Photography Insights with Carissa Woo: Optimizing Workflow Efficiency and Automation Tools

[00:00:00] Carissa Woo: I'm not gonna have to like, you know, Photoshop their shirt that's got unloose or their lipstick on their teeth or their hair and their mouth because I already see it with my eyes. [00:00:10] ​ [00:00:10] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: [00:01:00] Carissa Woo stands out with her unique approach to wedding photography, combining a heartfelt connection with clients and an exceptional eye for detail. Her skill in using natural light brings out the best in every subject. While her focus on genuine moments captures the essence of each story. For us as photographers, she's not just a colleague, but a source of inspiration and education. [00:01:23] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Demonstrating the art of transforming wedding photos into narratives of light, emotion, and beauty. Carissa is also the host of the podcast, get a Heck Yes, which we recommend that you also give a listen to. Without further ado, here's my conversation with Carissa Woo. [00:01:41] ​ [00:01:44] Introduction and Embarrassing Photography Moments --- [00:01:44] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: What's up Carissa? [00:01:45] Carissa Woo: What's up Scott? [00:01:47] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I got a question for you before we dive into all of your workflows. What is your most embarrassing photography moment? [00:01:55] Carissa Woo: Oh. So I'm kind of more, I was more like, I'm [00:02:00] more of a, a aggressive photographer. I think I just wasn't trained and I was always like, take a 5,000 shots and. I just like have to get the shot and like it's all about my blog. And so pretty much I was snapping in front of the priest. So I went behind the priest, started taking some pictures, and in front of the whole, like whatever, 200 people, he said, do you mind. So me being kind of like stubborn, I just, I was so humiliated, but then I would kept snapping, you know? Like I would just like whatever. And then, so the whole night, the whole reception, everyone's like, do you mind? Do you mind? [00:02:43] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Oh, you become the du mind girl. [00:02:45] Carissa Woo: Yes. [00:02:45] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: girl? That's, oh man. That's one of those moments where you, you, I mean, maybe you didn't feel that way, but I would've like shriveled up and been like, [00:02:57] Carissa Woo: Yeah. [00:02:58] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: know, I, I would've felt so [00:03:00] tiny in, in that [00:03:00] Carissa Woo: Oh, I felt, I felt really, really dumb. [00:03:08] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Oh, [00:03:08] Carissa Woo: I used to embarrass myself all the time, but there's so many, like I was always embarrassed, and now I'm just like, I'm. So tough, tough skin. And if someone calls me out on something, I'll call him out on something too. Someone's like, his name is not brother, it's Jordan. And I was like, he's brother to me today. [00:03:27] Carissa Woo: You know, just like I didn't have that like whip before, you know? [00:03:30] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah. [00:03:31] Challenges of Remembering Names During Shoots --- [00:03:31] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I'm not remembering his name today. His name [00:03:32] Carissa Woo: Yeah. Not in my book. [00:03:35] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yep, yep. Yeah. I, I have a, I have a at the time where we're, we're recording this at the, at the end of the month, I'm record, I'm doing a family session and I asked the, the, the client, I was like, I'm not gonna remember all your entire family's named. [00:03:47] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: 'cause it's not like just the immediate family. It's like the grandparents and stuff like that. I'm like, I'm not gonna remember everybody's name, just. I didn't say that to to him, but I was like, can you tell me what your, what music or movies your kids are into so I can like, [00:04:00] load it up on my phone that's mounted on top of my camera and they can, you know, and, and he went into a whole thing on, on, on, on their names and stuff and I'm like, this is great, but also I'm not gonna remember it, [00:04:10] Carissa Woo: Yeah, [00:04:12] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: so It's all right. [00:04:13] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: It's all right. [00:04:14] Carissa Woo: totally. [00:04:15] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah. [00:04:16] Carissa Woo: Hey, you dad, mom, little brother, dog. [00:04:20] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Exactly, exactly. It's totally gonna be grandma and grandpa. Actually, they did have nicknames, so I'm gonna have to remember the, 'cause it's actually a surprise. I think it's a surprise photo session for the grandparents, so I'll have to remember their names, [00:04:32] Carissa Woo: oh, [00:04:32] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: that's, [00:04:33] Carissa Woo: that's awesome. [00:04:34] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah. It is, yeah. [00:04:36] The Importance of B-Roll and Behind-the-Scenes Footage --- [00:04:36] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: So let's dive into workflows. [00:04:39] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Now I want you to think when you, when you, when you have the camera in your hand. [00:04:44] What is one thing that you do for the photographic process that has saved you time? --- [00:04:44] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: What is one thing you do for the photographic process behind the camera that saves you time? [00:04:51] Carissa Woo: Oh my God. [00:04:55] Adopting New Platforms and Techniques --- [00:04:55] Carissa Woo: So I've been kind of a slow adopter on many things, many platforms like [00:05:00] Slow Adopter for Podcast, slow Adopter for, for TikTok and for Reels. When reels came out, I was like, I'm not gonna be a slow adopter. Like, I'm gonna be like on the forefront of this and learn everything I know. So, I guess is for with my phone, so I know exactly like I see a really interesting moment that happens on the day. [00:05:22] Carissa Woo: So I get really good B roll and if someone takes it from me like a second shooter, it doesn't come out right. I have to do it myself and it has to be like seven seconds and I'm like in their face out in good light. I almost direct even better with my phone. I'm like, give it to me baby, because I know this is going like on a reel, like on Monday. [00:05:45] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: So you have, you have camera in one hand and phone on the [00:05:47] Carissa Woo: Yeah, so that saves me like a ton of time because you know, people could completely overthink it and not post a reel for another month. But if you know exactly what you're posting and that like special moment [00:06:00] of anything that like kind of stands out from the day, then that's what's going on. The reel saves me a lot of time. [00:06:06] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Have you, have you ever thought about mounting your phone on your camera to get that B roll? [00:06:11] Carissa Woo: No, 'cause I don't need that much. It just, it is just, and I, I even tell the couple, I was like, I'm not just using my phone like this is, or this is all high res, like, don't worry. Like, and you're going on the re on Monday, you know, and people like get mad if I don't post them on the reels. Like someone dmm me like, oh, we, we got no love on your Insta. [00:06:32] Carissa Woo: Like, that's messed up. And I was like, oh my God, I totally forgot like. [00:06:37] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: It's, it's, that's funny that people get. So upset over something like, like to me that's like, not like, I don't know. I wouldn't imagine one of my clients getting so, so upset over it, but I guess, I don't know. That's interesting. That's [00:06:52] Carissa Woo: not seeing yourself in the, like, not seeing yourself in the yearbook. Like, Aw, [00:06:56] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: yeah. Yeah. I guess, I guess, I don't know. don't know, [00:07:00] but I guess I, putting myself in, in the client's shoes, I guess if, if, if the photographer I was hiring was doing it for almost every client, then yeah. [00:07:08] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: At that point, you know. But yeah. All right. All right. [00:07:13] Carissa Woo: a little five seconds of fame. [00:07:15] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's good. That's good to B roll, I feel like, or BTS, whatever you want to call it. I feel like that's always a good thing, especially these days for everybody to get, whether, even if it's a one thing per client like I, I tried to, now, I've been doing it lately where I've been mounting my phone on top of my camera. [00:07:34] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I wanna do something better. But right now, that's what I'm doing to, to. Ensure that I've got a good view and it's not in the way for me. Right. I don't if I hold it separate for me, like I like it more, but everybody has their, like I'm seeing a lot of people do the baseball hat with a GoPro clip to [00:07:51] Carissa Woo: Yeah, yeah. [00:07:52] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: so I don't know. Lots of ways to do it. [00:07:55] Carissa Woo: Yeah. [00:07:55] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: So moving on to the business side of things then. [00:07:58] What is one thing that you do for the business that saves you time or money? --- [00:07:58] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: What is one thing you do [00:08:00] for the business? That has saved you time or money and don't say Imagen. We will get to Imagen. [00:08:08] Carissa Woo: Let's see. You know, everyone's hopping on the ai, everything, you know, Imagen ai. I don't get paid for this, but I just signed up for now Site, NOWS. ITE and I mean, it's chat GPT, but it's hard to kind of study chat, GPT, like completely. You have to take like weeks and train it. So, this one, you know, I paid the price, which is not too bad. [00:08:37] Carissa Woo: And it asked me all these questions about my company. And then, yeah, it pretty much. Plan my whole content for the whole year. Even ask me like what my offer is. This is for my coaching my coaching business, so all my captions, you know, branding, sales, marketing, who I am as like a business coach and I'm just not one for words. [00:08:59] Carissa Woo: I [00:09:00] was, my sister's a writer. I'm the more visual person. So yeah, business side, like it came, came up with all my content and that take took a lot of my mental space. Even I'd be driving like. To Vegas with my family and like thinking of like my next caption, and it's like, why do I want to live my life like that? [00:09:19] Carissa Woo: You know what I mean? [00:09:21] Balancing Multiple Roles and Automating Business Processes --- [00:09:21] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah. That's interesting. So that's that's a, like a monthly or annual fee type of service. [00:09:27] Carissa Woo: Uhhuh. [00:09:27] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Okay. All right. That's, that's interesting. I'll have to check that out. For sure. As soon as we're done recording. [00:09:33] Carissa Woo: Yeah, it's like, it does a bunch of other stuff like lead magnets and email sequence and responses and email responses. And even you could post a video and say, oh, caption this. You know, it could say like, how much humor you wanted it, do you wanna be inspired? Do you want to have it educate? So a lot of features and I was kind of mind blown. [00:09:51] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: yeah, it's, that's how I feel about, so I use a tool for podcasting called Cast Magic, and I feel the same way that you do about [00:10:00] this, that I do with, with Cast Magic that like it is Chachi Bute, but they put it in the shell that just makes. Workflow with creating content around your podcast easier, right? [00:10:14] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: And it's not taking you outta the equation, but it's just making it easier. And it's not you to copy and paste things into chat, GPT, then copy and paste things back outta cha g pt and then that it's a, you know, it's a, I feel like companies that, that do these shells on top of, of chat GPT for a specialized thing are really useful, really useful. [00:10:34] Carissa Woo: I've been so like thankful recently, like I think the heavens for ImagenAI and you know, now site. It all happened to me the same time. So I went to vacation just for like a couple days this I last weekend. And normally I would have some sort of like small anxiety because it's like. I have to edit these small shoots or people want their sneak peeks and it's like, even though it takes maybe [00:11:00] two and a half hours of my time, it's still like I have to do it and I have to get that time no matter what to do it. [00:11:06] Carissa Woo: Even when we like get there, I'm like thinking like the first thing I do, I don't mind look at the view I like open my computer and then, you know, Imagen happened and like these captions, my Instagram was all automated. I like was so thankful I was in the pool with my kids. And I was like, I don't have to think about work or Instagram or what to say. [00:11:26] Carissa Woo: So I was like so thankful [00:11:30] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah, definitely, definitely. It's, it's, it's nice when tools be, are able to actually save you time and allow you to do things like swim in a pool [00:11:39] Carissa Woo: and not think about work. [00:11:40] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: and not think about work. [00:11:42] The Art of Editing and Getting the Shot Right --- [00:11:42] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Okay, so, so let's talk about Editing now. 'cause you've brought this up, but let's, let's again. Not Imagen yet. 'cause we will get to Imagen down the road. [00:11:48] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: But [00:11:48] What is one thing that you do for editing that has saved you time? --- [00:11:48] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: what is one thing that you do for Editing that has saved you time? [00:11:55] Carissa Woo: Huh, well, you gotta shoot in good light. [00:11:59] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Mm-Hmm.[00:12:00] [00:12:00] Carissa Woo: So I always shoot perfectly in shot. I don't wanna say perfectly, but I really try to screen the shot and get the shot because. I even tell clients, I'm like, get that trash can out. I am a mom of a mom of two. I don't wanna, I have no time to edit that out. Like, [00:12:17] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yep. [00:12:17] Carissa Woo: walking, stop them. [00:12:18] Carissa Woo: I have no time for Editing. Like, it is just kind of funny to me. I, I humor myself after 13 years of shooting weddings, you know, so I'm like I try to get it correctly. But I guess for. That would be my best Editing tip is to get it the shot right in camera because I'm not gonna have to like, you know, Photoshop their shirt that's got unloose or their lipstick on their teeth or their hair and their mouth because I already see it with my eyes. [00:12:46] Carissa Woo: So it's like, even like, you know, when you first drive, it's like you actually have to trust your eyes. It is kind of like that, like, use your mirrors because everyone's so scared, you know, like that you're so scared. You're just like, snap stop with like [00:13:00] focus, use your eyes, see what's happening in the shot, even if it takes a little bit longer, like it's gonna save you a whole lot of time. [00:13:06] Carissa Woo: Editing. [00:13:08] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah. Yeah, a hundred percent. There was we did an episode with Charm Pena a while back, and one of her tips was, it was similar in the, in the sense of get it right in camera, but she actually goes to the extent of of having her venues change out the light bulbs. To something that doesn't flicker in the way that it shifts colors. [00:13:31] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: And like, not many, I don't think many photographers can get away with that, but she does. She does. Yeah. And so that's the same thing. Like she doesn't wanna have to deal with fixing that color after fixing, you know, one light being dimmer than the other after, or whatever it might be. So she chase, you know, she gets it right in camera by makes the making the venue swap the light bulbs. [00:13:54] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah. [00:13:54] Carissa Woo: do something similar, like if the groom has a little. Pimple. I'll have one of the [00:14:00] bridesmaids like, go touch it up, because I'm like, I'm not going to zap that pimple in every shot, [00:14:05] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah. Yeah. I don't [00:14:09] Carissa Woo: like it's gonna be a pain in the butt. [00:14:11] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah, I definitely don't, definitely don't blame you. Now let's, let's shift into business for a second. Or, sorry, a different part of the business for a second. You, you've, you've photographed the session. You've called it, you've edited it now. [00:14:24] What is one thing that you do after a session that has increased business? --- [00:14:24] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: What is one thing you do after the session that has increased business? [00:14:30] Carissa Woo: Yeah, so I do send a lot of sneak peeks and I just don't want them, you know, I have anxiety. They like you, like you said, like in your intro of your podcast, but I don't wanna be like, have people waiting for stuff from me. So I send 'em like a ton of sneaks, like literally like 400 sneak peeks like that following week, which is crazy. [00:14:48] Carissa Woo: But I could do it in like an hour. But I send them like five. Pictures to their phone, like text message them and to their dms and they say, Hey, post these pictures and, you [00:15:00] know, tag me and the vendors. And then instead of them, like looking through all them, like, you know, which one should I post or should I post? [00:15:07] Carissa Woo: Or it's too overwhelming, or should I post the photos that my friend sent me? Or you know, just, it's just posting overloads. So this after the wedding, like your. Yeah, everything is hot. Like their bridesmaids are like in the market for a wedding photographer, the groomsmen people at their wedding, it's like their energy is up and they're ready to spend money. [00:15:29] Carissa Woo: So you want to have them be like, oh, like your photographer is amazing. You got these sneak peeks back like the following day, like [00:15:36] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah, that's, and you know, for years there's been photographers doing sneak peeks, but. Thankfully, now it's even easier. [00:15:44] Carissa Woo: Very easy. [00:15:45] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Okay. So, so related to to the business thing, I've got a question that I don't get to ask many guests. So thankfully I get to ask you about this. [00:15:55] Balancing Multiple Roles and Automating Business Processes --- [00:15:55] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: How do you balance being a successful [00:16:00] photographer, an author, a podcaster, and a coach? [00:16:05] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: You and a mom? [00:16:07] Carissa Woo: you just gave me more anxiety. [00:16:11] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: How, I mean, so I'm, I'm a dad of two and I, you know, I, I do, I do have my photography business. I do work for Imagen Full-time, and I do the podcast and I training at a karate school and I, I'm often thinking like, how do I have time for all this stuff? [00:16:30] Carissa Woo: Yeah. [00:16:31] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: So I'm wondering how you, how you, how you do it, because not, not only are you doing it, but everything that you do takes a lot of time. [00:16:38] Carissa Woo: Yeah. I'm not just like giving you a shout out because we're on the PO podcast, but my time was getting so thin. Where like every second was being like amounted for, and I would not edit my weddings, but I would edit all the sneak peeks and all the like, engagement sessions and portraits and family sessions. [00:16:56] Carissa Woo: But and I would just say like, oh, it's fine because I'm, [00:17:00] you know, chilling, watching a movie or listening to a movie while I'm Editing. But then I don't even have that time anymore because I'm like client facing podcasting, Instagramming. And I am. Doing all these sales calls. 'cause I have ad ads running to my new program, so I'm like, I really didn't have any time and I would be, it'd be miserable, like picking up my kids, taking them to dance. [00:17:23] Carissa Woo: I'm trying to like edit in between them trying to put like their ballet shoes on, their crying, putting on the bathroom, you know. So that's why I said I was so thankful to like Imagen for giving me back my time. But I guess for me it's just, you know, a juggling act and. I think I'm pretty, I've done this for the wedding thing for forever, so when I show up to wedding, it's kind of like I know what I'm doing. [00:17:47] Carissa Woo: Yeah. So it's routine. I actually say it's a break in my head when I'm shooting a wedding 'cause I could actually be doing one thing. So I'm like, this is a break for me. Like this is like, I am like in heaven right now 'cause we actually could focus. [00:17:59] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah.[00:18:00] [00:18:00] Carissa Woo: but you know, podcasting ha was hard in the beginning because you're like, like so nervous. [00:18:07] Carissa Woo: But now it's. Easier. And I set up a lot of workflows on like dodo and 17 hats and a lot of email sequences. My whole coaching lead generation, it's all automated. Thank you, ManyChat, and, you know, thank you Automation. Thank you. Flow desk. So yeah, I spent a lot of money to hire people to automate my business. [00:18:29] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah, that's, I feel like that that's where things always come back to. The busier we get, the more automations we need. And that's not to take away the personal touches, but just to make it more efficient for us to do everything we need to do and want to do. Well without taking up, you know, absorbing all the, all that time that we, you know, have to put into it, you know. [00:18:51] Carissa Woo: Mm-Hmm. [00:18:52] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: So many things to link to in the show notes today, in this [00:18:55] Carissa Woo: Oh, I know. I just said like a bazillion thing. [00:18:58] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah, you did. [00:18:59] Carissa Woo: You guys wanna be my [00:19:00] sponsor? Like get paid so I don't have to do photography anymore. [00:19:05] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Oh boy. Okay, so my favorite part of the show, pick a color. [00:19:11] Carissa Woo: Oh my God, this is so fun. Orange. [00:19:16] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yes. Okay. I think the last couple were green, so I'm gonna thumb through these and you're gonna tell me when to stop [00:19:24] Carissa Woo: Okay, [00:19:25] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: whenever you're ready. [00:19:26] Carissa Woo: stop. [00:19:27] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Okay. [00:19:28] The Impact of Fame on Privacy --- [00:19:28] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: My next question to you is, you pick this, by the way. What do you think one of the biggest cons of being famous would be? [00:19:43] Carissa Woo: Privacy. [00:19:46] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I can see that. I can see that. I feel like that that's become a, a thing even for those of us who are not famous. Just being on Instagram, being, having a podcast, being on YouTube. It's just a lot of the privacy, you [00:20:00] already give up a bunch of it, you know, in some fashion. [00:20:03] Carissa Woo: Yeah, and it's like, oh, you people are, random. People are DMing you, but, and you're like trying to answer their questions, but they're never gonna give you a dime, you know? [00:20:12] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah. Yeah. I, I'm, I'm, I I really try hard to separate my Facebook personal account from, um, business side of things and try to only approve people that I've actually met. Like, have some sort of connection with, as a way to like, keep the personal out of social as much as I can. You know, I can't not post on Facebook otherwise because my family wants to see what I'm posting, but, you know, like, but, but [00:20:45] Carissa Woo: That's intentional. I love that. [00:20:47] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: yeah, it's hard though. [00:20:48] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: 'cause sometimes I'm like, I really like that person, but we've never met, do I, do I add the person or do I not, you know, so I have to make decisions sometimes. But, [00:20:55] Privacy and Social Media Posting --- [00:20:55] Carissa Woo: Wow. I love that. [00:20:58] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: that's the. First [00:21:00] level of defense against against privacy, I guess [00:21:04] Carissa Woo: Yeah. Yeah. I've been pretty good at like, I don't post anything unless it's like. Like kind of on brandand for me, even with my kids, like, I'm not gonna post in the mall. Like it will, I will leave. It's like a really colorful, like, like pop of color or something, or like, I'm not gonna post where I'm at, like, hey, I'm at this festival or whatever, or I hang out with these friends. [00:21:27] Carissa Woo: It just, I used to do that. I'm like, it's so annoying. [00:21:31] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah. [00:21:32] Carissa Woo: To like think, oh, I have to post like where I'm at. So my mind is more like later gram. Like it's, if it's super cute and I have like a little story behind it and some sort of like tidbit, then I'll post. But yeah, I'm not gonna post like where I'm at all the time. [00:21:47] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I've noticed that speaking of malls, that a, a lot of malls have been getting very sneaky lately with putting up fun backgrounds. So like, not saying, Hey, take a picture here, but like, they're doing it so that [00:22:00] you think that's a cute picture. Put my kid in front of it, take a picture, snap it, put on, and now, oh yeah, wait, there's a hashtag hidden there, showing you where you are. [00:22:07] Carissa Woo: Yeah, like free people has a really cute wall. Like that pink wall in Mel Melrose, everyone went that, that's when Instagram was like blowing up. [00:22:16] The Influence of Social Media on Personal Life --- [00:22:16] Carissa Woo: I, I, I was very lucky to be on that wave, but you know, it was hard for me mentally. It's like you got so much attention on Instagram now. It's like. I barely get any attention, so I'm like, um, I have to like, automate everything. [00:22:32] Carissa Woo: 'cause is it, is it worth it? Like, you know, one post, if I spend an hour on it, like it would gimme all these like likes and praise and you know, now it's like three likes or whatever, [00:22:42] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Right, right. [00:22:44] Carissa Woo: but you still have to do it. You know what I mean? [00:22:46] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: yeah, yeah, yeah. You, you do, it's, it's the funny catch 22 now. [00:22:52] The Impact of Meta on Instagram --- [00:22:52] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: 'cause especially now that meta own, you know, controls, I mean, they have for many years at this point, but like, I. I feel like the algorithm for Instagram [00:23:00] was, was never great, but then it just went further downhill Once Meta took control of it, and you know, you got way less bang for the buck when it comes to, you know, how much effort you put into, into ig. [00:23:12] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: So now you have to find ways to, like many chat to get around certain things in order to make it more, more worthwhile. [00:23:20] The Power of ManyChat --- [00:23:20] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: so ManyChat was a game changer when that came out. Oh boy. I was a. Whoever created that was a very smart person. [00:23:27] Carissa Woo: Very, very, very smart. Like, even my students, I'm like, you gotta get a mini chat by tomorrow. Like, I'm gonna ho you on this. And they're just like, they don't. [00:23:39] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: One day they'll learn. One day [00:23:40] Carissa Woo: Yeah, it's not that hard. [00:23:42] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: yeah, yeah. I, and to me, like I love playing with. [00:23:47] The Importance of Workflow Tools --- [00:23:47] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: A workflow type tool, so like the dropping in things, if, if I do this, then I can have it do this, and then it can do this and branch off to here. I love tools like that, just like it makes my, makes my brain feel [00:24:00] good when I [00:24:00] Carissa Woo: Oh, interesting. I [00:24:01] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: play around with, with [00:24:02] Carissa Woo: I love your brain. It's so, it works in compartments. [00:24:05] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yep. [00:24:06] Carissa Woo: I am more of like a scatterbrain, like I'm probably opposite of you, like anti workflows, like work, work harder than rather than smarter, you know, like give the client everything, uh um, and you know, it's not the way to go. [00:24:21] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: But the, see, the interesting thing is though, like there's people that will do this what I like to do, but they do it with post-It notes, right? They'll map it all out. I can't, that would drive me bonkers. Like to me, I need to visualize it with a bubble and an arrow and like being able to like move it around how I want. [00:24:39] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Whereas a post-it note, I'm just like, I gotta write this and then I gotta stick it and then I gotta move it. And like. So I feel like I'm sort of a InBetween of like the left and right of, you know, of where, where you are, you know, [00:24:53] Carissa Woo: I love that. I love [00:24:54] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: you know. So the next question I have for you is a pretty intense one.[00:25:00] [00:25:00] Carissa Woo: Oh, [00:25:01] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: so I want you to look at your business, your photo, the photography part of your business from a 30,000 foot view down. And [00:25:08] Can you share an outlined breakdown of your workflow from lead to delivery? --- [00:25:08] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: can you please share an outline breakdown of your workflow from lead? To delivery. [00:25:15] Carissa Woo: oh. Huh. So if you guys don't know me, I'm a business coach, so I am all about like mastering the sales call, but so I get the inquiry and then I actually text them and really short text, but I try to hop on a 10 minute introductory call. And that's when they really get to know me and my personality, and I ask really cool questions. [00:25:39] Carissa Woo: And I say like, Hey, like, does your fiance want to be involved with the decision making process? Can we get on a Zoom call? I could show you an album. And then, um, I usually book on the call, the zoom call, 30 minute zoom call. I don't. Wanna do that whole like hour and a half. Like, I'm not gonna be your best friend. [00:25:58] Carissa Woo: I just want you to get good [00:26:00] photos and have us connect. And then we, I do the engagement session. We're all bonded. And then I have a call before the week asking really fun questions. It's about 30 minutes. Family dynamic, VIPs, timeline, shot lists, yada, yada. Get them hyped up, make them like, trust me even more. [00:26:20] Carissa Woo: Day of I shoot and then I send them, like I said, sneak peeks right away like that following Monday, get them outta my hair for about a month and a half, and I send the rest of my editor in the Philippines. I had her like forever. She's dirt sheep, but sometimes she takes longer. That's why I send all the sneak peeks. [00:26:38] Carissa Woo: Like I'm at her discretion of like her family and like her homework and her exams, you know, so, but I'm pretty much like feeding her whole entire family. And she sent it back. I upload or download the Smart Previews, send 'em the gallery, send 'em a little gift. Little USB sometimes they have an album included.[00:27:00] [00:27:00] Carissa Woo: And yeah, even though if they don't like the photos, they're like, thank you for the gift. Kidding. They always love the photos, but I like to end on like a note, like, Hey, keep in touch. And then, I used to be like, all about the blog. Like I say, my, my blog was like my first child. But I would like send them the blog post and, you know, be so proud and tag all the vendors, send 'em out, post 'em on the Facebook pages of like the venue. [00:27:29] Carissa Woo: I would get some clients that way. And yeah, that's pretty much it. And then you know, usually 98% of the time they're super happy. And usually we, they hire me for like maternity sessions and so forth. [00:27:44] The Role of Text-Based Communication in Business --- [00:27:44] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: So you brought up right outta the gate, you brought up that you text your client pretty, pretty fast to get on a, to get on a call. At the time of us recording this, I have a poll in the Imagen Community. By the time of everybody listening to this, the poll's already long passed, but the poll is [00:28:00] asking, what type of messagings systems do photographers. [00:28:06] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: You know, Imageners in the community, what type of messaging systems are they using to interact with their clients, whether it's SMS, whether it's you know, a LinkedIn message for, for, you know, corporate work, whether it's Instagram dms, whether it's WhatsApp for, not really in the US but mostly international. [00:28:23] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Things like that. So, is your, your main source of, of text-based communication? Is it text messages and email, or do you have anything else in between on a regular basis? [00:28:35] Carissa Woo: I Just text, like I don't have any special system. I've tried those like for my coaching business. But it's, it gets kind of pricey. [00:28:43] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Mm-Hmm [00:28:44] Carissa Woo: but then after I send the contract, they're put in the workflow through 17 hats. And they get like a automatic welcome email engagement, shoot tips, wedding tips, three month reminder, one week reminder tips and tricks. [00:28:59] Carissa Woo: And that's all [00:29:00] automated. [00:29:01] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah. [00:29:02] Carissa Woo: and any other automations. No, I'm very heavily like involved in the business. Like it's a lot of me, which is not a really good way to scale. But I'm trying to make a little bit more boundaries in my business, like next year where I only shoot six hours and the rest of the time, like my, my team will be there. [00:29:25] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Next year, like, 2024. 'cause we're re we're recording this 2023. So next year you're saying 2024. Okay. Just to, just to clarify. [00:29:32] Carissa Woo: if I could, if I could manage six hours, then maybe I could go down to four and just call myself like a wedding director. I, I found, you know, I'm very thankful I found this. It's very hard to find a really good associate photographer that is available and willing to put like your company first and as as good a you, as you. [00:29:53] Carissa Woo: And also knows off camera flash, you know? Like some girly girls could be like really good at posing because they're just [00:30:00] natural at it, but they're probably not gonna like know, like off camera flash right off the bat, you know? And some guys are like. You know, no off-camera flash. You're all geek geeked out on equipment. [00:30:10] Carissa Woo: But then as far as like the feminine side, like they kind of lack that like emotional side. So I found someone really amazing and I'm just like, hoping no one takes him. I'm like, like, [00:30:25] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Oh, [00:30:26] Carissa Woo: so, it's so hard to like replicate yourself. [00:30:28] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Definitely. I am, I'm, I'm in a way, I'm, I am fortunate that I don't have to worry about it because my photography is not full-time because it's, you know, on the side from, from Imagen work. Thankfully I don't. For my, for my own sanity. I don't need to worry about that, but I definitely feel your pain. [00:30:47] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: That is a, that is a, that is something that I've heard quite often. In fact, episode 30 with Michael Anthony, he even brought, brought that up of how hard it is to find, you know, associates. So I, [00:31:00] I feel your pain. I feel you're pain. [00:31:02] Carissa Woo: No one's gonna care. Like they're, you know, at max making six, $700 a, a wedding. And then, you know, a photographer could make their own 3, 4, 5, $6,000. Plus per wedding. So it's a big difference. So of course the owner's going to care more about the wedding. [00:31:20] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yep, yep. Yeah, that's for sure. So that's fantastic. Thank you for sharing that. I'm gonna move into something that you, you've brought it up when you talked about now site. And I'm wondering in addition to that. [00:31:33] The Future of AI in Photography --- [00:31:33] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: What does the future of AI in photography look like to you? [00:31:40] Carissa Woo: I feel like photography is so much of a human connection, so I feel like we are pretty bulletproof in that sense. You know, you can make yourself look like you're in Jamaica or Japan, but does doesn't mean anything to me 'cause I wasn't there, you know? [00:32:00] I feel like, you know, you kind of need a friend there holding your hand, so I think that could never like replace us. [00:32:08] Carissa Woo: So AI is just going to. Make it easier for photographers. But with that said, you know, supply demand, it's gonna get like more photographers or, you know, we have to charge cheaper, but then we're gonna add like more cool stuff at the air and make more money. So it just like that constant like, level leveling of everything. [00:32:26] Carissa Woo: So, and I guess to answer your question, I think AI is not going to, I, I think it, it's more gonna help us than hurt us for sure. [00:32:35] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I think so. I think so as well. That seems to be the, the common trend when I ask that question to everybody that, that it's scary at times. You know, there's certain things where you, like, in the back of your mind, you get a little worried, but at the same time you're like, yeah, that fake wedding, that AI generated, it's nothing. [00:32:56] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: It's not gonna hurt you, you know? But I do think, and I brought [00:33:00] this up as well in the past, is I think there will be the handful of people in the world where an AI generated wedding could be really valuable for them if they, for whatever reason, literally could not have a wedding, whatever that reason might be. [00:33:16] Carissa Woo: interesting. [00:33:17] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: You know? So I think in those cases, if somebody could generate a wedding for $50. Like might as well have it versus not having wedding photos at all. 'cause you didn't have an actual wedding, [00:33:29] Carissa Woo: I think he just made up like a, a movie pre premise, [00:33:33] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Probably, [00:33:33] Carissa Woo: script right there, because it is kind of like that fake wedding. Like, oh, I, I want my mom to think I got married, like a made up like scene. It's just like, boom. Paid. Photographer, whatever money [00:33:46] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: the show runner? [00:33:47] Carissa Woo: Yeah, exactly. [00:33:49] Carissa Woo: We had a wedding with without you and I'm happily in love, [00:33:55] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Um, okay, so we're gonna touch now on something that you've tried to [00:34:00] bring up a couple times. [00:34:01] How did Imagen impact your life? --- [00:34:01] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: How did Imagen impact your life? [00:34:06] Carissa Woo: so, so I actually reached out to Imagen when I started doing like master classes and because you guys are like blowing up and it was. A year ago, and I would do like lies with them to, you know, kind of use the word leverage, you know, leverage your audience and my audience, yada, yada, yada, what you learn in the coaching world. [00:34:25] Carissa Woo: And I, I didn't hop on the bandwagon. But then, you know, recently my friend Benny Chiu was on my podcast and he literally told me it saved his Thanksgiving. [00:34:38] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: It did. It did. [00:34:40] Carissa Woo: Yeah. And then I went to wedding MBA in Las Vegas, big convention, and I went to AI conference and I promised myself I would try it and then Caroline Tran posted something about, you don't even have to upload like your 50,000 or whatever, a thousand Imageners anymore. [00:34:57] Carissa Woo: So that was, that's a thing that was kind of gate keeping [00:35:00] me. I was like, ugh. You know, like the. Time type of aspect, even though it's gonna save me time, but that's gonna take me a while to learn something. But she's like, oh, you just could like, you know, put in one preset and then put, you know, this is called Imagen Light. [00:35:14] Carissa Woo: And then, so that's kind of what sold me. And then first, first try out the bat like, 'cause I told you I deliver so many Imageners, so 333 photos for a family shoot. 'cause I'm a fri maniac when I shoot, I'm like. Crazy, like doing poses every like millisecond edited in like literally a click of a button. [00:35:35] Carissa Woo: And I was like jumping up and down like I won the lottery and it, and it cold and, and it it straightened and cro it too. So that was [00:35:43] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Mm-Hmm. [00:35:44] Carissa Woo: because even though I would always say, yeah, it's easy, like, it's like brainless to me, but it still like takes time. [00:35:52] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah. [00:35:53] Carissa Woo: You know, click, click. Click, click next 300 times.[00:36:00] [00:36:00] Carissa Woo: That's like an hour. [00:36:01] What does the future of AI in photography look like to you? --- [00:36:01] Carissa Woo: So, [00:36:02] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: yeah, my, my my, one of my favorite lines of, from someone who's, who's you know, fallen in love with Imagen and what it has done for his wedding business. Is that his favorite? You know, edit now on all of his photos is the next button. [00:36:18] Carissa Woo: oh, I. [00:36:19] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: it. So, [00:36:20] Carissa Woo: It is amazing. Like I told you, I've been so thankful these past couple weeks. It's just given me so much time because even listening to their podcast or like me being on a fricking podcast, I would be like, oh crap, like, I have to edit this session or, or send these sneezes, or I have, I have to get upstairs and start Editing. [00:36:36] Carissa Woo: Like I don't have that feeling anymore. [00:36:39] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah, it's great. It's great. By the time that this episode is out. So will a feature called Smooth Skin will be out as well. So, Smooth Skin is a feature where, similar to our, our subject Mask feature, where we will actually, you know, select the subject and edit the subject separate from the background with using [00:37:00] a brush Mask. [00:37:00] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: And you could even control what edit you want done to the subject. Smooth Skin will actually select just the skin of your subject and will soften. Smooth the skin with two built-in like versions. There's standard and bold. And then you can also control what, you know, the, the, the dial, the Settings for the, the Smooth skin if you wanna do a custom level as well. [00:37:24] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: So, that will be out or is out now for when this episode airs. So that's, [00:37:30] Carissa Woo: We're talking in Futur. Yeah. [00:37:31] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: We're talking. Yeah. Yeah. It's a little, little tricky. A little tricky to talk about it 'cause. Technically it's coming out in like a little over a week from when, when we're recording this, but now everybody's listening in 2024, so, a little strange. [00:37:45] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Anyway, so, so that is a, that's a really fun thing that now a lot of photographers can utilize in their work as well and not have to you know, go into Photoshop or do all that work in Lightroom. They can just do it with a click and, you know, perfect for newborns[00:38:00] [00:38:00] Carissa Woo: Yeah, that takes a lot of time. I'm excited for that feature for sure. [00:38:04] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yep. I just photographed my baby nephew who's now a little over a month. [00:38:07] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I just photographed his newborn photos and I'm like, I can't wait till Smooth skin is here so I can just rerun 'em and not have to go in and do the crusties on his for it. [00:38:20] Carissa Woo: yeah, the baby, the baby tones and the skin is really tricky. [00:38:26] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yep. Yep. Totally. Okay. [00:38:29] Closing Remarks and Contact Information --- [00:38:29] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: So, this has been fantastic Carissa. Thank you so much for, for, for joining me. Where can listeners learn more about you, connect with you and of course, see your incredible photography. [00:38:41] Carissa Woo: Check me out. Too bad this goes going live too late, but. Scott will be already on my podcast, it's called Get a Heck. Yes. It's a podcast for all wedding professionals and check it out, and you can find me on the gram at Carissa Woo. [00:38:58] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Awesome. I will [00:39:00] definitely link to our episode on your podcast in the show notes for this one, so that way everybody who's listening can go check that out as well and check out your other episodes, especially Benny's. I love listening to Benny's. You know, and I have to give him so much credit because as you guys talked about in the beginning of the episode, he does not like doing podcast type things, and you can tell in the way he was talking of how. [00:39:24] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Nervous. He was getting and shy in that sort of environment, but he pulled through and he shared a lot of really good stuff. So I'm proud of him for doing that. So Benny, if you're listening, [00:39:34] Carissa Woo: not like that, like on real life, [00:39:36] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: right? Right. Yeah. Yeah. So, so Benny, when I met Benny, I met him. I don't remember if I met him at Imagen first, or I think it was WPPI when I met him at first in 2023. [00:39:49] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: And he came to the booth. Christine Tremoulet was already, you know, already knew him. He came to the booth and I knew he was working in the booth, but I met him for the first time there [00:40:00] and I think he spent the whole day with us and was talking to everybody who came to the booth. And and he was fantastic at, I think hopefully he does it again at 2024 WBI, which we'll find out. [00:40:12] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: But but yeah, so yeah. Yeah, I really like Benny. Well. Carissa, thank you again for, for joining me. Thanks for, for sharing all of your insights. Everybody's listening or watching. Please be sure to check out Carissa's website, check out her coaching, check out her photography, check out her podcast. [00:40:29] Carissa Woo: Thank you, Scott. [00:40:30] ​ [00:40:30] [00:40:43] ​ [00:41:00]