I too vote for a wedding section. i have a question though: what is the difference between "documentary style" Vs "Cinematic Style"?
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Guide to shooting weddings (not really dvx related, sorry)
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Hmm - I would not shoot a wedding under a grand ever.. and that is for friends.. and that is for stills.. but most of the wedding video guys here in Vancouver would charge 3g - I know of a still photographer that works 40 days a year and charges 4g. I know of a wedding firm that charged 3g with a steadicam and a Canon for shooting a wedding a couple years back. He had an assistant (which by the way you really need - especially when walking backwards) If I had a steadicam (variant of) I would charge more for sure. More than 3g. At those prices you get pickier clients but also more respectful ones and you can afford help. Make an excellent demo reel. Remember they are hiring you for you and your particular vision of a translation of that day. That is unique. Do not undervalue that. I have been a still photographer for over 20 years and find that price is not so much of an issue as much as it is their investment in you making them look good and translating that day into a memorable event - like the one they envision in their head. I had Southby's contact me from Florida to shoot homes in Vancouver for them - because my still photography was unique. Same thing with FujiFilm. (I did not seek them as clients)
Still photography to me is 10 times easier than video. Especially because of the time for editing. I think video - especially with our cameras should cost more than stills. Once I am finished getting my equipment (just got my dvx 2 weeks ago) my wedding price - with a steadicam type of unit will be 3500-4000 - mind you I have those years in experience in stills. I would not want to charge less than this.. I have found when you have a cheap client (i mean cheap not broke) there is a lot less respect for you and that translates into less respect for yourself and I cannot stand that.
These are unique cameras in my point of view and not everyone has them. With the right lightiing these camera can make a wedding look incredible (I just shot one last night - anxious to edit it)
I would really like to make a wedding shoot with two Dvx's running - one tripod - one steadicam and shoot the whole day and charge 10g and turn it into like somnething they see on the Life Channel - but i have to find the right client for that.
Come from abundance and not scarcity and your clients change.
Thank you to all who contribute on this forum.. it is the most helpful forum I have ever found and enjoy participating. If any of you need photography questions answered feel free to PM me.DVX100b, Sennheiser G2, FCP - jimwww.com
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Weddings have been incorporated into the newly expanded Documentary/Live Events forum.
Now that I think about it, this would be a great sticky in that forum.The Plinkett Equation:
TOS16 + TNG5 + DS94 + VOY11 + ENT 8
__________________________________________________ = History is changing every 23 millionths of a second
F649 + Alp987 + Bet934 + Gam764 + Del837 * 100,000,000,000
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That's a great post jimwww. If done properly, this is challenging and somewhat strenuous work and we all deserve to be compensated accordingly. How many people really can do what we do? From quality camerawork to sitting in front of Final Cut Pro or any of the other pro level editors and actually knowing what all the little slides, icons and tools on the palette are for, we are professionals. Well, I know what most of it does, anyway. How many people do you know, outside of the film and video world, actually look to buy a camera with as much manual control as possible?
I don't want to come across as a pompous jerk, because I'm not, but I just like to remind myself that I am in a special group who possess technical and artistic ability that is found in a relative minority and deserves to be well paid. If you intentionally try to severely undercut everyone else in your market you hurt everyone. I guarantee the other professionals in the area won't appreciate it either.Last edited by aramikvideo; 08-21-2008, 06:27 PM.
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Well, I just shot another wedding this past Saturday. The preceding wedding I broke from my usual procedure and went hand-held at the ceremony with a shoulder support. I didn't care for the result as it wasn't as steady as I would have liked. I went back to using a tripod and personally like the result but my question is, what really is the standard or norm? I don't want my footage to be boring but at the same time even the least noticeable camera shake irritates me.
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so if your flying solo, which camera do you usually run during the ceremony? i try to put my 2nd cam behind the groom to get a good shot of the bride, leave it running and unmanned. and i stay with my main camera in the back for the establishing shot. Is this the norm or is there a better way that I'm not aware of?sigpic
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