Photography Workshop BTS, Doggo Toys, and the Introverted Photographer

Have you ever stopped to consider what truly makes a photograph magnificent? Is it the perfect pose, the trendiest location, or something deeper that transcends time? Brooke and I dive into the world of photography, focusing on the importance of capturing real moments over picture-perfect trends. 

Join us as we discuss Chris's recent experience hosting Lens and Light, a photography workshop that went beyond our expectations. Learn how our conversations about introversion and extroversion revealed fascinating insights into social situations and the importance of understanding how each individual processes their emotions and thoughts. 

Where do we draw the line between artistic creativity and capturing the heart of a moment? As photographers, we have the unique privilege of immortalizing memories for those who later experience loss. We debate the delicate balance between pushing our limits and ensuring that we prioritize the human connection. For all our introverted wedding photographer friends out there, we'll share our thoughts on overcoming challenges and making sure that you can seize those unforgettable moments.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

Hey, you are listening to the Everything Is BS podcast with Chris Stiles and Brooke Brady.

Speaker 2: 0:11

In an age where social media trends trump realism, two photographers chat about the beautiful events they photograph and the push to capture real moments over the picture perfect trendy day.

Speaker 1: 0:20

We want to discuss how people view perfectionism and chat about encouraging a more authentic and genuine experience.

Speaker 2: 0:27

So, whether you're driving, working, editing photos or just looking for a quick escape, pull up a virtual chair to our coffee table chat. We'd love to have you. Do you see Nellie right now? Do you see her? She's almost done with it. Oh my gosh, she destroyed that. You can see the light through it. We're talking about a lick mat that I just bought Nellie not too long ago, and it's her new favorite thing.

Speaker 1: 0:54

So I did not know what a lick mat is. I've never seen that before, but it is genius.

Speaker 2: 0:59

It's genius. It is a mat that you kind of smush. Some you could do like banana, you could do Greek yogurt, which one of my brides just told me about And then I do some peanut butter too And basically I just suction it right to a door so that she doesn't have to like lean in and really get it. So right now Ms Nells is outside enjoying herself, so that we have some peace and quiet and we can record without her breath going.

Speaker 1: 1:25

So what do you put on the lick?

Speaker 2: 1:28

mat Today. She's got some frozen yogurt and she also has some frozen peanut butter.

Speaker 1: 1:34

Do you vary it up? Do you switch it up between those two things?

Speaker 2: 1:37

Honestly, I only put like bananas in there other than that Does she have a favorite.

Speaker 1: 1:41

She's only had for like four days.

Speaker 2: 1:42

Has. She told you the favorite.

Speaker 1: 1:43

Huh, has she told you the favorite.

Speaker 2: 1:45

She looks everything off, so I don't really know, but she's going at it. So, chris, you just had lens and light.

Speaker 1: 1:53

I did, you did Tell me about it. How was it? It?

Speaker 2: 1:55

was It started too, and I stopped you because I was like no podcast.

Speaker 1: 2:00

It went even better than expected, so it was a lot of work in the last seven days preparing for it.

Speaker 1: 2:07

It looked like a lot of work, it was. It was just like everything You know, it's more work than you expect and I even expected a lot of work, and in those last 48 hours, even specifically, it was the crunch time And but luckily I had a lot of help. Like my studio mate was there to help me set up the day before, i had some of the instructors come in the day before. They came and stopped and helped a little bit, so that went well. But the main goal was, for the most part, based on the feedback that I've received so far was achieved, which was which was awesome. So in in multiple ways too. So, secretly, i had two goals, and it wasn't just for the attendees, but it was for the instructors as well.

Speaker 1: 2:48

I wanted to see them. I wanted to see them take a leap of faith and go forward with their own, with their own projects, post this with some new level of confidence that they can publicly speak and do it. Well, they didn't know it, but when I asked them to do this, i did not give any indication of how long. So when I told everybody, yeah, you're going to be doing an hour and a half, there were definitely. That's me, chris, it is, it's not But it's. But I knew that they'd be able to do it. I've seen what they can talk about and an hour for these kind of things is just a little too short, because We want to do some hands-on stuff too And there's always that, like you know, when the wedding rolled, there's always the transition time that's never accounted for when planning. So when you get a you know a schedule from a bride and it says like 455, we're gonna do this and 505, we're gonna do this, and it's like I see that Actually that's gonna be at 430.

Speaker 1: 3:46

Yeah, it won't happen like that And it could, but it's extremely risky. So I knew that an hour with just moving around that many people from a sitting position to hey, we're gonna get up and take photos now, that just takes time in itself.

Speaker 2: 4:03

So within the hour and a half you also had like hands-on stuff, so they weren't talking the entire hour. Some were, so some of the presentations were more discussion based.

Speaker 1: 4:12

More than anything, it was just because of the nature of the topic. So one of the topics was, you know, a lot of specifics about Instagram and how to make the most of it.

Speaker 2: 4:20

That was Niki's right.

Speaker 1: 4:21

Yes, yeah, niki, she did amazing And I love seeing the questions that just keep going, keep popping up and feeding off each other. So when you're the one that has this vision and you watch the audience take part and like really get into it, sitting back and watching, it was so rewarding to see, just like it's almost like if, just like go, be free, do the thing, and it just happened.

Speaker 2: 4:47

So I have to ask you, what was your favorite part Like? was it a piece of knowledge that you gained? Was it watching everybody kind of do the thing, Or was it at the very end, when you were packing up and you were like I'm done?

Speaker 1: 4:57

It was well. I will say the safe answer is a little bit of everything. The hungry Chris, the Dora marketplace was the caterer for lunch and the cookies which they did not. There was no indication. I had not been there and had not seen their cookies before, but I've had great feedback from Dora marketplace as far as other people and said that, yeah, their catering is incredible. They worked with the location that we did and they'd been there so I knew it would be smooth. These cookies were ginormous and I ordered two cases of them and I was like I didn't need that.

Speaker 2: 5:31

So it brought some here.

Speaker 1: 5:34

I know I should have, yeah, failure. And so secretly, that was one of my favorite things, because those cookies were bomb.

Speaker 2: 5:40

Because you got to take them home. That's why.

Speaker 1: 5:44

But for the actual workshop, i think my favorite part was seeing everyone a little bit. Sounds terrible, but seeing everybody a little bit overloaded with information And then coming back the next day and whenever there was downtime, so any of the in-betweens of the presentations, watching people that hadn't met each other before just walk into our little break room and just grab a cup of coffee and they're discussing And they're discussing what they just saw. So it was like, again, just a super rewarding feeling. Taking people that don't know each other All they have in common is photography and a business potentially and just seeing them talk about the tips and the tricks and the details and everything like that was awesome. It was so awesome.

Speaker 2: 6:34

Well, i think in a previous podcast we talked about how I talked about how I thought that the networking alone was worth the money, and obviously that is the case because I'm seeing all of your Chris has a. he's doing a wrap around.

Speaker 1: 6:49

He's doing his freaking microphone cord. Yeah, his microphone cord. It just keeps going right in my face awkwardly, and Brooke and I are just staring at each other and it's just slowly keeps coming right in front of my face. It's really weird.

Speaker 2: 6:58

But I'm even seeing all the people who were at lens and light and I'm seeing them following each other, and even from the Instagram stories that I was watching I was no part of that at all I could tell everybody was having a really good time. There was a lot of really good, useful information. I've seen some layflats that are stunning from it, like it's awesome. So congratulations on your first workshop. Great, it was great. That's awesome. We had a fantastic time. So it's the next.

Speaker 1: 7:27

And, yeah, at the end I did lay on the floor and just like look at the ceiling and go, oh my god, and the place was, i mean, a disaster. At the end It was a total mess, chaos. One of our like storage rooms was you couldn't even walk in there. It was overflowing with stuff And between both days it was just like we'll get to it eventually. We'll get to it eventually. And I think it was Jamie who I showed the studio with. Someone asked her like oh my god, you need help picking this up, and she was like, without skipping a beat, she was like no, we're just going to burn it to the ground. Look at this, i'm not even going to deal with this.

Speaker 2: 7:58

So when is your next workshop? What are you thinking next?

Speaker 1: 8:01

Oh, we have a lot of ideas, and will it be?

Speaker 2: 8:03

called Lens and Light still. Is that Absolutely OK, cool?

Speaker 1: 8:05

Lens and Light name is sticking around, so I really love that name. I think it hits the mark on what it is. So, yeah, absolutely, congrats, thank you, thank you. Yeah, as far as what goes next, there's a lot of discussion, there's some ideas, there's ideas about taking it potentially outside of Connecticut Sweet, yeah. So there's some travel discussion going on And there's also discussion of doing it twice per year.

Speaker 2: 8:33

So I think it's so funny that you're such an introvert And this is like your bread and butter, like this is what you like to do, because when you're done with it, you describe yourself to me like oh yeah. And then I'm laying on the floor Like I would just want to die. And I'm the same way When I leave a wedding. I'm like I don't even want music in the car. I'm like I just need to be alone.

Speaker 1: 8:53

I can't get words out. Anyone listen?

Speaker 2: 8:55

to that. You're just driving it perfectly, but AM.

Speaker 1: 8:58

So I've read that there are some people that do not have an inner monologue And that's that's scary to me, that's like psycho stuff to me, that's I can't think about that. Because I'm thinking about that, i need that silence because Have to see a hole in my shit?

Speaker 2: 9:16

Yeah, she's drinking the is that salt or water club soda, baby Club soda And it just just missed the miss the mouth. Does it more often than I am proud to say we're both doing good this morning.

Speaker 1: 9:27

That's fantastic. So, yeah, there's some people that don't have an inner monologue, and that's crazy to me That. So what's going on in their head? What are they thinking about?

Speaker 2: 9:36

It's just like a, like a bouncy ball. Just my, my, my It's. you know what it is? It's the TV screen where it, like, goes to the side and then it goes to you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1: 9:44

Yeah, like the logo jumps across.

Speaker 2: 9:47

It's like a thought goes in their head and it's like boom Changes colors every time it hits the side. Yeah, why, why? What was I saying about that?

Speaker 1: 9:58

Saying the introvert portion of it and just like laying down.

Speaker 2: 10:01

So that's what I was getting with the inner monologue thing. So yeah, it's.

Speaker 1: 10:04

I think that, generally speaking, introverts, we we have such sometimes a deep inner monologue that when we are surrounded by extroverts or are extroverting just in general, you don't get to use that And it, like it weirdly exhausts you and catches up like you need that that alone quiet time to basically process everything and think about it. So is that you?

Speaker 2: 10:28

100% like the thing is is like when I'm doing something where I'm like super hands on, like nothing out of that exists Nothing, like literally nothing. I, if I go to a wedding, i am solely your wedding photographer. Like I almost act like I'm not a human with my own, like I don't have my own problems, like I'm just I am here for this thing and I'm here to be with you and I am yours today. And then, as soon as I get in my car, i'm like, oh my God, i can unzip my human suit.

Speaker 1: 10:58

Unzip the human suit. That's a great way to put it.

Speaker 2: 11:00

Yeah, i've got my little devil inside and I just unzip it right from the top. So, yeah, i just think it's so funny because, like, we both have described ourselves as introverts to each other and our definition of introvert is so very different It is.

Speaker 1: 11:17

It's very, very different, and it's a there's there's an extroverted introverts and introverted extroverts, and I've met both sides of the spectrum. I've seen it and it's always a. It's a good eye opener to never. You know common phrase Don't judge a book by its cover, because you don't know how someone is processing and working things out, and such. So I have. I did not used to be such an extroverted introvert, but I've. I've pushed that boundary, and it's almost like I have sort of trained myself to be able to last a little bit longer extroverting than I can. But what I have realized, though, is, no matter what, to function well in that extroverted area arena, i, no matter what, will always need that, that break, and if I don't get it, i start spinning my wheels. And I know when I start spinning my wheels, because I start getting anxious and all I can't.

Speaker 2: 12:13

Oh, you don't just live with a solid level of anxiety. Yeah, i start getting anxious. I'm like I have an introverted introvert that's at home all the time with my anxiety actually.

Speaker 1: 12:24

But you, recently, you're pushing, pushing me in below a little bit as well. You're getting outside and continuing to try and you know.

Speaker 2: 12:33

Ok, anyway, i'm going to take this and do a little bit of a turn I have. Well, it's, it's important to me, probably just because I've dealt with a lot of loss and whatever. And I got some news this morning that one of my brides people passed away and it really got me thinking and it got me thinking about like our careers And I've definitely this isn't the first time that I've had somebody have somebody, somebody passed away. I've photographed like end of life moments. I've photographed a lot of really heartbreaking situations, but every single time I see that somebody loses someone in their family who meant so much to them, it is like a weird reminder how important what we do is. And I actually I just talked on my stories this morning, i think while you were driving, so you probably didn't see it, but I actually had to yell at cricket during it too.

Speaker 2: 13:31

But I just wanted to throw out the reminder to all of the photographers that you don't have to always be pushing yourself to be super, super creative or setting up the most beautiful moments at wedding days and all of that.

Speaker 2: 13:45

I know it's really, it's enticing to jump in and go, oh, do this or do that or whatever.

Speaker 2: 13:51

But the importance of standing back and just letting these moments unfold and capturing these people with their most special people is the most important part of your job.

Speaker 2: 14:02

I took the time this morning to go and look at their wedding gallery and just look for photos of this specific person because I always just feel like lucky to have been with them when I see that somebody has passed on and there are so many good photos of this person in their gallery, so many candidates of this person just laughing and having such a good time, and I'm heartbroken for my bride.

Speaker 2: 14:27

But it also made me feel really proud that it was just like cameras up, i captured that and like it's kind of like I don't want to sound like cheesy or whatever, but it is like you're giving someone a gift, like they're paying you for it and they might not realize, like what they're getting in that time. But when they have those hundreds of photos to go back through and they see their happiest day with their people and they're happy too and you see them laughing and cheers and it's like a bittersweet, like I'm heartbroken for my bride because I know how special and important this person was to her and I've definitely been through that, but it's also a really good reminder that what we do is so freaking important.

Speaker 1: 15:07

Yeah, things that stick out to me with that is the concept of. It doesn't have to be when you started this off with. It doesn't have to be the most creative, and we focus so hard in that given moment to provide something that we surround ourselves with which is moody, lighting or all the different things that make us stand out as photographers. But, at the end of the day, some of the best photos that I still look at are ones that are blurry, or and not trendy blurry, but like accidental blurry from, like you know, a crappy phone or something, an old iPhone version 2, whatever so, and we'll look at those. And it's the reminder that two things the reminder for the individual, not the photographer that is the moment that matters, and it's the reminder for the photographer that when we're there, it can get really you can fall into that, which we do, we fall into that It has to be as creative as humanly possible because that's what they're hiring me for.

Speaker 1: 16:08

And that in a given moment it feels like it can feel like work, and it is our job and we're working. But You know now that that person is gone all of a sudden, all the sudden, that stands out incredibly. Um, it stands out an incredible amount. And you know, the fact of the matter is that all of us eventually, at some point, are going to pass and all of those photos that you're taking are valuable, like really valuable.

Speaker 2: 16:35

So it was just a really solid reminder of like the human connection and why cause I don't? I mean, i look at photos all the time where I'm like, wow, that's so freaking creative. Like why didn't I think of that? Or like I want to try something like that next at the wedding or whatever, and I try to carve out space and time to be as creative as humanly possible. But like I'll speak for personal experience now, and I'm sure you can too My favorite photos from my wedding are not the pretty details and it's not all of my stuff laid out in a flat lay And it's. It's not any of that. All of my favorite photos are like my little nephew cheering my grandmother. You know, it's stuff like that where it's like you're never going to have these moments back and you don't know how long you have your people for. You don't know how long you're going to even be here.

Speaker 2: 17:20

So, you know, if, if that's something that you fall into, where you get, like as a photographer, you get caught up with like being creative and trying to literally like create art, like the art is in front of you, it's right there, they're hiring you to capture their moments with their people.

Speaker 2: 17:35

And this is one of the biggest things that I talked to you about with my wedding couples when I sign on with them. As I, you know, i'm always going to try to be creating art but, like, your people are the most important to me. Your, your moments on that day are the most important to me. So, if I, you know, um, if I'm staying outside during cocktail hour instead of going in to capture the details because something is happening, that's really important, yeah, i'm going to do that. If I'm the only shooter, like I'm going to capture your moments, because that's more important to me and I hope that it will be more important to you when you get your gallery back that you may not have like the table setting, but you have the photos of your grandmother and your grandfather. You know, like I don't know, i just think it's really important to it gave me a really solid reminder when I saw that she lost that person.

Speaker 1: 18:20

It's good to you know, as as sad as it is. Um, we need these stories because stories are how we connect right. Stories are how we, we visualize ourselves in a given situation and or try to learn a lesson from somebody else's situation. Um, and these stories are important for wedding couples, um, but they're just as important for us on this end, because, in the middle of crazy wedding season, the day to day sometimes can just go by really fast. Um, and you, you forget those things. You forget how important it is to remind yourself at, you know, 7pm, even on your feet all day. We've had to make a lot of timeline adjustments. It was a very stressful wedding so far. Um, and the photographer's job. We have to, you know, do a good job of making sure that we don't appear stressed. Um, we have to make sure we keep everybody on schedule. Uh, and we, as introverts, we were really good at, like, hiding that and just taking it in.

Speaker 2: 19:16

Um is that an introvert thing?

Speaker 1: 19:18

That the hiding your anxiety and like I would go to guess if anybody's listening and can tell me otherwise.

Speaker 2: 19:24

Um, cause I've always wondered how, like at home I'm like I can fall apart, like I'm like immediately tears, but if something happens at a wedding, i'm like no, like it's just straight face, like nothing bothers me, yep.

Speaker 1: 19:37

We're. Introverts are very you know, i'm going to be careful how I say this Introverts and extroverts are in all different levels. We're very we're self-aware, um, i would go to lean towards that. Introverts are a little bit more self-aware because of the concept. We're usually afraid of what other people think. Um, and even if we're not, we're still, generally speaking, introverted or we're sitting in the back, we like to be behind the camera, um, and that inherently will.

Speaker 1: 20:05

We're observers, we, we observe the world and we we take everything in and think about it and process it, um, and we need to do that at our own time, um, so, in in this realm, it's really good to take the idea of an introvert who's a wedding photographer and we're like I said, we're good at observing and processing everything, but as the wedding is going on, it may be challenging to do that. So it's really important to hear these stories. I'm rambling, but it's important to hear these stories because even when we're um in the moment, taking a step back at you know, 7, 7, 30 PM, when we're exhausted and we're like you know, i, i just can't get up again, like I convincing myself I did my job, i deserve a break.

Speaker 2: 20:50

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, um no, but you get, you eat your food and you're like, oh my God, okay, like if you eat like a solid meal after photographing us a wedding day, and you're just like, oh, it hits, oh no, i don't want to do this anymore.

Speaker 1: 21:02

We finally sit and it's like, oh God, like I can't make it. It's a but you have to remember. It may not, at the time, feel important, but your story that you are sharing right now proves the fact that, at some point, those photos ones that maybe you could be catching if you're not just sitting for that one second Yeah, it's so important to. Obviously it's good to take a break to eat your food, but also remind yourself how important this role is and to get the shots, get the ones you know, power through to the end and make sure and grab those because, um, that five second extra shot that you may have taken, it'll last a lifetime. Oh, that's a lifetime.