The Right Videographer
by Isabel Tuason
My wedding is something I will never forget. It’s something I would want to look back to when I’m arguing with my future husband a few years into our marriage or even just to lighten up my mood when I’m down with the everyday routine of life. However, capturing the essences of this most special days is a very unique craft mastered by only the best artisans we commonly call today as videographers.
In preparing for my wedding, find the right videographer was at the top of my list. I’ve seen and fell in love with so many wedding videos online and I wanted to make sure I would fall in love repeatedly watching my own video. To make this happen, I knew that I needed to research and prioritize what criteria mattered the most for me. So, here are the five different questions I asked every potential wedding videographer to see if they’re the right choice for me.
1. “What’s your style?”
Wedding videographers have different styles and you have to choose which one you really like. Ask your videographer what their style is, and make sure they knows what you like so you’re on the same page. The most common mistake I believe is that couples choose a wedding videographer because of the price first. This is huge mistake especially when you end up disappointed because of a mismatch in style. After all, some wedding videographers like to shoot in a cinematic way and some like to shoot it in a documentary style video. If you prefer movies, choosing the cinematic style is for you because it will include special effects, music, and montages. But if you want your guests to be interviewed and the wedding to be shot from start to finish, then the documentary style is for you. This is your special day; make sure you get what you want!
2. “What equipment do you use?”
Today, the equipment a videographer has creates a huge difference on the quality and story they’re capturing. Although standard videography equipment has become affordable, the videographers that spent and have the latest gadgets are most likely to capture your eyes. To be honest, there’s no reason for your videographer to scrimp and use low-end equipment for your wedding but it’s for your benefit to ask and understand from your potential videographers what cameras they’ll use and what digital effects it can product. If you’re not much of a cameraholic, write down the models they say they’ll be using and easily check online wedding videos that used their cameras.
3. “How many weddings have you covered?”
Just like any skill, the true test of an artist is if they’ve spent enough time learning the perfecting the craft. The amount of weddings a videographer has shot says a lot about the videographers abilities. In my humble opinion, a great wedding videographer should have covered at least 150 weddings. To check, check their portfolios and read the feedback from their past clients. This will show his/her level of knowledge and professionalism in the business. If you’re dealing with someone new to the business, make sure they at least come highly recommended by people you know and have done some ground work either supporting other wedding videographers or some other video production work.
4. “Have you covered weddings at my venue?”
In selecting a videographer, familiarity will be a huge ally. The placing of cameras, the positioning of lights, and the angles of the right shot are all very hard, especially if the wedding location is new to the videographer. Despite their experience, knowing that your videographer has already worked at your venue before will ease some of their uncertainties. After all, preparation is 90% of the game and the more he already knows, the more he can prepare an awesome wedding video for you.
5. “How big is your staff and how long have you worked with them?”
The best wedding videographers don’t come alone, they always come in teams. More often than not, they come in teams that have know each other for a while and are very familiar with each other’s working cadence and habits. Remember, the video is captured from multiple camera and by multiple members of the team. Similarly, the wedding shoot is pressure packed with a very tight schedule. The slightest details like a missed shot or a missed edit can make the difference for an epic wedding video and this entire production requires great team effort. So, it’s absolutely fair game to ask, not just about the videographer, but about the team and their working relationship as well.
Finally, I’m sure you’re wondering why I didn’t include price as a question for finding the right videographer. To me, this is secondary after finding the right fit. I’ve seen friend and family compromise on the fit with price and regretted it afterwards. Also, the price of videographers don’t drastically vary. Barring the extremely famous ones (even some of them are pretty affordable), the price for quality fall in the same range.
In any case, I hope these questions help you find the best wedding videographer for your special day. Remember, your wedding will become ten times easier depending on the vendors you partner with so take your time and select wisely.
Isabel Tuason is a guest contributor to trippix. If you’d like to contribute too, please email us at info@trippix.net and please check out trippix.net to find the right wedding videographer for you.
