How to Plan Ahead to Get the Most Out of Your Photography Experience with Julian Ribinik
In this episode of Now That I’m Engaged, How Do I Get Married?, Kevin and August sit down with Julian Ribinik, an award-winning wedding photographer, Creative Director of Julian Ribinik Studios, and founder of BioPrime Wellness. With nearly two decades behind the lens, Julian shares how thoughtful planning upfront leads to a calmer wedding day and images you truly love.
From defining how you want the day to feel to vetting photographers for venue conditions and lighting, Julian breaks down simple, high-impact steps to get the most out of your photography experience without sacrificing presence or joy. He offers the key questions to ask in consults, why an engagement session doubles as a stress-saving rehearsal, and how to separate Instagram polish from real-world skill.
Highlights:
- Why starting with “How do we want to feel?” sets every other decision up for success
- The essential questions to ask: venue familiarity, similar conditions, and site visits
- Full galleries over grids: what to look for across ceremony, reception, and dance floor
- Range over one look: handling harsh sun, candlelight, dark churches/ballrooms
- Engagement sessions as a dress rehearsal for chemistry, posing, and expectations
- When (and why) to add second shooters for multi-venue, multi-day, or cultural events
- Professionalism that keeps you calm: early arrival, patience, and positive energy
- “Editorial” vs. “documentary” explained - and why portraits aren’t truly candid
- Don’t be fooled by follower counts or paid “as seen in” badges. Evidence matters
No matter what type of wedding you're planning, Julian’s practical, peace-first approach will help you plan ahead with purpose, so you can be present and walk away with photos that feel like you.
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Transcript
All right, folks, welcome to another episode of Now That I'm Engaged, How Do I Get Married? And we have the one and only Julian Ribinik with us. Julian, how are we doing?
Julian Ribinik (:Doing great, hey, great to be here again. Thank you guys for having me.
Kevin Dennis (:Of course. So Julian is a photographer, like a famous, like award-winning photographer I just recently saw in New York City ⁓ with Julian Ribinik Studios and also with BioPrime Wellness. So Julian is here today to talk about how to plan ahead to get the most out of your photography experience, which I don't think a lot of people plan ahead. So I think that it's good that we're going to be talking about that here today. before we jump in, Julian, tell us a little bit about yourself and how we got you here today.
Julian Ribinik (:Sure, thank you so much. So I have been a wedding photographer since 2007 or six and I'm forgetting about it. ⁓ And I started in Israel, then I moved here to New York City and I've been ever since. We are working all across the United States, most of it New York City and Miami. And we, yeah.
typically specialize in giving the real life experience, showing emotions, making sure that people experience the wedding from the other side and not missing any experience, at least as much as we can transfer, as much as we can show and we're going to touch on that. ⁓ But ⁓ my motto is experience the wedding ⁓ and don't try to show off.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah
⁓ I like that.
Julian Ribinik (:because all you will have is the memories. And if the memories are the cake and your florals, that's nothing much you will remember from that.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
August Yocher (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:No, that's a good advice. Also, you're a health coach. We got to touch on that. Been since 2018, right? Yeah. And then it made me, yeah. And then he actually got me to stop drinking. I drink water now, not iced tea like I used to. it's all, I ⁓ give you credit everywhere and anywhere when everyone asks me for an iced tea. And I say, no, I just need water.
Julian Ribinik (:Yes, absolutely. That was a confirmation.
This is salt.
Kevin Dennis (:Anyway, thanks to... Yeah, I do, I do. All right, so we're here to talk about wedding photography, sir. So how can you share why the wedding, know, planning ahead is so important when it comes to wedding photography? I think that's the part I think a lot of couples mess up on. They don't plan ahead.
August Yocher (:He's working very hard on it, very hard. ⁓
Julian Ribinik (:Great,
lives.
Absolutely.
August Yocher (:Or don't
know what to do, really. How to plan ahead.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:Legitimate question. ⁓ I think there is a lot of involved in wedding planning and couples really approach it the way that we need to have certain vendors, we need to have certain timeline, we need to have a planner or I'm very type A and I don't need a planner, which is the worst for the type A actually. ⁓ I find it the person who like the most down to earth and they like most relaxed, they are the ones who don't need a planner because they wouldn't care in the end.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:But this is not what we're talking about. people do not really get into the details of what they're doing. They're like, oh, I want nice florals. I saw that on Instagram. I want a great photographer. I saw something of that similar style. But unless you got married or unless you are in the industry, you really don't know what is involved in your day.
August Yocher (:you
Julian Ribinik (:You don't know what is involved in photography specifically and it probably goes for most disciplines of the wedding industry, right? ⁓ Because every single vendor that has major impact has more than just I came and I left. And there are multiple touch points and there are multiple things that you need to kind of know what you're doing when you are hiring a vendor.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm.
Julian Ribinik (:And ⁓ people usually are not having any idea and when they're being told, you should have done this, or maybe you should think about that, they are like, no, I'm fine. It's like, again, coming like, like I'm type A, like I got it until the wedding day. And then they're like, ⁓ shit. Like, all of that is true and now I'm stressing and I'm working on my wedding day instead of enjoying it.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:And with photography, it's not different. It's probably like anything else in life. Like I want to save money. How are you going to do it? Like you need to find a job. You need to allocate certain budgets. For anything you need to, like even going to school, you need a plan for that. Otherwise, you're not going to succeed. And with photography, there is so many different things that people don't know about.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:And it also comes from somewhat maybe previous ⁓ centuries or decades where people like I hired a photographer, he came, he left. I had 40 pictures. ⁓ And there are countries that are actually doing that same way. ⁓ Yeah, like so I'm from Israel, I know the background, and I try to get and work in Israel. ⁓ And I realized I can't.
Kevin Dennis (:Really?
Yes.
Julian Ribinik (:because these people book a wedding photographer on WhatsApp, maybe a week before, and they don't care who it is, what they're going to do, they just, you know, they care, I will have photo, I will have video, I will have an album, it's very standard. weddings start at the same time, and at the same time, everyone, yeah, people get same ⁓ standard of photos usually. They sometimes don't.
August Yocher (:Wow.
Kevin Dennis (:Wow.
Do they really? Wow.
August Yocher (:Yeah, so I guess that,
like, personalization trend that we have here in the U.S. is...doesn't happen over there.
Julian Ribinik (:Correct, and it's not just US. If you go anywhere in Europe as well, there is higher end, there's always personalization, ⁓ and there are just markets that it doesn't exist. It's like you come, you go, and you send the photos, and they don't know any other, they don't know the difference, but also those photos look exactly like that, plus.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
August Yocher (:Right.
Julian Ribinik (:We in US, we do have a lot of things happening. There are some countries where you don't have anything. It's just a party, photographer comes, takes some portraits, they choose the party and goes. There's no timeline, there's no cake, there's no parent dances, there's nothing like that. And the only two people who wear informal attire are bride and groom. Right, yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Hmm. Not a lot of the traditions. ⁓ really? Wow.
August Yocher (:Wow.
Not as fluffy, I guess. No formalities or anything. Yeah. ⁓
Julian Ribinik (:No, no, and sometimes it evolves
the climate as well, right? So, but ⁓ we are unique, but we are not unique because like higher end or luxury wedding industry is all over and it's growing and knowing and it's not to say luxury, but it's still like if you're in US, you need to plan things.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:It starts with the, like, what do you want? What style you looking at? How do you want to feel? And I always start my call with clients, like, how do you want to feel on your day, after your day, and before you're getting married?
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:Do you want to be connected to people you work with? Do you want to have certain atmosphere through your photos? Do you just want a bunch of pictures? ⁓ And our clients don't. They want to have an experience. want their emotions to be captured. They want to be able to experience their own day during the day without being pulled to different places without the need and then after. They want to have all that experience.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:⁓ that you probably will not get without planning. If you don't have a planner and you're not planning yourself, you are very much in the danger of hiring someone who doesn't know what they're doing, or to them, every single client is just same thing, people who work with templates. ⁓
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Yeah.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:and luckily for newer generation, Gen Z specifically, they are very particular, they're looking at different reviews, details, they want to know exactly what is happening, who they work with, but our client, our ideal client and the typical client for years always been like that and we develop personal connections with a lot. So you really want to know why you want a wedding photographer.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:If your answer is just, want some photos, then you probably want to take friends with the phones and you'll be totally fine. Right? ⁓ And sometimes better than a photographer who you're going to pay $2,000 to because they want to justify the expense on the camera. You want to understand what your wedding venue looks like before...
August Yocher (:Yeah, anyone can do that.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:you hiring a photographer or a florist or anything like that because it has to match. We have a lot of couples who come to us and say we're still looking at the venues, we don't have the date, but we just price shopping. And there's lesson, yeah, yeah. ⁓
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Hmm.
August Yocher (:Yeah, it happens to us too. And it's hard to
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, it's happening more and more, I feel like.
August Yocher (:move forward. Like, we can't really do anything on our end until you have a date.
Julian Ribinik (:Correct. when, so first of all, if people do that, we usually know it's not our client. That said, they might be not our client or someone else's client just because they're not educated enough. And if they knew everything they need to know, they might have been an amazing client and they would have an amazing result. And maybe they won't. Because there is a...
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:people who simply don't know what they're doing, they're like, photographer is a photographer, right? DJ is a DJ, they play music. They don't know what goes into that. They don't know that there's a timeline and DJ needs to be able to execute and light up the people and direct the flow. It's same with photographer. So they have...
trends in mind. They saw something on TikTok, they saw something on Instagram, and they say, like, we just like this style, and they're showing one photo of a couple covered with a veil. Which, right, and like, we're looking for someone who can do that, which everyone can do that, so you post it on Reddit, and like, you have 5,000 response, like, like, that's me, that's my style.
August Yocher (:Like that doesn't tell me enough. I don't get enough information from that.
Julian Ribinik (:people should be looking at the style not in terms of, like I like the picture, but.
You have a venue, what is your style? Why did you go for that venue? How does the lighting look like at that venue? Does that correlate with whatever you saw online or whatever your friend has recommended you or whatever photographer you met at a different wedding on the beach and you getting married in a dark bank space?
Kevin Dennis (:Mm.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:I was going to
say probably time of year to dictate some of that.
Julian Ribinik (:It does, it does. ⁓ I wouldn't say a lot, like I wouldn't say that matters a lot if you are in a specific geographic location, right? Because if photographer works in there, right, they probably should be outside and inside. That said, you want to look at the photos outside and inside in general, and you want to look at the photos with different type of lighting.
Kevin Dennis (:⁓ OK.
Hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:So in the winter it would be actually easier to Because it's overcast, so when it's overcast it's, you have no shadows, you have no bright sun, no one is going to squint, no one is going to sweat, it's fairly easy. And the only suffering person will be photographer with like frozen fingers. Which is a different skill. ⁓ But.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Mm-hmm
Julian Ribinik (:people do tend to catch up to something that they've seen without knowing anything, but that they like the photo. And followers count, because that's important. So they find someone with 20,000 followers and beautiful bridal portraits, and they say, this is what I want.
Kevin Dennis (:Mmm.
Mm-hmm.
August Yocher (:Interesting.
Kevin Dennis (:crazy.
August Yocher (:but
Julian Ribinik (:And
August Yocher (:does,
Julian Ribinik (:then.
August Yocher (:guess, like, does their vision match what that photographer can deliver,
Julian Ribinik (:It can, but many times it's not that. ⁓ Many photographers, they try to get business, they do style shoots, they have beautiful couples in their Instagram, and it's usually portraits. And if we look at many, high count followers profiles, you will see lot of photographers with beautiful couples.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:and not much else. It will be a beautiful elite in a beautiful city and the beautiful people. Most people are not models. Most weddings are not happening in Tuscany. ⁓
Kevin Dennis (:Wait a minute, what are you talking about?
August Yocher (:No, but
that's a good point, Julian. It's like if I'm looking at a page, like I want to see people that look like me, like people in my area, people that like I could picture myself in that photo and have that feeling that you're talking about.
Kevin Dennis (:me.
Julian Ribinik (:Right, ⁓ but some people are like you and they will be very realistic and they will say, ⁓ it's all beautiful people. Something is wrong or maybe he doesn't shoot people like me or maybe it's actually like it's not real when the person is realistic, right? ⁓ Because if we'll look.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
⁓
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:because it could be AI
now, huh?
August Yocher (:You
Julian Ribinik (:I hope most people can differentiate because it's very seen. It's very seen. It's like it's very perfect and sometimes people have seven fingers. ⁓
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Hahaha!
August Yocher (:No, but I think it stems
back to two where you were saying in the beginning, like a staged photo versus a candid photo. And like, I do think there are benefits to styled shoots, but I do think like there needs to be a way for couples to be able to filter through that and know which photographer they want to choose.
Julian Ribinik (:Absolutely, I don't think couples can filter through that. Vendors can, some. It's very clear that neurophotographers cannot filter through that. Because they look at others Instagram like, my God, like all those people, doing all those amazing things, which we all know are not really the way they think. ⁓ But that cup, some people have aspirations and they look at like, like I want to be that.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:100%.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:and they think that they can be that. Some people are very self-conscious and some people like, no. And they think maybe that if I go with this photographer, I will look exactly like that. ⁓ But.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Mm-hmm.
August Yocher (:Hmm
Julian Ribinik (:And this is where planning goes into, it's not like timeline thing, it's smaller. If I have this type of venue, I need a photographer who actually can execute. So I like this person photos I want to find in their portfolio and you always, always, and I'm talking to you guys who are planning weddings, you should be able to look at the full body of work without rushing to any decisions.
⁓ Just like when you're mortgage, you're not just getting proposed like, yeah, I'll go with this bank. You go and you check and all the conditions and then more often than not, you're going to go through multiple before you find something that is correct. ⁓ Just like with venue planning.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:you will find beautiful things which don't cost much and then when you start digging like, oh, I will end up triple that with the price just because of all the little things that I want to add and without it, it's just a space. So with photographer, you really want to dig because it's really easy to show beautiful things. I can pay three, five, six, $10,000, go to a beautiful location.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:have 10 beautiful couples, fill out my portfolio and start booking. And then I will come to wedding in a venue which I cannot shoot at because I never shot in this type of space. Or, and I see that happening, ⁓ where people hire someone for less money because they love the personality and they love the...
August Yocher (:Thank
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:vibe with a photographer, which is very important, and that's a part of planning, and it's very important to have a vibe with the person because you're spending the whole day with them, or three, or five, depending on what type of wedding you have in a destination. But if you have a multi-day event, and a multi-venue event, and maybe you have many things happening at the same time,
August Yocher (:Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:and you hire any person based on their photos, you actually don't know if they can execute that. And this is where...
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:probably high-end luxury space is, it's not about having beautiful pictures, because we will be frank, if you have experience, if you're a seasoned photographer, and you're shooting for a while, if you're given a great-looking couple, in the great-looking attire, in the great-looking location, with the beautiful decor, you will have beautiful pictures.
and it will be easier to execute it in a great way than to fail because it's really hard to fail with modern techniques. Question is, will that photographer be able to estimate the amount of manpower they need? Will they be, to execute the logistics of that? Will they have right equipment for all those things? Are they familiar with those traditions?
August Yocher (:Right.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
That's big too. It's the traditions I imagine.
Julian Ribinik (:That's a huge thing. Especially if you're on either cost and ⁓ not in the middle of United States. If you're doing engagement sessions, ⁓ sorry, ⁓ not engagement, if you're doing regular weddings in, ⁓ I don't wanna say Texas, but somewhere like Oklahoma, it's probably all the same and it looks the same. North Carolina, I lived there for a while.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:But if you go on the coast, like you have multiple cultures, have multiple formats, you have multiple ⁓ venues, destinations, climates, and you need to be able to execute in multiple spaces. We had a wedding this year in a very beautiful New York venue, which is very, very famous ⁓ and very aspirational. People love it.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:but it's a small space. It's like 100 people space. You don't need more than two photographers there or nothing like that. ⁓ But this couple had sister venue that is the mirror of that venue nearby. It's an Rockefeller Center, 610 and 620 loft. And they wanted to mimic a drone shot and they had a lot of decor. So if I would be coming to that place, we're just like, I know the venue, I've been there.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:You know, I shot a couple of weddings. It's a small wedding. I need two photographers. It took us six months to plan and it took me six photographers for that wedding to execute that.
Kevin Dennis (:wow.
Wow.
August Yocher (:Wow.
Julian Ribinik (:⁓
Because I did very deep research, I understood what they want, I went to venue multiple times, and the planner told me, have too many people. And in the end, it was barely enough. It was like, we got it, but I would use another person.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
wow.
August Yocher (:Interesting.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:So many people, don't know how to do it. ⁓ If we're talking coast, there's a lot of California and New York weddings that are being done by photographers who are being hired because they're cheaper and they look, on the Instagram, their work looks beautiful. So someone will hire someone from Tennessee or from whatever, just because their work looks beautiful and these people come to the New York, my God, what am I doing? Because they don't know about...
Kevin Dennis (:And that happens
August Yocher (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:here. That happens here a lot. Yeah. Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:Yes, of course.
Taking traffic into the account, multiple locations, not understanding like local logistics, people are being lost. And all of that again needs to be taken into the account. So on one hand, it's great to have someone who is lower priced. And I'm going to bash a little bit and I'm going to get a little salty. ⁓
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Okay, we like bashing.
August Yocher (:Okay.
Julian Ribinik (:⁓ There are certain communities on ⁓ Reddit, which is very like the place to go now. There is a community that's called Big Budget Brides. I'm sure everyone heard about this. It's great read. ⁓ If people want to see what brides think, it's really a good place to go and even ask different questions.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:But many times there's talk like, ⁓ there's, ⁓ know, like Josevia has photos just like, you know, a guy from my town. Why would I pay 40K when I can pay 4K? And there's a lot of agreement there. Like, yeah, like we looked at the portfolio. It all looks kind of the same. It's nice and light and airy. And... ⁓
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
August Yocher (:Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:will be frank, if you go into photographer communities, there's a lot of the same talk. Hey, like why does someone like Josevilla charges whatever they charge? Because I can do the same or better.
Kevin Dennis (:really?
Hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:And it's true if you're looking at a single photo, it's true if you're looking at a location, but these photographers, don't understand what is going into shooting a wedding that is multicultural, multi-venue, multi-day, things that happen at the same time. How many people do they need? The delivery times, that...
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:You know, you only have 12 weeks or people deliver in like five months. Here you need to deliver in three days. Can you deliver in three days?
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
August Yocher (:yeah, you're paying for the experience, you're paying for that photographer bitch.
Julian Ribinik (:Yes, you're paying
for the service, you're paying for the experience, ⁓ you're paying for lack of stress.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
That's a good point,
lack of stress. That really is a good point.
Julian Ribinik (:Yeah,
you're paying for the result. Yes, and this is why people who try to save money usually end up being stressed and working on their wedding day and like have to be involved in everything and be unhappy. While people who just trust their vendors and pay accordingly, they just get the result.
August Yocher (:Peace of mind.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:without worrying. And that's a big part of that as well. ⁓ So when planning is happening, we need to take into account all of it. It's great to have person you have a vibing with because you're going to spend all day with them, but you need to really understand and see full galleries of several weddings in a setting similar to yours, unless you have something very, very simple. And then you don't.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:If you're getting married on the beach and that's all, or you're like in the forest or in the like ballroom, it's very easy to execute. If you're looking at something that is a little complicated, you really want to know that. And I do want to stress this fact that if we look at the portfolios of most photographers, you will see outside photos in great light. Even if it's not.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:stage shoot. Because it is easy. And also because most people assume that I need to show a couple that looks great and that's all.
However, that part of the wedding where you're doing formal portraits, it can be 40 minutes, can be hour and a half, depending on wedding situation, whatever, but it's small fraction of the wedding. It also doesn't tell how photographer is going to behave.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:how professional they are with their conduct, how comfortable you will be, because maybe all that was really, really forced and a lot of screaming, how they will treat your family, how they will execute logistics, and specifically, you don't know what's going to happen during other moments. Will they miss the moments during the ceremony? Will they capture the reaction of the public, of your family while...
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:You
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm. ⁓
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:You know, you are getting married. Will they be able to capture the details? Your church is dark. Will they be able to get that? Your venue is dark, your venue is outside, there's no light, there's too much light, you're getting married in front of the sunset. Can you see pictures, images from the certain situation that is not the portraits to see?
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:can that photographer do all of that? Because if you have nice portraits and nothing else, and all your moments are missed, all of it is blurred, or underexposed, overexposed, you basically don't have anything except portraits.
Kevin Dennis (:Execute, yeah.
Well, and I see a lot of photographers nowadays doing everything on automatic. they're like from, like, I feel like I could be a wedding photographer, you know, like, because they have no skill involved, you know, and they're just sitting there and shh, shh, shh, shh, know, rapid fire shooting. And, and I asked, ⁓ asked one recently, I'm like, how long have you been doing this? ⁓ just a couple months. I picked up a can and I'm like, because there's no, like, you can tell the real pros, the pros, they're, you know, they're playing with the lenses and they're
You know, they're like really setting it up. These people are just like rapid fire shooting and holding it way up above their head. And I'm like, what is going on? I don't understand that. anyway, that's probably for a whole nother podcast. Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:Yeah. ⁓
August Yocher (:Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:We have a lot of, so, and it's also, it's important for the brides to understand how many years that person is in business. ⁓ And that has to be validated. The amount of followers on Instagram doesn't mean anything. The amount of followers on TikTok doesn't mean anything because you can gain insane amounts if you're doing funny things. Like really funny, like not weird. ⁓
August Yocher (:Yes.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Ha
ha ha ha ha!
Julian Ribinik (:And on Instagram,
August Yocher (:No,
yeah. You have one viral video and all of a sudden you got a bunch of followers. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:yeah, yeah, yeah, this is why that platform is amazing. And I'm like, I'm not good at that. But on Instagram, I know several people who can run really efficient ads. And they have insane amounts of followers and they shooting weddings for two or three years.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm. That's
crazy.
Julian Ribinik (:and that can burn someone, right? Because you can pay for ads, be very consistent, know what you're doing with ads, go do some sales shoots, ⁓ and pay for ads in Vogue, have Vogue logo, and there's the whole British Vogue thing going, if you guys heard. No, no, so like your sister was talking about it a lot. ⁓ Megan.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:No.
Uh-huh.
Julian Ribinik (:⁓ We just went in the conference and she did the whole lecture about it. ⁓ But it's pretty known. You can look at many photographers' profiles on Instagram. have Vogue and you will see British. ⁓ Or it can be India or something like anything but US Vogue. And if I show you my... ⁓
August Yocher (:Yeah, I see that a lot, actually.
Julian Ribinik (:email box you can search for Vogue and Glamour you will see a lot of emails from them offering ads you pay us this much you get in this size of the feature
Kevin Dennis (:questions.
August Yocher (:Okay.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:So they will post your photo. You will pay for that for a while. And you can take that photo, make a post, put a logo and say, I'm in Vogue. And many people do it. Correct, correct, correct. So any planner will see through that. Most people that are in the industry for a while, they know that.
Kevin Dennis (:And then therefore.
wow.
August Yocher (:I mean, it does look good to someone who doesn't understand how that works, so...
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:but the couples do not know that. And they see, that person is in vogue. They must be great. ⁓ And yes. And it's paid.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, they don't.
August Yocher (:No.
Kevin Dennis (:But it's all paid.
August Yocher (:Well, and I'm wondering, Julian,
could you like shed some light for the couples? they're in the planning process. They're looking to hire photographers. I know you've said some already, but what are some questions they can ask a photographer to vet them? Because let's say they don't have a planner. i mean, obviously getting a planner is the best thing because they can walk you through the process and you don't have to necessarily be the most educated in weddings when you're filtering through your vendors. But
Julian Ribinik (:Yes,
August Yocher (:what kind of questions should, yeah, well that first, let's do
Julian Ribinik (:higher planner.
August Yocher (:that, but in case they haven't, what are some questions they should be asking their photographer?
Julian Ribinik (:All right, so I think the most important is we are getting married in certain venue.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:Are you familiar with that venue? And if not, can you show us something similar? Which is very, very valid, right? If you don't need to have the Plaza experience to shoot in Plaza, you don't need to have a Cipriani experience to shoot in Cipriani. ⁓ Because being familiar with the venue itself and where each room is, it doesn't matter.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:because a great photographer, will do site visit, they will come before, like they will make themselves familiar. But they need to be able to work in similar conditions.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:And if photographer is showing you a bunch of, you know, outside weddings or bright ballrooms and they cannot produce anything similar to those venues, you probably don't want to work with them. And many people will hate me for that, obviously, because now like, like how, like you, you imagine telling not to hire people. ⁓ But.
Kevin Dennis (:and dark.
Julian Ribinik (:It's your investment, it's your day which you're probably paying a lot of money for and you cannot risk it. So you don't want to give chances to someone who probably cannot execute that. don't, and like I used to be always saying, oh like I don't need to go like for a, to do a venue visit, site visit because like I got it, like no matter what.
And now I change the approach. Even if I know the venue and I've been there a hundred times, I will go into site visit again.
Kevin Dennis (:Things change.
August Yocher (:It's true, yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:to make sure that my client is fully, fully comfortable, completely stress-free, will go through, like this is how it's going to happen here, this is what we're doing here, to make sure that I am familiar with the current team at the venue.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Hmm.
August Yocher (:That, that too, yeah, totally.
Julian Ribinik (:and the process goes smooth for my couple, that we are the team on the wedding day, and not like I came, I'm taking photos, you do whatever. I want to come there and give full experience to my couple as a team. So there's no any hiccups. we're not asking anyone any questions except people who work. We want to make sure that even if there's no planner,
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:If any problems occur, the couple doesn't know about them.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:and that can only happen if I know who I'm working with. And just meeting them on the day off probably will not help and sometimes you just don't see. Like as a photographer, you will maybe not see the catering or like catering is like not catering hall, but like every venue has a catering director or whatever. Someone who sits somewhere in the office.
you don't know them and you might not meet them, but they are the ones who are in charge. So if I have a problem, I might not talk to the staff. will text the person in charge, say, Hey, we have a problem. We need to fix it now instead of running and like understanding like who will help me. And all of that comes only with familiarity experience doing site visits. So that is also important. So ask your photographer if they will do the site visit.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:Like if I'm having a wedding in Miami at the venue, don't know, I will fly and do a site visit.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
August Yocher (:Wow. Well that right there is already such a huge difference with going with an experienced photographer versus someone who's only been doing it two or three years.
Julian Ribinik (:That's a part of the...
That is, it also comes with a price point, of course, ⁓ but it really matters. When you're someone, you want the experience and you want for that to be executed and it takes a lot. ⁓ You probably want to look at what photographer is posting online in terms of their not wedding content.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
August Yocher (:Mmm.
Julian Ribinik (:And nowadays people post everything. And sometimes you will see people venting about clients.
Kevin Dennis (:which is not appropriate.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:And if you see that, that's probably not your vendor. That's a huge red flag because if someone ever met any client that they wanted to vent off, like about, you shouldn't be hiring that person because they are not professional. Are they venting about anything? Are they complaining about anything? Like if the person is not professional, you are risking not to have a good experience on the day off.
August Yocher (:Red flag!
Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:⁓
Always, if possible, look for an engagement session.
Kevin Dennis (:I think that's
where couples really mess up on is they don't do the engagement session with the photographer because I've had couples in the past hire a photographer, do an engagement session with them, and then realize that's not the photographer for them because I feel like that's a good feeling out for you with the photographer and vice versa.
August Yocher (:Well, and can be a positive too. Like if you do really like them, then that just means you've spent more time with your photographer and you're even more comfortable with them for the big day.
Julian Ribinik (:Absolutely, and that is very necessary. ⁓ Newer couples, even my type of ideal client, don't want, they don't like to show off, they don't want to be upfront, so they most of the time say, we don't need that, I don't like being in front of the camera. ⁓ And we're doing it, we're charging extra for that. We want to make sure that every couple goes through that.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:even for us as selfish as it is. ⁓
Kevin Dennis (:Well, yeah, because it's probably a good time for you
to get to know the couple.
Julian Ribinik (:because if we worked together for that hour or hour and half they already understand how we work I understand their chemistry their personalities what works for them what doesn't work for them and maybe nothing works for them right and then we will find a way to build it right ⁓ they will know all the tips and tricks of how to look better on the wedding day
even if to save the time, but it saves a lot of stress. It positions them in a place of like, my God, like I don't know this guy, how it's going to be, how do I look like? They already know how it's going to be. They already understand how it's going to look like. Sounds the attire, which is... ⁓
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:It's just a change. We coach them how to behave on the wedding day. We coach them how to prepare. And it's definitely not really possible over text, over emails, over Zoom, because we show them what to do. ⁓ In the beginning of every engagement session, just secure like 15, 20 minutes to sit and talk. We're not going straight into shooting. We're sitting down with coffee or drink, and we're discussing.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:things and we're making sure they're comfortable. We're saying it's going to be awkward now. And in 15 minutes, it's going to be less awkward and by the time we're done, you'll be super cool with that on your wedding day, nothing is going to be awkward because you did it. And it makes my job easier and it makes their day easier. And
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Yeah, you're comfortable. Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:And as you mentioned, in the end, if they hated the photos, they can cancel the contract. If they don't feel comfortable with the person, they can get out of it. And many times they have deposit that or retainer that wasn't allowed, right? Like no matter the market, it will be a fraction.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Well, it's a fraction to having a bad photographer on your wedding day, so that's the biggest thing.
Julian Ribinik (:Yep, yep. ⁓ And ⁓ we specifically, like if you didn't like the photos, take your retainer bag because I don't need it. ⁓ Right, because I cannot, if experience wasn't good.
August Yocher (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:I can't keep the money, right? Never happened. Actually did happen once, but that was 15 years ago. So to that point, that removes the stress that prevents from ⁓ weird accidents. It also will show you, ⁓ will he, yeah, will that person be there on time?
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah. No.
August Yocher (:For everybody, really.
Kevin Dennis (:⁓ I like that. Good accidents.
August Yocher (:Mmm. Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:Right, like,
right, because if, like, my rule is I'm never late, I'm always hour earlier. That's me specifically. ⁓ 30 minutes early is also great, but if you aim to be there on time, you will always be late.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Hehehehehe
Julian Ribinik (:And for me, like, a text from Brian, like, where are you? That would be like totally unacceptable. Like, I'm like, I'm parking, right? That's bad. So. ⁓
Kevin Dennis (:I agree.
August Yocher (:⁓ yeah. Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:But then think
about the stress that photographer has. I'm parking, and now I'm stressed out, and now you're looking for me, and now I'm not going to be very good for you because I'm just, you know, yeah.
August Yocher (:You have anxiety about it all?
Julian Ribinik (:Yep,
yep, and like they're already frustrated, they're already a little stressed and that will reflect in the photos as well. No matter who you are, because they will be like, this guy is late, like, ⁓ like I'm, you know, I was running here, and he's late, and whatnot. ⁓ Make sure that photographer you are hiring is very patient as far as you can see, because you will have issues on your wedding day.
August Yocher (:Yeah.
Yeah, oof.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:Things will not happen when they should. And you don't want the photographer to get nervous, right? Because that will reflect on their work.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Well, it's going to reflect on you too because they're bringing their nervous energy to you.
Julian Ribinik (:You want nothing but positive vibes around you on your wedding day. ⁓ You want to make sure that they even like, they have the style that you can kind of ⁓ vibe with in terms of like what they wear, how they, you know, like everything because that's your team and it's not ⁓ someone who you will not see. You will see them all the time.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:So you need to be very comfortable with that person. You need to trust them. And then there's come the thing of what kind of output I want from my photographer. Yes, they can shoot at that venue. They have experience. They're with lighting. And now comes the style. And again comes that example. I have this photo of a couple under the veil. What style is it? It's not a style. It's just a photo of two people doing something. And...
Kevin Dennis (:⁓ yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:Yeah, then there
are some photographers who will say, I'm not going to do that, that's cheesy. Right, and I respect that, and I used to do that. But bottom line, you don't know what style is. Most couples don't know what the style is. Most couples don't know the definitions of types of styles of whatever. They saw something on Instagram, they saw something on Reddit, they maybe read the caption.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:We have a lot of couples who come and say we want editorial and documentary photography and Probably almost everyone understands what documentary is but when it comes to editorial it's been so overused that a lot of people think that editorial is candid and it's the opposite of that The complete opposite but it's being sold as that now
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
August Yocher (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:When you're saying I want editorial, it means that you want very post, very controlled, ⁓ very staged shoot where you will have nothing left of who you are and you will spend a lot of time on doing that. That's editorial. This is what we have in Vogue when we have a lot of setup, a lot of planning for just that shoot. ⁓ And that said,
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:When we say documentary and people show portraits that are candid and documentary, if you take in portraits, they cannot be candid. They cannot be documentary because the second you aware I'm there, it's already not candid. You're not typically going in the park or hugging. You're not typically sitting on the bench kissing. You're like, you're all standing back to back and something or doing those weird things.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:And it's not to say whatever is good and whatever is bad, it's to understand what you actually want. We just did a wedding with a beautiful couple and she said, I want nothing post. I want everything candid. All our formal photos should be candid.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
August Yocher (:Hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Mmm.
Julian Ribinik (:And I used to try and go into explanations and saying all those things that this is not that, and was just like, please show me what your inspiration is. I want to see what you mean. Yeah, yes. Yes. And no one likes to be educated. And our audience, they don't want to be educated. They don't want to be told like, like you were not right. You were incorrect. Yes.
Kevin Dennis (:Now that's a good way to do that.
August Yocher (:Yeah,
instead of like, let me educate you on the words, instead it's like visually show me what you want.
Kevin Dennis (:No.
August Yocher (:They just want to be understood.
Julian Ribinik (:We just end, ⁓ we want to give you what you want. In order to do that, we need to see an example and because maybe you don't know what, how to describe it. I'm almost 50 years old, most of the things that I, I don't know, like just like I'm trying to describe it, I'm bad with that.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:So the bride sends me photos and some of them are mine and she was on the website and some of them are not and I'm like but people do not look one at another in any photo and some are like really really like cheesy over-the-top like very very not candid and
Kevin Dennis (:no way.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:saying, did you know that all of that is very posed? And she's like, yes, but it's all candid.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:So for that beautiful cup, for that beautiful bride, Candid means we don't look at one another.
August Yocher (:Girl, like you need to look up what candid means.
Hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:So you don't want to go and try to force your thoughts on the couple, and I'm talking to the couple. You want to look for someone who will listen to you, who will try to understand what you actually want and make sure that they deliver what you want. There will be photographers who will say, I don't do that, that's cheesy, that's not my style, that's whatever, and that's legitimate as well. And obviously if you...
Seeing that, that's not your person. ⁓ But also on the flip side.
There are photographers who showing certain things because they like to show certain things or they think this is what, this is the best way to sell them themselves. And it doesn't mean that they cannot or wouldn't do something that you want. So if you are vibing with a person, if you like what they write, if you like what they do in life, maybe they listen to the same music as you are.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:and you spoke to them and you don't see the same style on their Instagram or maybe even website, but looking at the whole gallery always helps, but also saying, hey, I don't like dark and moody and all your photos are dark and moody, can we make it lighter?
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:If you talk into a seasoned good photographer, will say, sure, it's easier because I need to do less work editing. But I like this style, right? So I'm editing this way. I can always flip it. We shoot in weddings, and we shoot in mitzvahs, and we shoot in corporate parties. You cannot do same style for all those things.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:If I'm shooting
wedding in a, again, in the plaza, which is dark or can be very colorful, but dark and moody, and I'm shooting 12 years old girl birthday party, it cannot look the same. Kids party is not a wedding. There's not going to be art. There's not going to be moodiness. There's not going to be romance, right? It's going to be light, bright and fun and sharp.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
August Yocher (:Yeah.
So guess that's one thing to look for, On a website or Instagram is their range. Like, are they able to adapt to different styles?
Julian Ribinik (:Yes, but also it's important to ask. If you guys talking to a person and you like the person, you like the vendor, ask them, hey, know, I like this, can you do this? Can you, great, you can, show me. If they can show you because there's plenty of stuff that I'm not post, like.
August Yocher (:Yes.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
August Yocher (:Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:Instagram is limited. No one is going more than two screens. Website, people click, see the first photo, maybe deep down, like three pages, that's it.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
August Yocher (:Right.
Julian Ribinik (:I don't know, 500 weddings, right? ⁓ Some of them look very different than what website is. Some people look for some for my style that I had five years ago and they saw photos from back then and they're you don't do that anymore. You just say whatever you want. So with time, we learn to be very flexible. We don't say I don't do that. I'm the sorry, or my friend, shit. I'm not. I'm a photographer.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
August Yocher (:I can, yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:I'm seasoned, I'm experienced, and I am here to deliver you what you want. This is not for me, this is for you, it's for the couple. I can do whatever you want, I just need to know what you want, what your style is, if you vibe with me, I will deliver that. And if you tell me I want specific beach wedding in very bright light, is dark, I don't do that because I don't do that, period.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Got it. Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:But most of the things I will.
August Yocher (:Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:So communication is very important and a lot of people, they send question, they get reply, they see three photos and they say, that's not my style. That's not my photographer. And then they hire someone who they saw the photo, think they like and that person didn't deliver. ⁓ It's.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:better to find someone who is more flexible and can do different styles because it shows that they can adapt to any situation. And I can kind of translate it into real life, into real wedding day, where if you're getting married in New York or in California or in Miami in the summer, you will have very bright outside, you will have very dark inside.
August Yocher (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:You will have nice and green and bright in the park and you will have candlelight and yellow in the venue. You might have very steady and beautiful light inside and horrible harsh light outside. If I am light and bright photographer, there's no way I can deliver photos in the dark venue. It's impossible because it just cannot be. If I'm dark and moody, I cannot deliver like...
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:true color, real like park photos because it's dark and moody. So when people look true to color photography, which is very trendy now, they don't really know what is true to color because that true to color will be very different in all those three settings. And during the long wedding day, it all changes all the time. So if I am great at one segment of that, I am a bad photographer.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:If I can consistently deliver great photos in different styles from all of those places, I am a good photographer. But people tend to show what they're best at. Maybe I'm great at photography like outside by the lake. Maybe I'm doing great candid photos in the dark, but put me under harsh sun is like done.
August Yocher (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:So asking, communicating, making sure that your photographer can deliver all of it is very, very, important. ⁓ Film photography, should we touch on that?
Kevin Dennis (:Mother Nature wins.
Well, we can, but we're running up on time. So we're going to have you back, I think, is what we're going to do.
August Yocher (:We can, yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:Okay, next time.
August Yocher (:And
I am interested to hear the film because I've been getting a lot of galleries back and it's just been like mostly just regular photos but then they'll have like a smaller album with like five to ten film photos which is which is cool a little bit of both.
Julian Ribinik (:That's great, so I have like two minutes on that. ⁓ you can cut it out of that. ⁓ But nowadays, everyone is getting photos in still digital format. So if I'm going to shooting on film, then I'm going to scan it and you will get scanned photo and eventually it looks.
Kevin Dennis (:You can have two minutes, because I like you, because you're my friend.
August Yocher (:you
Kevin Dennis (:No, no, no, no, we won't.
August Yocher (:No!
Kevin Dennis (:You gotta transfer.
Julian Ribinik (:unfortunately or fortunately the same as what I would style as film and shoot digital. ⁓ And my modern tools and good skills, you don't need to be great editor, you just need to have presets or like know what you're doing and feel the color. You can deliver whatever you want out of well taken digital photo or.
August Yocher (:okay. ⁓
Julian Ribinik (:Actually, if the photo came out bad and blurry and you couldn't deal with colors and light, you can make it black and white, style it as great black and white photo, film, and it will be perfect. We did exercise at one of the conferences. We gathered like 15 photographers all seasoned, and I'm not going to say what, like any details, to put anyone on the spot. ⁓ And ⁓ the...
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Julian Ribinik (:whoever was conducting it, put photos on the screen and we're running through it and it's like, what's filmed? What's not? What's like, and people do not like, can't find the difference if it's styled well. Guess what? ⁓ Wedding couples have no idea what is film.
August Yocher (:Interesting.
Kevin Dennis (:Mmm.
Julian Ribinik (:They like the idea, they saw something and it was, it said film. So now they think that this shade of yellow and this shape of whatever and maybe this frame is film. Right, there are hundreds types of film. They all in different shades of different colors. Black and white films are completely different and I have preset for every single popular film. So.
Kevin Dennis (:makes it film.
August Yocher (:Yeah.
Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:I love
it.
Julian Ribinik (:We want to save couples money and risk on doing film photography. Like a bunch of photographers want to kill me now. Because they don't like the, they don't want the film, they want the idea, they like the idea of film. So if you.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
August Yocher (:Yeah, I think it's
only people that know about film that really value actual film, but I think you're right, the general majority population of people just like the feel of it.
Julian Ribinik (:It's a lot of joy to photograph on film, especially if you develop it yourself, which no one does most of the time.
August Yocher (:Yeah, do film, like,
I do do, I do have a film camera and I bring it around with me everywhere. It's not fancy by any means, but it definitely is just fun to get the photos back, so.
Julian Ribinik (:It doesn't need to be.
Kevin Dennis (:Well, and it's funny because you guys talking about it takes me back to my photography class in high school and how awful the chemicals smelled when we would develop the film and we'd have to go in the dark lab and do it all. just took me all... That smell was horrible. ⁓ see? That's why you're the photographer and I'm not. Anyway. All right, Julian, we can't thank you enough for being here today and educating us. How are our...
August Yocher (:Yeah.
Julian Ribinik (:You
August Yocher (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:audience get in touch with you, possibly bring you to California.
Julian Ribinik (:Absolutely. So
you can find me Julian Ribinik with all I's R I B I N I K studios on Instagram Julian Ribinik weddings.com and Julian Ribinik studios on all other platforms, TikTok, YouTube.
Kevin Dennis (:I love it. All right, and we will have all of Julian's information in our show notes. Julian, we can't thank you enough for being here today. You're the best.
Julian Ribinik (:Thank you so much for having me, always a pleasure. Bye guys.
August Yocher (:Thank you, Julian.
Kevin Dennis (:Bye guys.
