On Shopping for a videographer.......

It is generally understood in the wedding industry that wedding videography is often the last consideration of a bride and groom. It is almost a given that couples hire a photographer and entertainment but not so when it comes to videography. I find that quite ironic considering that after all the planning including gown and dress fittings, seating arrangements, entertainment, centerpieces, dealing with relatives and friends, etc that the best way of capturing and preserving the moments and memories of a wedding day is too often overlooked and ignored! While photography serves the wonderful purpose of capturing a series of posed images of your special day only video can capture your loved ones with sight and sound. Only video can capture the vows, the cheers, the emotional sounds of a bride or groom dancing with their parents or a crazy bride's maid screaming and laughing as she lunges across the dance floor trying to catch the bridal bouquet.

The idea that video and photography have to be purchased at the same place is not correct. This is a mistake that too many couples make when booking video for their wedding.  Many Photographers and DJs sell video but they are not video companies. After you leave their office they will forward your contract to a subcontractor for a lot less money than what you just paid your photographer or DJ.  This can not be the ideal situation for someone who places a lot of value on their video. If you are going to spend the money anyway then why not deal directly with the professionals who provide the service? When you book your wedding video through a second party you should be aware that 1) you will not meet your videographer until the day of your affair 2) chances are that the video demo you saw was not the work of the videographer at your wedding 3) there are several large video companies who use the subcontracted work as on the job training for the new guys, and 4) the best videographers shoot for video companies and not for photographers and DJs!

Joe The Subcontractor .....

Joe the subcontractor is a great guy. He's been shooting wedding videos for nearly twelve years. In the beginning, before most Photographers thought about selling video Joe worked for three or four different video companies. Even though Joe is a great guy his equipment isn't the greatest. As the work came in Joe was not one of the first guys called, in fact he was one of the last guys called. His camera work was and still is pretty shaky and he always seems to have problems with his equipment. As more and more  photographers and DJs started selling video guys like Joe were in great demand. Even though Joe was a great guy the fact that the video companies stopped calling him made the idea of subcontracting very appealing. The photographers love Joe and they send him a lot of work. Sure Joe has his problems. From time to time his videos are too dark, too shaky, and even out of focus. The photographers put up with the complaints because Joe works for a lot less money than most videographers and also because?.... You guessed it .... Joe is a great guy.

When Video Companies Act As Subcontractors .....

There are some video companies who will do videos for photographers and DJs. When I broke into the wedding business I worked for the largest video company on Long Island (let's call it the ABC video company). It was a whole year before I was allowed to shoot a job under their name. As a new guy they knew I was going to make the typical rookie mistakes so the philosophy was to let me make my mistakes doing videos for the photography company and not for the ABC video company. The ABC video company always took care of its own clients first, the photographer's clients second.

If the ABC Video company has eight weddings on a given day and two of them are for a photography company and one of them is for a DJ company on which jobs will the ABC Video company send its best shooters? On its own jobs of course! The subcontracted work almost always gets the "other guys"!

The worst case scenario is when the photography or DJ company has a falling out with the videographers that they subcontract to. I get at least 3 phone calls per year from photographers or DJs who call last minute because the video company that they subcontract to are not returning any of their phone calls. 

To give you an idea of just how bad the greed is getting I recently had one of my videographers shooting a wedding at one of nassau counties most expensive catering halls. My videographer was to be there at 10:00am for a pre-shoot to capture the bride and groom seeing each other for the first  time. The photographer on the job was hired through the DJ company and not through a photographer. The gentleman showed up with a $1000 Nikon camera that he bought from Best Buy which still had the same cheap lens it came with. To the videographers horror the photographer started lining people up against a wall and started to take his pictures. Having worked with many photographers my videographer, to the relief of everyone including the photographer,  politely started to pose the bride and groom as well as the family shots in a professional manor.  As the evening passed the photographer admitted that he was the DJ companies "Zap Shot Guy". A Zap Shot Guy is usually a 16yr old kid with a digital camera that runs around the dance floor during the party and then has the pictures put up on a big screen so that all can see.

I am sure that the DJ company made a few hundred dollars extra by selling photography but the poor bride and groom will end up with a photo album that they will probably be too embarrassed to show their friends. I can't stress enough, if you want photography go to a photographer, if you want entertainment go to a DJ or Band, and if you want a video go to a videographer.

On Judging Picture Quality

As you shop around you will more than likely see a sample of the videographer's work in their showroom. Some will show you their work on a high definition plasma tv while others may choose to utilize the expensive editing monitors of their editing system. The best way to gauge picture quality is to be able to see their work on a television system like the one you have at home. Videographers who use a less expensive digital format like mini-dv are more likely to try and enhance their work by using a high definition plasma tv with a high definition DVD converter. Videographer's who shoot with DV-Cam can show their work on the cheapest tv and still present a picture that is sharp and crystal clear..