Original subtitles

All right, so before we wrap up this

week, before we finish off the toolbox, we've

saved the best for last.

The most advanced of the tools.

The most powerful tool in our toolbox.

Are you guys ready for it?

The final tool is don't be a tool.

Don't let these fancy photography techniques distract you

from what's most important.

From the humanity you're there to notice.

From the timeless storytelling.

These are some of our favorite photos.

They're some of our clients' favorite photos.

No tools.

No tricks.

No gimmicks.

Nothing fancy.

Nothing trippy.

Just seeing.

Being there.

Feeling it.

Filling the frame with what matters.

The moments.

Real and unscripted.

The relationships.

The touches.

The glances.

The soul.

The hilarious.

The ridiculous.

The things that say something about what it

means to be human.

Show your curiosity about them.

Your interest in their story.

At the end of the day and at

the beginning of the day, it's not about

us and our photography.

It's about them and their story.

Lifeless representations of ideas get old and stale

pretty fast.

But meaningful representations of humans stand the test

of time.

They speak to the soul.

So don't let your curiosity about photography crowd

out your curiosity for all the magical things

playing out before your eyes.

That toolbox is powerful stuff.

So use it wisely with intent and purpose.

Learn it like a second language.

Fumble around with it.

Keep practicing enunciating, honing the language so that

you can articulate what you want to say.

And then choose your words wisely and show

us how you really feel.

So for this week's homework, we want you

to get out there and practice enunciating this

new language.

And it's not about articulating poetic masterpieces, at

least not right now.

It's about learning how to fire those new

muscles.

So start by setting out to create seven

photographs or more if you want.

But seven photographs, one of each tool, a

silhouette, a backlit photo, a shoot through, a

vocal panel, good luck with that, a thrown

shadow, a reflection, and last but not least,

a photo that makes you feel something without

using any of these tools.

Maybe it's a self-portrait.

So then if you want to step it

up, experiment with starting to combine the tools

like words together into short sentences, two or

three or four nouns and verbs together.

Like maybe you shoot a silhouette through something

that's backlit while reflecting it all.

Or maybe you combine a sunlit silhouette with

a flashlight backlit shoot through.

Or maybe you pull off the first known

flashlight bokeh panel reflection.

Backlit bokeh panel reflection.

So now as for next week and where

we go from here, we've basically introduced you

now to every little piece of the puzzle

that gets put together at our weddings.

What we're striving to do and why, the

gear that helps us do that, and the

toolbox that helps us do that.

And so now what does it look like

when all those pieces come together at a

wedding?

Well we're going to show you.

You're about to be the first to go

behind the scenes with us at a real

wedding.

Something we've never done before and might not

do again.

We'll see how it goes.

As we record this right now, we haven't

even shot the wedding.

So the usual pressure we feel going into

a wedding is on steroids for this one.

Every one of you watching this is going

to see everything that happens at this wedding.

Yeah it's a terrifying thought.

Not only are you going to see us

in action behind the scenes, but you're going

to see each and every single frame we

make straight out of camera, unculled, unedited.

And we're going to deconstruct every part of

the wedding so you can learn and see

for yourself our approach and strategy throughout the

entire day.

From sunup to sundown and into the wee

hours of the morning.

God help us.