We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Wesley Powers a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Wesley, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers

It’s the Spring of 2014. I am a sophomore in college working in my school’s yearbook to get photography, and really any kind of technical camera experience I can. I developed a great friendship with a guy in the department that was shooting wedding videos for his friends and getting those personal referrals pretty regularly. One day, he asked me if I’d be interested in shooting a wedding video for someone. Naturally, I was excited and eager to say yes as I was trying to make my way into that industry. He proceeded to tell me that this inquiry came down the line from a couple of other people before it got to me. I found out that I was pretty much a 4th string pick. The mother of the bride reached out to one person who referred her to another who referred her to my friend who referred me. Either way, it didn’t matter to me I was just excited for the opportunity to start building a portfolio. I got the contact of the mother of the bride and got on the phone with her. I thought it was odd to not be speaking to the couple but what did I know? She gave me the info for the venue, timeline and other miscellaneous details. She was very polite and courteous and just wanted to make sure her daughter’s big day was captured. Then she asked the most nerve racking question that any starting freelancer dreads, “How much do you charge?” I panicked for a quick second. I didn’t know if she knew that I had never shot a wedding before and didn’t want to tell her that I would shoot it for free because, based on the conversations I had with my friend, I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me. So I immediately spit out a random number and, honestly to my disbelief, she agreed and said she’d have a check for me on the day.

Finally, I had my first client! I was super nervous. I began to look at a lot of different wedding videos online. I knew I had the capability of producing a good highlight video but I had never been in this environment before so I wanted to over prepare as much as I could. Especially since I was getting paid what I thought was a crazy amount at the time. The day finally arrives. I show up to the venue, a very nice country club in the area, and begin to get all of my equipment ready which really just consisted of a DSLR, a lens, and a tripod. I begin shooting everything I could. Didn’t let anything go unrecorded. The florals and decor were incredible. I got excited because I was capturing a luxury wedding for where I was. I didn’t actually interact with the couple much. I introduced myself to them and that was about it. The mother of the bride found me and greeted me and then proceeded to micromanage all of my shots. Quite literally anytime she was not needed for photos or something else, she was right beside me almost the entire day telling me to get certain shots, even ones I told her I already got because she wanted to be sure. She honestly began to scare me. I became flustered and couldn’t tell her that I knew what I was doing because I actually didn’t. The day continues and the ceremony is close to starting. At this point, I’m starting to wonder if this is how the industry is and if it’s worth this exhaustion. Mind you, we are barely half way through the day. We get through the ceremony. It’s uneventful and then cocktail hour begins. At this point, I’m trying to shoot everything stealth like in order to avoid mom, but to no avail. She spots and now she’s a little tipsy and still very concerned about the shots I’m getting. She follows me around pointing out groups of people and family to get. With all of that going on, I kind of forget that a big piece of the video might need to be the bride and groom who are off with the photographer doing couples portraits. I panic, and run as fast I can to catch with them on the golf course to snag maybe two good shots of them and then it was time to bring everyone in for dinner. At this point I’m feeling very disappointed in myself but also pretty pissed because MOB is joined to my hip at almost every turn. Dinner goes by and it’s time for speeches. Thankfully, she was a part of the first one so I was able to get settled in a spot to capture them all. I set up close to a speaker because I did not have any audio equipment and I wanted to make sure I get good speaking parts. After MOB’s speech, who does she start scanning the room for? Me. She spots me and makes her way towards me and I’m beginning to wonder if I just need to cut my losses, reject the check and leave. But no, I’m committed and want to be able to have this wedding video as a building block. She walks up and asks me to move to another spot to get a better angle. I told her I need to be here in order to hear everything on the video. But she insists I move and I did not want to begin arguing with her while the rest of the speeches were happening. So I move and sure enough later on in editing, they became worse to hear. She let up during the rest of the reception.

We finally conclude the evening and I have to see her to get my check and she gives me praise for being there and is so thankful for me. Internally, I’m dying because, even though this is my first wedding shoot, it still to this day is the worst wedding experience I’ve ever had.

But… little did I know the story was not over.

I dive right into editing and I’m actually really proud of a lot of the footage I captured. I for sure overshot. For all my camera and card nerds, I shot about 300gb of compressed 720p footage. Yeah, the record button was on more than it was off during the day. I spend just under a month working on it and finally export it. I’m watching it back in tears because, at the time, I’m just so proud of it. It ended up being over 12 minutes long which by today’s standards is an eternity. Looking at it today makes me cringe. I still keep locked away on a hard drive and watch it when I need to humble myself. So I upload it and send it to the mom thinking I’m done, it’s finished. Not an hour later, I get an email from her saying that she was disappointed with how short it was. She expected it to be longer. My heart sank. I realized we never talked about what she was expecting. My idea and her idea of a wedding video were very far off. I politely explained that this is the typical wedding video format. A highlight of the day set to music with a few speaking parts. She then demanded that I give her all of the footage I shot because there wasn’t nearly enough in the video. I was so over dealing with her that I told her “Fine, I’ll upload everything to an external drive and send it to you. What’s a good address?” She told me she doesn’t want to give me her address and wants to find a mutual spot to meet. I obliged and met up with her. She was very short and shared the advice that I should make my wedding videos 45 minutes to an hour long if I want to do this more.

“Thanks…”

This whole experience should have sent me sprinting away from the wedding industry. But it didn’t for some reason. I told the story to my friend in the yearbook and he said “yeah communication is key and also you need to have a contract that clearly states everything.” (Thanks for telling me after the fact haha) He gave me a contract template that he uses often and since then, my experiences at weddings and with couples has progressed leaps and bounds. It was a huge learning experience that, thankfully,I got at the beginning of my career. It taught me to be forward with communicating expectations and deliverables. Talk through how I work during the event day. Reassure the clients that (now) I know what I’m doing and their investment in me will be well worth it. Since then, My couples have loved the films I make for them. Despite the fact that they are all under 10 minutes.

A fun/not so fun fact. I kept this ladies number in my phone as “Crazy Psycho mom.” 3 years later… I get a call and the caller ID is non other than her. Very intrigued, I answer. She’s very polite, which I was shocked by, and then asks me if I would be available to shoot her second daughter’s wedding coming up in a few months. I decline and just curiously ask about her other daughter and her husband. She tells me they ended up getting divorced just 5 months after the wedding. Part of me still wonders if it was the video I made that drove them apart. Guess we’ll never know.

Wesley, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Wes Powers. I am a photographer and videographer based in Austin, TX.

I got into the mediums when I was in high school. I made short comedy videos to post to YouTube in hopes that would be my career path. (that did not happen). Continued to develop a love for photo and video all the way through college. I was able to capture a ton of my friends weddings which led me to creating my own wedding photo and video business. I love the wedding day and all the joy it brings to the couples I work with. In the last few years, I’ve grown a love for film formats. Started offering that to my couples shooting 35mm photos and Super 8mm video. These mediums, in my opinion, really create the timeless nostalgia that I think we all crave for our special days. I love when couples are looking for that. It usually means we will work really well together and they’ll be pleased with there photos and video forever.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

One thing I know a lot of creatives struggle with is imposter syndrome. The idea that you don’t actually belong or deserve to be where you are. I had the same mindset as my business began to grow and because of it I made comprises on certain things when it came to pricing myself and the deliverables I offer my clients. Typically giving in to any client request because of fear. When in reality that was hurting my business. I was working harder and longer than I needed to. When clients would request something extra, I would often give it to them for free even though it was clearly an added service on my website. I thought that I was being helpful. But it was communicating to my clients that they had an opportunity to take advantage of me. Not they did all the time but it happened. You as the business owner have to be confident in how you set yourself up and you are not being rude when you charge your client for something extra that they want. That’s what business is. You wouldn’t walk into a retail store and buy one thing and then expect them to give you another for free just because you asked for it. Be confident in where you are. You are obviously there because you did the work.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Being a creative entrepreneur is no easy task. When my wife and I first got married, we were both working and things were fine. My wife had a steady income that provided the stability I needed to continue to grow my business. We wanted to start a family and we ended up having a little boy. One of greatest moments of my life was becoming a dad. But my wife desired to stay home to raise our son. That put the pressure on me to keep things going. After dropping a steady income, I had to kick it into high gear. I hustled hard and ended up taking a bunch of small one off jobs just make ends meet. By the grace of God we are still blessed for my wife and son to be home and for me to be able to provide as a creative. It still ebbs and flows. We are in valleys and on mountains throughout the year but we are happy.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sparkjoyfilmandphoto.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sparkjoyfilmandphoto
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SparkJoyFilmandPhoto
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@wespowersSJ

Image Credits

Wes Powers