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Episode 152 - 3 tips on making your clients have genuine emotions - Erich Chen
115 Plays3 months ago
Happy Woo Wednesdays! I met Erich when we both went to UC Riverside. We were dorm-mates. He was already deep into photography then. His photos always evoke so much emotion. He says engagement and wedding photos should look as natural as possible. "It's all about the three C's creativity, composition, and candid reactions.
I asked him to be the very first guest on my podcast. Can't believe we are on our 152nd episode.
Erich is a a wedding and engagement photographer who loves creativity and photojournalism. I've been shooting for almost two decades and have shot at many places around the world.
Today's Hot Topic
3 tips on making your clients have genuine emotions
Erich has a really unique and amazing posing demonstration that he does on his sales calls. You will have to tune in to hear more.
Connect with Erich
https://www.instagram.com/erichchen
Connect with Carissa https://instagram.com/carissawoo / https://www.17hats.com/ https://aftershoot.com/friends?ref=carissawoo
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction & Podcast Invitation
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey wedding pros, welcome to episode 152. If you're loving my podcast, please take one minute out of your time to leave me a review. I'm trying to hit 100 reviews this year. Also, you know the drill, DM me the word coaching if you want a free video on how I've been booked out for the past 15 years.
Interview with Eric Chen
00:00:19
Speaker
Today I interview my friend Eric Chen. He is a wedding photographer. We were homeates at UC Riverside and I just ran into him in PV. I was shooting his friend's proposal and I got to meet his beautiful fiance and I told him, Hey, you got to come on the podcast again.
00:00:38
Speaker
He was my very, very first get a heck yes guess. So I can't thank him enough. Today, the hot topic is three tips on how to get your clients to have genuine emotion. I love his shoe game tip and how he does a quick demo of how he poses on the sales call. Never heard that before. And you'll have to tune in to hear more. He gives really good wedding planning tips too. Enjoy.
Carissa's Business Philosophy
00:01:08
Speaker
Welcome to Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. I'm your host, Carissa, and I've been a Los Angeles wedding photographer for over a decade. I've traveled the world, built my team, and seen it all. I now coach wedding photographers hit 10K a month and build a thriving business. In this podcast, we are going to deep dive into how top wedding creatives get that heck yes from their dream clients. We are not holding back on the struggles of the business and how to push through the noise. Some healthy hustle, mindset shifts, up-leveling your money story,
00:01:36
Speaker
Time hacks because I'm a mom of two, a little bit of woo-woo, and most importantly, self-love and confidence are just a few of the many things we will talk about. I want to give you a genuine thank you for following along my journey. I hope to inspire you every Woo Wednesday so that you say heck yes to listening to this podcast. See you guys soon!
00:01:59
Speaker
Hey, everyone.
Eric's Background & College Experience
00:02:00
Speaker
Welcome back to Get a Heck Yes with your girl, Kerbera Savu. I have my dear friend Eric Chen in the house. We are hallmates from UC Riverside. He is a fellow wedding photographer, and he's been doing this for even longer than me, two decades. He's the best of the best. um Check out his work right now. It's E. Rich Chen Photography. And yeah, welcome, friend. Welcome, Eric Chen. What's up?
00:02:29
Speaker
thanks um Thanks for the intro, and thanks for having me back. I'm excited to be on your 150th episode. Yeah, it's actually going to be 152 now. I got the timing wrong, but um for my audience, you were the very first episode in my very first interview. I've come a long way, so thank you for being there for me since day one, and now you're finally back again. Yeah, thanks. Happy to support and happy to be on 152nd.
Childhood & Artistic Influences
00:03:00
Speaker
Cool, cool, okay so just briefly tell the audience who you are and just a little bit about you. Sure, okay, so I'm a wedding and engagement photographer mostly, right? So um yeah, it's pretty self-explanatory. I take pictures of weddings um all around the world, and I've been doing this, as you mentioned, for almost two decades. um I love it, it's been fun, as you know, because you're a wedding photographer yourself. um And yeah, that's kind of, I guess, who I am in a sentence or two.
00:03:35
Speaker
Yes, that is a good, good elevator pitch. Okay, now let's get into your origin story. Let's go way back um to like where you're from and what you were like as a kid and growing up. Okay, um I grew up in Texas, where I was born in Texas and I was like there for seven years. And I mean, I guess it was a pretty ordinary kid growing up, um you know, I got in trouble sometimes. um But you know, I'm like just generally playful and I love to play sports and and and go out and um have a good time, I guess. um I guess, ah you know, part of the ordin my origin story is I did take art classes as a kid. So that's kind of where my art was instilled, like pretty early on. I took some art classes like at my friend's house. A teacher came over and we learned um how to like paint and draw.
00:04:30
Speaker
And then I also learned like you know when I moved to California, I continued art classes.
College Transition & Community Building
00:04:36
Speaker
It was very humble beginnings. We took art classes like at my ah teacher's garage. wow We would just spend hours like drawing or painting. um And it wasn' until it wasn't until college where I picked up my first camera.
00:04:51
Speaker
Um, and I, you jumped, you jumped a lot. no Yeah, I'll stop. Okay. Let me, um, let me ask you a question. What year, how old were you when you moved to California? Uh, seven or seven and a half. Okay. Seven and a half. Perfect. Perfect. Yeah. That's pretty young. Um, that's cool that your parents put you in art class. Tell me about like high school years. Why were you like in high school and why were you all about? Oh, okay. Uh, in high school I was.
00:05:20
Speaker
I was kind of shy for the first couple of years. I wasn't the best student, meaning I didn't focus a lot. um I think um i have I must have a little bit ADD because I had a hard time focusing.
00:05:37
Speaker
um When I joined drama or theater in in high school, that helped me kind of break out of my shell. I became a lot more outgoing, very very social.
00:05:50
Speaker
um And that's, yeah, I guess that's when a lot of my personality blossomed a little bit.
Photography Journey Begins
00:05:58
Speaker
um I also play a lot of badminton. I played that, I still play actually every week. wow My life in high school was pretty much compromised of theater and badminton so like if there's a pie chart it would be like 1% badminton, 40% theater and I guess 20% like studies.
00:06:19
Speaker
Yeah. I remember you played badminton. Oh, didn't you? You haven't hopped on the pickleball train yet. I play, but occasionally. The skills transfer over, so it's not hard to play, but my group of friends, most of my friends play badminton. I haven't established a pickleball group yet, but do you play?
00:06:46
Speaker
Yeah, I play, um I started during COVID, like 2022. So I've been playing ever since, it's super fun. Are you good? um No, I never really got good because I think I just, still tennis is my my jam and i just I miss it, but I think I just play because my parents play, but I never got really really good. But people are like, oh, you're a tennis player, blah, blah, blah. Do you feel like the skills transfer over? Because I feel like badminton does for pickleball.
00:07:16
Speaker
Yeah, it definitely does. Yeah, I just have to play more. Okay, so college I met you freshman year, UC Riverside, you're pretty outgoing. Tell me about those years.
00:07:28
Speaker
um
00:07:31
Speaker
That first year was kind of interesting. I actually didn't, I liked it and I didn't like it at the same time. It was a big difference from when I was used to. I went to high school and I was pretty, at least my group of friends, they were all very academically focused. They were all very ambitious. And I think, I don't know, this is just me speaking frankly, but There was a lot of people in that first year, or like that hall that we we were in the first year that were very ah different um culturally. and And I think I had a hard time connecting with a lot of people in our hall. I mean, there's still people I still were friends with, but um it was just a world of chaos for a little bit. um I actually remember getting, it
Developing a Unique Style
00:08:12
Speaker
was a little bit, not not not a little bit, no, a little bit depressed actually that first year. You probably didn't know that.
00:08:18
Speaker
I wouldn't tell anybody about it, but, uh, it was, it was okay. Um, so that was, yeah, that was, uh, I was sorry. It was your question only for the first year or most. ago Yeah. I mean, just to piggyback off that, like it was really weird, like our.
00:08:33
Speaker
hall kind of looked like jail. And it was really random just to be thrown in. Like I remember like you would have to bring like this basket to the bathroom with like all your shower supplies and like you would walk out and there's like guys there. It was so weird. And our hall dorm lady was weird too. and Oh, the RAs.
00:09:01
Speaker
Yeah, it was a big adjustment for you know, especially coming from I think for most people coming from like, I think living at living at home with their parents to living in this like, I remember being very loud, you know, like very loud, chaotic.
00:09:16
Speaker
ah just just a concoction of people from everywhere. I totally agree. Okay, tell me what you did, you know, productive in college, what you were into and how you got out of the phone.
Client Interaction Techniques
00:09:33
Speaker
Okay, good question. So that first year, I remember realizing like, okay, this is ah this place, I feel a little out of place, but to make me feel like I had a community or to make me feel more comfortable, I went to look for a community. And the first thing I did was I worked at our radio station and I did sports commentary um and in which I realized like I wasn't very good at it. It was fun. It was different. And i was I felt like I was doing something productive. And then that led me to doing a lot more than things like at the school newspaper.
00:10:13
Speaker
And then student life. So at student life, I did graphic design mainly. And then um i and I actually missed one. And I also joined housing, too. So that's one. I became, essentially, it was like an RA. And that gave me like a sense of belonging. It gave me a sense of community. It gave me a sense of responsibility, because now I had to take care of all these like kids that, or we call them kids, but I had to take care of them. um and And yeah, so be on the other side of of the dynamic, right? Because we were the kids that had to be taken care of, I guess. And then now I'm that person trying to take care of everybody in that crazy concoction of a mess. i And then when I was in the newspaper, going back to the newspaper thing, that's when I started to, I picked up my camera. um But even before I picked up my camera at the newspaper, I started off as a writer. So I did a lot of things.
00:11:07
Speaker
wow I started off as a sports writer and then, well actually I think I started and stopped as a sports writer and then I started becoming a photographer and that's kind of the very beginning of my photography career. So did they give you a camera? they Did they kind of tell you what to shoot and did you just kind of learn along the way?
00:11:29
Speaker
ah They did have a loaner camera at the office, but most of us just went out and bought one. um And I do remember, ah I think at the time I had maybe $1,100 in my bank account.
00:11:44
Speaker
And the camera cost me $1,000 after purchasing, after tax. I think I like had you know like 20 bucks or something. shake it like I remember thinking I had to use this to get my ah ROI, which stands for investment.
00:12:01
Speaker
Luckily, we we got paid as both a writer and a photographer, so I work a lot and and try to get my money back. and Over time, I did. I learned just from my colleagues there. There are other photographers there. so We all kind of learn from each other and in terms of assignments. yeah we the editor When started off, I was just ah you know at the bottom, just a photographer, and the editor every week would say, okay, these are our assignments. Who wants what? and These assignments range from sports or lectures or concerts.
00:12:42
Speaker
and So, you know, I would just pick whatever was given, like what whatever was left over and I would go out there and that kind of helped me fine tune my skills as ah as an artist, just being in different kinds of situations. Wow. Yeah. It's just, that's cool to be that you're so proactive about finding these things. I i didn't even know about like the housing and the newspaper and um student life. I remember the name, the big sign that said student life, but it's all coming back to me in memory lane. I was,
00:13:11
Speaker
I worked at the gym as a stewart. I worked at Tap Yoko Express. I was in a business fraternity.
Destination Weddings & Mentorship
00:13:20
Speaker
So it was just like all these memories. I was in like CSA dance, um hip hop team. It's so interesting that like the things that we choose in college that really shape us till you know, today.
00:13:34
Speaker
Yeah, it's interesting that we, well, we we started off the college, but we both had very different activities and interests, but then we ended up basically being in the same field again. Yeah. Okay. So walk me through.
00:13:49
Speaker
Okay, so you have this experience of shooting events, you know, we had some cool concerts at UC Riverside, voice to men, and I forget the rapper's name, but I have what some memories. But how did you, I don't know, fall into the industry of love weddings?
00:14:08
Speaker
Okay, so as a photographer as for the newspaper, I was kind of known to be that guy who'd always wear to be on a bike with my camera around my body. um And because I'm trying to get to like location location from event to event and also make it to my classes. So I'm always like booking it. And so I think I i think she my friends started to notice it like I'm always At least I always have a camera. i assume i think they I assume that they think that I'm using that camera to shoot stuff. So I had friends whose who would say, like, hey, I know so-and-so getting married. I know you're a photographer. Do you want to shoot that wedding? And I said, sure.
00:14:49
Speaker
I jumped on the opportunity not really knowing exactly ah what a wedding entails exactly. Prior to shooting wedding, I was only a guest at a wedding, maybe once or twice. um So I didn't know really, I mean, knew what a wedding was, but I did not shoot a wedding. I was confident enough going to wedding, partly because I was naive, but also because just shooting for the school newspaper, it placed me in a lot of different situations where I had to be versatile. So shooting concerts and sports and lectures, it's all somewhat different skill sets. So I went in there thinking, like I got this. there's i'm I
Wedding Planning Tips
00:15:32
Speaker
should be ready. I'm primed. Let's let's go. so
00:15:37
Speaker
That's a good word, primed. Thanks. so that's how That's how it started. Yeah, that's so cool. I mean, I think, yeah, back then I wouldn't even be in that situation where people were like, I know someone could be married. Like that didn't happen for the next five years of my life. So that's really cool. I guess ah two more questions before Hot Topic. How would you describe your brand, your style, um just your whole business in general?
00:16:05
Speaker
Pardon this short interruption, but guess what? I have a new program. It's for all wedding professionals. It's called The Triple Threat. We redo your brand messaging, the homepage of your website. Part two is we do all your marketing. we create a beautiful brochure so you could start getting on Prefer venue vendor list and we do all your sales. So we actually make you a sales presentation leading your client to the heck yes, so you get paid. I have a free 20 minute demo training. It's only 20 minutes. Go to my Instagram at Carissa Woo.
00:16:45
Speaker
and DM me the word DEMO. I will send it right over. It's how to get 10 to 15 quality leads in your inbox per month. Enjoy, guys. Krista Wu is a LA-based wedding photographer who's actually turning business coach. She helped me grow and change, and I'm so proud to call you coach.
00:17:08
Speaker
tell us how you're feeling. Like, I want to just know a little bit more about your thoughts. Yeah, it's beautiful. And you're, you're awesome. It's beautiful. I'm speechless. I just like the fact that it feels like myself. like I can I feel myself when I see this. Oh, man. Well, you got me pumped and excited for this. Carissa, thank you.
00:17:29
Speaker
ah So I made up a term to describe how I am as a photographer. I call it creative a lifestyle. So what that means is I try to figure out who my couples are ah and what they what they are interested in and you know how they kind of identify as as ah as a couple or as a unit. And then I try to bring that out in in my work. So ah you know if they really like pickleball, I would say let's go shoot a pickleball session. you know Because I think that most sessions, or engaging sessions specifically speaking, um it's usually in a park or a beach because we have both, we have beautiful parks and beaches where we live in Southern California. um But to me, those are pretty typical. I don't i don't i don't get excited about them because it looks like everyone else's work. so
00:18:21
Speaker
I really try to find the nuances or the um just the things that make each couple different and I want to capture that somehow. So, um you know, for another example.
00:18:33
Speaker
If a couple love to go to Costco to shop together, then I want to go to Costco to photograph them like i um eating samples or something like that. so Yeah, I saw that, but you make it look so cool. You shot like Wong Fu Productions like at Target, right? Yeah. yeah so That was my favorite shoe and I was on your feed today and like you make like restaurants and like cool, like back alleys look really cool, which is the genuine emotion. hit hint We're gonna be talking about that. And also like the editing style and the different angles and poses and um yeah, it's just just such a vibe. So that's really cool. um One more question before Hot Topic. I sometimes ask this later, but I'll just ask this before Hot Topic, but like, how do you get your best heck yes, like from your dream client? What's your best heck yes technique?
00:19:26
Speaker
I think, ah well, most of my constellations now, they're all ah through video chats, because I never kind of went back into in-person constellations in pandemic. I found it to be easier. So um I do ask them more about themselves first. I'm like, ah tell me about you. And so I can feel further there for for the personalities. I really want to connect with them first, um just so I'm not jumping in and be like,
00:19:52
Speaker
Hey, this is who I am. This is what I do. Here are, here's what I like, or here are my rates. I want to be like, how did you meet and what do you guys enjoy doing together, et cetera, et cetera. And then after that, I do give them a kind of an example of how I.
00:20:09
Speaker
pose or direct my couples. I actually pretend that we're doing a 10-second engagement session through video chat. I'll say, okay, here's my camera, pretend like I'm going to take a picture, pretend we're out in a field or whatever location we choose, and then I start giving a sample of that. Once I see how I direct, they have a better understanding of why the Canon moments in my work look as candid as they do because it's not a sample. so that you know It gives them a different experience just from the initial conversation so that they're not just looking at just another face and just looking at work because I feel like I feel that a lot of clients have a hard time differentiating between work. It's easier for us, but to them, especially when they're shopping, it's going to be very overwhelming. So just something that that helps me stand out in that way. Wow, I never heard that before. That is really cool that you add added that in, a little sample of working with you. Okay, two little stories that come into mind.
00:21:18
Speaker
um back in the day, um we met up WPPI like my first year. um And I think that year you told me that you wrote down like different phrases to make your clients laugh. And I thought that was next level at the time. I do that now. um But I was like, what? Like, that's so crazy. That's so cool. This is you know, 15 years ago. And then another story is, I heard you to photograph me and my two daughters in your Boho home studio. And it's, you know, literally like the best photos of me and my daughters. And it was just captures everything, our personalities, the laughter, like Piper was super shy at that time. And she was like doing this little like,
00:22:04
Speaker
like, thing with her dress and like holding up her hat and I'm like, you brought that out of her and she was way crazy shy at the time. So um tell me about your hot topic and why is it so near and dear to your heart?
00:22:20
Speaker
ah My hot topic would be how to get my couples to feel comfortable. And you kind of brought it up already, which is like, I do have these prompts or phrases, ah things that I have my couples do to engage with themselves um so that they feel that they're having a good time. um I really want to create an environment that it just seems like we're We're already all friends and we're just hanging out together as opposed to, hey, let's I'm a photographer, you're my client, let's go somewhere and let's have this. like
00:22:55
Speaker
transactional experience. It's more like, hey, let's just go and take some pictures. so yeah so I'll set them up. I'll generally give them a basic pose just to start off with so they feel like they their body or their arms or hands have something to do. and Then I'll start asking them questions or phrases or something. so I'll say, on account of three, just tell me what your favorite food is.
00:23:18
Speaker
right so this works pretty much 100%. Whenever someone says something that they enjoy eating, i guarantee it it's guaranteed to make someone smile. Wow, I never tried that ever. so yeah I just say, well, tell me what your favorite food is. And sometimes they'll say pizza, sushi, whatever. But whatever, it doesn't matter what they say, they always smile afterwards. Interesting. So yeah, I gauge with him and asking personal questions like,
00:23:45
Speaker
um Yeah, so things like that, like food or, um you know, how they met. um But sometimes I'll borrow things from um the shoe game. I'm sure you've seen the shoe game where you have like where they say like, you know, who is the better driver or who is, you know, who is better at budgeting or stuff like that. So it's the count of three and who is a better driver. And you'll it's it's very fun to see what they say um because a lot of times they they may not always agree on the same answer, but it doesn't matter what they say, they'll always crack up or they always smile because it's funny. It's interesting. Yes. Every couple of years it's just busting up, like dying, laughing. and
00:24:33
Speaker
I think that's the great, not just on the engagement day, but the wedding day because people are a little bit more uptight. um So I'm sure they appreciate you just kind of setting the mood to be like, it's okay, just have a good time. Let your guard down. Yeah, I've had many people, well ah many of my clients after the session, they'll they'll they will message me and say, we didn't expect that this would be fun. And that makes me happy knowing that I can,
00:25:00
Speaker
It makes me happy because I feel that a lot of couples or people who are being photographed are going to go into with some level of anxiety or uncertainty or stress or whatever. I kind of equate it to going to the dentist. We all need to go. No one really enjoys to go most of the time.
00:25:18
Speaker
or ah not not everybody. Some people love get to to get their picture taken, but I think most people don't, they they feel some level of ah discomfort, right? So I'd tell my clients like, you know, you know taking pictures of me is kind of like going to the dentist, but you have a little bit of like laughing gas.
00:25:40
Speaker
Add that in there. And they may not understand be before the session, but after like during the session and after the session, i they'll they'll kind of understand um how I'm directing and in the dynamic. And then they they have fun, I would say, pretty quickly. Once they kind of figure it out, they they're they they any kind of walls they may have or any kind of levels of or any kind of signs of nervousness is diminished very, very quickly.
00:26:11
Speaker
That's funny that you compare yourself to a dentist. I was just listening to a podcast and they were saying like Kanye West was addicted to like laughing gas and he spends like 50K on it a month. that I don't know if this is true, but I was like, what? When you move that kind of money, I think you can get yourself anything. I didn't know you can buy laughing gas. Yeah, that's so interesting. Okay, so just in tips form, I would say tip number one is proms. What would tip number two be?
00:26:41
Speaker
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00:27:07
Speaker
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00:27:36
Speaker
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00:28:00
Speaker
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00:28:17
Speaker
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00:28:35
Speaker
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00:29:03
Speaker
And yeah, they are going to get your finances in order so you can continue to scale and succeed. Back to the show! I guess the...
00:29:15
Speaker
I do send them an engagement session PDF thing, and that helps them kind of set the expectations. right like it's ah It's a very basic styling guide, so they they don't go into a photo session with zero expectations, zero knowledge or anything. um Any kind of understanding of how it to get ready so I so i ah lay the groundwork by saying hey, this is um You know, this is your it's a PDF It's cousin that has her name on it and the hazard schedule and into this PDF and then with pictures of locations and then all these like
00:29:53
Speaker
different topics like, hey, like, you know, do you need to, should you get makeup and hair done or get session or like, what kind of things should you wear? Should you bring props? It kind of lays out all that. ah So they, that they know, all right, like what they need to do. And then going into the session, session I'll say like, Hey, this is what's going to happen. Like, I'll kind of pose you or else kind of find a good spot. And then i'll I'll give you guys a basic post, I'll give you guys a prompt, and that's going to be like what we're doing the whole day. so They are ready to go, they know what the expectations are. ah so Just the prep work, the pre-production stuff is something that I emphasize on and I make sure that I send out to my clients so that they're set and ready to go. Yeah. I like how you personalized it with the needs and the ah schedule.
00:30:46
Speaker
that is That's pretty cool. I think they'll feel really special in taking care of. um How about tip number three? ah Well, okay, tip number three. um I try to get my work done and edited as quickly as possible without sacrificing quality. um I'll send them sneak peeks a lot of times. And then i will after I send it to them, I will say, let me know if you have any feedback. like If something you didn't like, let me know. I'm talking about the engagement session.
00:31:20
Speaker
ah With with their wedding photos in mind afterwards, so say if you don't like something let me know that way I'm aware you know and and that way and so most time they don't say anything, but sometimes they'll say like Oh, like I, like I want, this is something I'm aware of now. Like we don't have a lot of pictures of both of our heads looking at the camera because they're kind of like more traditional posing. And I know I don't do that a lot, but I do ah make sure now with all my clients, I at least have one photo of both ah the bride and groom or the the bride and bride or groom and groom.
00:31:54
Speaker
looking at the camera just so we have that. It helps me learn as well too. Most of the time in our field, we're on one side of the camera. I'm not on the other side of the camera very often. So it's kind of hard for me to know sometimes what my client needs.
00:32:12
Speaker
um So I'll ask them, like you know how was your experience? like What did you think and anything you didn't like? So that was going through. Eric, I'm going to steal all these tips. This is so good. I love it because instead of just being like, here's your sneaks, like you're asking an open-ended question um because you know I look at reels and then people always make those reels where like they send the sneaks and like they hear crickets.
00:32:38
Speaker
And they're like waiting, waiting, waiting. So this really helps them, you know, hey, give me some feedback, good or bad. So I love that. And this is so random. But something in my 15 years of wedding photography, and I wanted to share was, I've always kind of been awkward about leaving the wedding. I'm either like, kind of over it and tired. I just want to go home. Or I'm like,
00:33:05
Speaker
Like, I love you. And it's always been a little bit weird. like Sometimes it's 30% of the time it's awkward. um But I say this one line now, and it works every time. But before, or right when I'm going to leave, I say, how was your experience today? And then they kind of light up, like no matter who they are. And they go, oh, we had such a great experience with you. And then I kind of just,
00:33:32
Speaker
Say, wow, thank you. you know Congratulations. It was such an amazing day. But just that one phrase like eliminated all my awkwardness. like I was like, what do I say? Do I hug this? do it but you know like um it's It's like this weird like banter of like do I like keep the conversation going? Do I peace out? So yeah, it's just like interesting the things that we pick up along the way after being in the industry for so long.
00:33:57
Speaker
ah was something I guess I'll share what I say to my couple at the wedding. um i'll say like um you know I'm about to head out. I just wanted to see if there's anything else you want me to take pictures of. I covered everything that I normally do. um and ah And if they say, no, it's totally great, then I will proceed to say like, I'll give you some sneak peeks tomorrow. And then the rest of the photos will be due like in a week. um Sorry, not in a week, but a month. Yeah. I'll try to say kind of quickly because depending on their level of sobriety, I try not to talk too much. Exactly. asks too much because they probably won't remember. exactly or there's there's just so I just saw them like just a few things. um i think it's I think it's really great that you ask for their how their experience was. I think I would probably ask them in an email or something after the wedding so that I would probably be able to get like ah a fuller answer because I don't know how much they can be able to say.
00:35:03
Speaker
you know If you're if you're trying to you're trying to give a good, candid answer, yeah you know I think that would be tough. But I do like that too. So I'm going to take some. its turkey Yeah, it's working for me. um Any last words about this hot topic before I just start asking you random questions?
00:35:22
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's really important to for for me to make sure my clients are comfortable and we get candid moments because I've seen a lot of work out there with really awkward posing, unnatural like stiffness and um fixed miles. or it it almost seems like Sometimes I see pictures where it looks like the couple don't even like each other.
00:35:45
Speaker
It's almost like a first date shoot or something. There's no level of ah intimacy or comfortable comfortable comfort, I guess. yeah and and so That's why it's really important for me to make sure my couples are ah comfortable and having a good time.
00:36:02
Speaker
ah and Yeah, I think that would probably be the last thing I'd have to say about that topic. um Yeah, i've I mean I've been at at weddings and photographers like 45 degrees to your elbow and then you know like it's it's so stiff and I'm like I just I wouldn't want to be posed like that. It just feels so like you're a puzzle piece.
00:36:24
Speaker
yeah math equation so yeah look So I think that when you try to focus so much on the couple on their posing, that's what they're focused on. And so no one actually like has their hands in.
00:36:39
Speaker
um No one's, when you make them overthink about posing, that's what they're thinking about. So I break that up and I just say like, I'll give them a very basic loose pose. I'm like, this is kind of how I would start, however you end up is totally fine with me. But I'd make them talk to each other so that they don't, they get over the hump or they get over the idea of like you're supposed to be posing in a certain way. And then you start focusing on like, oh, we're just having fun again. And we're just going to be ourselves. So. Yeah. Yeah. Letting their guard down.
00:37:10
Speaker
Tell me, tell the audience about all like your travels around the world and what what were your favorite places to shoot at? I'm sure you have a ton, but just a couple. I think the most memorable destination wedding I had was in Bora Bora. This is over, this is 11 years ago, so it's been a while. um I've definitely had a decrease in in ah destination destination weddings, like in pandemic, sorry, but going back to the Bora Bora, like it was the dream Bora Bora wedding where you can imagine like, I mean, beautiful, clear water, like white beach sand or like white sand beaches.
00:37:55
Speaker
um like nice warm sunshine all the time, beautiful clouds. I remember this particular client, they had their small ceremony in a over the water bungalow and the aisle was basically like this underwater window into the ocean. So when you walk in the aisle or whatever, you can see water, I'm sorry, you can see fish swimming in the water.
00:38:22
Speaker
and Even crazier to think about was they had two ceremonies. I was only hired to photograph one of them. They hired another team to photograph the other ceremony. um So it's like that. Not all my clients are like this. Yeah, that sounds insane. They definitely had a pretty good budget for that wedding. And so that was one of them.
00:38:51
Speaker
um I think the next one, it was it was a very small, small ordeal, but just it was me, like that my couple, and then the efficient, which is the bride's brother in front of the Eiffel Tower at like 6am in the morning. um we We took some pictures and um everything was really great, but we only had maybe 10 minutes ah just to ourselves before the Chinese tourists came off the bus. background But 10 months it was enough for me to get at least a handful of pictures. um But I remember that bride had, she's Japanese. And so she had a beautiful kimono dress. And then she had her, her bouquet was like origami flowers. as You had to put this on the homepage of your website.
00:39:44
Speaker
You know, if it's not there, I probably should because it's so long ago. I feel like it may not be a good representation of my work. So there's a couple of Paris, Moribor, probably top two of the place. Yeah, that's that's crazy. Okay, one more question before rapid fire questions. I speak into the hearts of wedding professionals listening, but you know, you've been very successful in the wedding industry as a photographer. And I'm sure there's 1000 things that you do to you know, get to your level. But what would you tell someone today to get leads um and just make this happen? Photographers, I am so thrilled to announce my new sponsors Aftershoot, an AI editing company. They do AI editing, unlimited cropping and straightening. I am seriously blown away by the precision and five hours a week I get back in my life.
00:40:44
Speaker
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00:41:14
Speaker
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00:41:36
Speaker
Not exactly ah to get in leads, but I think finding a really good mentor would help. um I just filled out this ah ah just wrote this in an interview like yesterday.
00:41:48
Speaker
I think something that um I learned really fast on my own just through my craft, like just through practicing. But I think learning a business and developing business, I would have learned faster if I had a really good mentor. yeah like that So my tips to people who are starting out is if you really, really admire someone and they're local to you, and maybe not not even have to be local. maybe you can Maybe you can reach out to someone who are who's on the East Coast or you know someone like many states away, but it doesn't hurt to ask and reach out and say, hey, I'm so and so. I love your work. I've been following for a while. I was wondering if it'd be OK if I just pick your brain for a little bit. Who knows where that could go? um if If that's the case for someone as far away, then you know it might be a phone call. But if it's someone local,
00:42:39
Speaker
um Who knows, maybe... Like you, you know, you could be able to to follow them or shadow them on on shoots or assist them at whatever they need because ah the photographers who are busy, like, i'm you know, like such as yourself, I'm sure you can use an extra hand at something. it doesn't matter Exactly. Yeah. Just have an intern or something like it coffee or anything, especially since you, Carissa, you're your mom of two kids and you're doing so many different things. I'm i'mcri just a little bit of help ah in exchange for,
00:43:13
Speaker
some knowledge or experience, I think would be really good trade. So it's it's mutually beneficial. um So yeah. planning Yeah, that's a really good tip. and Just finding someone who can do that and that way you can you can save yourself a lot of ah trial and error, I think. Yeah.
00:43:30
Speaker
Not to dismiss like how much you've learned from trial and error, but i mean from when I started, I would have learned a lot faster or excelled faster if I didn't have to like try all these different things by myself. I would just say like you know these things are like the way to go or this is how I would do it. I would be be able to go into in one direction a lot faster.
00:43:51
Speaker
Yes, well said. and I love that. I think people will benefit from that answer a lot. All right, rapid-fire questions. You are engaged planning a wedding. What is your favorite, best wedding planning tip or hack?
00:44:06
Speaker
ah Excel sheets are my best friends. We have Excel sheets where we have but like we have at least I think eight to 10 different tabs, ah one for budgets, one for you know vendors. We actually have three budget like three budget ones and then we have guest list, like my my guest list or guest list that helps kind of put things into a organized fashion um so because weddings can be very overwhelming altogether in a way that's organized. it's a lot
00:44:39
Speaker
easier on my mind. And then breaking down tasks makes things a lot more digestible to do. So I guess that's tip number one. Another tip would, it does kind of help if you're in the wedding industry. Like we've been in the wedding industry for a while. Basically the vendors I'm hiring are my friends. I could be like, Hey, what's up? Can you like, I'm getting married. You already know that.
00:45:06
Speaker
Like do you want to work my wedding? yeah I kind of have to shamelessly ask sometimes because weddings are super expensive, especially in LA and anything I could do to like save money. um Of course. And I don't usually like to ask for discounts or and stuff like that, but I've been asking them like left and right because so for sure um post pandemic weddings are extremely expensive. Yes.
00:45:31
Speaker
So those are so Excel sheets. Yeah. Okay. Um, best social media or marketing hat. Hmm. I, to be quite honest, I probably wouldn't be the best person to ask. You're a probably, you're, you're very good. at Um, I think something that I am at least good at doing or consistent in doing as I do post my, on my Instagram every couple of days.
00:45:57
Speaker
um And then just trying to find out which what time is it the best to post per day and what am I special? So I don't I usually don't miss a beat So I'll always like post because to my knowledge Instagram really values consistent posts um So I try to post pretty consistently every other day or so and And then something else I do is, uh, just to give myself some structure because I love structure nowadays, um, is each, each engagement session or each wedding that I shoot, uh, we'll have three posts per shoot or wedding and each post that we'll focus on a different aspect of that. I like that. Yeah. So, so that like, it also helps gives me more content. to huh So I'm not just doing one post per shoot because I'll run faster.
00:46:46
Speaker
One shoot will equal three, at least three posts. That kind of breaks it down and makes it and makes it easier for me to work with, plan, and post. Yeah, I've been doing that too. That's really helpful. ah Last question before we tell anyone where to find you, but coachy question. um If you had a magic wand, where do you see yourself in like three months, 90 days, just top goals,
00:47:16
Speaker
ambition, how many weddings you want, how much you want to charge anything, just your vision for the next three months. Well, considering three months is just, it's still this year and it's not that far. I don't know that I, to be honest, I don't know that I have any definitive goals um within three months. um i i do so I still have some weddings that I need to finish out um in terms of editing and also to shoot. um Also, I've been doing some corporate events, so I want to make sure I'm balancing both.
00:47:48
Speaker
um and uh, wedding planning. Uh, so that's, I mean, three months from now, my goal is really just to make sure I manage each part of my, uh, like business and my life. Well, um, my wedding's next early next year. So I got to make sure that everything is like set, ready to go. So that's my goal. It's just three months just to maintain sanity and get my work done. Yeah. Good answer. And where can everyone find you and work with you?
00:48:18
Speaker
um I have a website, it's ericchen dot.com, E-R-I-C-H, don't forget the H, Chen, C-H-E-N dot.com. um My Instagram handle is the same, ericchen, E-R-I-C-H, C-H-E-N. That's pretty much it, website, Instagram, I keep it pretty simple. I didn't jump on the TikTok train, so those two should be fine. Yay, thank you for this conversation, it was so good. You're welcome, thank you for having me.
00:48:48
Speaker
Thanks for joining me this week on Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. Make sure to follow, subscribe, leave a review, or tell a friend about the show. Take a screenshot and post to IG. Tag me. Also, don't forget to download my free guide on how to become a lead generating machine. See you next time, wedding pros!