People do some weird things in front of the camera, myself included 🤭 And Brennan knows this best, as he's been weaving visual stories for years! Not only can you trust him, but you’ll relish in seeing your adventures come to life through his lens 🎥
Our time here is short, but some footage is forever…when it comes to the most important moments in people’s lives, does he ever feel pressure? How does one even get into this profession? And once they do, how do they set themselves apart in unique and authentic ways⁉️
Join us to hear the remarkable tale of how Brennan taught himself to transform his passion into a thriving career - his expertise now spanning a myriad of contexts and genres.
Don't miss:
- Growing roots on YouTube 📷
- The viral video that changed it all
- Shooting celebrities 🎸
- The best and trickiest parts of the job
- Making room for a personal life when you work every weekend
- Wild moments along the way 💥
Links to follow me/subscribe:
Become a Maraschino
Instagram
Facebook
TikTok
Youtube
Website
Apple
Spotify
People do some weird things in front of the camera, myself included 🤭 And Brennan knows this best, as he's been weaving visual stories for years! Not only can you trust him, but you’ll relish in seeing your adventures come to life through his lens 🎥
Our time here is short, but some footage is forever…when it comes to the most important moments in people’s lives, does he ever feel pressure? How does one even get into this profession? And once they do, how do they set themselves apart in unique and authentic ways⁉️
Join us to hear the remarkable tale of how Brennan taught himself to transform his passion into a thriving career - his expertise now spanning a myriad of contexts and genres.
Don't miss:
- Growing roots on YouTube 📷
- The viral video that changed it all
- Shooting celebrities 🎸
- The best and trickiest parts of the job
- Making room for a personal life when you work every weekend
- Wild moments along the way 💥
Links to follow me/subscribe:
Become a Maraschino
Instagram
Facebook
TikTok
Youtube
Website
Apple
Spotify
Hey everyone, it's Tiff, and welcome back to another episode. I have been under the weather this past week so I'm finally starting to feel better back to my old usual self. But man, oh man, there is something going around right now that is nasty. She's nasty folks. So I don't know. Hopefully you don't get it, but if you do, take good care and maybe hopefully this podcast will keep you entertained.
Speaker 1:So this week we have on Brennan. He is a videographer, he is a photographer, he is an editor. He has all things talented and kind and truly easy to work with. I have known him now for several years. He shot our wedding into a music video and I've always wanted to interview him and kind of learn more about his craft, the way he approaches things, if he ever gets nervous, just all these questions, and so that's what we dive into today. I hope you enjoy. Let's get to it. Hey everyone, it's Tiff and I'm here with my videographer from my wedding, brennan. Hi guys, but you've honestly done much more than that. I'm sorry for like saying that as your disclaiming piece, that's the only thing I do, right?
Speaker 2:No, yeah, that's all he's ever done.
Speaker 1:That's all he'll ever do. You're welcome. No, I was seriously looking at your website. You have done so much. You're a pro. I feel like I'm honored to even have you sitting here Like, can I touch you?
Speaker 2:You can touch me.
Speaker 1:No, seriously, how are you? How have you been? I've actually known him for a while before we ever worked together. I knew you because he worked with Julie, who you guys know, and you worked with her several times on both of her wedding receptions, right?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so Julie and I actually went to high school together, dude. I don't remember that, probably over a decade ago.
Speaker 1:Okay, damn, no way. So you've known each other since then.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we haven't kept in touch between high school and now, but she remembered me and she invited me to film her wedding. Yes, this was well before the pandemic. Yes, oh my gosh, we had this big plan, but then it went to something smaller scale 100%, yes, it did.
Speaker 1:And then I still feel like I saw you at stuff. Like didn't I see you at a sorority thing? Potentially, yeah, I feel like I've seen you at other things. You're kind of like very popular in this community.
Speaker 2:Yeah, some people know me in Sonoma County.
Speaker 1:Not a big deal, but everyone knows me, but I just remember we had Julie's wedding being so fun and I was like when I, if I ever get married, you're going to do mine cut to. I remember that moment.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was at her reception. Yes, in the backyard, and everyone was having a good time. You were having a good time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you've seen me turn a lot. Yeah, is it weird to see me here just not now? No, okay, sorry, weird question.
Speaker 2:You're still Tiff.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm still exactly folks, I'm still Tiff, but yeah, so welcome. How long have you been in this business?
Speaker 2:It's hard to kind of pick like an actual starting point because you always start small, but I would say around 2014, 2015. Okay Is when I started kind of maybe earning a little money from it.
Speaker 1:Okay, and before that, how did you originally get into it? Did you always have a camera Like, where was your start?
Speaker 2:It was back shortly after high school. Okay, I started a YouTube channel called Brennan's Tech Fight Upsass.
Speaker 1:Is it still up there?
Speaker 2:It's still up there, but I haven't made a video in maybe five years or so. So I was really into, I guess, technology and at that time YouTube was. You could make content and you could earn money. I thought that was exciting, so I was really into Apple products Got it. Like ever since Steve Jobs announced first iPhone, I'm like wow, this piece of technology. What was that 2006, 2000,.
Speaker 1:Somewhere around there. I don't remember the exact date. No, no, no, sorry to put you on the spot. I'm just wondering if it was 90s or that was too far. No, not the 90s, okay.
Speaker 2:But, yeah, I got myself a small digital camera yeah, not even a DSLR, oh, okay, and I just recorded myself filming tutorials, unboxings, product reviews. Back in the day, you would have to get a YouTube partnership, okay, and that's when you could start earning money, gotcha, and I probably grew the channel to about a thousand subscribers. Dude, I applied for the program and they accepted my channel.
Speaker 1:Legend. Yeah, editing Tiff here, just wanted to jump in and say that I went and looked at this YouTube page. Some of his videos have millions of views. Folks, he really is crushing it and I just what would it be like to have a video with millions of views? Will I ever know, who knows? But great job, brennan. Okay, back to the show. So what do you think about the video you post? Something happens.
Speaker 2:What do you mean by something? Happens, people watch and leave comments and things happen and based on that does the monetary thing depend. Yeah, if you have a smaller channel, you don't make much on YouTube.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's what they say about YouTube and TikTok. I've heard too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so because I was filming on YouTube and I had this small little point and shoot camera, of course I wanted to improve the quality of my videos, so I bought a DSLR. Okay, I don't know.
Speaker 1:I don't know what that is.
Speaker 2:It's the first time you sent it.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was a Canon T3i and that camera could shoot really good quality video.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:So I improved my video quality and I self taught myself pretty much everything With YouTube. It's cool because you can search for anything and learn to do anything.
Speaker 1:Not just video. It's pretty much how we got a podcast yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, how to podcast, how to build something in your house?
Speaker 1:How to change something in your car.
Speaker 2:Yeah, fix a tire.
Speaker 1:Literally Makeup tutorial.
Speaker 2:Yeah, anything, it's amazing yeah.
Speaker 1:And even though, like knowing what camera to get and being self taught like I've tried to figure that out, it must be a lot of research. There's so many options Like how do you know what you're even doing, or how to get into the space. Did it feel intimidating at first to breach in there?
Speaker 2:Well, just like you can learn anything on YouTube, you can research anything on YouTube as well, true. True, so I would watch a lot of product reviews on different cameras and try to see which one was best, that's smart. And then I landed on that Canon T3i. Okay, so I've started everything.
Speaker 1:Really, yeah, the camera that changed it all. Do you still have that camera?
Speaker 2:No, I sold it. I had to sell it so I could upgrade to another camera.
Speaker 1:Oh damn, how to do what you had to do following those dreams. Okay, so from there, what was it about this camera that kind of showed you? Oh no, we could take this to the next level.
Speaker 2:So I self taught myself how to use the camera, how to record video, and because that camera could also shoot photos, I'm like well, I'm not learning how to take photos as well. So one summer I just watched a ton of tutorials on YouTube.
Speaker 1:And so there do you start, kind of building a little bit of a portfolio, asking friends to do shoots. How does it become a business and ramp itself up? I have so many questions, yeah.
Speaker 2:So it was mainly just like for YouTube and a passion project, okay, okay. And then friends would see my YouTube channel and they're like can you film this, can you photograph these engagement photos?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And you just kind of build it little by little.
Speaker 1:Organically, yeah, yeah, like a snowball, like photography and videography, different skills inherently that you have to hone in their own lanes, or is it something that kind of goes hand in hand with each other?
Speaker 2:They're similar in terms of changing settings on the camera, but as far as the strategy of shooting photos and video, it's different, because photos you're trying to capture still frames of people or candid moments, where video you're capturing more of the motion, the flow. And sometimes the audio.
Speaker 1:Okay, so this time you're starting to take pictures of friends, family. They're seeing that you are talented and starting to ask you to do things for them. Are you also working separately from this in another space?
Speaker 2:At that time I was probably just a full-time student.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay. And so what changes? Where we have Brennan Spark photography. What is it officially called?
Speaker 2:It's yeah, brennan, spark Brennan.
Speaker 1:Spark.
Speaker 2:And then I say in the subtitle Videography, videography and photography, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yes, okay, so you've officially become, I guess, an established business. Did you have to get a business license?
Speaker 2:Well, the business license probably didn't come until maybe 2018.
Speaker 1:Okay, got it Got, it Got it.
Speaker 2:So if you want to say when it was official, official.
Speaker 1:It would be then Okay 2018.
Speaker 2:Got it, but, like in 2014, 2015, I started building it even more Got it.
Speaker 1:That's when things ramped up.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, and during that time were you honing kind of your own style, like I noticed, photographers and videographers this is just from Instagram. Being a lay person, I noticed they seemed to have different like vibes I don't know how else to describe it. How were you kind of finding your own during that?
Speaker 2:time. Yeah, yeah, I know there's like some photographers or videographers. They have their own look to their photos or videos. Yeah, I also try to create my own look.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think you do too.
Speaker 2:When I capture things, whether it's for their videos, I like to capture kind of like the natural candid moment, yes. Or to show interactions among people or people having a good time at an event, or a wedding, or at a music festival.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So what are your favorite events to do? Like, when you see this one coming up on your calendar, you're like yes, I'm jacked.
Speaker 2:Well, there's a lot.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I always enjoy shooting music.
Speaker 1:So cool.
Speaker 2:It's cool because normally when you go to a show you sit in the 20th row.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if you're lucky, nosebleed Right, right, who knows?
Speaker 2:And you have to pay a few hundred bucks for the ticket.
Speaker 1:Right, you're seeing a tiny human. You can't see their face.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's like okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but when you shoot music, sometimes you can go all the way up to the front, move around and get your shot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you get to like go backstage, behind, up front. What is that called, that little strip it's called the pit. The pit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's where they put the photographers and videographers, that's freaking sick dude.
Speaker 1:And now, how do you get connected with that? Are you just, in this area, connected to different auditoriums, music stadiums I don't even know what they're called.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I guess if we kind of backtrack. So I eventually went to Sonoma State, go Sea Lions.
Speaker 1:Sea Wolves, sea Wolves, that's what it is. That's what it is.
Speaker 2:Yep. And then from there, one of my friends invited me to be on a school newspaper because he knew I was doing photography, videography, and at the time he asked if I could help them redesign their website. Love From there, naturally, I moved into taking photos and being the photo editor for the school newspaper.
Speaker 1:Sick. What was the newspaper called?
Speaker 2:It was called the Sonoma State Star.
Speaker 1:I knew it had a fun name.
Speaker 2:Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep.
Speaker 1:Side note did you go at the same time as my sister?
Speaker 2:I finished around 2018.
Speaker 1:So yeah, you were there at the same time. So that's why I think I saw you at a sorority thing, because she would take me to things.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I did shoot a couple of those events.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was called Rush, Rush Formals. Well, I didn't get to go to.
Speaker 2:Rush, I did a Formal, and did you ever do lip jam?
Speaker 1:I did go to lip jam. You did, I wasn't in it.
Speaker 2:But I got to watch.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, what year was that? The one where they did Orange is the New Black. Okay. I don't quite remember I did photograph in a couple of times so we've kind of always been rotating around each other like the sun and Saturn or whatever.
Speaker 2:But anyway, sorry, okay. So through that I got to take pictures around campus. I was still doing video for fun as well. Yeah, one year at Sonoma State they had this I guess, spirit rally I think it was called Midnight Madness or something like that where they have a basketball game but they have everyone there, like the cheerleaders, the dance team, lobo, the mascot, they invite all the students, they pass out swag and Swag merch.
Speaker 1:We love merch folks yeah.
Speaker 2:It's just a fun time.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So I decided to capture that for fun. I made like a 30 second video, yes, and I shared it on my social media. Yes and I kind of tagged Sonoma State and some other people associated with Sonoma State. That video kind of went viral. Oh Like a lot of people in the campus community saw it Damn, and that kind of further kicked things off for me at Sonoma State.
Speaker 1:Okay, first of all, that is so fun. What's it like to go viral?
Speaker 2:It didn't get like millions of views.
Speaker 1:But still to wake up and be like everyone's seeing my stuff yeah, that's a dream?
Speaker 2:Yeah, just like in the comments, like people said like oh, this video is really amazing.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:At the time. I don't think anyone has really created anything like that for Sonoma State.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, different people around campus reached out to me At the time. I think the provost asked me to film something for the president, which was pretty cool. I do Kind of leading into how I shot music. Yes Is, on campus. We have a performance venue called the Green Music Center. Beautiful venue, have you been Stunning? Yeah, yeah, it's great, especially during summer, where you can go out on the lawn and oh, I haven't done that. Yeah, and enjoy a picnic dance.
Speaker 1:I've only been there in the dark, Like I don't. I haven't seen it in the light.
Speaker 2:Uh-huh, oh, I need to do that. Yeah, come back. Yeah, During the fall or during the summer, and yeah, there's some great shows.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, okay.
Speaker 2:But anyways, because I posted that video on my social media and it kind of spread it throughout the Sonoma State community In addition to, I guess, campus administration seeing it, the marketing team at the Green Music Center saw that video. They found me, or they had my email address and they invited me for a meeting to see what we could do together.
Speaker 1:Hell yeah. Oh my God, what'd you wear to this meeting?
Speaker 2:Probably just jeans and a shirt.
Speaker 1:Sorry, I don't know.
Speaker 2:I wasn't in suit and tie or anything. Yeah, yeah, that's my first picture, super casual, sorry.
Speaker 1:So you went to this meeting and what happened?
Speaker 2:This meeting was in the spring and coming up was their summer season, so I think first was 4th of July and then they had a variety of indoor outdoor concerts. So they essentially asked if I could create a similar highlight video for them for 4th of July and some other things for the summer as well.
Speaker 1:They can promo it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Just capture the excitement and get people fired up. Yeah to come to shows. Yeah. And then, because they knew I did photography, they're like yeah, can you take some photos for us as well? That was my first gig at Sonoma State and my first time shooting music.
Speaker 1:What was it like? Were you immediately into it, or was it scary?
Speaker 2:Oh no, it was definitely fun because now I could shoot something different and bigger. So it was exciting From the Green Music Center, from being able to film and photograph performance. It led to filming a couple music festivals, as well as filming with the Transcendence Theater Company.
Speaker 1:Oh my God, holy shit. Okay, so what were you studying at Sonoma State?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so actually I was studying biology.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay.
Speaker 2:I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with it, but with biology you can do a variety of things, whether it's research. Go into the medical field, teach, seems hard.
Speaker 1:You have to take like OK and shit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, not only do you have to take biology, but you have to take physics, calculus and chemistry. I understand chemistry, but why physics and calculus?
Speaker 1:I don't understand any of it.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know 100% that's hard. So you're smart, yeah, and that probably helps with like videography and photography, like are you doing like physics?
Speaker 2:No, no, it's a complete different thing. Okay, okay.
Speaker 1:I was like maybe you're like calculating the map of like this tree from that tree, Nope Dividing the light by the tree.
Speaker 2:No math, no size involved. Okay, got it, got it, got it, got it, cool, cool, cool, cool Cool. I don't even capture plants or animals.
Speaker 1:You don't? Oh yeah, I've never thought of that. Okay, so just people for you, yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, as a joke, because of biology, humans are technically animals, right? So I guess we do. I do capture animals all the time.
Speaker 1:You kind of capture the most feral of them, all you know. And then, when did weddings come into this?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I forgot the actual time point, but people see that you're able to create great videos. Totally Capture the moment. When I was at Sonoma State, one of my friends knew I could take photos. Yeah, they asked if I could take photos for their brother's wedding. They didn't have much of a budget and at the same time that was my first wedding. So he said, oh, can you do it for a little less but at the same time you can use these photos for your portfolio.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So that was my first wedding.
Speaker 1:And do you like weddings like compared to music festivals? I'm assuming they're very different. Yeah, definitely Do you even like them.
Speaker 2:Well, being there, capturing the moment, capturing all the fun of the reception and everything, that's a great time, but the other side is it's very stressful. Yeah, because you have to always be thinking ahead of where you need to be and what you need to capture, and you also want to make sure that you get all the moments and everything like that.
Speaker 1:Right, because they're not going to happen again. Yeah, technically, hopefully, whatever. So, music festivals, do you feel the same Like I got to get everything in because do you have more time?
Speaker 2:Well, I'll say for anything I shoot, whether it's as something as simple as portraits, music or wedding or some type of event, at the beginning of all gigs there's some type of stress or nervousness. Are you going to get the shot, even though I've done it 10 million times? Are you going to get the shot Because?
Speaker 1:you're just a human. Yeah, and you guys are also paying me to do that Right Right and you want to do a good job. Like you, care about the work you do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but after you kind of get some of the shots going, you kind of settle down. And it's all good yeah.
Speaker 1:Have you ever had a nightmare situation happen on a job?
Speaker 2:A nightmare situation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like a funny story now, but at the time you were like, oh my God, I can't believe this has happened, like you deleted all the footage from a wedding.
Speaker 2:No, I can't do that.
Speaker 1:That would be terrifying, wouldn't it?
Speaker 2:I can't rate, pinpoint a specific moment, but there would have to be some point during one gig where maybe I had multiple cameras going and one camera wasn't recording or the audio wasn't perfect.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that type situation, but I was able to work through it.
Speaker 2:So, nothing catastrophic.
Speaker 1:Yeah. At the moment, which is this might be a crazy and you couldn't tell me to f right off, but have you ever had someone like flash you and you have to like turn the camera off, Like at a crazy wedding, or like at a music festival.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's happened at a music festival.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, I can see that, or unintentionally at like a sorority thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah things Too much, side boop yay.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So you just don't include those things.
Speaker 1:Okay, so things happen Like funny. Do you ever see like hilarious moments on camera that like are in the background or something that were caught accidentally, that you can't put in the final video, obviously, but like they're hilarious for you to see?
Speaker 2:Yeah, just like you have this great shot of these people, and somewhere in the background these people are making a funny face or somewhere. Yeah, yeah it just kills the photo or the video shot.
Speaker 1:Totally, and in that case, do you like Photoshop? Is that a part of it, or is it not a thing?
Speaker 2:Well, for video it's hard to remove things.
Speaker 1:Okay, for photos.
Speaker 2:Sometimes you can crop them out or do a little Photoshop, but most of the time you messed up my shot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Now is lighting or sound more important, or both?
Speaker 2:Technically they're both important, okay, but for video I would say sound is more important. Why? Because if you're listening to it and there's a bunch of weird background noise, the audio is just like screaming in your ear or breaking up. It could look really good, like the video quality is perfect, right, like oh, this was shot with a cinema camera.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:But then if the audio is terrible, the viewer they can't listen to it because they can't hear it. It's distracting, it's hurting their ears. So make sure your audio is good first Okay, okay, and then video. Use your phone If you can't obtain like a high quality camera.
Speaker 1:That's what I heard, too, when I came to podcasting. They were like, if you're not going to buy this camera, which was $900 or above- use your phone. And I try to do not that, and they were right.
Speaker 2:And if you know how to actually use the phone, it can be very powerful and you can get content just as good as like a regular camera.
Speaker 1:Really, yeah, okay, good to know. Side question what are all these straps you guys are wearing at?
Speaker 2:events. These straps?
Speaker 1:Yeah, what are these straps called? There are camera straps and now are they like attached to your waist, Like?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so the one I have, I think it's actually called the money maker, which is funny.
Speaker 1:Dude, no pun intended, or not, yeah.
Speaker 2:So the camera strap that goes across your back and around your shoulders, mine can hold two cameras, so when I'm shooting I have like one camera that has a zoom lens so I can get things further away from me. Okay, they have another camera that has a more wide angle lens, so I can get things closer.
Speaker 1:Are there ones that can hold more?
Speaker 2:Yeah, potentially you could hold a third camera.
Speaker 1:Is that necessary? Do you need one?
Speaker 2:I don't Okay. But some professionals they have like a zoom lens, a really wide angle lens, and then another camera for kind of a medium.
Speaker 1:Where does the third one go?
Speaker 2:It kind of just dangles down the middle. Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1:And now, when you buy, those are those like niche in your community, like so they're just camera straps or harnesses but like, do you buy high quality ones?
Speaker 2:I'll say you get what you pay for. Okay, that's true for mostly anything.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've always wondered that when I go to weddings I'm like, oh, that one looks like a nice set. Yeah, that one looks different it's like whoa, I wonder where they get those. Oh, you don't have a moneymaker, bro. Like, what do you even do it? Because, like, if you don't, is it hard to work without one of those.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you always need a camera strap, especially if you have two cameras. You can't hold both of them, you simply cannot. Or if you just have one camera, you need to kind of reposition things. You can't just, you're not just going to put your camera down.
Speaker 1:You need your hands, yeah, and now what's the deal with a second shooter? Are there situations where you have to hire someone? Is there a situation where they put you with other photographers, like at music festivals?
Speaker 2:So typically for music there's a team, okay, hired by someone running marketing or someone who's managing that?
Speaker 1:Because one's not enough to get all the things going on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a lot, because music festivals are large and you have to walk throughout the venue. Multiple things at once From the front of the stage to the back of the stage, so there they hire a team. Most of the time you don't assemble your team, but smaller music festivals yeah, you can make your own team, Okay.
Speaker 1:And when you are on a team, are you like I'm going to get Kelsey Ballerini, Do you like split it up? Or are you guys like nudging each other out of the way to get the best shot?
Speaker 2:No, it's all organized. We're deciding who's going to capture what.
Speaker 1:Got it. But for weddings do you ever have to have a second shooter.
Speaker 2:Like for your wedding. You were just looking for a music video where I captured. Music video yes, I love it, I captured all the fun moments, but I didn't record any audio. No, I didn't need that. But for wedding films that's what I call it where we record the same things, all the highlights of the day, from getting ready to the send off, right, but we're also recording the audio of the speeches and the ceremony.
Speaker 1:Layed over the top instead of a song, or like is there still a song? Kind of quietly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so there's still background music and it's like a movie.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, like a movie. And you've seen those videos, Cherries, of like I'll love you forever. I'll love you forever, Always. Shot to her and her mom. Yes.
Speaker 2:So for that, whenever we incorporate audio, I need a second shooter, because we also have multiple cameras running during the ceremony and we have multiple cameras running during the speeches and we record audio, and by also having that second videographer or assistant we're also able to get more unique shots.
Speaker 1:Totally Okay. When they're talking, do they have a microphone that you're hooked up to? You have that audio track.
Speaker 2:Most of the time the couple will hire a DJ and we plug in our audio recorder into the DJ's equipment so we can get a clean feed of the speeches.
Speaker 1:the vows the ceremony Right, not the people background wooing on top of it.
Speaker 2:But sometimes for backup or maybe for the first look, when the DJ isn't there, we'll put a clip on mic onto the groom. Yeah, sometimes for the bride it's hard to put on a mic onto a wedding dress.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like excuse me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's just, logistically it's hard to find a place to clip it in.
Speaker 1:Got it, got it, got it right. There might not even be a place, yeah.
Speaker 2:So we mic the groom for like the first look, and when they come together his mic will still pick up. It'll be close enough.
Speaker 1:The bride's audio Ooh, little nips and tricks folks. That's very exciting. And do you pick that second shooter like someone you like?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so the second shooter is actually one of my friends. Okay, we shoot all of the weddings together. Love that. He helps me out at Sonoma State sometimes as well as some other gigs.
Speaker 1:Very cool. So it's someone you know, someone you like. You're not just going to hire a rando to come with you to a wedding.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay.
Speaker 2:No, hell, no, that would be bad.
Speaker 1:Have you ever had one person at an event just continually ruin your shot Like purposefully, like they're coming around like trying to fuck with you.
Speaker 2:No, okay, not necessarily. What a weird thing to do Well sometimes well, not continually, but sometimes when I'm trying to get this nice candid moment or shot like People would come in front of the camera, wave, make faces be, obnoxious and I'm like, yeah, I know you want to be on camera, but hey, I'm trying.
Speaker 1:There's something about the camera being pointed at people that makes them do weird shit.
Speaker 2:It makes them either very, very shy or very uh what you call me. Lively.
Speaker 1:And they're like.
Speaker 2:I want to be on this highlight reel 100.
Speaker 1:So I'm just going to be obnoxious. Dude, I was so annoying. You're so right. They did a cocktail competition between different restaurants in Sonoma County and there was a videographer there and he was just filming the food. I'm so annoying. I was trying to like wander around where he was to like be picking up foods when he was filming them, because I wanted to be in the video and he probably hated the fuck out of me.
Speaker 2:You know, oh, yeah.
Speaker 1:I was like, oh, there's a camera, but it's not about you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's about the food. I mean sometimes like if they get a nice fun shot of you guys waving or yeah with the camera.
Speaker 1:that's cool, but it's like if you're if he's a stalker if he's like focused on the shot and you're just like my head's just popping in so he's probably a little annoying. Yeah, no, I promise it wasn't that bad. Do you ever want to like film movies when it like? Do you want to be like? I don't even know who's a, who's a film that's famous. What's his name?
Speaker 2:The evil one, the evil one, oh boy.
Speaker 1:The one that did um pulp fiction.
Speaker 2:I don't know. Are we talking about directors or cinematographers?
Speaker 1:Oh no, what's his name? Oh no, he does like the really graphic ones.
Speaker 2:I don't know, sorry.
Speaker 1:It'll come to me. Someone in their car is like screaming it. Quentin Tarantino.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Is he a video?
Speaker 2:He's a director.
Speaker 1:So are you like a James Cameron, like a director? That's what he is too, I believe so yeah. So what? How come you guys aren't famous, the people who actually film the movie? Yeah?
Speaker 2:The director gets most of the credit. That's a hard job In the title sequences I'm sure it lists all the videographers. There's more than just one, there's probably a whole team of them.
Speaker 1:Would you like to be in Hollywood?
Speaker 2:I've actually never really thought about it, probably because of that it's not really a desire, or goal. I'm happy doing what. I'm doing currently.
Speaker 1:Okay, love that. I just have Hollywood dreams. Maybe you can follow me to Hollywood sometime and film it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'll film your.
Speaker 1:Film my live shows.
Speaker 2:I'll film your live shows, your vlogs.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, my like launches all these things I'm going to do. Also, is this the first podcast you've ever been on. It is Welcome. Thanks, do you listen to podcasts?
Speaker 2:Not too much. Okay, I listen to a lot of music, like when I edit photos or videos, but Right Occasionally I would listen to a podcast and I'm like, oh yeah, this is it's nice.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it's just not something you think to do.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Totally. I feel like people are either like that or they're like die hard, like oh, it's in the third of your day. You know, like me, no, no no, I'm kind of intense, so are you from this area originally?
Speaker 2:Yes, born and raised Nice, did my education here. All of my clients are here. Yep, I love it here. Yes, the weather is great, it's gorgeous, it's done. Then I always tell people you can do so much within like 45 minutes, whether it's the ocean, the redwoods.
Speaker 1:You probably know all the spots too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's a lot of great spots.
Speaker 1:How do you know what clips to post on your social media? Owning your own business, Like that's another piece. You have to publish your work on your feed. You have to think about people finding you and reaching out to you. Your website, all of that.
Speaker 2:Well, part of it is just putting quality content out there. You definitely want to be unique, differentiating yourself from others.
Speaker 1:Even like I'm thinking about for someone like you, do you ever feel like, okay, I should do a post about me? That's like hey, here's me behind the lens, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Like do you have to think like that kind of thing?
Speaker 2:I mean, I would like to do that, but I don't get the opportunity. You're so busy. Yeah, like it'll be cool if someone could film behind the scenes. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Teach me, I'll do it for you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, hell yeah, even if it's just iPhone content oh my God, I would love to help you.
Speaker 1:Yes, that would be sick. Yeah, it's just interesting. Some people it's like all them, all their face. Some people you I don't even know who the person behind the camera is. Other people, they use these presets that, like all their pictures, have this like orange tint to them.
Speaker 2:You know, yeah, it has some type of style to it.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh yeah. And so I was just wondering about that, like how do you put yourself out there and how do you know what clips to put on your website and stuff? How do you pick?
Speaker 2:So on my website it's all my best work.
Speaker 1:All your best work Okay.
Speaker 2:So I have to pick the best of the best Of the best, whether they're photos or videos.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And sometimes when you shoot the photo or video, you know that's the shot Like I've got, that that's the shot that the couple's gonna love, or that's the shot the client will love and that shot is going on the website.
Speaker 1:Ha yeah, so you know when you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Because your website is highlighting you and you want to show your work to future clients. You have to show your best stuff.
Speaker 1:Yep, do you usually just have a plethora to choose from because you have so many like events and things going on?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so each year, like in December and January when I actually have time, I kind of go through the stuff I shot the previous year and pick some of my favorite stuff and put those items onto the website and take out the old stuff. Update, so each year the website evolves.
Speaker 1:Refresh. Yeah, dude, it's banging. It's banging right now. And what's it like to shoot celebs? Like do you talk to them? Do you just shoot them? Like give us the tape.
Speaker 2:It's pretty formal, like I've shot meeting Greeks, sorry.
Speaker 1:I would not be normal in that situation.
Speaker 2:You still stay professional. Yeah, how do you do?
Speaker 1:that. How do you do that? Do you ever freak out internally? Sorry?
Speaker 2:I haven't yet. So basically, they come in to the room, you have your camera set up, you have the backdrop set up, you introduce yourself to them. They say, hi, talk about what's going to happen and how these photos are going to work. Do?
Speaker 1:you ever sneak in like a. I love your work.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:I haven't said that. Have they ever been rude? You don't say who, but has anyone ever been in stand-up and off-ish or rude?
Speaker 2:Not rude, but there's someone I met one time that I thought he has this really great lively stage presence, but then when he came in he was very stiff.
Speaker 1:Damn. Okay, that's interesting to know. Is it just for you the same as shooting anyone else, kind of yeah, or is there more pressure?
Speaker 2:I wouldn't say there's more pressure, because I know what I'm doing and I know I'll be able to get their meeting. Greek shot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you're not worried about it. Okay, I just love celebs, I love all things celebs.
Speaker 2:So I mean, if it, maybe, if it was a big time celebrity, I would get a little pressure.
Speaker 1:No, tino shade. Like who Like who is your favorite celeb?
Speaker 2:Before he passed away, it was Kobe Bryant.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, rip. Okay, fair enough, that's a good answer.
Speaker 2:If there is like a musician or actor or athlete that I followed like my whole entire life, then yeah, I would probably. Yeah, like a Jonas brother for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, have you ever shot the Junes brothers?
Speaker 2:No, I haven't. Okay, I'm not that big.
Speaker 1:If you ever do call me or don't you probably don't want me there I'll run it for you. Just kidding, just kidding, I won't run anything for you. Um, okay, okay. So how do you manage work-life balance? Like you're probably always working weekends, do you have free time? What does your life look like when you're not shooting?
Speaker 2:People ask me if I have a work-life balance. Most of the time I say no yeah. Yeah, I work all the time. Literally, I could work 12 hours a day between answering emails, teaching, shooting.
Speaker 1:You're still teaching.
Speaker 2:I'm still teaching.
Speaker 1:Biology things.
Speaker 2:Yeah, science.
Speaker 1:Oh okay. So sometimes, damn, you're busy dude.
Speaker 2:I'll answer emails in the morning, do a little editing, go to the teach in the afternoon, come back home and then edit. Sometimes I wish I had a team.
Speaker 1:Ain't that the truth, brennan? We will one day. We will one day Now. Do you have any siblings? I don't. Okay, only child Love that. Do you plan to live here forever?
Speaker 2:I think so. Actually, you don't know this yet, but I just bought a house here. Oh my God, congratulations.
Speaker 1:Yes, yay, thank you. That's a huge, huge deal. My God, what's your house like, like? Is it like a bachelor pad? You like wake up, walk downstairs, answer emails, put on your teaching outfit, go teach, come back open a window. I don't know. That pretty much sounds like it, okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I recently just bought this really nice wood table.
Speaker 1:Love that.
Speaker 2:I love Plot myself down there in the morning.
Speaker 1:There, give it to him.
Speaker 2:I don't have a dog, but I love dogs and you're busy, you're a hell of a.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you need a dog that can like come with you. That's like one of those dogs that's like so chill.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so well behaved. That's just like stays with you. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Just like your buddy.
Speaker 2:I would love some type of like Labrador. Yeah, yeah, and also my backyard is currently just a pile of dirt.
Speaker 1:Got it, so you got to be. You got to be right. Fair enough, fair enough, sorry, sorry, sorry. Do you feel overwhelmed in your life? Do you feel the need for more free time, or are you like this works for me?
Speaker 2:I would say both Okay, like sometimes because I work so much, I'm just used to it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you probably booked out a while too.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, especially kind of like May through October.
Speaker 1:Yeah, fall. It's pretty wild, so are we just coming out of it now for you? Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's slowing down.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:But I currently have two wedding videos to edit and a few other projects, so there's still a lot to do.
Speaker 1:So there's stuff like once you shoot the event, you still got a hell of work to do.
Speaker 2:You're not done.
Speaker 1:When a project is finally done and you send off the final edits to people. Are you like? Oh?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's the best part, just checking it off and then hearing like their response.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's hearing the feedback I bet is the best part. When you do need like vacation, do you have to plan it so far ahead because you are so booked out?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it has to be booked, maybe a year or 18 months in advance, like, for example, one of my friends had his wedding last year and five months before his wedding he told me oh, I'm getting married. I'm like I already have a wedding job booked that day.
Speaker 1:Right, so I can't make it. No. So yeah, for like your personal life too. And like what if you are in a friend's wedding but they also want you to film it because you not do that? Would you prefer like to just be present with them on the day?
Speaker 2:If one of my friends has a wedding, I would rather just be a part of it and not worry about capturing all the photos and videos.
Speaker 1:I would rather just enjoy it.
Speaker 2:But I think at the same time they would probably want me to video it, or photograph it. I know that's tricky. When that comes up, we'll talk.
Speaker 1:Right, okay, okay, you heard it here, folks. Okay, and what are the pillars that keep you up? Are there like self-care things that you do, that like keep you going?
Speaker 2:So, as you kind of heard, I don't get much downtime, but I really enjoy listening to music. Oh, I like driving too.
Speaker 1:It's like driving. That's a new time.
Speaker 2:Listening to music? Yeah. So when I'm traveling to a gig, play some music? Yeah. Roll the windows down a little bit and cruise.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I see your dog next to you again. Yeah, do you like getting paid to travel? Is it fun to like go somewhere and like have a hotel? Oh, yeah, that's, yeah, that's the best part. That sounds so fun.
Speaker 2:Like traveling gigs are fun because in most cases they'll pay for gas, your hotel combinations. I don't go on many vacations, but that's kind of like a mini vacation. One example of that is when I film Country in the Park. It's a two-day music festival, they pay for hotel, they pay me to shoot and it's also a great time. So I'm doing what I love 100%. Do you ever shoot comedy? I think I shot comedy once.
Speaker 1:Okay, I'm just curious. I go to see comedy shows a lot Jimmy Taitrell I don't know who that is.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's amazing, though yeah, I wasn't that familiar with him too, but he's been in a couple of movies, really Damn damn Editing Tiff here, feel the need to say I'm an idiot.
Speaker 1:I do a 100% know who he is and had just literally watched the movie he's in playing Bert Kreischer, called the Machine. Here we go. I'm thinking about starting standup. I don't want to do it prolonged, I just want to try it once.
Speaker 2:Okay, just to say I did, I'll photograph your comedy sketch. Oh God.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I forgot, I also shot a.
Speaker 2:Do you know Gabriel Iglesias? Yes, fluffy, yeah, he was at the Green Music Center. Oh my God. I photographed him a couple of times.
Speaker 1:Frickin lit dude, you see stuff that people won't see in their lifetime up close, yeah, you know, like your eyes have seen things that, like, quite simply, I'll never see. Yeah, just these different experiences Do you think there will ever be a time where you slow down because this is all a lot, or right now we're moving, we're grooving, we're shaking, we're moving.
Speaker 2:So right now it's working, yeah, but eventually, yes, are you single Something we'll have to give? Yeah.
Speaker 1:When you do have partners. Is this hard for them, Like you being gone all the time?
Speaker 2:Yeah, because these jobs are kind of like set in stone and they can't come. Yeah, both cases they can't come Right, so it's it's hard.
Speaker 1:And then you're editing when you're home.
Speaker 2:Yeah and then. Oh. Sorry, I can't hang out because I have to get this edit done by this time or this week.
Speaker 1:It's almost like maybe you need to date another videographer. That would be fun. You guys can make like sexy edit time and like do it make it or something.
Speaker 2:Do you know any videographers? I don't Just you.
Speaker 1:But hey, if you're listening, get us up folks.
Speaker 2:That would be fun, like another videographer or photographer. Yeah, then we have the shared, the lifestyle Interesting.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh, you can like share ideas and tips. It could be your second shooter if needed. Yeah, sorry to kick out your friend.
Speaker 2:It's the ultimate partnership.
Speaker 1:The ultimate partnership. I love it. Well, we're just manifesting, we're planting seeds. For my last question do you think there are any misconceptions that people have Like? Do people assume things about videography or your work when they message you? Is there anything annoying that you constantly get Like as a question, that you're like this isn't a thing? Stop asking me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I guess one would be the price as well, as most people don't understand the amount of time it takes to edit their photos or video.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Because they just see me shooting with them that day, right, that's all they see. I'm like oh, he had a good time. He got some great photos. We fed him.
Speaker 1:You should be happy yeah.
Speaker 2:Can we get our photos tomorrow?
Speaker 1:Yeah, right, right, right that to the expectation. And it says upfront in your contract too. Like you're not going to get these for a while, folks.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for like four weeks, eight weeks.
Speaker 1:I mean, that's fast yeah.
Speaker 2:And also it's not like I'm just editing their stuff. There's other people who came before you in the queue, so I have to kind of go through everything in order.
Speaker 1:Are people ever rude about that or like about?
Speaker 2:your price. They haven't been rude about the price. They just don't do business, right.
Speaker 1:Right, right, right, right, right. Okay, well, thank you for being here. You've just been a light, a shining star. Anything you want to say to the cherries? Do you know the cherries? Are you a cherry?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You're not a cherry.
Speaker 2:What are the cherries? The cherries are my listeners, okay.
Speaker 1:I just started, naturally, I knew I needed a fan name. You know, like Selena has the Salonators or the Swifties Swift. Exactly, mine are the cherries. Awesome, yes, thank you for being here. Bye, yay, that was so good. Yeah, all right, I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did Definitely one of my favorite episodes of all time. And if you're looking for someone to shoot your next event, look no further. Folks, here he is. Thank you to Brennan for being on and being so open with us. Now let's roll into Yoko. How do we put it? It's time. If you're up up deep, you're up up deep.
Speaker 1:Follow my podcast wherever you listen to them so that you never miss an episode. You can do this by hitting the follow or the plus button on my show wherever you listen. Like and follow me on Facebook, instagram, tiktok and YouTube that's where I post all my clips every single week. Great, and leave a review on Facebook, apple Podcast and or Spotify. It's been a hot minute.
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Speaker 1:I really need your help, vix. Thank you so much. If you wanna see great behind the scenes pictures of lots of Brennan's work this week, go ahead and join it. You can join by reaching out to me directly or going to hey everyone, it's Tiffbuzzsproutcom and filling out the form. Share the show with your friends, please, please, please, please. That's all I want for Christmas. Merch, let me know if you'd like anything. It's all in my highlight reel on Instagram. Submit questions for the next Get to Know Me episode. There will be one more this season and finally, subscribe to my show by becoming a Mera Mera She-Know DJ.
Speaker 1:Selfish, do it, do it, mera She-Know, mera She-Know. I love you. So, oh, wow, alvin, real, thank you so much for listening to me. I really appreciate you. Then you came in and you took it a step further, something you didn't have to do so well talked Some of my favorite people just help me live my dreams Merisinos, my merisinos. I love you. So Thank you.
Speaker 1:The world, when you become a mericino, you are saying thanks, tiff, so much for your hard work on this pod. We want to show you that in a monetary way, to give you the push that you need to keep going. I really appreciate it, and that is basically what the mericinos are A tip once a month, if you will, and the fact that people want to even spend their hard earned money on this. It means the world, and we do have eight mericinos and counting. So, wow, I'm honored. Thank you genuinely to all of them, the people who are consistently listening and actually get something out of it and enjoy it. That's why I'm even doing a podcast. That's it. I feel so lucky to have this community. So, with all of that said, there is no pressure. You can cancel it anytime. You can set whatever dollar amount you want. The link to join is in my email show notes on my website. Feel free to sign up today if you would like to. With that, I love all my cherries. Have a good week, bye.