Using Brand Visuals to Create Connection with CEO Brian Carlson
Join our host, Lee Murray in the latest episode of the CEO series as he sits down with CEO Brian Carlson to talk about the power of visual storytelling in branding. Together they discuss the shift towards authenticity, using real people to capture genuine moments that resonate with audiences. Brian also shares his insights from working with diverse brands and his transformative experiences in Ethiopia, emphasizing the importance of cultural understanding in crafting compelling narratives.
Thank you for watching. If you are enjoying what you hear, please consider sharing it with a colleague or a friend.
Brian Carlson Stills and Motion
https://www.briancarlsonpictures.com/portraits
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Brian - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bcarlsonimages/
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As our world has gotten more
conscious of culture and like office,
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culture and culture and where
the workplace, which is which,
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I love the I think it's necessary
to show everyday people because
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you want to show your culture.
If you get models and actors,
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that's not your culture. All right.
Welcome back to Exploring Growth
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and to our CEO series where I'm
interviewing CEOs around the
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Central Florida area.
Today we're going to dive back into
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branding as a means for growth.
I have the pleasure of talking
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with Brian Carlson, who's CEO of
Brian Carlson, Stills in Motion.
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They've done work for big names
locally like Carnival, Bike Tober
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Fest and others that you recognized.
So I'm excited about our
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conversation.
Welcome to the show, Brian.
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Thank you. Thanks for having me.
It's fun to always talk. Yeah.
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You know, I've had a couple guest
on recently that we've talked
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about aspects of branding, you know,
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what makes up a good brand, you know, talking about as
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it relates to culture,
communicating your message,
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connecting with your audience,
all of these things.
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If we drill down into branding
pretty quickly,
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we're going to get to visuals.
And I think,
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I think this is aside from maybe
some graphic design, fonts and logo,
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this is how most people think of a
brand and how they connect with it.
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So, you know, this is a place where
I think companies can get it so
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right and they can get it so wrong, I think it's an opportunity
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for a company to communicate,
fit with their audience and make
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a real connection.
Meaning we fit with you and you
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fit with us, and that's just understood.
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visuals today, and I thought you
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were a perfect person to bring on.
So for context, can you give the
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audience kind of a little bit
about your company, the work you
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do for your clients? Yeah, thanks again for having me on.
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00:01:49,590 --> 00:01:55,380, so I'm a photographer and
director, so I direct motion as well.
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I've been doing it since I was 13,
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and I picked up my mom's film camera.
We went on vacation,
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I took photos of cows out the window, and, yeah, what I do is a
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lot of what I do is branding is, branding imagery. So from a.
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Coca Cola perspective.
It's, I get a brand book
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brand guidelines that has logo,
you know, type font, blah, blah,
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blah, color.
And then that helps me interpret
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what they need.
And then I work with a creative
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director or marketing person in
the company.
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it's usually a little bit more hands
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on where I'm not I'm not as much
executing their vision per se,
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but I'm working hand in hand with the
business to see what to discover.
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What is their vision, and yeah, so the closest
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thing I do, I would say, is I,
I get a library of images is a
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lot of what I'm doing now.
So delivering a library images
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that companies can use across all,
all, channels, all mediums
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and then directing motion.
So bringing in my crew and directing,
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you know, ads, commercials,
social media stuff.
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So, yeah, it's a lot of,
a lot of, collaboration.
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Yeah. Thanks for that, that explanation and I would
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imagine, you know,
from my perspective and having
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done a lot of work that's close to
what you're talking about doing,
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I, I realize that it's
translating a lot of the, the,
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the value from the brand to the,
the viewer or the, the audience.
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And, and, you know, a lot of
the work is in understanding what
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the brand is trying to do and then
communicating that to the audience.
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I noticed a lot of your work
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revolves around capturing sort of
the nature of a real person. Right?
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Like, I see real people when I
look at the images,
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it doesn't look like stock imagery,
you know, it looks very different.
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So, I think I know the answer
to this, but was that intentional?
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And, you know,
what was that all about? Yeah.
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Well, I'm glad you noticed that, that's a compliment.
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I'll take it, yeah.
I think, a lot of that,
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thankfully.
I think we're now in a day,
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a little bit of, you know,
in the 90s, we were it was very much
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Cindy Crawford. Beautiful woman.
Yeah, that was that was all.
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It was like you had to have a
beautiful woman in the photo, and
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that was it, or a beautiful man.
And thankfully, it's changed a
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lot to where now they're.
It's more inclusive.
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They're including everyday people, all races, all sizes,
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you know, all ethnicities,
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so that's a lot of what goes into it.
But I also definitely feel that
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I specialize in working with
ordinary people.
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actually kind of prefer working
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with ordinary people.
You usually can just have a
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little bit more fun, and so, yeah, a lot of the people
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I've worked with, they're either, they're either talent,
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but not super seasoned, and the terms of what you would
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think is like talent or they're
everyday people with companies.
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Yeah, I mean, what what I do is
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a lot of psychology, really.
I always try to bake in a little
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bit of time in the beginning,
just to kind of chat,
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get to know them, joke around.
They can feel comfortable,
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affirm them, say, hey,
you're going to feel really stupid.
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Like, this is weird.
You know, like, don't worry,
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we're not going to judge you.
We're not going to laugh at you.
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So, yeah, I think making
people at ease is super important,
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especially with what I do, which
is photographing everyday people.
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Yeah, I agree, and I think that
a lot of the magic comes from
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the way an ordinary person is
acting ordinarily, you know,
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if if a model is there and they're
professionally trained to look a
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certain way. Yeah, that's good.
And it's good for a certain type of
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image that you're trying to convey
for a certain type of audience.
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having natural people that are
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just naturally being themselves,
there's a lot of magic that can be
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captured there that translates, to to audiences that look
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and act like those people, you know, I,
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I'm seeing this from my side,
but I'm curious if you're seeing
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brands from your side that are
actually trying to showcase more,
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customers rather than using stock.
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Yeah, there's a lot of that
going on right now.
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when you use regular people, though,
it's important to bake in more
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time because while and I mean,
you can cast anybody,
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it's just the matter of do you have
the budget to get them near you?
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that's not the.
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So I don't want to take away
from what a what talent paid
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talent really does mean.
It's amazing. Like I work with.
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One talent on a shoot,
and they flew them in from New York.
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And it was these,
these two women, and they came
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on set and we started shooting.
I hope you don't mind me telling
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the story, and this is back when I was
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assisting and, I they're just
like, talking in front of the camera.
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And the photographer goes, all right,
let's go, you know, get ready.
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And, again, I was assisting
and they just turned it on,
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and it was I mean, my jaw hit the
floor like I was like, oh my gosh,
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these are like, paid, amazing talent.
I looked over at the photographer
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and I go, this is a lot easier.
And he's like, yeah,
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so nothing to take away from that.
But yeah, I think you just I
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definitely see a trend of
photographing the everyday people.
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And I think definitely as,
as our world has gotten more
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conscious of culture and like office
culture and culture and where
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the workplace, which is which,
I love the I think it's necessary
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to show everyday people because
you want to show your culture.
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If you get models and actors,
that's not your culture. Yeah. Yeah.
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I have this sort of way that I,
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I want my clients to understand what
good content is, and I try to get
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them to understand that it needs
to be ideally compelling content,
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you know, something to get
someone to stop the scroll,
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engage more, convert through, or just be connected to what
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you're saying or what you're doing.
How do you approach creating
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compelling imagery?
And I want to know, you know,
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in light of like, what's your process
look like for you creatively?
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But then when you're working
with brands, second, you know,
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secondarily, how do you translate
that to to help them understand
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what it is that you're doing?
Yeah, that's a good question.
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Wait. Let me think how I can.
How I can say it.
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I can be a rambler, but,
I think the first question I always
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ask is why? Like, that's the biggest.
Don't ask the who what where I want,
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you know, don't ask.
Leave all the others out.
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Those don't matter.
Those are more logistical questions
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that can be figured out once you're
ready to go into production.
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But why is the biggest thing?
Like, why are we telling this story?
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Why is the story important?
Why is it important to me?
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Why is it important to our customer?
Why are we shooting it in this
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format?
Why are we shooting it with this
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medium?
Why are we publishing it to this
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medium, I think once you answer all
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those questions,
you start really drilling down.
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And don't just ask why once.
Ask why two, three, four times.
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Because you're going to find out
something new, yeah.
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I'm a big believer in,
the medium shapes the message.
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I read this great book several
years back, and the guy talked
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about how the medium we display our
images or our stories in shape,
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how we should tell the message.
And that doesn't mean just like,
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oh, we shoot portrait or landscape
mode for a reel or for YouTube.
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What that means is if, I did a,
I did this thing the other day,
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or I was creating some social media
stuff for League of Women Voters
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here, just about get out the vote,
which I love. And so we are doing it.
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And I said, hey,
I'm going to shoot this on my iPhone.
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And I'm a professional photographer,
you know, and I, and they're kind
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of like and they were cool with it.
But I told them, the reason I want
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to do this is because if you're
if you're looking at your iPhone,
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the minute you see a polished,
beautiful ad, I don't know about you,
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but I'm like, boom over it.
Like, I can tell it's an ad.
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And and so I swipe I, I don't,
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I don't pay attention,
but if I see something that looks
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not only looks user generated,
and I don't mean in the sense of
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like person talking to their phone,
looking at their phone.
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I mean, like just shot on something
that you and I would shoot on.
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I'm going to stop for a little bit
longer, and that little bit longer is
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what it takes to tell the story.
Again, going along with that like
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medium shapes the message. Yep, if I'm doing a movie in a in
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a theater, I've got a lot longer
time to get to the plot.
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If I'm doing a 15 second ad like,
you better get to it quick and you
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better have something in the front
end that's going to grab people
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and get people's attention. So.
I'm always thinking about, like,
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those kinds of questions.
And then,
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specifically for stills,
I'm thinking about in use, you know.
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we're losing we're using stills
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in all facets of everything now,
like, I still are like, oh,
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we need a banner, and we needed this
and of that. So it can be hard.
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But trying to think again, why are
we shooting this? Where is this?
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Why, why do we need this image?
Oh, we need this image for a banner.
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Okay, well I gotta pull back and
shoot horizontal.
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And I got to get the people
interacting and all that kind of,
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you know, on this side of the frame.
Yeah. Give head space.
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Do I need to give copy room, so that's really important
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because you can find you can
find stock images out there,
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but it can be really hard to find, science on my phone.
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right one for the right fit. Yeah.
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So I hope that answers your question.
Yeah. It does.
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It's, you know, I'm just trying
to kind of pull back your,
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your, your brain and take a look
in and like, creatively,
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how are you approaching your work?
Right, careful, careful.
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They're looking into my brain.
That's right.
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I don't wanna go to two, but. Get lost really quickly.
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But then the second half of that
is okay. That I like that.
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I mean, because you're starting with
the why question and then you're
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looking at the medium that's very,
very similar to the way I approach
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things because you want to get
to the story and then how that
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story is going to be consumed.
How do you how do you communicate or
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how do you take that process through
to the client to get them to see?
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What they can't see, you know,
to get them to, to see where you're
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headed and where you're taking
them to, to make this a success.
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That's a good question, when I work with ad agencies
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or big brands that have in-house
creative creative directors or
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production companies, they've
usually gotten there on themselves.
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And I'm brought in to help kind
of polish the thing and work
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with talent and all that,
kind of to bring my visual expertise.
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But when I'm not or when I'm or
when I'm desired to do,
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the more the front end pre-production
of the Y and all that stuff.
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00:12:49,710 --> 00:12:55,290, yeah, I think I just try to
I try to focus. I am not.
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I'm not an I've noticed.
I'm not great at.
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I don't I don't want to do
aspirational marketing in the
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sense of like, here's cup by cup.
Cup will make you happy.
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You will be so happy with cup, because it's.
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It's too easy and it's not
really true.
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And I think people will kind of
sniff through that, you know?
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Oh yeah, I think that was like,
if you look at the 50s,
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right when it was like, I mean,
that was that was the heyday of
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the soap and every spot was
clean because of the soap.
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So I feel like we've gotten past that
and so benefits. Yeah. Right. Yeah.
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And so I definitely try to go try to
be more story centered and find what
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is the story and what we're telling.
And I think once people can
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adopt that, they can,
they can get behind something.
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00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:51,400, it's it's kind of the difference
between like, a Chevy and a Toyota
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commercial and a Subaru commercial, Chevy and Toyota sell you
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aspirational, tough, you know,
or whatever,
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or sexy or beautiful interior.
And they got a beautiful model
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or whatever. And then.
But Subaru does a very different
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approach, and they sell a culture and
they say, hey, when you buy this,
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you're buying into this.
Now, it's still aspirational,
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but what it does is it,
targets people at their heart
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and more of their identity.
And I think that's a better way
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to market, yeah.
So yeah, I'm trying to I'm trying
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to go for story rather than,
you know, substance over style, they
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say. But to make it look good. Yeah.
I think, you know, looking good
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is is kind of what you're getting
hired for, right, on the surface.
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But then for it to actually work
and have some measure of success,
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there needs to be story.
But I think what we're really talking
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about is connection, you know,
and story is the best way to connect.
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And these days you've got,
I think everybody wants to buy
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something.
In light of how what it looks
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like for them buying it,
how it affects who they are,
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what it's saying about them.
There's an identity, you know,
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part of it, and so therefore people need
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to be connected to it.
And if they can't connect to it,
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or they can quickly sniff out
how it's surface or fake,
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they're not going to connect to it.
And so I think you're, you're,
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you're, you're headed down the right
path of, of how getting your clients
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to understand story and connection, I was talking with,
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a couple episodes ago,
Hernan, who who runs a,
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Hispanic, advertising agency
here in Central Florida.
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And we talked a little bit about
culture.
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And that makes me think of that.
You know, people want you to
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connect with them where they are.
They don't want to be an
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afterthought.
You know, in his case,
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doing the ad in English and then
copy and paste it in Spanish.
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That's not going to really play
that well.
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00:15:51,570 --> 00:15:53,460, you know,
and I think it's true for everyone.
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Everyone, if it started in Spanish
and it was secondary to English,
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I would feel the same way, and so I think, I think meeting
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people where they are in their
journey and of who they are becoming,
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honestly, it's kind of that's where
we are from a content creation
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standpoint, marketing landscape, we're at the deep psychological
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levels like you mentioned.
Yeah, yeah.
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I mean, you see it and I mean,
you see it in social media like
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everybody talks about counseling.
And that's more of an open
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discussion now, mental health.
So I think that,
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it only makes sense that you go there
with a marketing and advertising.
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00:16:30,300 --> 00:16:33,060, but I mean,
your thing can be too, that like,
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we create beautiful, sexy products,
you know, like we our craftsmanship.
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That's the story.
Something like that. So yeah.
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Yeah, I agree.
If it connects with the audience
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then that's, that's the path, so you work with a lot of brands.
281
00:16:48,090 --> 00:16:53,970, where do you see brands
missing the mark with visuals.
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How are they not doing it.
Well you probably see it all the
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time. Yeah I see it a lot.
Oh, man. Yeah.
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You know,
we always we're always the.
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And this isn't to, like,
down anybody, but we're always the
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most critical in the industries
were specific to. Or so I would.
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I would see something and be like,
oh my gosh, like, how could they do
288
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that? Why would they do that? Sure, and somebody else is like,
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oh, it looks good to me,
you know. Yeah, yeah.
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I don't I see it a lot in.
I actually see it a lot in
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social media.
Because again,
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I'm I'm because I'm more story.
Again, the medium shapes the message.
293
00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:40,600, social media is intrinsically
designed to be something that is
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addicting and, like, super, the the monster? Yeah.
295
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The beast that always is consuming.
So it's like, always needs content.
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Always needs content, needs content.
So I've done I've done some
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shoots where they're like.
It's definitely they're aiming
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for like quantity over quality
because and their sole reason is
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because we gotta put something up.
And I understand you need to be in
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front of people, but I think the,
the opposite of that to go
301
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against what the culture says,
which I think is,
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is if everybody's swimming this way,
I usually want to go this way.
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And, is to say, no, we're going to
post less, but we're going to post
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things that are more meaningful.
Now, if an algorithm, you know,
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the algorithm could just prevent
that. Whatever. Right.
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But if you make something so
compelling that somebody wants to
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go look at it, then the algorithm
doesn't matter and you've got a
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really loyal customer base, so I think like that's just
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different ways of thinking about it.
But I think social media, I see it
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a lot where it's just like we got
we got to get something up there.
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00:18:41,330 --> 00:18:46,190, and I don't that's not the
way I try to produce my stuff,
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but but I get it.
There's times where it's just that
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that is what it is, you know?
Yeah, well,
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the medium really matters.
And I'm glad you brought that up.
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Because if you look at TikTok and
what's required to get views there
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versus even Instagram, they're
two different mediums, even though
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they're very similar in nature.
And how you make a connection
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with the people that are there,
you know, and some people are
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only on TikTok, not Instagram.
There are some people that are
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on both.
So you are you're appealing to the
321
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same person in a different way. Yeah, so, you know, to the,
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to your point of medium,
if I'm on TikTok, the way I'm
323
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engaging, that is very different
than I'm engaging Instagram.
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Very different than than
Facebook stories, very different
325
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than how I'm watching Netflix.
You know,
326
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a Netflix movie versus ESPN,
you know, plus or Paramount Plus or.
327
00:19:36,590 --> 00:19:42,290
I mean, there are times there's time
and place for how my attention is
328
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being given and how I'm consuming
entertainment and information.
329
00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:50,600
And, and so, yeah,
I think there's a time and place
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for the catchy sort of,
fast paced Feed the Beast content.
331
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But what's the goal?
Back to your why question.
332
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Why are we doing this.
Because if that's the if that's the
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case then, you know, we're not
going to produce that same content on
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even Instagram or especially not
your website or some other places.
335
00:20:12,980 --> 00:20:18,080, it's very it can't be missed.
Yeah I agree. Yeah. And I think that.
336
00:20:19,030 --> 00:20:25,340
In such a fast paced.
Culture where the we feel.
337
00:20:26,330 --> 00:20:29,330
Intrinsically the need to be on
all of these different things as
338
00:20:29,330 --> 00:20:31,670
a business owners to be like, oh,
we got to be on TikTok, we got to
339
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be on this, we got to be on that.
We got to get our name on that.
340
00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:37,640
Yeah, there's a pull.
And I don't, I try not to
341
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ascribe to that because what,
what I want to do is like, okay,
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where are my customers?
And then I want to connect with
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them there.
And if you're trying to do it
344
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intentionally,
you don't need to have that poll.
345
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You don't need to be everywhere.
You can just go, no, like,
346
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this is where we're going to be.
And then, you know, if we want to
347
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expand into this, we can do that.
And, because we're doing it
348
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intentionally, we can say no instead
of just going with the flow of like,
349
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well, you're on TikTok and Instagram.
Are you on Facebook?
350
00:21:00,950 --> 00:21:05,510
Or, you know, so yeah.
And also that's like especially
351
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as a small business owner, like,
I just can't do that.
352
00:21:07,460 --> 00:21:10,370
I mean, I could make, you know,
social media can be your full
353
00:21:10,370 --> 00:21:14,240
time gig if, if I had to do that.
So I've got to, you know,
354
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kind of pick, pick and choose
which ones are most valuable to
355
00:21:16,970 --> 00:21:19,220
me and also which ones I enjoy,
too, because I think if you're
356
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going to if you enjoy it,
you're going to do it better.
357
00:21:23,510 --> 00:21:25,610
You know, if it's a chore,
you're just like, you're not going
358
00:21:25,610 --> 00:21:29,000
to be doing it or you won't be
doing it for long. Very well. Yeah.
359
00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,840
You know,
a lot of the what I'm observing in
360
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your bent towards creating content is
in these meaningful connections.
361
00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:44,060
And, you know, there are lots of
people selling really not meaningful,
362
00:21:44,390 --> 00:21:47,750
you know, of course, connection
standpoint stuff products on TikTok
363
00:21:47,750 --> 00:21:51,050
where toothbrushes, selling the
latest hack thing or whatever,
364
00:21:51,050 --> 00:21:53,690
and you buy it once and you probably
never buy anything from them again.
365
00:21:54,020 --> 00:21:57,080
So there's there's a flavor for
everyone.
366
00:21:57,080 --> 00:22:00,740
But I think what we're really dialed
into is meaningful connections,
367
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because for brands especially,
a lot of the companies that I've seen
368
00:22:04,220 --> 00:22:07,580
and work with around Florida here, even B2C,
369
00:22:07,580 --> 00:22:12,710
that are higher volume, of of
customers making a more meaningful
370
00:22:12,710 --> 00:22:16,640
connection means retention.
It means, you know,
371
00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:19,730
reconnection over time.
It means business metrics that
372
00:22:19,730 --> 00:22:22,970
that map to a longevity and
sustainability of a business.
373
00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:25,580, and I'm, I'm wired the same way.
You know,
374
00:22:25,580 --> 00:22:29,720
I think I think about content in
terms of that meaningful connection
375
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versus a non meaningful one.
And then you start mapping that
376
00:22:33,500 --> 00:22:37,160
towards the content you're
creating for that result.
377
00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:40,100
And you get to images like what I
see in your site with real people,
378
00:22:40,100 --> 00:22:44,360
real stories, you know,
it just makes sense. Yeah.
379
00:22:44,360 --> 00:22:49,630
Yeah I feel it does I agree.
And, you know, everybody's different.
380
00:22:49,630 --> 00:22:54,460
There's the that's not to knock the
guy who's doing the sexy stuff.
381
00:22:54,790 --> 00:22:58,270, that's just like, probably
not what I'm gonna get hired for.
382
00:22:58,300 --> 00:23:01,420
And that's okay with me, you know,
because I'm not the sexy guy.
383
00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:06,900, but I'm the guy who will like.
You know, crawl into the manhole
384
00:23:06,900 --> 00:23:09,510
to take a great photo of a guy
cleaning a manhole or whatever.
385
00:23:09,510 --> 00:23:15,030
So yeah, it's different flavors for
different people, I guess. Yeah.
386
00:23:15,450 --> 00:23:19,740
Are there any brands that you've
worked with or have seen maybe
387
00:23:19,740 --> 00:23:24,600
online that are doing it well,
like their their visuals are on point
388
00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:30,150
with communicating that connection. Yeah. There are.
389
00:23:30,540 --> 00:23:34,950
I mean the one in the community
and the photo community that like
390
00:23:34,950 --> 00:23:41,430
everyone talks about is Patagonia they just they be, they run
391
00:23:41,430 --> 00:23:43,830
to their own drum, they beat to
their own drum or whatever. They.
392
00:23:43,830 --> 00:23:46,020
Yeah, whatever,
walk to their own beat.
393
00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:48,810
I don't know, something like that, they do it.
394
00:23:48,990 --> 00:23:51,990
I mean, they'll, like, publish
photo essays about the environment.
395
00:23:51,990 --> 00:23:55,050
Just a photo essay is not about them.
I mean, yeah, they outfit the guys,
396
00:23:55,050 --> 00:23:59,970
but it has nothing to do with,
you know, really, their company,
397
00:23:59,970 --> 00:24:05,100, it's their values and stuff.
Secondary storyline. Yeah. Yeah.
398
00:24:06,030 --> 00:24:09,870
And then, you know, people like, they do really good at it.
399
00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:12,450
Again, Subaru I think,
does really good at it.
400
00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:17,580, you know, the stalwarts like
Coke and everything that do great.
401
00:24:17,610 --> 00:24:21,090, and there's some there's been
some like, awesome ads to that.
402
00:24:21,090 --> 00:24:24,060
I've seen that.
I'm just like blown away by that
403
00:24:24,060 --> 00:24:27,240
also.
Like, so my style tends to be I kind
404
00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:31,050
of tell stories at the intersection
of heart and humor, and I tend to
405
00:24:31,050 --> 00:24:33,840
have a little bit of a dark humor, and also,
406
00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:38,190
I like absurdist kind of weird stuff,
which is good for marketing because I
407
00:24:38,190 --> 00:24:39,900
think that's another way you can
get people's attention is just
408
00:24:39,900 --> 00:24:46,020
something that's totally out there, there was a good there's a great,
409
00:24:46,590 --> 00:24:50,940, ad for was it Skittles or
something the other day that I
410
00:24:50,940 --> 00:24:54,360
saw that was just so weird.
It was like, I think it was
411
00:24:54,360 --> 00:24:57,210
actually from ten years ago,
but they do them still.
412
00:24:57,210 --> 00:25:00,810
Or it's like this big guy walks
in and a tube sock into a room,
413
00:25:01,110 --> 00:25:04,410
and he's like, and these two
elderly people are talking to him,
414
00:25:04,410 --> 00:25:06,510
and the two elderly people are like,
sweating on the couch.
415
00:25:06,510 --> 00:25:09,480
The older people, it's just so weird.
It was like, but it was cool
416
00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:10,890
because you were just like,
you couldn't look away.
417
00:25:10,890 --> 00:25:13,260
And now I'm talking about it and
it's Skittles, yeah.
418
00:25:13,860 --> 00:25:17,610
And then there's like,
there was a Chrysler.
419
00:25:17,610 --> 00:25:21,330
I want to say,
did this amazing commercial,
420
00:25:21,330 --> 00:25:24,990
and I found out my buddy actually
did the coloring on it, but they
421
00:25:24,990 --> 00:25:29,920
did this amazing commercial.
About their car,
422
00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:32,530
but their car was barely mentioned.
It was like their car was shown,
423
00:25:32,530 --> 00:25:35,290
but they didn't have an act like
it wasn't plastered everywhere.
424
00:25:35,290 --> 00:25:40,090
But it was just the story about, the passing down through
425
00:25:40,090 --> 00:25:43,240
generations, this car.
But then also just like the,
426
00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:46,690
the what this car had done and help
this family and it was a narrative.
427
00:25:46,690 --> 00:25:50,800
It wasn't true, but it was
beautiful shot beautifully.
428
00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:56,350
Sweet, kind, yeah.
So I think, I think there's ways
429
00:25:56,350 --> 00:26:01,100
to do it. But yeah, you know what?
I find myself seeing ads.
430
00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:05,660
And occasionally I'll see one
that just is right on the money.
431
00:26:05,660 --> 00:26:08,150
But it's very,
very few and far between.
432
00:26:08,150 --> 00:26:13,100
And I mean on the money,
meaning I'm analyzing the what
433
00:26:13,100 --> 00:26:16,850
they're trying to communicate to
what audience, how they're doing it,
434
00:26:16,850 --> 00:26:19,280
what's all the in between.
And then I'm thinking back behind
435
00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:23,540
the scenes of what that team had
to do to get there. Right? Yeah.
436
00:26:23,750 --> 00:26:26,720
As I'm watching the ad and there
are very few and far between that
437
00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:30,050
you can say they nailed it like,
you know, high five.
438
00:26:30,470 --> 00:26:35,120
And then there's a lot of them that I
will find that are almost make it.
439
00:26:35,120 --> 00:26:39,080
But then there's a line or two or
you know a comma that should have,
440
00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:42,380
should have been there that wasn't
there, that you, you're like the
441
00:26:42,380 --> 00:26:45,080
joke just didn't land kind of thing.
You know, if you would have
442
00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:47,270
taken that one line out.
So there's more of those and
443
00:26:47,270 --> 00:26:50,660
then the rest of them are kind
of just a lot of marketing teams
444
00:26:50,660 --> 00:26:54,020
out there trying their best and,
you know, doing what they can
445
00:26:54,020 --> 00:26:58,010
with the budget or not great,
not great leadership or not great,
446
00:26:58,010 --> 00:27:01,850
you know, creative vision, or.
The I think the accounts a lot.
447
00:27:01,850 --> 00:27:05,690
Of those that was that.
Or it's the yeah the budget guy
448
00:27:05,690 --> 00:27:08,630
given creative decisions now.
Yeah. Yeah. Well so you.
449
00:27:08,630 --> 00:27:12,620
Know, it makes me think about
this idea of risk because like,
450
00:27:12,620 --> 00:27:16,880
I think what happens a lot of times
with those teams that almost make it,
451
00:27:17,030 --> 00:27:22,730, or you see the potential in what
they were trying to do is that,
452
00:27:22,730 --> 00:27:26,750
you know, into the the Chrysler
ad is is a good example of,
453
00:27:26,750 --> 00:27:30,710
maybe they succeeded in creatively,
but maybe there was no return.
454
00:27:30,710 --> 00:27:33,620
So then that team didn't get to
do that type of thing again.
455
00:27:33,620 --> 00:27:36,620
You know, you don't know what
happens after afterwards,
456
00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:40,190
in the line of their thinking.
But I think there's a lot of risk
457
00:27:40,190 --> 00:27:44,780
that the decision maker, CMO,
whoever is making the decision
458
00:27:44,780 --> 00:27:49,400
on the budget and the execution,
they have to take a risk financially,
459
00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:53,750
creatively, and if even if they know
philosophically, like we're having
460
00:27:53,750 --> 00:27:57,860
this conversation, as, you know,
two creative people in the industry,
461
00:27:57,860 --> 00:28:01,910
they're there a lot of times having
all that experience and knowledge and
462
00:28:01,910 --> 00:28:05,060
knowing what they should be doing,
but are held back from doing it
463
00:28:05,060 --> 00:28:08,540
due to whatever constraints, I think that happens
464
00:28:08,540 --> 00:28:11,690
probably more often than not.
So, you know, talking with you and
465
00:28:11,690 --> 00:28:15,110
how you work with your clients,
what's this element of risk?
466
00:28:15,110 --> 00:28:17,420
Like you said,
you're you're like an absurdist.
467
00:28:17,420 --> 00:28:21,530
I think that right there alone
can help you to edge your client
468
00:28:21,530 --> 00:28:27,440
forward into taking a little bit more
bolder steps creatively or bigger,
469
00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:30,290
maybe a bigger production if they
need it, or a smaller production
470
00:28:30,290 --> 00:28:32,780
if they need it, because that can
be a risk for some people, too.
471
00:28:33,380 --> 00:28:37,880, how do you manage risk with
clients and get them to do something
472
00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:40,580
that you know that they need to do?
Yeah.
473
00:28:40,580 --> 00:28:43,850
There's, it's an insightful
question. I like it.
474
00:28:43,910 --> 00:28:48,440, there's a a max, not a maxim,
but it's always this thing I was
475
00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:50,480
taught when I went to photo school,
and I heard about it from other
476
00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:53,720
photographers, and it's like you
go out on an editorial assignment,
477
00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:55,640
editorial being a magazine,
you know, magazines aren't
478
00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:58,580
really around anymore, but they
were back in the day. And.
479
00:28:59,500 --> 00:29:02,920
What photographers would do is
they would they would get the
480
00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:06,850
image either the magazine wanted
or the safe image.
481
00:29:07,270 --> 00:29:10,840
And then, so you had that
kind of in your back pocket and
482
00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:13,030
you're like, okay, we're good.
And then you got an image for you.
483
00:29:13,060 --> 00:29:16,750
You did the thing that like you
wanted to do, or that even maybe the
484
00:29:16,750 --> 00:29:19,420
creative director wanted you to do,
but even they know,
485
00:29:19,420 --> 00:29:21,310
and maybe I can't run it,
or it's just something like,
486
00:29:21,310 --> 00:29:24,310
you had an idea and and then you
present them with both,
487
00:29:24,310 --> 00:29:26,920
and then you say, hey, like,
you can do whatever you want.
488
00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:31,210
I can't force you, but I think this
is the better option, yeah.
489
00:29:31,210 --> 00:29:35,390
I talked to somebody the other day
in advertising. Man. Who was it?
490
00:29:35,390 --> 00:29:38,000
It was somebody I was talking to,
and I was just like, how many?
491
00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:43,060
I asked them? How many.
I was a buddy at a film festival.
492
00:29:43,060 --> 00:29:46,180
He designs all their,
all their campaigns.
493
00:29:46,180 --> 00:29:49,660
And how many ideas have you presented
or something like that to clients?
494
00:29:49,660 --> 00:29:53,320
And they've turned down like the
best decision.
495
00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:56,640
He's like, oh, so many like.
You know, sometimes they pick
496
00:29:56,640 --> 00:29:58,350
the one that I don't like,
but I got to do it.
497
00:29:58,350 --> 00:30:01,350
And sometimes they pick the one
that I'm like, great, let's do it.
498
00:30:01,770 --> 00:30:04,770, so I think, like,
I definitely know that I'm in
499
00:30:04,770 --> 00:30:07,470
the service industry, really.
Like I'm there to serve my
500
00:30:07,470 --> 00:30:09,270
client and they know more about
their brand than I do.
501
00:30:09,270 --> 00:30:12,270
So I could come up with the
stupidest, wackiest idea and they're
502
00:30:12,270 --> 00:30:15,420
like, no. And I got to go, okay.
Like, that's you're paying me, man.
503
00:30:15,420 --> 00:30:19,590
Like I yeah, so I know that.
But yeah, I definitely hopefully
504
00:30:19,590 --> 00:30:21,990
they're trying to they're also I get
a lot of people hiring me because
505
00:30:21,990 --> 00:30:24,270
they look at my work and they go,
oh, this is like a little quirky,
506
00:30:24,270 --> 00:30:27,030
a little weird, like, we want that, and it could just be that
507
00:30:27,030 --> 00:30:29,160
they want that on set.
They want somebody who's going to
508
00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:32,430
get along with everybody who's just
going to like, be really chill,
509
00:30:32,430 --> 00:30:35,310
who's going to trust their
teammates to do their best job.
510
00:30:35,730 --> 00:30:37,830, and sometimes that's it,
you know.
511
00:30:37,890 --> 00:30:43,110, but yeah, I think in, in getting
people to take those risks, I think.
512
00:30:43,110 --> 00:30:47,880
It's. Showing them the possibilities.
But also having that knowing that,
513
00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:51,700. I.
I trust them that they know what
514
00:30:51,700 --> 00:30:53,950
they're doing and they trust me.
And knowing that, like,
515
00:30:53,950 --> 00:30:57,640
I can push them a little bit or
I've been doing this long enough,
516
00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:03,280
like I know the visual language
and that we can try, and,
517
00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:06,040
you know, that can be a good thing
about the need for more media.
518
00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:08,650
You know, you can throw in something
that's a little bit more goofy or
519
00:31:08,650 --> 00:31:13,690
silly or humorous now than you could
back when you had a brand campaign
520
00:31:13,690 --> 00:31:18,010
that was literally like 15 images for
a whole year. Yeah, so, yeah.
521
00:31:18,890 --> 00:31:20,930
I don't know if that answers the
question. I hope so. It did. Yeah.
522
00:31:20,990 --> 00:31:24,770, and I had another one last
question here. Kind of wrap us up.
523
00:31:25,220 --> 00:31:27,950, she's talking about the
result of what you do, right?
524
00:31:27,950 --> 00:31:32,180
Like, you work with all the clients.
You spend a lot of energy creatively
525
00:31:32,180 --> 00:31:35,690
trying to understand what they're
trying to do and translate it
526
00:31:35,690 --> 00:31:38,690
for them. So it connects.
How have you seen your work
527
00:31:38,690 --> 00:31:42,140
transform?
How a brand connects to its audience?
528
00:31:43,850 --> 00:31:48,320. That's a good question.
I wish I had a better answer,
529
00:31:48,320 --> 00:31:51,650
I don't.
A lot of times after the submittal
530
00:31:51,650 --> 00:31:54,710
of the images or the whatever,
it seems like it's like a black hole,
531
00:31:54,710 --> 00:31:57,440
you know, it just goes off and,
like, gets used and I'm just like,
532
00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:00,920
oh, okay, cool, but yeah, I've seen my image.
533
00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:05,590
I've definitely seen, you know, pat myself on the
534
00:32:05,590 --> 00:32:08,080
back here, and I don't think it's,
you know, I think that you can
535
00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:10,420
be humble and know what you do.
Well, is. Yeah, right.
536
00:32:10,660 --> 00:32:13,390, but, yeah, I've definitely seen
my images used and gone. Oh, yeah.
537
00:32:13,390 --> 00:32:17,680
Like, their website looks better
because my images are their brand.
538
00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:20,470
Says a little bit more now that
I've been able to kind of, like,
539
00:32:20,470 --> 00:32:24,970
touch that piece of it.
So I think, I mean,
540
00:32:24,970 --> 00:32:31,500
that all just comes from.
Like working the style that I
541
00:32:31,500 --> 00:32:35,850
like to work of, higher when you can hire the
542
00:32:35,850 --> 00:32:37,860
best people possible.
You know, I know budget can be a
543
00:32:37,860 --> 00:32:40,620
concern, but I hired the best
people possible and trust them
544
00:32:40,620 --> 00:32:43,170
and then just let them do their
job and stay out of their lane.
545
00:32:43,170 --> 00:32:47,040
Unless I have to go into that lane, and then know that I'm the.
546
00:32:47,490 --> 00:32:51,120
I'm the steer of the ship.
I'm the steer of the story.
547
00:32:52,020 --> 00:32:54,390
And I think when you have that,
that's when like the images
548
00:32:54,390 --> 00:32:57,960
start to speak for themselves
and show and and show up.
549
00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:01,580
So yeah, I know I went off a
little topic there, but,
550
00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:05,870
yeah, it's a lot of times it's
like a big organization and gets
551
00:33:05,870 --> 00:33:08,840
used internally and I'm not
privy to all that stuff. So.
552
00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:12,020
So kind of a random thought that
came to mind.
553
00:33:12,050 --> 00:33:14,900
I was looking at your website.
Tell me about this Ethiopia
554
00:33:14,900 --> 00:33:18,410
project that you worked on.
I saw a lot of images on there, some
555
00:33:18,410 --> 00:33:22,790
films, what was that all about?
How did that come to fruition?
556
00:33:22,790 --> 00:33:25,400
Yeah, that's, fun.
I always love talking about that.
557
00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:29,480, I've traveled a lot in my life.
I never thought I'd be like, I never.
558
00:33:29,990 --> 00:33:32,360
I wasn't, like, 15, like,
I want to travel the world, but,
559
00:33:32,660 --> 00:33:36,500, I lived in Ethiopia for three
years with my wife and my first born,
560
00:33:36,500 --> 00:33:38,390
and then we had we came back and
had our second born and then
561
00:33:38,390 --> 00:33:43,760
went back and I was working with
kind of a B corp for better or I
562
00:33:43,760 --> 00:33:47,250
can't really there's no.
Term for it in Ethiopia,
563
00:33:47,250 --> 00:33:50,040
but it's a benefit corp.
And so, you know, our goal is to
564
00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:53,430
break even, make a little bit of
money, but then also use our,
565
00:33:53,850 --> 00:34:01,020
our influence, and our,
you know, God-Given skills to,
566
00:34:01,020 --> 00:34:05,160
help the community, but then also
to show them, the power they
567
00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:08,250
had and telling their own stories, so we worked with like,
568
00:34:08,250 --> 00:34:15,210
embassies and nonprofits and we, the, the guy who had been there
569
00:34:15,210 --> 00:34:20,790
longer, the owner of the business, started like we wrote grants
570
00:34:20,790 --> 00:34:25,100
and we did a. Poetry workshops.
We worked a lot with Somalis who
571
00:34:25,100 --> 00:34:27,860
get a really bad rap over there,
and so we were doing poetry
572
00:34:27,860 --> 00:34:30,350
workshops for women,
which had never been done and just,
573
00:34:30,350 --> 00:34:35,970, trying to like, bring.
Bring the culture along with the
574
00:34:35,970 --> 00:34:39,420
tides of, you know,
economic growth and all that kind
575
00:34:39,420 --> 00:34:42,150
of stuff. So, yeah, that's cool.
That was great.
576
00:34:42,450 --> 00:34:45,150
I've done some work with
organizations probably similar
577
00:34:45,150 --> 00:34:47,970
in countries like that.
And I think what I found interesting
578
00:34:47,970 --> 00:34:51,510
when it comes to marketing and and
all of that is, you know, again,
579
00:34:51,510 --> 00:34:55,380
back to this idea of connecting,
connecting donors and volunteers
580
00:34:55,380 --> 00:34:59,910
and etc.,
bringing the stories to the forefront
581
00:34:59,910 --> 00:35:03,900
of an individual or individuals
that are involved on the ground,
582
00:35:03,900 --> 00:35:06,600
both people that are volunteering
and people that are being served.
583
00:35:07,170 --> 00:35:11,490, is is paramount in that
making that connection.
584
00:35:11,730 --> 00:35:15,870
And I saw, you know, you see those
images and without any context,
585
00:35:15,870 --> 00:35:19,320
you can see there's a there's a
lot of story behind those images,
586
00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:23,370
you know, and I think that that is, that is compelling,
587
00:35:23,370 --> 00:35:26,850
you know, that's the goal is to
create images that make you want
588
00:35:26,850 --> 00:35:30,090
to want to know the why.
Right back to the beginning,
589
00:35:30,450 --> 00:35:34,380
the image when you see it,
even with no context and sometimes
590
00:35:34,380 --> 00:35:38,550
less context, the better, it makes you want to know what,
591
00:35:38,550 --> 00:35:42,900
what happened there and what you
know, I want to know more. Yeah.
592
00:35:42,900 --> 00:35:46,290
So, so I think, you know,
to answer my first question for you,
593
00:35:46,290 --> 00:35:49,080
I think you're, you're, you're
your transformation is happening.
594
00:35:49,080 --> 00:35:51,930
Like, you know, when you look at
those images, which is what
595
00:35:51,930 --> 00:35:54,510
appealed to me so much in the
beginning is look at these images.
596
00:35:54,510 --> 00:35:58,350
There's there's it's transforming
how those brands are connecting
597
00:35:58,350 --> 00:36:02,430
with their audiences. Yeah.
Yeah, I hope so. I think so.
598
00:36:03,350 --> 00:36:06,020
Yeah, those were done.
I mean, that was done with a lot
599
00:36:06,020 --> 00:36:13,500
of patience and.
Connections and putting myself in my
600
00:36:13,500 --> 00:36:18,450
proper place in a foreign country
where I know nothing. So.
601
00:36:19,170 --> 00:36:23,730
Going in there and just go and
as much as possible,
602
00:36:24,180 --> 00:36:29,160
trying to just learn everything about
the culture and be the most,
603
00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:33,240
differential person to everybody
else so that they would trust me and
604
00:36:33,240 --> 00:36:37,770
know that I wasn't there to,
slander them, especially in Ethiopia,
605
00:36:37,770 --> 00:36:41,700
which is a very hard culture or a
country to photograph in for lots of
606
00:36:41,700 --> 00:36:47,010
reasons I won't get into here, but, yeah, just kind of trying to get
607
00:36:47,010 --> 00:36:51,720
to know people having connections.
Delicate, super delicate. Yeah.
608
00:36:51,870 --> 00:36:55,590, email me if you want to know
more. But.
609
00:36:55,590 --> 00:36:59,010
Yeah, just, I mean, because of the
political climate there and the,
610
00:36:59,250 --> 00:37:01,950
people, Westerners going over
there and taking advantage of them
611
00:37:01,950 --> 00:37:04,500
for taking photos and selling them
and not giving them money and stuff.
612
00:37:04,500 --> 00:37:07,290
So, yeah,
that was a lot of that stuff.
613
00:37:07,650 --> 00:37:10,770
I didn't walk away with as many
images, but the one because of that,
614
00:37:10,770 --> 00:37:14,040
because I didn't rush it.
But the images I did walk away with,
615
00:37:14,250 --> 00:37:18,720, I think hold more meaning.
So it's amazing. Yeah. Thanks.
616
00:37:18,720 --> 00:37:20,820
This is this has been an awesome
conversation.
617
00:37:20,940 --> 00:37:24,810, thanks so much for being on.
And I think it's very unique
618
00:37:24,810 --> 00:37:27,660
conversation.
I love talking shop with fellow
619
00:37:27,660 --> 00:37:30,840
creators and, you know,
people who are kind of doing the
620
00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:35,310
dirty work on the front lines of
creating actual meaningful content.
621
00:37:35,310 --> 00:37:39,990
So, so thanks again. Yeah.
If people want to connect with you,
622
00:37:39,990 --> 00:37:45,210
where can we send them, I'm on Instagram at B that's
623
00:37:45,210 --> 00:37:51,330
like Boi or Brian, my first name, Carlson, Carlson. Yeah.
624
00:37:51,360 --> 00:37:56,070
BS and Brian Carlson.
Carlson images.com,
625
00:37:56,340 --> 00:37:59,610
at B Carlson Images on Instagram.
And then my my website is Brian
626
00:37:59,610 --> 00:38:04,320
Carlson Images.
Com and I've got some yeah lifestyle
627
00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:08,640
stuff portraits and then some motion.
I definitely suggest everybody
628
00:38:08,640 --> 00:38:11,100
take a look at that website and
see what I saw because,
629
00:38:11,100 --> 00:38:14,190
a lot of good stuff there, yeah. Thanks again.
630
00:38:14,190 --> 00:38:15,570
And we'll,
we'll put that in the description so
631
00:38:15,570 --> 00:38:18,660
everybody can get get contacted.
Great. Yeah. Looking forward to it.
632
00:38:18,660 --> 00:38:20,160
Have me on any time. Again.
It was fun.