Moving from videography and photography

[guitarkid]

i was just saying that things are as expensive as you make them. video can be 2 guys with a camera and a light or it can be rather intense, as with any profession. it sounded like someone was belittling video. there is a lot more pre production work in video such as capturing video. it's all real time. that's all i was saying. i think it is a good thing to move over to it if you really enjoy it. and if you're going to do it, do it right. get the good stuff.

 

[JIP]

And still photography can be 1 guy with a camera (actually 2 you need a backup) or it can be really intense so what's your point.

 

[guitarkid]

dude just drop it. forget it.

 

[JIP]

It's not my topic I just responed "Dude".

 

[RyanLilly]

I don't know the video guys I used to work with had 1 camera a few batteries and a light. And this is what alot of the wedding video guys around here use http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ..._AGDVX100ABK1_AG_DVX100B_3CCD_24p_MiniDV.html $2995 a fur piece from a good body and a few lenses not to mention a backup.

I think that this just goes to show that many people, even some so called "pros", have no Idea what it takes too shoot a wedding, Photo or Video.

I used to shoot wedding at my church. We would shoot 4-5 cameras All 3-ccd(regular DV when I was there, but went HD as soon as available), and audio from the feed churches mixer to a digital deck, and extra lavs for backup to a Camera. Some heavy duty bogen tripods and dollies, a few stationary cams and a few operators, among other things.
Went to a relatives, wedding and the guy the there had one camera on a tripod that was so crappy that when he tried to roll it the legs would bend, and he would have to pick the whole thing up and carry it! And that was his only camera, he could not even edit those moves out because he had no other footage! And he was wearing a turquoise and pink wind breaker the whole time!

All things considered in this thread, I think that the OP is approaching this transition wisely and is headed in the right direction.
Good luck.

 

[JIP]

First of all I have been to some pretty high-end weddings and I have never seen anyone shooting video with more than 3 cameras. But to follow your logic I know the setup you mentioned is the ideal 5 3ccd cameras running simultaneously like some kind of hollywood production. Following that or not even that just a good high end setup can be as was alreay listed quite expensive and that is not even getting into the fantasy land setup of 5+Hd video cameras.

 

[RyanLilly]

I'm not saying that you need 5 cams, actually I think that three would be quite sufficient, A couple of those were stationary to capture only specific things, such as facial expression during the vows, that were difficult to shoot in our church, and one just for a broad shot of the church, which was useful if you needed to cut away to cover a camera operators mistake.

Really the vast majority of of the edits were taken from two cameras, because we only shot in our church the other cameras were added to for very specific purposes but would probably be completely unsanitary normally. and the fourth or fifth was usually for hand held shots of guests coming in and hugging each other and other warm fuzzy guest shots before the wedding.


I think my point was that Wedding photo, or video can be as rigorous and as enjoyable as you make it. And there are two extremes here, The All-Out-Equipment-Extravaganza!, and "That guy in the Wind Breaker". I think that somewhere in between is a good place to begin.

P.S. Using HD right now is kind of a moot point because DVDs are SD and we still have to wait out, the Blue-Ray/HD-DVD format war. But Hey the Videographer who goes to all this trouble is the pastor of my church, and video is his passion...second to God of course :mrgreen:

 

[JIP]

Well I am not sure what you are trying to say Iwas answering these reasons. And this comes from someone who has invested a significant amount of money into photograpy.

Greetings all,

First off, the standard forgive me if this is posted in the wrong place disclaimer applies.

I am a video guy and have spent the last couple of years shooting primarily weddings and working in television. I have always loved photography and am looking to start letting people pay me to take pictures. Yep, I'm that kind.

There are a number of reasons outside of my really, really enjoying taking pictures, like:

- considerable less post production time (for wedding productions a day is spent merely digitizing video and then another day to render the video to a MPEG to burn)

- cheaper equipment (for the price of one prosumer camcorder I can get two really good DSLR's, which is important to me because I have limited resources and have been a part of enough live video productions to know that it is essential to have back-ups)

- already have Adobe Photoshop and took number digital imaging courses in school. My skills are strong on that end.

- more opportunity for work (engagement shoots, models, and other non-wedding gigs)