That's awesome.

That's awesome.

So what did you guys do for your

first date?

This is a funny story, because we always

talk about this.

We're like, was that our first date?

One of those.

But the first date, we were with a

couple friends, but the first time on our

own, we have this restaurant in LA, and

we go there all the time now.

It's an Italian restaurant on Melrose called Franco.

And we went there.

It was our first date, our first real

date.

And the guy that was working there was

like, oh, my gosh, you too.

He was like, you guys are going to

get married.

And instantly, and he was telling us all

this stuff.

He's like, you guys are going to work.

I can just see it.

And in our very first date, we were

both kind of like, oh, thanks.

Wow, you need to go back and give

him a big tip.

He was right.

That's amazing.

We went back and told him, and he

was like, oh, well, we cater.

I was like, oh, thanks.

Yeah, that's really cool.

That's amazing.

That's good.

I mean, I think that part of the

reason why I ask those things, I mean,

they're super personal, but it really helps me

understand your story.

If we had the opportunity to meet and

be together for the engagement session, I really

like knowing.

Now I know about Franco.

Now I know that you guys were friends

for a long time.

So it's like when you guys get in

front of the camera, it's just there just

to make you guys feel comfortable, enjoy.

And it's less about what I want and

more about simply documenting you guys hanging out,

being together.

Franco's in L.A. Where do you guys

live?

We live in L.A. We live in

Hollywood.

Do you know where the W is in

Hollywood?

I do.

Our apartment building is like right attached to

that.

So Sunset and Vine, like right in the

middle.

Have you guys thought about what you guys

wanted to do for an engagement session?

No.

We were hoping you could give us some

ideas.

We love your work.

We've seen everything.

Thank you.

You were the first person that when we

got engaged, we were on the train home

from Paris, and my sister texted me and

was like, First things first, photographer, Jasmine Starr,

look her up now.

First thing.

I was going to ask, okay, so how

did you guys find…

My sister has been doing photography for a

long, long, long time.

And she has like four kids, so she

doesn't really do it anymore, but she still

like watches stuff.

And she had told me about you a

long time ago, just like looking at stuff.

And then she was like, look it now.

I was like, okay.

And then I looked at him.

I was like, okay.

And she's like, but it's going to be

really hard for you to call her now.

I was like, oh my gosh.

And when we got you, we were like,

yes.

I know.

We were like so excited because I told

our planner, I was like, I know it's

a long shot, but we would really like

to at least try to reach out to

her and see if she's available.

And when you were, I looked at him

and I was like, you're never going to

believe what I just got.

That is amazing.

Well, I'm just as excited.

I mean, Jamie and I, we met in

the industry a couple years ago, but our

paths kind of have crossed at different times.

And so when I got an email and

she's like, I have an interest as a

client, I was like, yes, absolutely.

And this is amazing.

I love hearing that.

Okay.

So now that I know you guys got

engaged in Paris, like amazing.

It's good because I think when you go

into the engagement session, I really want you

guys to choose a location you guys feel

comfortable.

That's the only thing that I want.

I don't have an agenda.

I don't have any plans.

So people do come to me and say,

oh, what do you think?

And I'm more than willing to give feedback

kind of based on what you guys do,

who you guys are.

But the best thing I would suggest, kind

of go back and ask yourself, what do

I do on the weekends?

Where am I most feeling comfortable and in

love with my significant other?

Okay.

And then we kind of create a lifestyle

editorial session around that.

Oh, cool.

So I've shot in empty movie theaters.

I've shot in carnivals, theme parks, the beach,

people's homes.

So whatever you guys want, we'll just base

it off there.

Okay.

So I'm going to get into talking a

little bit about the engagement session, but this

is a sample album here based on an

engagement session.

Now there's a lot of white space, but

they decided to use it as a guest

sign-in book.

So guests can actually sign around the photos.

So I mean it's definitely an option for

you guys.

An average engagement session for me is about

an hour to an hour and a half.

We'll kind of go to a place within

L.A., Orange County, and we just spend

this time together.

So I expect nothing except for us to

have a good time.

That's it.

And in the process I think it's good

because I get to understand how you guys

work together, like in front of the camera.

I get to figure out if you have

a good – some brides have good sides.

It's like, oh, this is my good side.

Do you have one?

I don't know.

I don't think – okay, both sides are

great.

I never know.

People always say like, oh, that's my good

side.

I'm like, okay.

Everyone always says that, and I'm like, I

don't know if I have a good side

or not.

Well, both sides are good.

I don't have like a good side either,

so I'm just kind of like – but

all this stuff we find out like at

the engagement session, so by the time the

wedding comes around, you're just chill.

You're just really excited, just relaxed.

And then the goal is to really trust

that I'm going to show up and do

what I do, and then you guys can

just totally enjoy the wedding day.

Awesome.

Sounds good.

I love these.

They look awesome.

Yeah, they do.

Good.

An average engagement session is about an hour,

two and a half, and what a client

will get will be around 55, 60 images

from the session.

They're all high resolution.

You'll be able to print them, use them,

share them in whatever capacity you would like.

And it takes about two and a half

weeks after the engagement shoot to actually kind

of get into sharing them and using them.

But once you guys have them, they're totally

and completely yours.

Cool.

Okay, good.

Are there any other questions in regards to

the engagement session?

No, so you just recommend us starting to

think of places, looking around.

Get some ideas.

Jot some stuff down.

I think so.

I think that that would be best, but

if you guys are just kind of stuck,

let me know.

I mean, I'm very familiar shooting in L

.A., and we can kind of find a

place that is like a mesh of your

personalities.

Like obviously, you guys are impeccably dressed.

I'm like, wow, you guys look like you

just walked off of like a fashion shoot.

So I think choosing a spot that highlights

both like this really put together curated version

and also something that's really comfortable for you

guys.

Like, you know, we all have like the

I like to be in sweats kind of

feeling.

So if we can kind of find a

happy medium between like really beautiful, high-end,

glamorous, and then just something you're comfortable, relaxed,

I think it would be good.

Okay, cool.

So the rest of the albums are here.

If you'd like to look through them, that's

totally fine.

I'm just going to kind of talk a

little bit about what an average wedding day

looks like.

But before I do that, do you guys

have any questions in regards to wedding photography?

Like I don't want to yap on if

you guys.

Okay.

I don't know.

You're the one, Lauren.

I mean, we've seen all your work.

We love it.

Yeah, so.

Okay, yeah.

Cool.

Not really, yeah.

Okay, good.

We'll kind of just go through it, and

I think as I start talking, you might

have questions.

You might just like bounce ideas off each

other.

Okay.

So we start the day.

I shoot with my husband.

So we've been shooting.

Yeah, we've been shooting since the beginning of

our business together.

So it's great.

So we're going into our 10th year, and

I'm sure, like, you guys have that, like,

communication you always meet at a party or

somewhere, and you look across the room and

be like, okay, it's time to go.

And you don't have to say anything.

Right?

So that happens to us, like, on a

wedding day.

Like, okay, did you get that shot?

Great.

Now you're moving grandma.

Like, so we speak through telepathy, so that's

great on a wedding day.

But prior to that, J.D., my husband,

will be with the guys, and whatever the

guys are doing, that's what he's documenting.

So it's nothing posed.

Like, the guys aren't, like, shaking hands.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, absolutely.

Guys just want to have a good time

on the wedding day, too.

I'll be with the girls.

I'll be shooting your details, girls getting into

your dress, if you're mom, auntie, grandma, whoever's

there, making sure they're getting candid photos, relaxed

moments.

But, again, nothing is posed.

We really want to take, like, a hands

-off, just lifestyle kind of enjoying the moment.

There will be time for posed photos, but

up until this point, we really just want

everybody relaxed.

Enjoy champagne.

Go through the day.

Okay, so that's kind of what you'll see

through each album.

Each album will start off at the beginning

of the day.

Now, as far as albums go, you guys

would choose the images that go into the

album yourselves.

So I'll kind of talk through, like, the

chronology of the day.

So after I kind of document the details,

J.D.'s with the guys, I'm with the

girls, we'd then go into one of two

options.

We'd go into you guys seeing each other

before the ceremony for the first look, or

we would actually go into the ceremony itself.

So before I get on too far from

there, have you guys thought about the possibility

of seeing each other before?

Yeah, I don't think we're going to do

it.

Okay, we're a little more traditional, and I

want it to be a complete surprise.

Okay, that's great.

That's totally, totally okay.

If at any other point in time you

guys want to talk about what the options

are, please feel free to let me know.

So then we'd kind of just walk through

the day exactly as it comes out.

Guys hanging out, girls hanging out.

Then you have that private moment with your

parents if you'd like them there before they

walk you down the aisle or your dad

walks you down the aisle, and then we

simply document the day as it unfolds.

J.D. and I are shooting together at

the same time.

He's at one angle, I'm at the other,

and we literally just are hands off.

So if you're following, we are hands off

most of the day up into the point

to where you guys are formally around for

pictures.

So hopefully the goal is you guys just

wouldn't really notice us throughout the day up

into that point.

So I think it's great because St. Regis

has so many beautiful spots.

I mean, it's like a photographer's dream.

So as long as the day and timeline

works out for us, I would love to

have you and the girls out on property.

The guys will be tucked away.

We'll get fun, just chill.

We'll bring some champagne along for the girls.

You guys just hang out, get some photos.

Girls get tucked away.

The guys come out.

Sometimes we'll hang out at the bar.

They have a really pretty bar.

Just the guys just chilling before the ceremony.

So pretty just relaxed and you guys enjoying.

How many bridesmaids do you have?

Oh, my gosh.

We have so many.

There's 12.

Okay, so there's 12 on each side.

So basically you have an army.

Okay.

That's so funny.

That's what I've been saying.

I'm like, I like it.

I have an army of bridesmaids.

That's fine, yes.

You just need to embrace it.

That's amazing.

Oh, that's good.

That's good.

How many?

And where are your bridesmaids?

What point of life?

Are they coming mixed, childhood, high school?

Yes, all over.

One, I have two maids of honors, maid

and matron of honor.

One's like my best friend for like seven,

eight years.

And the other one's like the one who's

like my sister who told me about you

originally.

Oh, so she's in the?

Yeah.

Oh, the pressure's on.

I better deliver.

Shoot.

Okay, okay.

Okay.

And her kids are our little ones in

the wedding.

And then I have some friends actually coming

over from the UK in the wedding, like

my best friends, because we lived over there.

I lived over there for a while, and

then me and him lived over there again

for a little bit.

So we have some friends coming from there,

and then I have friends coming from like

high school and childhood and all that, yeah.

That's awesome.

And same with him.

That is awesome.

That's great.

That's very cool.

So have you thought about like bridesmaids' dresses

and all that?

It's been a struggle.

Yeah.

We're looking.

Okay.

Yeah, that part's so – I didn't realize

how hard it was.

Yeah, I know.

And then you have 12 people that you

have to make sure that you have to

like, oh, this person doesn't like off the

shoulder, this person doesn't like sweetheart.

Exactly.

I don't know how she's doing it.

They're all pretty easygoing.

It's just, you know, finding something that's going

to look good on everybody.

Yeah.

Well, good luck with that.

I mean, no, that's good.

You can help with that too, right?

Yeah, if you guys need it, I can

come in, and then just kind of just

like lay the smack down and be like,

no, no, too much attitude right now.

We need to bring it on down.

No, that's awesome.

That's good.

And I actually – we are very familiar

and accustomed to working with large bridal parties.

And even this bridal party was kind of

just like a little bit – I think

she had like 10.

So, I mean, we're good.

We're going to have a good time.

We're going to have a good time.

So it'll be good.

We're excited.

It'll be awesome.

So after the ceremony, I think we would

– have you talked about the possibility with

Jamie about having an extended cocktail hour?

The possibility instead of just – I think

that came up.

Yeah.

About so we could do the photo shoot

during that time.

I think so.

Like we would have to do the photos,

like the majority of the photos after the

ceremony.

But the light would be beautiful, and we'll

have like appetizers and drinks flowing so everybody's

like happy.

But I think that an hour is kind

of a short amount of time to get,

you know, the large bridal party picture, all

the family pictures, and your pictures.

So just kind of seed in the back

of your mind extending it maybe 15, 20

minutes.

I think that that would be fantastic.

Then we would get everything that you guys

would want.

That's good.

That's great.

I love these pictures.

They're so great.

It's awesome.

Yeah.

Have you guys thought about like florists?

That's our next big meeting, I think, coming

on the 1st of April.

Okay.

And then we'll be talking about those then.

So who are your options right now?

Do you know?

I don't know.

I'm like asking.

I don't even remember, honestly.

What was the name of the one she

mentioned?

It's totally fine.

Sometimes I just think about like, oh, what

the color palettes look right, like where I'm

already.

See, this is me.

I'm a type A.

Yeah, I'm like, okay, where are the color

schemes going to go?

Where are we going to be on property?

But, yeah, okay.

So that's good.

Yeah, for like the colors, it's going to

be very like, I mean, our colors right

now are like white, gold, and then like

either like a blush and champagne color mixed

in with it as well.

So it'll be in that, yeah, little.

Very, very, very cool.

How did you find Jamie?

Through our, well, we found St. Regis first,

originally, because we've both been there so many

times and had so many good memories there.

Oh, yeah, they recommended us.

And they recommended us to her, yeah.

Very cool.

And then I had heard some other people

had told me that as well.

A couple of my friends that have gotten

married had met with them, but didn't end

up using them for whatever reason or one

reason or another.

But, yeah.

We walked in and we're like, done.

We knew right away.

Wow, I love it, you guys.

You guys just make your decision prior to

like.

That's amazing.

That's good.

Gosh, that's awesome.

Yes, as the night progresses, the photos do

get a little bit more like crazy, funny.

Yeah.

A group of friends will definitely be a

fun group to shoot with.

And, you know, I think this is great

because this kind of shows you that we

take about like our normal coverage is about

eight hours.

Okay.

And within the eight hours at the same

venue, which is the situation for you guys

who have a ceremony and reception there, eight

hours is like a great amount of time

for us to get the photos that you

guys want.

So we kind of start the timeline from

the ceremony start.

So if you guys had like a 5

p.m. ceremony, we would probably be staying

until about 9 or 10.

Okay.

So we'll kind of show up.

We get an hour of prep photos.

We put an hour for just bride family

photos and bridesmaids and the same go for

the guys.

We'll do both like 30 minutes each, go

into the ceremony.

And then we don't usually need to stay

until the end of the night, unless you

guys are going to do something formal at

the end.

So about an hour to an hour and

a half of dancing photos is plenty.

Like, you know, anything after that, it really

does get like a little crazy.

Yeah.

It's probably not the most complimentary photos.

Exactly.

Exactly.

Exactly.

Exactly.

So, I mean, as you guys look through

the albums, all of like the dancing photos

were all captured within that like hour to

hour and a half timeframe.

So full coverage of the day is definitely

great.

But if you want to add hours, we

totally, we totally can.

Okay.

So that's definitely, definitely an option for you

guys too.

Awesome.

So usually we shoot about 100 images an

hour.

Okay.

So eight hour wedding at minimum would yield

around 800 images.

Okay.

But we don't stop shooting.

So whatever is going on throughout the day,

that's what you guys will get.

So if we end up with more than

that, that's great and nice.

Average for us is 800 though.

So we're working about 8% of what

we capture on that wedding day will go

into the album.

Okay.

So it's kind of great.

So you guys would go through and you

guys would choose your favorites.

So you guys get to know exactly what's

going to go into it.

And then I work with a graphic designer

and she focuses solely on wedding albums.

So she and I would work on them.

We do the layout together.

I follow the chronology of the day.

We do family photos, things like that.

And then we send you a draft.

And then based on that draft, you guys

can let us know what you like, what

needs to be improved, or some brides just

get it and say, this is what I

want and we're good to go.

So that's kind of how it looks like.

Where's this one at?

That's at Pelican Hill.

Okay.

Cool.

Yeah.

So what drew you guys to get married

down here in Orange County?

I grew up in Orange County for the

most part.

Yeah.

I was born in the Midwest, but I

moved to Orange County when I was 10.

And I grew up in Mission Viejo, Luna

Beach-ish area.

I actually had my 16th birthday party at

St. Regis.

Wow.

Full circle.

Oh my gosh.

I didn't even remember until after we booked

it.

And then we were like walking around in

one of the ballrooms one day and I

kind of looked around and I was like,

Mom, was this where my birthday was?

And she was like, yeah, it was.

I was like, oh my gosh.

How sweet.

So funny.

We stayed there a couple times together as

well.

We had a great time.

We were just like, oh, we love this

place.

Very cool.

Who would have thought on your 16th birthday

you'd be marrying the man of your dreams?

Yeah, that's awesome.

Oh my gosh.

So tell me about your 16th birthday.

I mean, this is totally off track, but

tell me about, I did not have a

birthday at the St. Regis when I was

16.

That's pretty awesome.

I wanted to do like something fun for

my 16th birthday and like we were getting

ready to move like across country because I

moved to North Carolina for a few months

and I thought it was going to be

a lot longer.

So we kind of wanted it to be

like a fun big birthday.

So my mom and then our really good

family friends, they planned it for me.

And I just said like anywhere, like don't

care where it is, like a fun ballroom,

but our family always does like events there

and stuff.

So we did it there and it was

so much fun.

I had so many friends.

It was crazy, but it was fun.

It was a lot of, yeah, it was

fun.

It was so much fun.

And we loved it.

They like sectioned off one of the ballrooms,

like really small, and we had like a

DJ and snacks.

And you know when you're 16, you just

feel cool.

I mean, you are so cool.

Looking back at the pictures just cracked me

up.

Oh, that's pretty awesome.

I mean, Cora, what did you do for

your 16th birthday?

Now all of a sudden I'm like.

We had like a pool party.

Yeah.

You and I probably had similar parties.

That's awesome.

That is very, very, very cool.

It was cool.

And we had like pictures from it and

stuff because when we moved, some family friends

made like a huge album for us like

when we moved and like a bunch of

pictures are in it.

It was fun.

See, that's the gift.

But obviously I'm a photographer, so I'll say

that.

You know, like that's to get that last.

I mean, how would you know what your

hair looked like?

I'm sure you had an awesome hairdo though.

I know, right?

Well, it was awesome back then until now.

I don't know.

That's good.

I liked it, I guess.

That's good.

That's good.

I mean, as far as like other technicalities

go, you know, people want to know about

our gear, and we have backup gear.

This is what we bring with us.

We've never had issues with it, like falling

apart or not working on a wedding day.

We also have insurance.

So because we have worked at the St.

Regis before, they do know that we have

insurance that's usually required for the venue, so

we're fully covered in that respect.

People want to know how often, like the

timeline, the turnaround is for the images.

So the goal for us always is to

get your images back three to four weeks

after the wedding, but if we can get

them back sooner, we will.

Like we shot a wedding, and our clients

are on their honeymoon, and I sent them

the gallery when they were in Paris, and

they were stoked.

They were really stoked.

So, you know, just for you guys to

be able to relive your day and not

be waiting weeks after the wedding, that's like

always our top priority.

Yeah, cool.

Do you guys have any questions up until

this point?

We're just so excited to get started.

Oh, my gosh.

When would it be, though, the engagement photos?

Great question.

That's a good question.

So it totally depends on when you guys

would like it.

Some clients will do it about, you know,

five to six weeks in advance, and then

some people will do it five to six

months in advance.

It doesn't matter to me.

As long as our schedules, yeah, align, we

will absolutely positively like them.

What do you recommend?

What do you think?

I like, I kind of like the four

-month mark because it'll give us time.

Yeah, exactly, exactly.

And it gets people excited.

Like when you share your photos, like on

Facebook, or your parents start using them, or

if you guys wanted to use an image

for the Save the Date, if you guys

plan to go that route, having them done

earlier is always better.

But, again, there's not, I don't have a

preference either way.

Whatever you guys are most comfortable with.

Yeah, that's good.

Well, I'm excited.

I'm very, very, very excited.

One last thing, too, is I want to

kind of walk through the digital delivery of

your images.

So included in each collection, you get the

high-res digital images.

So this is for you.

It's as if the images, what we used

to send, would be like a disc or

a USB.

And so now what I do is have

all the images in an online gallery, and

they're backed up.

They're stored in the cloud.

So if you lose your USB or you

scratch your disc, we still have them.

So this is great.

So I kind of want to walk you

through just very briefly.

I'm going to bring up a gallery from

the St. Regis so that you guys can

kind of understand what like a sample of

what the day would look like.

And I'm going to pass this right over

to you.

But this is going to be the gallery.

And then all you can just basically do

is kind of scroll through the images as

you guys see fit.

And then you'll see the way that we

would categorize your wedding images.

Because if you guys were to get 800

images, it can be a little bit like

overwhelming.

So we break it up according to bride

prep, groom prep, ceremony, and then the day

from there.

So if you guys want, I could pass

this on over.

You guys would kind of get like an

understanding of how this would work.

Your engagement photos would be the same way.

And the best part of this is you

simply click this button, and it's a download

button.

And all of the images will download to

whatever device you're working on.

So it's great because it is simple.

It is kind of just a cool way

just for you guys to share.

And the best part is that friends and

family after.

So if we're shooting during the cocktail hour,

you know, when your grandparents are there, your

friends are there, sorority sisters, we get those

photos.

And now you don't have to be like

sending them their photos.

They can go on and get them themselves.

They can download them themselves.

They can share that to Facebook.

So it's kind of great.

Now your mom, if she wants her like

Christmas card, she's not calling you.

Yeah, exactly, exactly, exactly.

So this is kind of like what it

would look like.

And definitely I think it's good for you

guys to kind of see what photos are

at your wedding venue and how that kind

of day would unfold for you guys.

Cool.

No, but you know, it's going to be

so exciting.

Just take your time and enjoy it.

My dad's a big guy, so I'm just

going to like cling on to him.

I already told him, if you let me

fall.

No, no way.

Your dad would never let you fall.

That's awesome.

But it's such a great experience.

Yeah, we're really excited.

And to have you that walk down that

gorgeous staircase, like, oh, that's amazing.

That's what I'm excited for.

It's really pretty.

I love it.

It's like the most like beautiful place ever.

That's so awesome.

I love it.

Have you found a dress yet?

Ooh, okay.

That's good.

That's great.

Half down.

I mean, I don't want to clump, I

mean, photography up into, like, you have your

venue, you have your dress, you have a

coordinator, you're, like, talking to a photographer.

Great.

I love the order of events.

I actually got two.

You got two dresses?

Yes.

Shut up.

Really?

So are you doing a reception dress?

Awesome.

Awesome.

I don't know.

I couldn't choose, so I was like, well.

Okay.

Okay.

I guess I'll do two.

That's awesome.

I like that idea.

Is one more formal than the other?

Okay, cool.

That's good.

That's good.

So you guys can just dance the night

away.

I know, right?

I was like.

He knows I have two because I can't,

like, stop talking about it, but that's all

he knows.

It's so hard.

I just walk out of the room.

I know.

Well, you need to get, like, two suits.

No, I'm just kidding.

I'm so used to knowing everything, so the

fact that he doesn't know is, like, driving

him crazy.

Biggest secret ever.

He's like, what?

And he gets to, like, look at you

in two entirely different ways twice.

I mean, you're just getting this emotional overload.

I mean, that's amazing.

That's awesome.

That's very cool.

That's very, very, very cool.

So do you guys have any other questions

right now?

I want to make sure that you guys

leave feeling like we got the questions that

we want answered.

Start thinking of places for the engagement photos

and a date, right?

Contact me, yeah.

Simple.

Awesome.

How you come, like, when we're getting ready,

like, early in the day, right?

Yeah.

Yes.

Cool.

Definitely.

I want to make sure that you get

photos of your dress looking brand new, pristine,

of your shoes unscuffed, looking great, and just

of your girls.

Like, if you have 12 people, these are

all 12 women that have, like, impacted your

life in a different way, and it's great

to have, like, these formalized photos of everybody.

But the ones that actually are the funniest,

the ones that get shared the most are

the ones where everyone's just hanging out, just

chilling.

Like, early in the day getting ready and

the dancer photos, those are the ones that

everyone's like, yeah, yeah, of course, of course.

The real moment.

Exactly.

Exactly.

And so as things progress, like, feel free

to email me at any other point in

time.

If things do come up, if things, like,

any questions you guys have, I want to

make sure that you guys feel pretty darn

good about the decisions you guys are making,

too.

Yeah, we're really, really excited.

We can't wait.

So excited.

Do we do, like, an outfit change as

well at the engagement?

Yeah.

Yeah, I think that's great.

I think that one outfit change for a

total of two outfits is always great.

Anything beyond that, because we kind of take,

like, 10, 15 minutes to change, you're kind

of eating into, like, really cool, beautiful daylight

time that, like, having, again, like I mentioned,

having an outfit where you feel, like, a

little bit more dressy and then one with

a little bit more casualty, like, that'd be

great.

Okay, cool.

I think I just made up that word,

casualty.

But, you know, we'll just roll with it.

We're just going to go.

Thanks.

Thanks.

Thanks for indulging me.

I wanted to see the family photos.

I love it.

I just don't know what to tell my

mom to wear, that's why.

But, yeah.

Cute.

Awesome.

I'm so excited.

Okay.

Yeah, they all look really good.

We're excited.

Awesome.

And because, like, I cannot end, like, a

meeting without, like, thanking you guys for just

taking the time to meet with me, I

have something for you guys for you guys

to take on the road.

So, I mean, that drive back to L

.A. can be brutal, but we have something

to sweeten it up, so.

Thank you guys.

Popcorn?

No, it's not popcorn.

It's not popcorn, but it's something else.

It's probably a little bit sweeter.

Thank you guys.

I totally appreciate it.

We're really excited.

Yeah, this is perfect.

We can't be more excited.

I totally appreciate it.

Awesome.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Awesome.

So, I'm a hugger.

So, I mean, it's like.

I am too.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We can't wait.

Awesome.

All right.

So, the meeting is over, and I started

to debrief with my producer, and she had

the idea of maybe turning on the cameras

to get, like, a real behind-the-scenes

look at how I feel.

So, what you guys are going to see

is the conversation that I'm having and get

some, like, real-time, honest feedback about how

I thought that meeting went.

So, here we go.

Already I'm laughing because I'm just like, yeah,

I probably could have done a little better,

but, I mean, I don't know.

I don't know what to think about it.

Of course you're going to be self-deprecating.

I thought it was great.

What don't you think went well?

What do you think went well?

What do I think went well?

They were fantastic.

They were comfortable in their own skin.

I felt like they knew what they wanted.

They came in, and they said, we've done

our homework, and we like what we see.

So, for that, I was like, great.

I don't have to sell myself.

That's, like, the perfect scenario.

What I thought didn't go so well was,

like, me being comfortable.

I felt like I realized how uncomfortable I

looked throughout the whole thing.

Like, I felt myself a couple times during

the conversation where I was like, you're on

camera.

You should probably not be so caught up.

Because, I mean, sometimes, like, even when they

were there looking at the albums or they

were talking, I was like, uh-huh.

I just didn't feel comfortable.

And I just, I'm glad that the cameras

were there.

I'm glad that they were okay with the

cameras being there.

But at the same time, I just wish

that I could have just been more, like,

myself.

But at the same time, I know that

that's very close to how a meeting runs

for me, the duration of the meeting.

You know, it was about 35 minutes, 40

minutes.

We talk about things.

I like to let them talk a lot,

which was great.

But I just think that I wish I

could have been more of myself.

But, you know, at the end of the

day, like, I'm awkward.

I'm just going to own it.

I think they found it very endearing.

And you did have a little bit of

a let down.

Do you want to talk about that?

I think, like, yes, I do.

Like, once the cameras turned off, I just

felt like this, maybe it was a guard.

I don't know.

Maybe I'm nervous about what photographers are going

to think about me or what I'm going

to think about myself.

Like, after I see, like, it, I'm going

to look back and be like, oh, why

were you doing this?

Why did you say that?

I'm going to say those things.

But I think that once the cameras turned

off and we just, like, had a normal

conversation where we're just like, oh, okay, like,

let's just be us, it went really well.

We talked about her bridesmaids' dresses.

We talked about their proposal.

I wish I would have talked about their

proposal on camera.

Like, he proposed in Paris.

It was all kinds of romantic.

But I think that once they got to

see, like, me, just me and them just

be them, we connected on such a deep

way in that I feel really confident.

I feel really confident about booking the wedding

and I feel really confident about shooting the

wedding.

So fingers crossed, but I think it's going

to be a good one.

As a photographer, keep talking to other photographers,

like, what things did you grab out of

that meeting?

Or was it more just to comfort them

entirely?

Most of the time I think that the

meetings are to comfort or assuage my client's

perspective worries.

Right?

They come in, they really liked who they

saw online.

She did a lot of homework.

She went to my website, she went to

my blog after a recommendation from a friend,

which are always the best kind of recommendations.

So I think in that regard, she felt

confident.

Most of the time the meetings are simply

just for my clients to show up and

feel like, great, the person online matches the

person in person.

And I think that that's the valuable thing

for a wedding.

Now for me, I understood they're very traditional.

Like, she's grown up in the South, she's

grown up in various places, and she has

made her mind very clear.

She does not want to have her first

look.

And even though there's a part of me

that's like, yes you do, you really want

to see him before, because it's advantageous to

a photographer, it's advantageous to photos.

But I peeled back, I didn't push the

subject, because she already had her mind made

up.

She has two wedding dresses, she has a

wedding coordinator, she had her 16th birthday at

the St. Regis, which is, like, unreal.

So it shows to me that she comes

from a family of affluence, and she comes

from a family, later on, the groom, or,

excuse me, Corey, the prospective groom had said,

oh, her dad flew in to Paris on

his jet.

And I was just like, oh, okay.

And then I just started realizing that the

affair, their family, the wedding, is going to

be a big to-do.

And so in that regard, it might be

advantageous for me to maybe bring another photographer.

If it's going to be a black tie

affair, I need to wear a certain thing

to the wedding.

So the meeting for me was advantageous in

that I understood more about who they were

and their day.

Cool.

So obviously, like I probably mentioned before, I

can't watch this footage without cringing at some

of the stuff that I said or how

I interacted.

But the bigger picture.

I think in a few months, when I

step away from actually being throughout this, I

can look at it as a valuable tool

to see on ways that I can improve.

And furthermore, that other people can actually get

a sneak peek into what I do.

And, yeah, those awkward moments.

I am not always articulate.

I am not always confident.

And then kind of just seeing the way

that I prod out answers from my clients.

I think that this meeting really showed how

the clients can talk and how we brought

personal elements to the surface, which was very

valuable.

The good thing, the good news is that

Kathryn and Corey did book our services for

their wedding.

So we will be shooting their wedding this

August at the St. Regis Modern Beach.

And I'm so excited.

And now that you guys know the back

story, in the future, when I shoot their

engagement session, I will be shooting their engagement

session in the next, like, month.

And when you guys see them online, you

guys will now know the back story.

And then you guys will be able to

see, as I ask them, how did you

guys meet?

Oh, they met by way of a friend,

but they were both in different relationships.

I won't include that in the blog post.

I'll say they met and then came back

a while later, right, because you have to

curate the story.

They came back after one date, the first

date that they went on to, their waiter

came up to them and said, Oh, are

you guys together?

And they said, Oh, this is our first

date.

He's like, You're going to get married.

So that, obviously, when they told me that

part of the story, that's going in the

blog post, right?

These are the things that we're thinking about.

These are the things that we want.

You're going to see how all of that

comes to fruition.

So let's move into your homework.

I want you to make a list of

your weaknesses in regards to your meetings.

If you were to assess yourself, if you

have meetings at Starbucks and you were the

person sitting next to yourself listening to your

meeting, what could you do to get better?

Then I want you to make a list

of your strengths.

Are you really good at making small talk?

Great.

Are you really good at elevating other people

in a social arena or in a social

way?

Great.

Play to your strengths and then strengthen your

weaknesses.

What I want you to do is to

create a list of questions that you can

ask prospective clients to get to know them

better.

Because sometimes what I discovered was going to

a meeting and not having a cache of

questions.

I was like sometimes, Oh, yeah.

So what you want to do, the key

is to get them talking more so you

can listen to how you can cater to

their needs.

That is a sneak peek.

The goodies they booked.

I'll be really proud to share that.

On that note, we can go into questions

and answers if you guys have any.

Wow, this is great.

Let's start here.

I'd love for you to get a mic.

Then we're going to give another mic to

you right behind.

That would be great.

Thank you.

Hi.

Hi.

Let's see.

I shoot by myself.

Sometimes I have a second shooter.

My husband is not available to shoot with

me.

Is there any way you could speak to

that or help me to see how it's

an advantage?

Well, just the nerd technical side of me

is J.D. is an amazing safety net

to have.

Should anything happen to my camera at the

moment, even if I'm carrying a spare, that

swap could take 8 to 10 seconds.

That swap could have to happen during the

first kiss, during the first dance, as the

dad walks her down the aisle, as the

husband walks her down the aisle, moments that

I might have missed with her and her

mom.

All of that stuff is in the back

of my mind, knowing that if I have

a second shooter who has my back and

is shooting the same moment from a different

angle, I feel okay knowing that if I

messed up, somebody is there with me.

On an ancillary note, you've been at weddings,

and I'm just going to be real.

It's lonely.

It's 8 to 10 hours, and sometimes people

make you feel like hired help.

You're wearing flats, you feel frumpy, and you

got a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for

dinner.

Right?

It is better to do all of that

with somebody next to you who can be

there with you, identifying with it.

You don't have to have a spouse, but

if there's any possibility of you creating a

network so that you can have the same

consistent second shooter or maybe a network of

second shooters so that when you talk to

your clients, be like, I work with the

same two girls at every wedding.

One of the two will be here.

We've established our relationship.

We trust each other.

They know how I work.

It's the same spiel.

Having a consistent partner is the main thing.

Whether or not that partner is your spouse

or not, doesn't matter, but consistency is a

selling point.

Cool.

Did I answer your question already?

I guess.

I'm more comfortable shooting alone.

I've done both.

I have a lot of second shooters friends

who I can use if necessary, but I've

found that I'm more confident and more relaxed

by myself, so I see all the advantages,

but I'm comfortable with the decision to sometimes

shoot alone, although I know there have been

occasions where the client has chosen someone else

because they were a husband and wife team.

I agree.

I totally agree.

So I don't know if it's a husband

and wife thing necessarily that's the competitive advantage,

but I do think a second shooter, competitive

advantage.

A consistent second shooter, a greater competitive advantage,

and I'm going to step out on a

limb, and I might rub you the wrong

way, but you're coming here to get straight

up honesty.

If you prefer working on your own and

you think it's a greater experience, I'm going

to venture to say it's because you haven't

met the right second shooter.

The minute you come across a good second

shooter, you see your portfolio strengthen, you see

the joy that they bring.

If they offer you a cup of water

on a hot day, if they're escorting grandma

to make sure that she's there and for

family photos on the same way, she's a

team player, you will never want to shoot

on your own after that.

You just need to find the team player.

Work hard at that.

It'll be a competitive advantage.

It will.

Awesome, we're going to go back.

So how do you remember everything when you

meet with clients?

I know when I meet with them, I

ask them questions, and then I leave the

appointment, and it's all I can do to

remember their first name.

How do you keep track of everything, and

do you have a system for that, or

what do you do so that when it

comes time to blog that you can write

the whole story?

Great.

Okay, now I saw the beginning, middle, and

end.

So I ask them the questions about how

they met, but chances are they may or

may not book me.

I might ask people questions, and they'll give

me details, and then we don't end up

booking, and so then I learn their story.

But I will say that when you listen

to something once, when you hear it again

the second time, there's a higher likelihood of

you remembering more of those details.

So when we are walking through the engagement

session, so if they book me, we talked

about how they met, and we meet four

months later, chances are I'm not really going

to remember all the details, right?

So I was like, hey, guys, can you

remind me how you met?

And they said, oh, we met at college.

And then I might remember, okay, college.

And I was just like, remind me, so

tell me, who was interested in who again?

And we kind of go into it, and

then you would be surprised how small little

triggers.

Be like, actually, he drove me home.

I was really kind of drunk after beer

pong.

And they're like, yeah, like you guys stopped

for tacos.

And all of a sudden, this thing kind

of happens, right, between the two of you,

between the three of you, and then when

you go home, like sometimes that night, I'll

get back in the car, and I'll send

myself an email, like Emerson College, frat party,

rings, tacos, you know, sunny day, and I

just send that to myself.

And that's going to be the thing that

I need to know.

And on a wedding day, if I don't

get a list of vendors or the dress

she wore, the shoes she wore, I do

not want to be on my phone ever

in front of my clients on a wedding

day.

So if I am shooting her dress, and

I don't know the designer, I'll look at

the tag, and then I might step outside

and write, like bag the mystery shoes, this

wedding dress designer, this veil designer, and then

I just email myself, and then I'm good,

so that I can put that in the

blog post later.

Great.

So we have like time for one or

two more questions.

We're going to go to Tara, and then

we will pass the mic back that way.

Jasmine, I'm wondering, at what point are you

talking to your clients, or potential clients, about

your wedding packages?

And I mean, that couple definitely was interested

in having you, but if you're not quite

certain, you know, like when they leave, do

you know that they're going to book, or

are they going home and it's your decision

to decide, and you send them info?

Great question, and totally awkward.

I was trying to avoid that whole thing.

Thanks for calling me out on that.

Okay, so by the time the client wants

to meet with me, they have everything at

their fingertips.

I have sent them my collection menu, and

I've sent them the contract.

I do not want to meet with a

client, and the first time they realize you

charge how much, it'll be a waste of

their time, it'll be a waste of my

time.

Also, I send them the contract, because I

don't want them at a later point in

time to be like, oh well, we really

don't want our photo shared online.

Like, I want you to know what my

expectations are, I want you to know my

prices before we actually get to meeting.

So, when I know that they have their

collection menu, which in this particular case, I

knew they had the collection menu, and I

was pre-qualified in that they could afford

me because they were meeting with me.

That's the assumption, and that's generally 9.5

times out of 10 the case.

So if they come to me, I'm guessing

that it's more of an opportunity for them

to see, do we jive together?

Can you do what I want?

So there's no point in me, at that

point, because it does not play to my

strength, to say, so have you guys talked

about what collections you guys are interested in?

Now, a fuller collection is this, if you

would like an album, or do you want

to do an engagement album this time?

I'm terrible at sales.

Terrible.

I only know how to sell the way

that I like to be sold to.

And I have a tendency to attract that

same type of client.

When I walk into a store, please don't

sell to me.

I know what I want, and you're going

to be distracting, and you might lose the

sale because you're just talking too much.

JD, on the other hand, we go to

a restaurant, and the server says, let me

tell you about the specials.

And JD's like, yes, yes.

If he orders a baked potato, would you

like bacon, chives, sour cream, butter, whatever else,

like crumbled blue cheese, bacon fat, all of

it?

Yes, yes, that's what I want.

He loves the art of being sold to.

If I was attracting that type of client,

and if I felt like it was a

strength, that'd be great.

But it is not a strength, so I

do not talk about it.

I say, thank you guys so much.

Please let me know how you guys are

faring in decisions.

If I receive another client inquiry, I will

follow up with you, and I will have

the first right of refusal.

I hope we have the opportunity.

Let me know.

Email me.

I will get back to you within 24

hours.

I leave it at that.

Now, there's a lot of photographers who love

and are good at the hard sale.

If you sign now, you get a 10

% bonus.

But I have never been the girl who's

attracted to the, but wait, there's more, ever.

So if I'm not attracted to it, I'm

gonna guess that it will seem inauthentic, insincere,

and make me look like a fraud.

I would rather just say, you make your

decision.

I do not want used car remorse.

When you walk out with a car and

you're like, ugh, no, I don't want that.

I'm already off to a bad start.

Cool?

We'll end with here, this question.

Thank you.

So I'm part of a husband and wife

team as well, and so do you bring

JD with you to your client consultations, and

does he interact?

He's probably off camera being like, no, please

don't give her any ideas.

No.

I'd cut you off again.

I just love cutting you off in particular.

Oh, that's okay.

I like it too.

Was that the full question?

I want to make sure that you ask

the whole question in its entirety.

Do you bring him, and if you did,

how would you incorporate a second person to

get to know the bride and groom?

Very cool.

If my, yes.

And when I have a second person with

me, he often takes notes, like on a

notepad.

I never take notes if it's just me,

but is taking notes something you ever do

in front of the bride, or if you

had a second person, would you do that?

Long question, sorry.

Okay, so no, JD does not come to

meetings with me, and this is why we

have made that decision.

My brand is Jasmine Star.

The brand is not Jasmine and JD.

If the brand was Jasmine and JD, I

would want JD to come.

I think in very strategic business ways.

If I have JD at the meeting with

me, when he says yes to a meeting,

he says no to something else.

If we can be at two different places,

finding ways to generate income, that's what I

would prefer.

Or, completely transparent, if I go to a

client meeting and he's there with me, the

odds are that we're going to go out

to eat after.

Or, just maybe, if I'm like, do you

feel like cooking dinner tonight?

Because I'll be at the meeting.

I can just come by and we can

have dinner together.

If I'm at the meeting and he's at

home, finding ways to create more business, or

curate, or take care of the business, and

maybe make dinner in the process, it's a

win for us from a business and personal

perspective.

If it was a husband and wife team,

that might be different.

No, I do not take notes.

Personal preference, I don't have it.

But there's nothing really that I would take

notes about.

I ask them in advance, where is your

wedding, where is your reception, how many guests

will there be, is there a wedding coordinator?

I have all these questions answered, so I

would be just kind of trying to look

official.

I'm paying very close attention.

So for me, it doesn't really work.

On that note, thank you guys for the

amazing questions.

I appreciate you guys very much.