wedding photographers - what do you think?

[dweddings]

Hello,

I am a computer artist (not photographer) who is thinking of launching a business providing wedding videos made from still photos. It would not be a slideshow, more like stop motion, or a low frame rate video which would be edited to 1 song. A friend had this done and it was done beautifully, and I thought it could be a really nice alternative or addition to a more standard wedding video. I'd like to hear some opinions from photographers.

1- As an artist myself I don't want to take credit for or inappropriately use another artist's work. I need to check on the legal issues, but I believe if the bride owns the rights to the photos I can legally use the photos. If your bride owned the photos and your name was credited at the end of the video would you mind having your photos used this way?

2- Is this a service you think brides would be interested in?

3- Would you consider forming a relationship with a company like mine, where you can offer my services as an add on to your own to your bride and if they book you as their photographer they receive a discount from me?

Any other thoughts would be appreciated.

Thank you

 

[tirediron]

1. Very rarely does the wedding couple own any rights except reproduction rights to their photos, so you would have to deal with the original photographer (and if it were me, the cost would probably be sufficient to make it not profitable for you).

2. I suspect many would be interested in it.

3. While weddings are not my primary (or even secondary) focus, I, and I suspect many other photographers are always on the lookout for ways to increase business and sales. That said, I see a few issues:

The supply of appropriate, open-source music is rather limited. How would you go about acquiring music? What if the couple specified a song(s) that were not royalty-free?

Would there not have to be a LOT of images taken in sequence to provide a good effect? Is this something that is possible with a typical set of wedding images?

With the trend seeming to be more and more couples hiring a still and video team, is there actually enough of a market for this to make it worthwhile?

What would the added cost be?

 

[rub]

I can understand the idea behind it, but I think your target market should be the actual photographer. You market to the photographer - let them do the sale to the bride. No stress about usage rights either, you are just providing an editing service. When doing the photography for something like this, you really need to know ahead of time - so many more shots are required. As a photogrpaher, I would totally be interested in this type of service.

 

[Kaikaikaikai]

I agree with Tire and Rub, except I would not be interested in using your services (no offense)... But, you do not know anything about rights and I would be liable for your copy right violations as you believe the bride owns the images (in general)...
The exposure of added an unskilled and sounds like, uninsured person to the loop of my photos would not be a good thing...
If, you have any current youtube videos of your work perhaps you can change my mind... please, share.

 

[MLeeK]

Stop motion video is being done, but not on a HUGE scale yet-you are at a good point in it's evolution. It's called Photo+Video Fusion. Check out this website http://tambnguyen.com/4909-photo-video-fusion-rob-adams-venessa-joy-creativelive/

1. There may be a few problems to work through here with copyright: most brides are not given copyright, they're given PRINT RIGHTS. This is something they would have to negotiate with their photographer. There are photographers who aren't going to go there because slideshows are something they do.

2. Yes, I do think it can work, but you will need to work on a cooperative level with a photographer (I'll explain in a minute.)

3. Possibly to probably.

Why it will need to be a cooperative with a photographer: Stop motion is not what most photographers are shooting. Stop motion requires a constant firing of the shutter in low speed continuous mode. It is very different than wedding photography. Most of us are shooting one still.... and a few minutes later another one. You can't make a stop motion film out of that.
Stop motion for video fusion is not as easy as it sounds. I have tried it and I'd want to have a video setup to keep my cam level and steady. It is going to require a knowledge of photography as well as some basic video knowledge. It's also going to require a second shooter and a HUGE amount of memory cards for a full day!

Songs-you cannot use popular music, it's a copyright thing just the same as photography. You will need to purchase songs to use for this. The most well known service I can think of is Triple Scoop Music.

 

[MLeeK]

I agree with Tire and Rub, except I would not be interested in using your services (no offense)... But, you do not know anything about rights and I would be liable for your copy right violations as you believe the bride owns the images (in general)...
The exposure of added an unskilled and sounds like, uninsured person to the loop of my photos would not be a good thing...
If, you have any current youtube videos of your work perhaps you can change my mind... please, share.

This is my two cents, but...
I think a judgement like that at THIS point in time is kind of unfair. He is doing his research now about what he needs. This is the pre-planning stage of the business where he'd learn what his issues are and how it would work, what he would need to create this business from the concept to the reality.
Most photographers going into the business didn't know that they should be carrying all of this insurance for indemnity or for their equipment or any of the other million and one little things that we have to have. We found out by doing the research before (I hope!) we wrote our business plan and made the leap.

 

[KmH]

Just a note - Royalty-free does not mean no cost, and it doesn't mean use the music any way you want either.
Most royalty-free use licenses do not allow for commercial use unless you pay extra for commercial use. Commercial use would apply to a situation were the music is being resold as part of some product like a video of wedding photos.

However, your profile does not indicate what country you are in, so any legal issues, or market appeal issues, discussed here may not apply.