Optimize Your Photography Workflow with Creative Travel Tips with Zac Wolf

63 === ​[00:00:00] [00:00:13] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Zac, I am really,~ uh,~ excited to, to, to talk with you today about,~ um,~ all the things, workflows of what's going well, what's not going well, what you're looking to improve and whatever else winds up coming up in this conversation. How you doing? [00:00:29] Zac Wolf: I am doing good. I'm enjoying a nice 70 degree floor today. [00:00:32] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: So jealous. So jealous. We'll get, we'll get there here in New Jersey sometime in the next month, [00:00:39] Zac Wolf: Yeah. And then I'll be, I'll be begging you to let me come stay with you while it's 200 degrees here. [00:00:45] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: And, and super humid. Yeah. ~Uh, ~now's, now's the time to go down and visit Florida in like a month or two. It's a time you want to get outta Florida. [00:00:54] Zac Wolf: Yes, exactly. [00:00:55] Mobile Workflow in Photography --- [00:00:55] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: So,~ um, ~so.~ Um, ~I, I'm excited about this. ~Um, ~[00:01:00] the, we're gonna dive right into the first thing that you say is working well in your,~ um,~ in your photography business. And what I really like about what you shared with me is that, well, you also shared about this a little bit in the Imagine Community. ~Um, ~so. ~Uh, ~let's, let's talk about this mobile aspect. Can you, can you share this idea of mobile working really well in your workflow? [00:01:31] Zac Wolf: Yeah, so the big thing that's changed for me, we moved, we were, I was based in Boston, lived there for 15 years, moved to Orlando about three years ago now. ~Um, ~so I've been traveling a lot, whether it's for weddings, event photography, or also we have a photo booth company that we do head shots with. ~Um, ~so I'm on the road a lot. Last year I flew 66 times. ~Um, ~so being on the road so much, I was really like, I wanna prioritize my time at home. I want to be at home rather than be, be on my computer working. [00:02:00] So the thing I really committed to. Was trying to work as much as I can on flights. You know, people watch movies, people do whatever. I have a steam deck. I use it every once in a while. But if I could get most of my work done on a flight, that's my goal. ~Um, ~'cause then when I get to be home, I get to see my friends. I get to go to theme parks, I get to play with my dog, whatever. ~Um, ~so the big thing for me was imagine being able to do my culling, do my editing, you know, rather than outsourcing it like I was previously and then figuring out like optimizing. Literally everything, whether it be simple stuff, like my toiletry bag is always packed. I never have to pack it. Like it's just I have two of everything. [00:02:40] Using AR Glasses for Work --- [00:02:43] Zac Wolf: Two, the more extreme stuff which I shared in the community, which involves wearing AR glasses on planes, which is a huge difference. You know when when Apple Vision Pros came out, I really wanted them because I was like, that's sick. You can work on a giant screen anywhere, but. [00:03:00] It was $3,500 or whatever it costs, and then you need a battery. It's a whole thing. And then I was able to get my hands on these guys. [00:03:14] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah, [00:03:15] Zac Wolf: with A-U-S-B-C cable, I'm able to pop these [00:03:18] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: share the, the, the, the, the name of them, just so anybody who's not watching [00:03:22] Zac Wolf: They're called [00:03:23] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: we'll, I'll, I'll include the link in the show [00:03:25] Zac Wolf: Yeah, they're called X reel glasses. And they look. A little crazy, like it looks like you just got your eyes dilated, but I still think it's less crazy than the Apple vision.~ Um,~ [00:03:37] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yes. I, I, I think it's a very different look. One is,~ um,~ futuristic. Look, Le Apple Vision Pro is a very futuristic looking. These are, I don't even know how to explain it. It's more like, like if, if, if,~ um,~ almost, and I hate to say it, but almost like a blind [00:04:00] person, sunglasses that are just. Over overly big, really dark, tinted,~ um,~ so you can't see the eyes at all, which is obviously for the screen aspect, they, they should be tinted, but [00:04:12] Zac Wolf: Exactly. And you know what? Like after traveling so much. I kind of don't care anymore about looking cool. You know, like it's just like whatever is gonna be easiest, and like no one is judging me on this plane. They're in their own world and I'm [00:04:28] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: you know what's funny? [00:04:28] Zac Wolf: of them again. I. [00:04:29] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: You know what's funny about that is that I would almost guarantee and tell me if this has ever happened. ~Um, ~you're on a plane and you're wearing them and somebody taps you on the shoulder and, and interrupts you and says, what? Those are funny looking sunglasses. What, what is, what is going on? And then you explain, you let them maybe try it and they're like, okay, that's cool. You know, like, it might look funny until they get their hands on. And then they, then it makes sense of why [00:04:55] Zac Wolf: Oh yeah. There's, there's so many uses for them. I wish I was sponsored. I'm [00:05:00] not sponsored. They don't know me, they don't give me anything. But like literally, we had friends fly down to bring their daughter to Universal and she was really excited about the rollercoasters and she was like, but like, what do they do? And we're like, I put on POV videos while she was wearing the glasses. And so she felt like she was there and she was fully prepared. When we took her to Universal, she was like, okay, this rollercoaster does this. I'm ready. And I was like. Great. So [00:05:27] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: They only plug into a laptop or [00:05:29] Zac Wolf: it's USBC. It's anything. So I've done it phone? steam deck. I assume you're like Nintendo Switch or whatever. [00:05:37] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Mm-hmm. [00:05:37] Zac Wolf: It's wild. [00:05:39] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: That's cool. ~Um, ~okay, so just to, just to get, get it, get this straight, you're, you're in a hotel. You, you just went somewhere for a wedding. You shot the wedding, you're in your hotel. You sent it to a match to Cole to edit. Next day or that night, whatever it is you're hopping into back on the plane. You've, you've already got all your stuff [00:06:00] packed. You're very efficient with your packing because you travel a ton and,~ um,~ you get right on the plane, you sit down, you put on these glasses and what is happening now? Like, what are you doing on these glasses while on the plane? [00:06:15] Zac Wolf: ~Um, ~doing a second round call, like imagine does an incredible job of giving me that first run through, and then I go through and fine tune it. You know, the first thing I'm doing after a wedding is getting sneak peeks out. But I still let imagine do that first run and then I go through, you know, however many it left me with and then I'm really knocking 'em out. Like I am big on the loop mode on Lightroom. So if you select multiple photos, you hit n you, that way you're able to kind of pick and reject while looking at it next to each other. ~Um, ~and it does a nice thing where it's like you have six photos, you cross one out, they all get a little bigger, you cross one out, they all get a little bigger. ~Um. ~And I just try to grab ones that's like similar situations, similar scenarios. And I don't cull linearly [00:07:00] anymore. I just jump around. I just truly am just like, let's see what's easy to cull out real quick. And then I'll go through with a fine tooth comb. And then my third round of culling is like putting it into a collection, organizing it the way I want the gallery to look. And that really helps because then you're like, okay, all the details are together rather than. Them being spread out throughout the day. 'cause you might have shot the room in the morning but then shot the play settings later. But those should be next to each other in the gallery. So seeing them next to each other really helps find like, finally go through that. And then I run it through my edits and like, I rarely have to do much else. Like very fortunately, I go through everything just because, you know, just to make sure. And I make my own black and whites. ~Um, ~but when I'm ever converting to black and white, I always make a virtual copy so the client is still getting the photo in both color and black and white. After years of people being like, Hey, can I get this one in color?[00:08:00] I was just like, Yeah. lemme just give you everything color. [00:08:03] Travel Tips for Photographers --- [00:08:03] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Right.~ Um, ~before we move on to the next thing that's going well, I, I, I'm curious,~ um,~ as somebody who does travel a lot, what is a travel tip that you would share with photographers that,~ um,~ you wish that you knew before you started traveling in the volume that you're doing? [00:08:20] Zac Wolf: So very early on I learned this lesson the hard way and that do not leave your stuff in a car. ~Uh, ~I was on my, I was in Miami to photograph a good friend of mine's wedding, and I stopped for lunch. And someone came in and goes, Hey, anyone who's packed out, who's parked out back, someone just broke into all of your cars. So an hour, two hours before a wedding, I had all of my gear stolen. And that's why I keep everything on me at all times. And so that's, that's my advice is like. Even if it's inconvenience, exercise, caution. You know what I mean? It's so [00:09:00] stu, it's so annoying to bring all my camera gear into a restaurant, but whatever. It's so much more annoying to have to find camera gear in an hour. [00:09:07] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah. That's a, it's a, it's also a good reason to do your absolute best to consolidate into.~ Um, ~wheeled draggable items like storage and or wearable storage backpacks slings and good roller bags that you can yourself carry everything,~ um,~ if you are by yourself. Right? [00:09:29] Zac Wolf: Exactly. I'm, I'm a backpack and a sling bag guy. That's all I go to weddings with. I don't do light stands. I don't do tripods. [00:09:36] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: so you're, you're a. Your,~ uh,~ strobes. You do, you do strobes. You do like bounce, bounce, [00:09:44] Zac Wolf: I'm all on camera. Flash. [00:09:46] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Interesting. Okay. [00:09:48] Zac Wolf: the times I go off camera with the new pro photo flash, the little wireless thing I do, handheld a bunch. ~Um, ~really inspired by like some of the, the bigger like paparazzi type photographers that are going now, [00:10:00] like strange victory. I don't even know his real name, but he's, he's my favorite. His stuff is incredible and like seeing the way that off-camera flash really gives a really cool look without being like, here's the direct flash everyone is doing. I love it. [00:10:16] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Nice. ~Um, ~strange victory. Ena Nai, [00:10:21] Zac Wolf: Cool. [00:10:22] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: that's the name [00:10:23] Zac Wolf: Dude's incredible. His, his stuff from the Oscars over the weekend. It's just like, how, how are you so good? Like it's easy to take photos of beautiful people. You know what I mean? I see all these, like, these photographers in California with like model couples and perfect light, and it's like, cool. Are you. Are you good or are you just photographing beautiful people? But like he takes this art of photographing beautiful people and like does something interesting with it, you know? [00:10:48] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah, yeah. It, it's, it's always nice to see when people have like this absolutely perfect situation and then they take that perfect situation to a whole new level. I. ~Um, ~so it's really nice to [00:11:00] see. ~Um, ~let's, let's dig into the second thing that's been going well in your workflow. ~Um, ~and I know that we, we've sort of briefly touched on it. ~Um, ~I don't wanna talk too much about imagine, but you did mention outsourcing automation. [00:11:12] Outsourcing and Automation --- [00:11:17] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: What else in your business are you outsourcing? Are you automating to help make it,~ uh,~ your workflow, your systems, and your processes just more efficient? [00:11:21] Zac Wolf: Yeah. The big thing kind of on computer end is I like. Use a lot of,~ uh,~ text expander, which is like, instead of typing my email, something simple, I just type in like semicolon em, and that fills in my email. And then from that small version, all the way to full email responses, you know, when I am, when I have, like, I send the same email to every couple, you know, after the wedding, but I have it, so I could just type in a couple letters and it's like, here's what it is, and I plug in the stuff that needs to be custom and then it's done. You know, everything like that's. Something that saves minutes, but those minutes add up like [00:12:00] after 15 years, if I'm saving, you know, 10 minutes a month. So it's 120 minutes a, a year. So 120 times 15, like that's a lot of time. ~Um, ~so stuff like that,~ um,~ like I said before, I was outsourcing, but integrating AI into my systems has really, really changed that not, and the quality is, you know. Is more consistent than it was with people because it's a i, an AI that I trained. ~Um, ~and I don't have to wait three weeks for it to get back to me. So it's like if I'm running late and don't start working on a wedding until, you know, a week before it's due, I'm good. No problem. So that's really, that's been really nice. ~Um, ~you know, other stuff that's like automating is just like stuff like better touch tool, just like truly taking the dumb little stuff and figuring out ways to do it smarter. ~Um, ~it's, it's one of the nice things my wife says about me. She's like, you're really good at figuring out when to make your life easier. I'm like, it's out of laziness. Like, like truly [00:12:58] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: mean, at least it's [00:13:00] true. That's, [00:13:00] Zac Wolf: It. [00:13:00] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: that's part of. I could definitely see that for myself as well. Part of it is, is,~ um,~ I'm tired of doing this over and over again. ~Um, ~you know what? I have three hours. Let me just figure out if I can automate it. If I can. I just saved myself, you know, excess amount of time. If I didn't, oh, well, [00:13:20] Zac Wolf: my, my great recent accomplishment is pixie set doesn't allow you to mass remove tags from galleries. And I was like, reorganizing my, my galleries and stuff and trying to go back in and I was like, I need to completely get rid of this one tag. And then I figured out a way to hit one button on my keyboard. The mouse moves to a certain spot, clicks it, waits two seconds, moves to another spot, clicks another thing. So I went through like 200 galleries in like 10 minutes [00:13:49] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Nice. [00:13:50] Zac Wolf: while I was like watching a TV show on my other monitor. You know? And it's like, it's stuff like that, like the, the, the part of the business that needs you is the [00:14:00] creativity, is the interaction like. File management should not be taking up that much of your time. It should be automated. You should be, when you import, it automatically imports to two places. It automatically does certain things and that way there's no human error. You know, it's you. I meet photographers when I'm like mentoring and stuff and they're like, yeah, I just, you know, I shoot, you know, a bunch of small cards in case one goes corrupt. And I'm like, but what's more likely you lose an SD card? Or an SD card goes corrupt. And the answer is human error. Because especially if you're a professional and you're shooting on a two camera, a two card camera, if one goes corrupt, you're still good. [00:14:42] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yep. [00:14:43] Zac Wolf: So [00:14:44] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: ~Um, ~the, the i the idea of it importing into multiple places,~ uh,~ is a very,~ uh,~ very big thing for me that,~ uh,~ as somebody who, who gets,~ uh,~ anxiety [00:15:00] from potential loss, 'cause I've had the loss in the past. ~Um, ~you know, so I have, I have mine, my Lightroom, it imports directly to an SSD. I use carbon copy cloner, which immediately has the same SSD,~ uh,~ literally. So I have one attached to one monitor in the back, one attached to the other monitor in the back,~ um,~ hidden because again, just like to have things neat and tidy when I can. ~Um, ~and so it's, it's,~ um,~ carbon copy CLOs immediately when it sees that the, the, the, the import is done and like the drive is silent, so to speak. It clones the, the SSD to the other. So it's, it's up to date, but then I have it, as soon as I turn on a raid that's like a foot away carbon copy, Cloer starts cloning that to the SSD to that, and then Backblaze is running in the background. So it's like immediately I have this redundancy happening over and over and over again. [00:15:54] Zac Wolf: And those SSDs, yeah, and those SSDs are more reliable than just keeping your SD [00:16:00] cards in a little envelope. [00:16:01] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah. Yep. [00:16:02] Zac Wolf: ~Um, ~and like, yeah, I'm the same. Like I, I, the only thing I use photo mechanic for anymore is just ingesting. Because it can ingest to two different sources and does all my renaming for me and I probably don't need it. I could think, I think I could do all the same stuff in Lightroom now, but it's paid for so why mess with it? ~Um, ~it's not like I have to renew a subscription. Exactly. You know? I don't I don't, I used to call in photo mechanic 'cause I was convinced it was faster and like now, now I've, I've, I've learned some stuff and I'm all in on Lightroom. [00:16:34] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Cool. Yeah. ~Um, ~ [00:16:36] Challenges with Personal Branding --- [00:16:36] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: so let's, let's shift gears and talk about something that you are, you don't have quite where you want it. You're struggling with this part of your workflow and you're working towards improving it. ~Um, ~you mentioned to me it was related to personal brand work. So are you saying for your own brand or you're trying to shoot more personal brand work? [00:16:58] Zac Wolf: no, just for, you [00:17:00] know, being a in front of camera guy. I, I struggle, you know, it's as, as a older, you know, as a millennial at this point, it's like I did not grow up talking to my phone. You know, I was not an on camera guy. I did theater for years, but I was behind the scenes guy. I was a stage manager. I directed all that stuff. ~Um, ~so, you know, thinking in advance to shoot behind the scenes and do all this type of stuff and be, you know, talk about personal experiences, it's like. I have to force myself. And it's funny because the few times it's those types of videos I have forced myself out of the handful of times I've done it, the times it goes really well is when I end up talking about really dorky shit that has nothing to do with photography. ~Um, ~I had, I had a video go viral about a statue at Epcot that I was really into. It's like it's a whole thing. It's a, there's a, from, there's a pizza place in [00:18:00] Epcot, and from the inside you can see a statue of a frog dressed as a pilot. I, I had thought about it. I had spent a lot of time thinking about it. I took pictures of it. I asked people no one knew. So I like posted on Instagram and it got like 80,000 views or something like that, and some big Disney influencer like. Picked it up and like did the research for me and figured it out. And it was [00:18:21] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Oh, so you got the [00:18:22] Zac Wolf: I got the answer. It's, it was, it was, it was for, I was like, I'm just worried. It's like a Mussolini thing and I'm gonna get a tattoo of a pilot frog and it's gonna be like fascist. So the good news is it's just whimsical. It's just happiness. So [00:18:36] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Okay. [00:18:37] Zac Wolf: the pilot frogs of the world are safe. [00:18:39] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah. [00:18:41] Zac Wolf: But yeah, like it's putting myself out there like that, you know, it's like remembering to. It's, my brain is already going at a thousand miles a minute on a wedding day. So remembering to shoot behind the scenes footage is truly my last thing. 'cause I'm like, I want to take care of my clients. The clients are the most important part of [00:19:00] today. so I. try to get my, yeah. [00:19:02] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I just had a discussion with a, a friend of mine who's local,~ um,~ who is also trying to do more of,~ um,~ the social media marketing for, for, for his business. And,~ um,~ I suggested to just, even if you don't need an assistant to just hire an assistant for the day and their only focus. Is capture BTS for you. Right? Assistants don't have to be second shooters. They don't have to be a content creator. They just gotta be able to hold your phone and hit record. You know, like, my daughter is 10 and she would pay me to fi come with me on my photo sessions and, and capture BTS. ~Um, ~so like, you know, ~um, ~finding an assistant who's. Let's say it is a photographer that,~ um,~ is in going to a, a college, like a county college down by you. Right? [00:20:00] And they, they're hungry to like get the experience, but you, you don't trust them enough. 'cause they don't, they don't have the experience to actually second shoot for you.~ Um, ~if you've got a local wedding in the Orlando area, right? To hire them and say, Hey, just. You can shadow me, but I also need you to record BTS with my phone or with a GoPro or whatever it is. [00:20:22] Zac Wolf: Yeah. That's not a bad idea. Yeah, that's not about, I, I, I have some experience doing that. We,~ uh,~ my wife had a coworker whose girlfriend was moving to Boston and had a little bit of interest in photography and,~ uh,~ that person spent a full year, third shooting for me coming to weddings. Like we would go through and I'd review their photos and now they're like. Every time we do a wedding together, it's, you know, we've been shooting together for 10 years now and it's just like getting to work together is incredible and watching their photography grow. 'cause they, they like weddings, whatever. They kind of get to come and do weddings with [00:21:00] me and get their money and then go do like the art that Ali creates is just like, oh cool. Like this is, this is where this got you. Like, not that I was the reason that they got there, but like the fact I could have helped, you know, it makes me feel really good. I feel like always very proud of them. [00:21:17] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: It's just what, when I was in college and a little bit after college. [00:21:21] Learning the Ropes in Fashion Photography --- [00:21:33] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Until I got my first full-time job, I was assisting for two local fashion portrait photographers. They weren't like runway fashion. They were, you know, in either in a studio or they'd rent out a beautiful mansion and photograph. And I'm talking like the full on airbrush and everything. Right. ~Um, ~it was so much fun. But I, to this day. Give them so much credit to helping me learn about light and the equipment, because all I did, I was never behind the camera. I was the henchman who would go and grab the lens outta the bag and hand it to them or move the light where they want it or set up the next light or [00:22:00] whatever it is. I never touched the camera,~ um,~ but I learned. So much about the business and, and, and light and equipment just from being there and helping and not getting paid too much, but it was something, this is also 20 ish years ago, so times have changed of course, but, but,~ uh,~ you know, it, it's such a valuable tool for anybody, especially in college. ~Um, ~so that could be a, could be a, a good way for you to, to, to do that [00:22:31] Zac Wolf: Yeah. [00:22:33] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Sorry, you go ahead before I share my [00:22:34] Breaking into Wedding Photography --- [00:22:34] Zac Wolf: I, I just think, I think that it's super beneficial for anyone to watch someone work. You know, early on in my career, I second shot for a ton of people and getting to see all the different styles and learning to shoot Uno styles. Is what helped me create my style. But one of the biggest things I always,~ um,~ stress upon, like it's, it's, there is a barrier to being a male wedding [00:23:00] photographer. Like it is a bride focused industry. You know, I photograph couples of all genders, truly all across the gambit. But the main person that you know, that wedding photographers certain is brides and getting to work with female wedding photographers and seeing the way they interact with brides. Help me understand how to make people comfortable. You know what I mean? Just like different things I would never think of and it's like, oh yeah. The first thing I do when I walk in the room is tell, is compliment the bride on something. You know what I mean? Just be like, so this looks great. You, you look great. Something just like start on that positive note and that really. It has helped me. 'cause I work with a ton of couples who are just like, we've never been, you know, like most people, we've never been in front of cameras. We feel super awkward in front of cameras and I'm like, that's great. I'm here to fix that. Like, let's have fun. [00:23:49] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: yeah. I, I, I, I do something similar when I, I don't photograph families as often these days. ~Um, ~but when I was doing a lot of family sessions, I would always have my [00:24:00] wife with me when they had kids because I'm trying to focus on the composition and, and, and everything like that. And I like don't have the, even as a dad of two, I don't have the patience to deal with the kids in the, of the, from the family. So my wife would be the, the kid Wrangler and like the one that get them smiling and. And all that stuff, and I would just be there focusing on what I need to focus on. ~Um, ~so, ~uh, ~I, I think, I think having somebody who relates more to the subjects,~ um,~ is a very valuable tool [00:24:32] Zac Wolf: Yeah. [00:24:33] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: as well. ~Um, ~ [00:24:34] The Importance of Personal Branding --- [00:24:34] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: the one thing I wanted to mention,~ uh,~ is another thing, and I don't know if you've considered doing this,~ um,~ but actually having a personal brand session of yourself. We all, we all do self-portraits, right? I mean, it's fun. It's, it's fun as a photographer, but it's also a, a learning thing, right? You're, you make your, you make mistakes when you're doing self-portraits, you gotta correct them. And then a lot of, a lot of running back and forth. ~Um, ~but actually [00:25:00] paying somebody to do a personal brand session, it's a whole different vibe. Right? ~Um, ~have you, have you done one, have you thought about doing one? [00:25:09] Zac Wolf: I've, I've never done one. We, I think the, the professional photos I've used, we do, we try to do like couple sessions, like in addition we, you know, and it's fun 'cause we do it when we're traveling, we. ~Um, ~I know we both are friends with Sam Herd. We ended up being in Rome at the same time as him, and he was like, do you guys want me to take photos of you? Were like, yeah, dude. Like, so we like hung out with him around Rome. That was fun. ~Um, ~and then we had, you know, our wedding photos are kind of, even though they're old and I'm much different looking since then, eight years ago,~ um,~ f Wari from, you know, from Mexico just like killed it. Watching [00:25:42] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: photograph your wedding? [00:25:43] Zac Wolf: Oh yeah. Oh [00:25:44] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Oh man, so jealous. I, I, I got married in, at a, in Mexico at a resort that he photographs at often, but it was 14 years ago, almost 14 years ago, and I didn't know him then. I, [00:26:00] I totally would've had him do it. Anyway. Keep going. [00:26:03] Zac Wolf: I'm, I, yeah, like I met him at Mystic, ~um,~ when it was in Connecticut back in the [00:26:08] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Oh, that's a long time ago. Yeah. [00:26:09] Zac Wolf: Yes, I'm dating myself.~ Um, ~and then when It [00:26:13] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: of back, by the way, that event is sort of back, [00:26:16] Zac Wolf: In, but is it back in Portland or is it back in Connecticut? [00:26:19] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: it's in Mystic Connecticut, but it's now people who were like,~ um,~ Chris Styles, he,~ uh,~ was, I dunno if he was part of the Mystic Seminars originally, but,~ um,~ he was somehow involved. It's now he's running, it's called Lens and Light. [00:26:31] Zac Wolf: That's awesome. [00:26:32] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: happened, it was actually last week. [00:26:33] Zac Wolf: That's awesome. yeah. I'll definitely check that out for next year. 'cause like New England had that and it was cool that for all these New England people to get together and then they're like. Let's move to Portland and it was like, well, there's already six conventions in Portland. Like why do we need another one? Again, dating myself to when Portland was the hip spot. But yeah, so Fair shot our wedding and not only, I mean this relates back to what you're saying, like watching him work. The reason we hired him is his style [00:27:00] is so different than mine. I would watch him do stuff and be, could be like, what is he doing? I go, I have no idea. I have truly no clue what this photo is gonna look like. 'cause our styles are so wildly different. And there's like one photo he took and I'm like, I love that photo. And Becca goes, that's a photo you would take. I'm like, oh yeah, [00:27:17] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah. So fun, fun story. ~Um, ~it's,~ uh,~ we're recording this beginning of March, the end of February. My nephew,~ um,~ he turned 13 not long ago. ~Um, ~and he just had his bar mitzvah. [00:27:28] Zac Wolf: well, hi. [00:27:29] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Very unconventional American Bar mitzvah. It's not, wasn't the typical over the top thing. It was partially over the top, but not~ Um, ~and,~ uh,~ my sister-in-law and bro and my brother asked me, who should we hire for his Bar mitzvah? And I gave him a list of friends that are local and he wound, they wound up hiring William Madin. [00:27:50] Zac Wolf: Mm-hmm. [00:27:51] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: ~Um, ~and so. I get to the, to the temple the morning of the Bar mitzvah and I walk in and I see [00:28:00] William's girlfriend as the assistant, his girlfriend Susan Striping. So,~ um, ~she wasn't booked, so she came, they surprised me. And,~ uh,~ and she was, she spent the whole day photographing, just hang in,~ um,~ literally holding his light stand. Playing the assistant role. ~Um, ~during the party, she actually picked up her camera and was shooting as well. But,~ um,~ it was a, you know, as a, as a photographer, as somebody who's been in the industry for a long time, you know, you, as you just said, you can't help but to. Pay attention to what they're doing, how they're doing. And at one, at one point I'm standing there and Susan looks at me and she says, what are you doing? And I'm like, I really wanna help. Like I am here. And even though I like, I'm here as like and as an uncle and I really want to help hold the light stand or move this or you know, it's you [00:28:53] Zac Wolf: Yeah, that's me at every wedding where I don't know that, like when friends don't help have me help with their [00:29:00] photographer search, I'm just staring at the photographer and being like, why aren't they doing this? Why aren't they doing [00:29:05] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Right. [00:29:06] Zac Wolf: they should be over there? They miss this. But I would love to see how Susan Stripling photographs kids playing Coke and Pepsi in in 2025. [00:29:15] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Well, they, they didn't have that, but ~um, ~it was, no, no, it was,~ uh,~ the party was actually,~ um,~ at a brewery and restaurant here in New Jersey. ~Um, ~and,~ um,~ so there was. There was no dancing actually at all. It, it wasn't a really, was not your typical Bar Mitzvah party. The kids had their own room where they had like a, they had karate kid playing and they had back to the future playing on a big screen [00:29:37] Zac Wolf: a cool kid. [00:29:38] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: the Yeah, yeah. And ~um, ~and yeah, there was like a buffet style food for every, for everybody. And then there was like a lot of tables for the. 50 something, something plus adults that were sitting there in cafeteria style. It was, it was fun. ~Um, ~and the photos, the, I saw the sneak peeks already. They came out [00:30:00] fantastic. So, [00:30:00] Zac Wolf: Awesome. Did you have a bar mitzvah? [00:30:02] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I did have a bar mitzvah. Yeah. And it was,~ um,~ so I was, as we were discussing before we recorded, I was a musician before I switched to photography. So, ~um, ~it was a music themed but not a cool kid music themed. It was like.~ Um, ~my tables, you know, you get, you give nicknames to all the tables. My table was the piano man, so it was literally like Billy Joel and Elton John, and my parents,~ uh,~ picked the, the music. [00:30:30] Zac Wolf: that's a good one. [00:30:32] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I mean, it was, it was fun. My K cut, my K literally had a clarinet on it, so because I played, I played clarinet in [00:30:39] Zac Wolf: the coolest of instruments. [00:30:40] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: the coolest of [00:30:42] Zac Wolf: You never got to bust out your clarinet in a pop punk band. [00:30:45] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: No. No, but I, I actually got into Berkeley, Berkeley College of Music playing it, so it was, I was good. [00:30:51] Zac Wolf: There you go. You could be the king of clarinet and who knows? [00:30:54] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I, yeah, I could be, I could be. I haven't picked it up in years. ~Um, ~anyway, so, so [00:31:00] let's, let's actually shift into,~ um,~ into music for a second, since we're here. [00:31:04] From Punk Shows to Professional Photography --- [00:31:04] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Right. [00:31:04] Zac Wolf: Yeah. [00:31:05] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: ~Um, ~you were telling me before we hit record. That you started by photographing bands, as did I. ~Um, ~can you share that, that story of who you were photographing, what you were photographing, how you were doing it,~ um,~ and how that shifted into weddings? I. [00:31:22] Zac Wolf: Yeah, so going back to like 2005. I was a part of like the punk hardcore scene in South Florida. Like I grew up in Bo Ratone. Most of the shows I went to were in Miami and West Palm. ~Um, ~'cause those were like the major cities. So I wanted to like, contribute. I wanted to be in a band. I wanted to do all that stuff. Turns out I have no musical talent. I was not a clarinet whiz, I was not a guitar player. I was nothing. So [00:31:47] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: That wouldn't have got you very far in the punk hardcore scene anyway. [00:31:49] Zac Wolf: listen, there's flute on a, on a hardcore record last from last year. So you're missing out. ~Um. ~But yeah, so like I was just like, okay, like what can I do? And no one was really shooting shows at that point, at least in [00:32:00] South Florida. Like, so I started bringing my dad's like Cannon Power shot to shows and leaving it, you know, I, I think it only had automatic, like, I don't know what else it had. And then I remembered, you know, I'd post them on like our message boards and then I started a flicker and that was like my big, like this is the source of all my photos. And then. I figured out how to do shutter drag on the power shot. And that was like, what is he doing? This is so cool. Like people loved him. And [00:32:33] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Very, very, very common. Punk band style [00:32:37] Zac Wolf: yes, yes. And then my 18th birthday I was given a cannon rebel. And that's the reason when people ask me why I shoot Canon, I said, because I started with canon and I'm too lazy to change. [00:32:49] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yep. [00:32:50] Zac Wolf: ~Um. ~And I started shooting more shows and like, you know, shirts, like shirts, would have my photos on them, records and stuff. And then in 2007 I moved up to Boston where,~ um,~ the [00:33:00] hardcore scene there was like kind of at an all time high, ~um,~ bands like have heart and Verse and the carrier and all that stuff were kind of blowing up from that area and. There was a national message board that everyone would kind of check in on what Boston shows were doing, and I kind of grew a name from that, which was really cool. You know, I've, I'm very fortunate that my real name is Zac Wolf, so it's very easy to remember. It's very easy to spell. ~Um, ~so people and like back in that day, we would watermark all the photos so everyone knew my name 'cause it was on there. And you should see my first watermark 'cause it is incredibly cringey. [00:33:35] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Weren't they all? [00:33:37] Zac Wolf: Yes, it was like a big X with a like just a photo of a cannon rebel over it. [00:33:43] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Oh, nice. [00:33:44] Zac Wolf: Very cool. And then from that it was just like. I was, you know, I was trying to mix it up and try to shoot bands different ways and figuring out like, okay, like I'm in this shitty basement, how can I make it look interesting? Or, you know, started doing off-camera flash [00:34:00] at shows, which is now pretty common, but at the time, like there weren't many of us doing that. ~Um, ~and then through that someone was just like, Hey, can you shoot a wedding? I was like, yeah, I've never been to one, but I could figure it out and like. I just saw so much creative potential in weddings and I've always been like a big extrovert my whole life. So it was more of a chance to like get to be with people, you know what I mean? Like people make a living, shooting still life and shooting products. I. I would rip my hair out. I,~ uh,~ what I, the joy I get from this business is people, and that's part of why I automate the stuff that doesn't need me is 'cause that's not the stuff I love. And I could spend more time doing the part I love because of that. So, Yeah. [00:34:49] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: ~Um, ~so I got my start. I still have it back there. Its over there an Olympus point and shoot that actually had some manual control,~ um,~ and a PC port [00:35:00] for flash, so I could actually like, have a [00:35:02] Zac Wolf: Wow. [00:35:04] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: wire so I would hold. ~Um, ~ [00:35:05] Zac Wolf: The old, the old wire around your neck and [00:35:08] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: yep. ~Um, ~I was also doing shutter drag. ~Um, ~so it's very similar,~ uh,~ to differentiate my photos from others in the, in the New Jersey punk scene. I would actually incorporate every band I was photographing. I would have photos of their feet because guitar pedals, bass pedals, tuners, whether it's Converse All Stars or, or Vans or whatever, you know, some pen, the band Penfold, they would actually wear like black shoes, like dress shoes,~ um,~ or like Doc Martins, you know? So everybody had their own style and it was like a cool way to remember that band. Buy their shoes. It was just a fun thing. ~Um, ~so [00:35:49] Zac Wolf: You gotta do something weird. If, if you're, you know, everyone's shooting the exact same thing, how are you going to stand out? Like, I remember the year that I went in [00:36:00] 2008, I went to Sound in Fury, which is a big fest in California, and that was the year they were like, Hey guys. You have to get approval to shoot this show because there's too many photographers now. And it was like the first year they had like a media pass for a hardcore show and it was just like, and now it's like standard, like even local shows. You like need to, you know, the rule used to be like, if I don't know where to find your photos, you don't get to take photos. [00:36:25] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Mm. [00:36:25] Zac Wolf: ' cause that, 'cause people would show up, take photos, then you just never see them again. And I mean now luckily with Instagram and stuff, like, it's been amazing. You know, it's, it's so great that like. I like as a fan of band photography, it's been fun to just like follow bands and then they'll collab with photographers, so you see it in their feed and it's like the, the quality of band photography out there now is so high. Like the bar is so much higher than it was back in our day. Like you could get away with next to nothing. And now it's just like you have to be doing something [00:37:00] cool and you have to have your take on it. [00:37:02] Balancing Enjoyment and Photography --- [00:37:02] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I, I'm at the point now where like, for example,~ uh,~ Matt Pryor from the getup Kids is coming back to New Jersey very soon to do a,~ um,~ it's a solo tour that he is doing, and I'm like, okay, I'm gonna go, but do I wanna go with my camera? It's literally at a brewery. Small one. So I'm like gonna be like right up close. There's, there's no stage. ~Um, ~do I want to bring a camera and photograph and or video, or do I wanna just go and enjoy it? Right? I know that I won't need a media pass because there is no stage to worry about. It's like a open mic night almost, except it's scheduled, so I'm just going to enjoy. But. [00:37:47] Zac Wolf: Yeah. [00:37:48] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: If he said, Hey, come to the getup Kid Show next time we're around and we'll get you a media pass. I would go and photograph it. So,~ um, ~but you know, it's,~ uh,~ you [00:38:00] know, it's,~ uh,~ at this stage in my life,~ uh,~ I'm picky. picky about when I wanna bring the camera. [00:38:05] Zac Wolf: Yeah, that back to have Heart, they were just kind of like the important band for me in my life, and especially my life as a photographer. 'cause they're, I photographed them all through my time in Boston. Their final show was like, kind of like my last time really shooting bands like heavily. And then I photographed their first reunion when there were 10,000 people outside in Worcester, Massachusetts, which was incredible. And then they just did a reunion this past year and they reach out and they're like, did you want to shoot this? And I'm like, you know what? I've seen you guys probably a hundred times and I've never just watched, so no, like, thank you for the offer, but like, I'm gonna stage, dive, to have heart for the first time in my life. And it was incredibly awesome to get to do that and see it. And like, you know, there's, they, they killed it with all their reunions, but I did hurt myself a little bit. But it's fine. [00:38:53] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: yeah, I, I, I had to make that decision,~ um,~ recently as well. Same, same brewery. This one brewery that's [00:39:00] an hour and a half north of me does started doing shows,~ um,~ which a lot of 'em are like reunions or like comebacks and stuff like that. So, Cavin. They disbanded a while back. ~Um, ~Cavin. There, there satellites on my leg, by the way. It's one of my tattoos. ~Um, um, ~Steve, but so they disbanded, you know, they, they lost their bassist,~ um,~ in a tragic car accident. They are doing, they've done like a comeback sort of. ~Um, ~and Steven Brodsky, the, you know, lead singer and,~ um,~ and Adam McGrath, who's their, their, their lead guitarist. ~Um, ~ they did an acoustic show at this brewery. Again, I'm like, do I bring my camera or do I just go and enjoy it? So I just went and enjoyed it 'cause they're my absolute favorite. And of course I whipped out my phone and recorded a couple songs, but I'm not looking at my phone. I literally put it down and I'm just like watching and, and absorbing and whatnot. And it was it. You have to do that. You have to make the decisions of when do I pay attention? When do I actually look through [00:40:00] the LCD of my screen, of my camera? ~Um, ~and,~ uh,~ I think that decision to, to just enjoy that last show was a very smart decision, [00:40:11] Zac Wolf: I, it's funny 'cause getting away from bands like we go to Disney, we live like 30 minutes from Disney. We go all the time and like watching people spend 15 minutes recording a video of the fireworks when there's HD tripod footage on YouTube already. Like just watch the fireworks. Like you fought tooth and nail for a good spot. Your kid is on your shoulders. Like just watch the fireworks. You're not gonna go back and watch this video. [00:40:37] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Right. I totally, totally like, to me it's like, ~uh, ~I'd rather watch my kids' ex facial expressions than that. I don't even care about watching the fireworks. I wanna see the facial expressions of my kid. I. Enjoying the, the fireworks. [00:40:53] Zac Wolf: Yeah. [00:40:54] Final Thoughts and Contact Information --- [00:40:54] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: so I just,~ uh,~ just a last, last comment is I, I watched all the [00:41:00] one through nine Star Wars movies with my daughter, who's now 10. She, at her request,~ um,~ we watched him in order and there's key moments of the movie, you know, I've seen a billion times, but there's these key moments where I just watched her reaction to the movie for different parts where she does that. [00:41:18] Zac Wolf: Yeah. [00:41:19] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: face. And I'm like that, that's the important moments right there, not necessarily watching the movie again for the billionth time. So, ~um, ~Zac, this has been fantastic. ~Um, ~I learned so much about you before we even hit record and this, and, and since. So it's been a, it's been a blast. Can you share with the listeners,~ um,~ the, the best place to, to, to find you, to connect with you and of course to see your awesome photography? [00:41:45] Zac Wolf: Yeah, everything. I, I'm very fortunate to have branded myself very early. Everything is Zac x Wolf, ZACX Wolf. That's my website. That's my Instagram. That's my TikTok. Find me anywhere. I try to be really accessible people. If you're coming through Orlando, like please say [00:42:00] hi. ~Um, ~and yeah, that's me. [00:42:02] Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Awesome. Thanks so much. [00:42:04] Zac Wolf: Awesome. Thanks man. ​