Blog of a Videographer in Los Angeles

When a bride starts to plan the wedding, she starts with the date.  With that date she starts looking for churches, venues, entertainment and DJs, and later, the invitations, the cake, the dresses.  But even before the invitations, the cake, the dresses and other little trinkets that make the day so unique, she looks for the top, reasonably-priced wedding…photographer.  The photographer is usually a priority on the list.  Everyone feels that the still pictures capture the true essence of that day.  The pictures will be the one thing that they will keep forever and ever.  But what about the videographer?  Why is it that the videographer is always last on the list–the vendor that is hired if there’s extra money left over?  Often couples short-change themselves by thinking they can cut costs with the videographer.  Little do people realize that in video, you actually get to see the little moments that are forgotten–the excitement and slight-nervousness in the groom’s eyes, the giddiness of the bride as she puts on her dress, the teary-eyed mothers during the ceremony.   People can actually experience the wedding vows over and over again with video.  Don’t get me wrong–still pictures are very precious and important.  They’re easily accessible to reminisce and look at.  But video captures every moment of that day.  It makes the memories come alive again, and reminds the couple of what was said and done.

Save your money elsewhere, and invest in the one thing that will help you relive the memory of a lifetime.

Cutting corners when hiring a videographer can bite you in the butt in the end.  Don’t go for the cheapest just because you think all you need is someone to just tape what’s going on.  If that’s the case, save your money and have Uncle Joe do it with his cam-corder.  When you hire a videographer and you truly want to catch the emotionally-filled moments, then put the videographer somewhere at the top of the list.  Look at their work and see if you’re moved when you watch it.  That’s how you know it’s a good videographer–when their work stirs some emotional reaction as you watch it and you get that lump in your throat.  If you can, get a 2-3 camera deal to ensure the shot more.  Weddings are live and it’s never guaranteed that all the moments will be captured.  This is a once-in-a-lifetime moment that you’ll want to be able to watch again and again.  Photographers grabs the beauty of the people moment by moment.  But videographers are the ones that capture the true essence and the meaning of the life-altering day.  Videographers should be placed at the top of the list next to churches, venues, DJs, and photographers.  So save money elsewhere and invest on the one thing that will help you to relive the memory of a lifetime.

Adept: adjective – very skilled, proficient, expert.

A true videographer must be “adept” in his/her capabilities to capture the essence of what’s being filmed.  It can’t be just a mere documentation of the event.  The videographer has to see beyond what’s going on and use every element surrounding the happenstance to articulately portray the occasion with life and emotion.  He/She sees every minute detail in the environment and determines it as a creative addition or a bothersome hindrance.   He/She creates motion with the camera to attract attention to the focus of the subject and to magically fade all that’s around it.  The lighting needs to perfectly reveal the hidden feelings behind the smiles and the sparkles in the eyes.  And the ultimate goal for a videographer is to show his/her audience not just what happened that day or that moment, but rather to show the emotional motivation behind it–love, joy, happiness, and more.  And this is important so that the video does what it’s supposed to do: to remind the viewer of what that moment was all about, what was felt, and the desire to relive it over again—just like a good movie.

A custom designed cover based on wedding colors and flowers.

It is such a great honor to be a videographer at weddings.  Weddings are one of the most momentous events in a person’s life, and we are there to witness it and to record it for them for all time.  Over the past 6 years, Robert and I have been blessed to meet such amazing couples who are so strong as people, and solid in their foundation as a couple.  We get to know them not as our clients, but as people with life stories and we strive to capture those life stories in the videos we put together.  We may not have the pictures or the video to show their every detail in their life or every moment of how they met, but Robert’s creative and artistic editing allows viewers to actually see into the hearts, and reveals the build up of that love.  And we’re able to do that because our work isn’t just business.

From the moment a client calls us for information all the way to the delivery of their video, we want to make sure that our clients know that it’s just as important to us that we capture everything moment they anticipate on such a glorious day.  We want this video to be something that they’d want to watch over and over again, and not just shelve it as evidence that they got married.  And in order to do that, we need to connect with our clients on a personal level.  Robert encourages the all potential clients to meet with him to go over ideas of what’s important for them and the style of video they’re looking for.  It’s important for us to know the couple personality so we can help them creates those ideas.  We make it a point to attend the rehearsal so we can map out all camera angles at certain moments to ensure we get as much as we can.  So by the time of the wedding, we are well-prepared knowing what the couple wants and how the ceremony is going to go, and we don’t have to bother the couple on their big day.  In the editing stages, we get the couple’s favorite music to be added into video and a cover is designed specific with the wedding colors and any graphics or ornaments used during the wedding.    We personalize the video as much as we can because that day is THE most important day for those two people.  We want it to be about them, and we want them to feel like no one else had a wedding like that.  We want their story to be told in the music, the camera angles, the lighting, and other editing magic.  Our desire is to capture not only the event, but the emotions and heart of the occasion so it can be relived every time the couple watches it.   And this happens because we make it personal to us.