Canadian wedding photography super-duo Two Mann Studios recently handed out six tips for wedding photographers that should not be ignored. In the 40-plus-minute candid video made for ShotKit, Erika and Lanny Mann give other shooters an honest, thoughtful take on their own successes and struggles as one of the most sought-after wedding studios in the world. It's well worth the time.
The no-punches-pulled interview is immediately engaging and informative. The Manns prove to be casual, truthful and generally likable — which is undoubtedly as big a contributing factor to their success as the tips provided. Anyone familiar with the outstanding work of this husband and wife team will be taken by how humble and gritty the interview is, but really it's the real world explanations that back their tips that make this video such a gem.
With extreme brevity, the tips you'll hear are as follows:
1. All in and Balls Out (the Manns' take on work ethic)
Giving credit to long hours, staying on your feet, and never settling, the Manns attribute the grind to great photojournalism work.
2. Shooting with No Expectations
Here the couple explains why they've given up on location scouting in exchange for rolling with the punches and stretching their imaginations.
3. Muscle Memory
Never let your gear or your process be in your way. Ever.
4. Get Close
Exactly what it sounds like, Erika and Lanny suggest wedding photographers crowd their own comfort zone by leaving the telephoto lens in the bag more often.
5. Shoot the Sh*# out of It
Yup.
6. Embrace Failure
According to the Manns, the path to success goes straight through failure, and your best photos come when trying to do something that could "really suck."
Check out the full 40 minutes to really get the skinny, and see more of Two Mann Studios' amazing work here.
[via ShotKit]
Simply down to earth guys with big balls to go for the cool stuff. Absolutely amazing work. Kudos from Vancouver, go Two Mann :)
Love the work these guys knock out, beautiful stuff. Great interview too!
Super proud of Erika and Lanny.
who did they say they outsource the processing to? couldn't understand what they said. Outstanding work!
The Image Salon I think
You're correct, Joel. It was Image Salon.
I agree with the Get Close philosophy. I shot about 600 events at a place in Malibu using just one 35mm lens. That really made me a people person.
I'll bet it did!? Was that by design or necessity?
A bit of both. Every face in every photo had to be identifiable, and well-lit. Since most shots were taken in bright sun, it was a matter of staying within about 8-12 feet for the majority of photos. Being close enough to use fill meant interacting with people. Got me out of my shell. I usually carried 3-4 bodies, and just swapped the lens and flash to the body I was using. With this method, I was able to shoot 3-4 events at a time. Nothing artistic about it, but it paid well, and filled in the empty spots on my calendar. And I honed my fill flash technique.
Can't complain about those gigs.