#80 | Mike Colón | Shooting Celebrity Weddings

Fashion and lifestyle photographer Mike Colón on 20 years shooting for luxury brands and celebrity weddings around the world. Mike Colón is a lifestyle and fashion photographer and his fast-paced career has spanned more than 20 years and has taken him all over the world. Clients include discerning brands such as Louis Vuitton, Galia Lahav, Rivini, Berta, Grace Ormonde & Ines Di Santo. Colón and his team of expert photographers have photographed many celebrity weddings including legendary guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd, best-selling music artist of all time Usher, and influential songwriter/DJ/record producer Timbaland to name a few. To learn more about Mike: https://www.mikecolon.com Chapters 0:00 Welcome Mike Colón 2:38 Off the couch and into a jiu-jitsu tournament 5:09 Tough guys in the bracket 7:43 US champion and the worlds 10:18 Why leave a comfortable life? 12:53 Bored of studying 15:26 What do architects actually do? 17:57 His first camera, a Canon EOS-1 20:33 Ryan's Shanghai from 2001 to 2015 23:08 A first group of friends in China 25:39 Wanting to see the world 28:13 Photography as art 30:49 Reporting from China at that time 33:20 Photographing for The New York Times 35:57 Deciding to go out on his own 38:28 Not wanting that career 41:01 Plenty of work but no business 43:38 Too broke for a hotel 46:08 Starting a business takes guts 48:39 Law school, business school or something else 51:16 Climbing friends and El Cap 53:52 An American in Russia 56:26 When travel strains a relationship 59:04 Living cheaply 1:01:35 Not waiting until 60 1:04:09 Filming where others don't 1:06:39 Why he really got into the business 1:09:09 Images he didn't recognise 1:11:42 A garage with 60 cars 1:14:18 This is going to take months 1:16:48 Where the money goes in TV 1:19:24 Hiding your carry-on in Dubai 1:21:58 Small planes and motorcycles 1:24:34 A speedboat coming at them 1:27:05 Day one on location 1:29:40 A $10 million wedding 1:32:11 Building a business around what he loves 1:34:44 Mud and an overheating bike 1:37:16 Holding the door all day 1:39:50 Luxury cars in Shanghai 1:42:21 Visiting the book factory 1:44:53 A whole office asleep 1:47:27 Intense but worth it? 1:50:03 Frozen in shock 1:52:34 A friend who turned it all around 1:55:05 Rodeo Drive doesn't interest him 1:57:40 Southern California sunshine 2:00:14 When the work dried up 2:02:47 Who will push you next? 2:05:17 Two or three careers at once 2:07:47 Buying now and paying later 2:10:19 Getting around anywhere 2:12:53 Real-world experience over film school 2:15:27 Practising new things before a tournament 2:18:04 Talking at the shoulder 2:20:39 Becoming friends with a client 2:23:11 Where to find him 2:25:48 A star who never had an agent 2:28:20 More time for the cool work The Ryan Pyle Podcast is ad-free by choice. If you enjoy these conversations, you can buy me a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/ryanpyle Ryan's TV series are streaming around the world. Follow the Podcast X: https://x.com/RyanPylePodcast Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpylepodcast Follow Ryan Pyle YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ryanjpyle Instagram: https://instagram.com/ryanpyle X: https://x.com/RyanPyle Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpyle https://www.ryanpyle.com