The future of wedding photography is wedding photography plus video, there is no doubt about that.
The rise of dedicated wedding photography videographers is testament to the growing wedding DVD industry.
Yes, there will always be photos, you still want your wedding album and a photo above the fireplace.
Video brings the day back to life in a way that flipping through photos can’t.
The Story of Wedding Photography plus Video
I have always put together a video slideshow for all my wedding photography packages.
Many wedding photographers produce them since they are much more Facebook friendly and are reasonably simple to put together.
What took me by surprise though was how much people loved the slideshows.
As much as I love the simple photo slideshow, I always felt there was something missing from them.
So, early in 2016 I started to record short video clips whilst at a wedding, just to see if I could incorporate them into the slideshows to bring some life into the video.
I never intended to offer wedding photography plus video packages, I simply wanted to add a bit of sparkle to my slideshow videos.
The product was and always will be the photos.
What took me by surprise though was how much people loved the slideshows.
The emotional responses were overwhelming, comment after comment on how people were in tears watching them.
Now I am not conceited enough to think that people are gushing over the quality of my photos, this isn’t an art project after-all.
The emotions are coming from people re-living the wedding day and bringing back the emotions they felt at the time, my videos simply stir the memories.
Still, the pride I feel when I see these amazing comments is what drives me to make every video better than the last.
What’s the secret?
It’s simple really, there is no secret.
Throughout the wedding day I will be around taking photos as you would expect of a wedding photographer.
What you might not notice is that throughout that time I will be flicking my cameras onto video mode and recording a few clips of the action too.
The hard work comes later.
Once I have edited your full set of photos, which as far as I am concerned is the most important part, I will pick out 100 or so highlights and then look through the video clips that I recorded on the day.
I then assemble the photos and video clips into a single collection, pick a nice piece of music and build your slideshow.
How much does the extra video service cost?
As already covered above, it does take quite a bit more time to produce these videos.
I have to edit video clips, remove the sound, clean up the colour and get rid of the camera shake.
I then have to pull together the highlights from the photo album and insert the video clips into the timeline manually.
The thing is, I do this because I love the video slideshows, not because someone is paying me extra to do it.
I would feel personally let down if someone didn’t get a slideshow from their wedding photo collection, and so I offer this wedding photography plus video service for no additional charge.
Does this mean I don’t need to pay a fortune for a wedding video service?
Yes and no.
I will be totally upfront about this because I don’t want you to be disappointed.
There is a pretty big difference between this ‘wedding photography plus video’ service and what a dedicated wedding videographer will do for you.
A serious wedding videographer will spend the whole day recording nothing but video.
They will use video production techniques and audio recording equipment that I simply do not have the time and/or correct equipment to handle whilst also being your wedding photographer.
What this means is that whilst you will get some video coverage with my service, you will not get the same extraordinary cinematic experience that you would if you budget for a professional wedding videographer alongside your dedicated wedding photographer.
That said, if you were not planning on hiring a video service or are happy with the more simplified version that I can offer, this can be a very effective low cost alternative to a wedding videographer.
How do I get this amazing service?
Well, if you already have me booked as your wedding photographer then it will be included in the package you already have.
Simple as that.
If you would like to talk to me about photographing your wedding there is a contact form below.
Fill it in with your details and I’ll get back to you with a quote, then we can start making plans!
Thanks for reading. See ya next time!
James