 Welcome back to Geeks are Sexy. I'm Jason Leduc from Evil Genius Leadership Consultants, hosting every fourth Friday of the month, taking over from Michelle Davis, who's gracious enough to let me take some of her time on the network each month. So we're back with Emily Wilson and Emily was taking a couple of bus-hine the scenes pictures for us while we were on the break. So if you go to her Instagram page, she's going to have some behind the scenes pictures of what's going on in the studio here. We always tell you how tiny the studio is. You'll really get to see and you'll actually get to see a real green screen behind us. Instead of, I mean, no, I don't want to break the illusion. This is like we're on an executive suite right now, right? So Emily, welcome back. Thank you for being here today. Please check on Emily's Instagram. What was that Instagram again? EW Photo. EW Photo. So please check that out, see the behind the scenes pictures. And so we were talking a little about the foundation and how you got started, some of the personal projects you're working on. One of the things I do want to understand, because I'm not a very artistic person, but I understand as a creative and an artist is important to flex your muscles. What are some of the things you do to flex your artistic muscles to keep from falling into the same routines and doing the same things over and over again as an artist? So in order to flex your muscles, you need time from the constant assignments and the constant editing. So towards the end of the summer, I had a little bit of time and I got my drone pilot license. Oh yeah, we did talk about this. And so I got a new Mavic Pro zoom drone and I have been having the most amazing time with the video and trying to really capture, get great portraits. And it's just a new tool in my camera bag for capturing things on assignment. And so I just love that. And Adobe has sort of a new editing tool. It's called Premiere Rush and it is just for short videos for the web. Very cool, that's awesome. So it's perfect. It's really in order to sort of like, I think evolve and grow in anything you need that time. So whether it's like, I don't know, a few weeks or something to sort of try out something new. And with the drone, yeah, I mean, it's been fun. I really look forward to any day when I've got that kind of magic hour time available. We'll get you out of here in time for that. Yeah, so I will have a friend meet me out in the desert and just shoot a lot of stuff and see what happens. I think that's amazing because you literally have shifted your perspective. Not only have you shifted your perspective to something higher and more elevated with the drone but you've also shifted things in time a little bit because you're not seeing things real time. What have you learned about, like how do you take pictures differently or how do you do video differently with that shifted perspective? I guess I have more of, I don't know, I don't know. So I say I sort of try to think about the shot more. I think because it's video and the person is gonna be moving, I think about how, what the angles are gonna be a little more than with a still shoot. Sure, I mean, going from, we talked about you started as a viewfinder kid, right? Film cameras, viewfinder kid, and now it's all digital but you're also, you're not behind it, you're looking at, you're looking at kind of probably a pretty low-res screen and you're not, you have to shift your mind about what am I really capturing based on what am I seeing on my controls, right? Right, exactly. Yeah, I haven't got it dialed in yet. Anybody out there, if you have a Mavic Pro Zoom and you're taking great still photos of people with it, will you please message me because I'm watching videos and I'm really just trying to like engage in this whole new realm of the drone stuff because people all, you know, a lot of clients and they still, they still ask quite a bit, do you shoot video? And I've always said yes, but it takes away from the still photos, you know, it takes away from that process. So this is a way that I have kind of like jumped that and I'm gonna just make it all my own. So the more video that I shoot, the more of a style that I can create and then I can say, yes, I do. And here is, you know, here are examples of the way that I shoot that video. It is not gonna be me holding the camera like I would for a still photo to capture videos. Like I don't want to do that. That doesn't, it doesn't interest me. What interests me is that different perspective. Absolutely. And video. And it's not a super elevated perspective either. It's maybe just, you know, 10 to 15 feet up. And I mean, especially here in the desert, these beautiful mountains that surround Las Vegas. I mean, just a little bit up. I mean, it's the most incredible, incredible composition. It is so cool. It is, okay. So drone nerds, if you're out there, drone nerds. Emily's looking for some help. So Emily Wilson, Emily Wilson photo? So on Instagram, ewphoto. And then emilywilsonphotography.com. And there's a way to message me right there. And I want to say hello to my friend Shatoya, who just joined us on the Facebook. Thank you for joining us today. So I think that's what it says. I don't have my glasses on. My vision is getting very, very terrible. Yeah, I see Shatoya. Shatoya, all right. So speaking of shifting perspective, speaking of the desert, speaking of kind of how beautiful Las Vegas is. Cause it's beautiful in a lot of different ways. You're very focused on downtown or you're very interested in downtown. Right. What have you learned about Las Vegas and specifically downtown as a community from being behind the camera and telling the story and not necessarily being part of the story. Right. Well, so right, we got here about six years ago and there was a real different energy. There was kind of, there was a lot more people, right? Just here doing, you know, in the tech, in the tech scene. And the people that have stayed and the people that have evolved with as downtown is evolving, those people that are still there evolving with it, it's just, it's made everybody I think a tighter knit. But I think I even found that when we first moved here. You know, there was this sort of shared, you know, this immediate friendship because of the shared experience we were having. I feel like this is crazy. You know, we've come from all over the country but we're all here in downtown. Like, did you ever think you'd live in downtown Las Vegas? No. But yeah, when we came to visit, I just saw so much opportunity, you know. And there still is. I think there's a ton. There's so much opportunity. And I mean, just with the work that I do, whether it's downtown or wherever it is on the valley, you know, it is an environment where if you have an idea and you can articulate what it is and who you wanna do it for, those people are absolutely accessible in getting your, you know, getting your idea to them. That's great. That's great. Well, you've been doing this a while. Yes. You talked about starting out as a viewfinder kid on a film camera. You started with a Canon AE-1. I didn't have an AE-1. I had a Nikon, but I had a couple of friends in my photography class in ninth grade who had Canon AE-1s. What have you learned? Tell us about how the change in technology has impacted you as an artist. Tell us what you've learned over all that time. So let's see. You don't need the fanciest camera to take the best picture. And it's really fun to try out different, you know, like with the drone and then the next thing that I wanna get is like a gimbal that you can put on your iPhone. Okay. And I wanna try that out. But yeah, really with cameras, you know, it comes down to the lens, how much you spend on the glass of a lens. But you don't need to spend so much money. You just have something that you can make a composition with and then just build from that. Someone who's getting started today, where would you have them start in terms of gear? I mean, we just have them start with their phone and just mess around. No, I would have them pick up a camera. Go buy the most expensive camera you can find because that's what we do in America and all of the lenses that go with it. No, don't do that. No, spend your money on trips to then take your camera and go. So I would get a 24 to 70 lens. I know that's a Canon range. I'm not sure what it is on night. So that's like a basic lens, right? That's not a real big zoom. That's not a wide angle. That's just like a basic lens. Yeah, it's just a great workhorse lens. And our friend, Steve Haas, who we met through, is online, he's watching and he commented that you are the best photographer in Las Vegas. So thank you for watching, Steve. And thank you for, you know, confirming what we already know that she is the best photographer here in Las Vegas. So what's the next piece of gear you're gonna get? What about lighting? What about lighting? Let's do it. We're gonna talk about lighting. We got a couple minutes. We can talk about lighting. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Steve just asked about lighting. So with lighting, Las Vegas is so incredible for lighting. It's why I live here. We have sunshine 256 days a year. Yeah, it's all the days we have. Like the other day we didn't, that was the one we don't get it. Right, so there's so many ways to work with the light that we have here. And yeah, don't go buy lights. Use what we've got. And then I think you need to start small and just fill in a little bit of light where there's shadow. So it sounds like the idea is learn composition if I can summarize. Learn composition. Learn to do good composition with the lighting you've got. And then as you start to develop that artistic eye through practice, which you will, you know, everyone can develop through practice and say, if I had a little more light here, it could be just that much better. That's kind of what I'm hearing. Yes, exactly. Yeah, and there's, I use this setup. It's so lightweight. It would not work in a super windy outside condition unless you had an assistant to hold it. But Paul Buff, Paul C. Buff, they make really inexpensive lightweight equipment. And yeah, anybody starting out, go with that. Okay, so there's some stuff you can get to kind of go get started, learn composition, learn the skills, learn the fundamentals is what I'm hearing. And then as you start to flex your artistic muscles, where we started the segment, as you start to flex your artistic muscles, start to add in the things that'll make it just a little bit better. Right. And you know, what's really great actually is that there's so much information that photographers are sharing now. Okay. Which when I came up, you really just had to physically see a photographer work for them and figure out how they did it. You know, and now you go online and there's, you know, you could just, there's tons of information out there. So I think the more that we share, the better we all get, whether that's about lighting or business or all the aspects, it benefits us to talk and share. Yeah. I mean, it's that, it's that rising tide lifts all boats kind of thing, right? So what's a, what's a great resource? Someone getting started or someone who's kind of playing around with this can use, what's something you go use? Or, or if they're different, what's a great resource to get started? And then what's a great resource that you use? So for business, would you say? For photography business, whatever you want to share. We got time. We got another segment coming, so. So let's say, oh gosh. I don't really know. I'm trying to think. Well, so there are, I know in Las Vegas here, there's a photographer's Facebook group and they are super helpful with knowing whether or not you can shoot in different places if you need a permit. So that's, that's sort of like in an area where you're like, oh, I wonder, you know, you know, wonder if I have to get a permit in front of the Smith Center. And yeah, everybody's super helpful on that. There's also, they sell gear on there and there, lots of people are like looking for a second assistant or a second camera. You know, weddings are obviously very huge here. Yeah, we do a little bit of that here. The weddings and events and, and there's a, right, there's a Facebook group for that that is like, hey, I need, I need help on Saturday. And here's the rate, you know. And so I think working alongside, so coming up, working alongside a photographer who's been in the business for a while is the best way to learn. Yeah, and that's not just if you want to be a photographer. Mentors are great no matter what business you're in. So Emily, we're going to close out this, and we're going to have you back after a little break, but tell everyone where they can find you again. Okay, so new website just launched EmilyWilsonPhotography.com and you can find me on Instagram at ewphoto. All right, thank you. We'll have you back in just a few minutes. Don't go anywhere. I'm Jason Laduke from Evil Genius Leadership Consultants. This is Geeks are sexy, Fourth Friday of the month show. We will be right back. Don't go anywhere.