Andy is excited to welcome Clane Gessel to this episode of The Wedding Biz. Clane is an award-winning international photographer. His images have been featured in dozens of magazines, including PDM, National Geographic and Smithsonian. He was also inducted into all of the National Geographic Fine Art Galleries across the world!
Clane speaks about growing up in a Mormon family in Seattle, where he got the inspiration to get into photography. He also talks about the reason he lived in his car during some tough times. Growing up the way he did allows him to understand vulnerability, and believes that you have to understand vulnerability to understand art. Clane feels that behind each of his iconic images is a fantastic love story.
Listen in as Clane tells us his process for picking clients to work with, how he gets the amazing unexpected shots, and how he uses the rules of the camera against it to get the pictures he wants. He describes what he means when he says he wants to capture the essence of the wedding in one photo, how he uses light to the best advantage, and why he believes that color and light are both essential tools when telling a story.
Traveling the world taking amazing photographs seems so glamorous and it is yet Clane says that success to him is just getting to do what he does with the people he respects in the industry. Being able to touch people’s lives is why he loves photography, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Being passionate about capturing just the right photo is what makes Clane the best in the world at what he does. If you want a glimpse into his genius, you don’t want to miss this episode, he lays it all out there for us, and you want to hear what he has to say.
Show Highlights:
[03:23] Welcome to the show, Clane!
[04:08] Clane discusses what inspired him to get into photography.
[05:13] He got into the art field because he felt he saw things differently than other people.
[06:00] Clane speaks about growing up and how he wanted to give his clients things he never had.
[07:19] He chats about being able to express himself through photography.
[08:46] He lived in his car for a while out of high school.
[10:06] Clane talks about being ostracised from the Morman community and his lack of contact with people for almost a year.
[10:59] What happened when you graduated from college? Is that when you started taking photographs?
[12:54] The ultimate challenge is living in the moment.
[13:25] Being good at art is being good at being vulnerable.
[14:38] Andy says that he can feel the emotionality that Clane achieves in the photos he takes of the couple on their wedding day.
[15:43] Clane needs to know how the couple gets along as well as their vulnerabilities to be able to get the photographs he wants.
[16:25] He meets each couple personally and they fill out a questionnaire as the first step to getting an understanding of who they are.
[18:32] Do you ever have situations where the couples are just not able to go there? Are you very selective about who you will work with?
[19:28] Clane explains what he means by capturing the essence of the wedding in “one shot.”
[21:22] Hear the process he went through to get one of his amazing pictures at a destination wedding in Iceland.
[24:18] Getting the clients the photo they want, Clane says he has tunnel vision.
[24:38] Clane discusses how he uses the camera’s abilities “against it.”
[26:00] He chats about the responsibility of doing destination weddings and traveling around the world.
[28:25] Do you ever have couples who say no to what you want to do? Do you try to get an iconic photo for every wedding?
[30:05] Clane describes how he uses light to capture the beauty of a picture.
[32:02] Color and light are both essential tools when telling a story.
[33:32] He gives examples of some of his favorite images.
[34:49] He believes that his most significant challenges are with the connection with the couples.
[36:59] How are you looking at the business aspect of what you do?
[38:03] Clane has brought on five new photographers to work with him. He explains why he did it.
[39:33] He says that social media is a fastidious beast, you need it, but you also have to be very careful with it.
[41:07] How do you approach networking? How do you choose the people you want to talk to?
[44:36] Clane tells us that success is being able to do this, year after year, with the people he loves in the industry.
[46:15] Thank you so much, Clane, for being on the show!
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Title Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by Kushner Entertainment
How to Find Clane
@clanegesselphotography
@clanegessel
Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest
Mentioned
Bryan Rafanelli on The Wedding Biz
Bryan Rafanelli Revisit on The Wedding Biz
David Stark Part 1 on The Wedding Biz
David Stark Part 2 on The Wedding Biz
Jes Gordon on The Wedding Biz
Andre Maier on The Wedding Biz
