Which camera should I buy?
I’ll often get asked about entry into the photo/video world. Where do I start? What gear is essential? And which camera is the best?
Can’t you just screenshot videos?
So, yeah. Videos are just pictures with audio added in. So, the natural question that follows is this - why hire a photographer? I mean, can’t you just take screen grabs from the videos and use those as pictures? After all, video is a constant flow of pictures, so you’re more guaranteed not to miss a moment! So why not save the money and just hire a videographer and then take screen grabs?
The answer is no. Here are five reasons why:
Should I do a First Look?
This one is tricky, and I would say that about 50% of the weddings I shoot feature a first look between the bride and groom. And people tend to have pretty strong opinions on whether or not you should do one! Fortunately, I do not.
10 Questions for your Wedding Videographer
I wish I could say that the wedding world is just absolutely crammed with quality, competent vendors waiting to prioritize you above all else and pour their hearts and souls into your wedding, that unfortunately isn’t always the case. There’s a lot of money in the wedding world, and while some people truly enjoy working at weddings and are qualified to do so, there are also a lot of people who are still in the “fake it” stage of the “fake it till you make it” approach.
I’ll never complain again…
I’ve shot wedding days for 15 hours straight. I’ve captured one wedding in the middle of a hurricane. I’ve been sick while shooting. I’ve missed just about every Clemson football game. I’ve been sore from holding my camera during a 30 minute toast that I thought was only going to be a couple minutes and absentmindedly didn’t grab a tripod. I’ve driven 8 hours in a day on top of filming a wedding just to avoid paying for a hotel. I’ve skipped so many meals. I’ve missed family holiday gatherings. And I’ve almost been ignited by drunk sparkler wielders more times than I can count.
But nothing… nothing… compares to filming a wedding in Liberia. And I’ve done it twice…
What if it rains?
I can’t tell you whether or not it will rain on your wedding day. But I can tell you this, if it does rain, everything will be ok. I’ve seen rain so many times, but I’ve never seen rain ruin a wedding. Rain can and often does change things, but change is not necessarily bad, and within that change lies both the creation of timeless memories and the call to focus even more on that which truly matters 🤍
Should you hire a videographer for your wedding?
Ok, let’s address the obvious. I’m biased. It can’t come as a surprise to anyone that the wedding videographer authoring this entry is going to vote in favor of hiring a wedding videographer for your wedding. I get it. It’s like a pastor answering whether or not you should go to church. But, hear me out. My goal isn’t necessarily to sell you on anything in this article, but rather to highlight the value of something that is often undervalued.
Should you tip your videographer?
Why are we expected to pay money on top of a service? Why do we feel the need to add on to “enough?” Is standard service excellent by definition, and therefore must be rewarded with more than the expected cost? We Americans are in fact pretty weird. So does that weirdness extend to wedding videography? Well, it depends…
10 Questions for your Wedding Photographer
A good wedding photographer is hard to find. Unfortunately, a wedding photographer is not. Yeah, that means that there are tons of wedding photographers out there, but not as many good quality photographers.