Hey guys, I’m here with my niece, Molly,
and today we’re starting a new series where we talk about people’s jobs. So
we’re going to learn some vocabulary related to certain jobs and of course we’ll study idioms,
American English pronunciation, and lots of things about English conversation as we go.
Working in the US or with American companies, what vocabulary is useful to know? We’re
studying English, talking about jobs, and of course we’re going to study idioms and level
up your advanced vocabulary that’s relevant to ALL conversational English. Molly’s job
is photography. What other jobs do you want me to explore? Let me know in the
comments. And be sure to download my Sounds of American English cheat sheet, it’s free,
it’s an illustrated reference guide for you for the sounds of American English,
including the phonetic symbols you need to know. Link here and in the video description.
Molly, how did you get into wedding photography? How do you get gigs? How does all that work?
I studied photography in college. I did not really expect that weddings would be
the route I would take but I shadowed a wedding photographer who had her own business and I was
something that’s called a second shooter, which is kind of like the assistant. I walk around and
I help her. When she takes pictures of the women, I take pictures of the men.
Let’s focus in on some verbs here.
Molly, how did you get into wedding photography? How do you get gigs?
Get into. A phrasal verb. To start learning about something. Begin doing a new activity or hobby.
To express the opposite, we say, “get out of.” For example,
I got out of the restaurant business because it was too stressful.
Another way to use ‘get into’ is to mean you become very passionate about something, you
realize you just love it. I’d always liked art, but I got really into ceramics in high school.
We can also use the phase “what’s gotten into you?” to address someone who’s acting strange,
or a child who is misbehaving a lot. For example, if I take my kids out to dinner and they’re being
really loud and obnoxious, I might say, “guys, what’s gotten into you? Please quiet down.“
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Molly, how did you get into wedding photography? How do you get gigs?
A gig is a noun that’s a single professional engagement. You’re not an employee of a company,
but you’ve gotten hired to do one particular thing. You’re a contractor. Often we use this
for musical performances. Our band has a gig at a club tonight. It can be used for
any job though, especially one that has a short or uncertain time frame.
He’s got a gig lifeguarding at the community pool this summer. I’ve also heard gig used as a verb.
The singers gigged with some of the biggest names in the industry.
Here, I’m asking about Molly’s individual events.
How do people book you to take photos of their wedding? How do you get gigs?
I studied photography in college. I did not really
expect that weddings would be the route I would take.
The route I would take. A route is a course, a way, a road for travel. She says route with
the OW as in “now” diphthong, although I do sometimes hear it route with the OO vowel.
Mail carriers have a regular route they take. A city bus has a route you can look
up. Molly said she didn’t expect that she would end up photographing weddings. She
thought she might do something more related to fine art, but she went the wedding route.
But I shadowed a wedding photographer who had her own business. I was something that’s
called a second shooter, which is kind of like the assistant.
You’ve heard shadow as a noun. When a source of light is blocked by something, that thing
casts a shadow. But have you heard shadow as a verb? This is exactly what it sounds like.
She shadowed a wedding photographer. Molly walked around very closely observing this person at work,
as if Molly herself were the photographer’s shadow. We use it as a verb especially when
talking about job shadowing. This is how you would learn the tasks of a certain position.
My nephew recently shadowed some physical therapists since he was
thinking of going into that field. Let’s hear that one more time.
But I shadowed a wedding photographer who had her own business. I was something that’s
called a second shooter, which is kind of like the assistant.
Now, as Molly is explaining her experience being a second shooter,
listen for the verb tense she uses.
I walk around and I help her. When she takes pictures of the women, I take pictures of the men.
Did you catch it? Simple present. She’s speaking in present tense to explain the
job or tell a story even though she actually did these actions in the
past. This is a conversational strategy we use all the time. It helps make the
story feel more relevant–kind of like you’re in it–like it’s happening now.
Then I asked her what her favorite thing about being a wedding photographer is.
I love being part of people’s big day. I’m right there. I’m right there when the bride, the groom,
the grooms, whoever’s getting married, I get to be right there. I get to see them when they see
each other for the first time. I get to interact with their family members. It’s so, so special.
Big day. This is essentially a synonym for wedding day or graduation day. But you can
also use it for any life-changing event–even for a retirement celebration or the birth of a child.
When’s the big day? The baby’s due October 29.
I get to capture it how I see it. And the emotions I’m feeling. It’s really
personal and I like that. And I love the artistic side of it too. Taking pictures
of really small details like the flowers and the rings, and interacting with guests.
Have you used this word?
I get to capture it how I see it.
In the visual arts, like photography, drawing, filmmaking, “capture” means
to represent or record something in lasting form. The movie succeeded in capturing the
atmosphere of Berlin in the 1930s. The painting captured the subject’s mood.
Another meaning of this verb is to take by force. Or gain control over something or
someone. The police captured the suspect. The army captured the town. The ad captured our attention.
And I love the artistic side of it too.
She uses the adjective of “art” here. That -ic ending is the suffix ending that makes a noun an
adjective. Artist–artistic. Fantasy–fantastic. History–historic. Economy–economic. Noun,
adjective. Let me know if you think of others; write them in the comments below. Also,
I have an entire course on how suffixes like -ic affect word stress. Come study with me at
your own pace at Rachel’s English Academy.com if you really want to train your American English.
Here’s another use of artistic.
It’s just a cool way to like use like an artistic eye as kind of a gift to give to other people.
An eye, a way of seeing things. He has a great eye for fashion. Or, my sister-in-law has a
good eye for thrifting. She sees something for sale cheap that she knows she can sell
for a nice profit online. An artistic eye means an artistic way of seeing things. She’s able to
get more artful, beautiful shots than someone like me, who doesn’t have an artistic eye.
Then I asked Molly what the hardest part of her work is.
Hardest thing is it is very physical. I’m on my feet for eight hours. I’m always on.
On my feet. Standing, walking, up and active. If you’re on your feet,
you’re moving around. You’re standing all day.
Hardest thing is it is very physical. I’m on my feet for eight hours. I’m always on.
I’m on all day. This implies on-duty, work, or doing something official. My husband and
I also use it to talk about parenting. Hey, can you be on from 4-5? I’d like to work out.
Now, we’ll hear 5 phrases that you can use to describe pretty much any
job where you’re putting in 110%. That is, you’re working hard and doing your best.
It is high-pressure. You don’t want to miss anything. And you want to do your best. You’re
giving a client a product, and you want it to be up to your own standards of delivering
a product that you think is good and captures the mood of the certain event that you’re at.
Right, and there are no redos; you can’t do it again.
Um-m. Do the cake cut again? No. I’m always really, that’s the part that I think is the most
emotionally stressful is I have to get it. And if I don’t get it, they’re not getting it captured
by me. Like, maybe a guest has a cell phone out and they’re taking a picture, but it’s up to me.
it’s high-pressure. It’s stressful. The outcome depends very much on me and how I
perform. Something that’s high-pressure also implies that you have to get it
right the first time. If you can try something as many times as you need to,
then there’s not much pressure. But in this case, when things only happen once,
you have to capture it right the first time, the only time. There is no second chance.
Up to your own standards. Your own level of quality. Everyone has their own standards.
They might be high, they maybe not so high, but you want to make sure you’re meeting your own
standards so you can feel good about what you’re doing. We use this with things like work and
products, but also with relationships. If someone is always ending relationships because of finding
flaws, you might say, her standards are too high. She’s never going to find a perfect partner.
Delivering a product. To finish a task or product and get it to the person purchasing.
My video editor should be delivering the next round of edits by Tuesday.
No redos. Redo, do again. You can’t do it again, there are no redos. If you mess up,
that’s too bad. This is where that high-pressure feeling comes from.
It’s up to me. It’s my job. It’s my responsibility. If I don’t do it,
it won’t get done. It’s up to me.
Now, we’re going to move quickly. I’ve pulled 14 vocabulary terms, phrases,
or idioms that you can use to discuss any field of work. I’ll put the phrases
on-screen as they happen in the conversation, and then give a brief definition at the end.
So, I have a website. And it’s kind of word-of-mouth.
Word-of-mouth. Informal, oral communication. Her advertising is mostly word of mouth.
She doesn’t pay to run ads. But people use her for their weddings,
and then they tell friends about it. Word of mouth.
I’m not super great at like sharing beyond that. Marketing yourself.
Marketing yourself. This includes everything from building your own personal brand to a
list of potential customers to showcasing what you do online and in person. Getting your name
out there. It’s very proactive. This is different from word-of-mouth where other people are telling
potential clients about you, you yourself have to do it. You’re marketing yourself.
How do you make a living at that kind of photography?
Make a living. To earn the money you need to pay for housing, food, transportation,
healthcare and so on. I’m a writer, but to make a living, I work at a restaurant.
Also, to kind of sustain and support photographers, a lot of photographers do wedding.
Sustain and support. Here, these words are synonyms for the idiom, “make a living.”
Paying for life’s necessities. Their passion may be nature photography, but they can’t make enough
money doing that to live, so they pick up wedding photography to sustain and support themselves.
Or portraits, engagement sessions. A headshot.
A headshot is a photo of someone’s face–especially
taken for the purpose of promoting that person in some way professionally. I had
headshots taken back when I was a singer going out for various opera auditions.
Wedding photography is a way to keep yourself going.
Keep yourself going. Another synonym for “make a living” in
this case. Pay the bills. You may have also heard, “make ends meet.”
Wedding photography is a way to keep yourself going so that you
can also do some more artistic things on the side.
On the side. Maybe you’ve used this when ordering food. I’d like the dressing on the
side. This means I want a salad but I don’t want the salad dressing mixed in, you want it separate,
in its own container, on the side. Or, a side dish. Not your main entree. I’d like a burger
with a side of onion rings. With work it means, in addition to, not your main thing. I teach
kindergarten, but I also babysit a little on the side. She takes photos at weddings,
but she also has a photojournalism blog on the side. It’s not her main work.
I am currently an elementary arts teacher, so when I’m not shooting weddings, I’m
teaching children art.
Here, shooting means taking pictures. It can also mean taking video. In other uses,
it refers to firing a weapon.
I’ve been able to incorporate a lot of photography into my elementary
art lessons. Teaching kids how to hold cameras, how to use the basic functions,
that’s been a fun way to kind of merge both of my interests.
Merge. Combine. Unite. Blend. I love creating videos and I love accent training. Teaching
you through Rachel’s English allows me to merge these two interests.
So when you, I mean at this point, you’re experienced enough,
you know exactly what to put in your contract.
Experienced enough. Lived through doing something. You’ve done it, and you’ve learned through things
that have gone well, things that have not gone well. You’ve learned from all of these. It’s
a way to say that you’re qualified to do something. You know what you’re doing. Her
contract covers all the bases–it legally protects her because she knows what to include in it now.
Do you find it hard pricing stuff and asking for,
like, what is probably the right compensation but it feels like a lot?
Pricing stuff. Knowing what to charge, knowing the market value. Being familiar
with your competitors’ prices. Putting a dollar amount on the
goods and services you offer. This can be hard. I know for me, starting out,
it was really hard to know how to price things like lessons. How do I factor in all my expenses?
Do you find it hard pricing stuff and asking for,
like, what is probably the right compensation but it feels like a lot?
Compensation is the noun from the verb “compensate.” This is the payment or
reward you receive for putting in work or for taking a loss. When you’re hired for a new job,
you’ll get a new compensation package, which would include things like salary and other
benefits, like your health insurance coverage or retirement funds, so on.
It’s definitely a learning curve. It’s just like any other business.
You just have to be in it and you have to talk to your peers.
Right.
Learning curve. The rate of a person’s progress in gaining
new skills or experience. The newest operating system has a steep learning
curve. It’s taking me a while to figure out how to use everything.
If you have a regular 9 to 5, you can still do this on the weekend to make good money,
and granted you don’t have a life because now you’re doing this on the weekend.
A regular 9-5. This means a job with traditional work hours. From 9am until 5pm,
Monday through Friday. This might be your schedule if you work in an office,
for a company. But that’s not at all the normal schedule for an actor, who works
mostly nights and weekends, or for someone who works at a restaurant, for example. 9 to 5.
Awesome! We dug up so many useful terms to enhance your conversations. Let me
know which are your favorite. Shout out to Molly for giving us so much to work with!
Molly, thank you so much for being in my video! I
really appreciate you sharing your knowledge and your story.
You’re welcome. It was so fun!
I absolutely love teaching you English here on YouTube and Facebook. Keep your learning
going now with this video, and don’t forget to subscribe with notifications here on YouTube
or to follow my page on Facebook. If you want to go beyond learning and move into training, check
out my online courses at RachelsEnglishAcademy.com where I take you step by step, through everything
you need to know to master spoken English and develop your American voice. I would love
to have you as my student. That’s it and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.