Main reason brides prefer photography?

[Peter Ralph]

what is the main reason most brides would rather forgo video than photo?

[Cole McDonald]

Photo is all about a "perfect moment"...Video is all about the event, which has ups and downs. Too many videos have been done by relatives that contain all the embarrassing bits that happened (no editing at all). We can change that through presenting more and more "perfect moments" videos and making that the expectation.

And Photos go on the mantle piece...maybe someone should make a little picture frame with an LCD that would play 30 secs of video in a loop from a thumb drive for wedding videographers to hand to their clients. Push the "stillies" out of the way! (see how I just coined a term and sounded all angry about it ;) )

[Malameel Shawky]

Nobody wants to watch them. Don't wrong, they can be great, but how often do you see a professional production of a wedding? I have seen too many that just go on and on... Images however, has for a very long time been ingrained as artistic.
M

[Pete Costanzo]

I would have to agree with Malameel on that one. To capture a perfect picture requires.

Malmeel, what do you do with a Sony F950?

1. One Camera Operater with Flash and a Brain to click the camera when something interesting happens.

To capture a perfect wedding video requires

1. Multiple Camera operators with steady hands, good resolution video cameras.
2. Good lighting situations. (that never happens).
3. Fair amount of choreography (that rarely happens)
4. Good music that is legal to sync to video. (that's impossible)
5. The ability to cover all events from multiple angles all night long.
6. The ability to produce all of this into an interesting video that looks as good as LOTR, The Notebook, Star Wars.

You get the picture. Everyone's an expert when it comes to shooting video, because the own a video camera and can burn a dvd on their Dell. But getting 35mm film developed at the camera shop, well that's just magic.

[Malameel Shawky]

The F950 makes great wedding videos. :)
M

(Not to steal the thread, but we use the F950 mostly for green screen situations or any big budget stuff. Just setting it up can be a hastle.)

[Kevin Shaw]

Originally Posted by Peter Ralph

what is the main reason most brides would rather forgo video than photo?

I'd say it's partly a matter of tradition and partly one of budgeting. Photography has been commonplace for generations and people know they want it for their wedding, so they make that a priority early in their planning process. Video is newer and less appreciated, so most couples don't think about it until their budget is getting stretched. At that point paying several thosand for a good video may seem unrealistic, and there isn't a sense that a cheap video is worth the bother. Plus people aren't sure what to expect from a video or how often they might watch it, but they know they'll look at their photos.

It's a shame really given that video conveys so much more of what happens at a wedding than photos ever could. Maybe someday this will be better appreciated and valued by more couples, but that seems to be a long time coming.

[Dave Blackhurst]

While I think "stills" are traditional, I think that surveys have shown that brides who get video are very glad they did.

There's one major thing that video gets if done right - it captures an event that flys by so fast that the people in it don't probably remember what happened... I hear that over and over - they want the video so they an relive the day - it's typically so hectic and crazy that they can't remember anything!

[Dale Stoltzfus]

Originally Posted by Pete Costanzo

... 4. Good music that is legal to sync to video. (that's impossible)...

Actually not impossible if you use Premiere. I use SmartSound Quicktracks for music for my videos. The program is free, the music is royalty free and costs 19.99 per track, and I can customize the length (which is what Quicktracks is all about). It's worked extremely well for me.

For those not using Premiere, there might be similar programs for your NLE though I don't know of any offhand.

Dale

[Rick Steele]

Originally Posted by Peter Ralph

what is the main reason most brides would rather forgo video than photo?

Because you can't frame a video and mount it on the wall. :)

Photography has about 150 years on us - it's as simple as that. Tradition is a hard rule to break.

[Rick Steele]

Originally Posted by Dale Stoltzfus

For those not using Premiere, there might be similar programs for your NLE though I don't know of any offhand.
Dale

No NLE is needed to use SmartSound. You simply use the standalone
QuickTracks music generator to compile your own WAV files.

[Dale Stoltzfus]

Ah; that's good. I've only used it from inside Premiere, so I didn't know.

Dale

[Kevin Shaw]

Originally Posted by Rick Steele

Because you can't frame a video and mount it on the wall.

Actually you could these days, but few people are likely to do that. A more intriguing issue is the question of portability, with some interesting possibilities relating to weddings and other events. If a bride could pull out her cell phone and watch herself saying her wedding vows or dancing with her husband (and dad) at the reception, how cool would that be? Videography is finally in a position to take on photography as a practical means of sharing memories, and if we can start demonstrating that to people we might make some headway in terms of popularity. It will likely be many years yet before video becomes as common as photography for weddings, but hopefully we're moving in that direction.

[James Klatt]

It's funny, since I shoot weddings, but I prefer photos to video too.

They are less literal, and allow more for the imagination. My memory of my wedding is a sacred, personal thing. Looking at the photographs doesn't break that spell of how I remember it in my mind...it only adds to its lore. My senses aren't fully loaded with sound and moving pictures, so I can really inject however I am feeling while looking at pictures.

The more you watch your video...the more you can anticipate what happens next. It is a very literal delivery, detracting suprise with every viewing. There are usually so many photographs that you can really find so many new things when you go back and look at them.

When I look at photographs, I can look at them in whatever order I want. I can also choose to share just a few. I can also socialize while sharing pictures with someone. All in all, it is much more casual, and sometimes even meditative.

I love moving pictures... I was a film major, but when choosing between photo and video for a wedding I choose photo every time. And I'm a videographer! :)

The thing that kills me is that people monetize the priority...thinking since photos are probably more important than video that they should be able to get a videographer for less. As we all know this is crazy for the amount of work we do.

[Dave Blackhurst]

I'll admit I like shooting stills as well, capturing the "perfect" moment... and it has it's place.

Video is tricky, bad video is easy (OK so is bad photography). Magic is what separates the great spine tingling shots from drek.

Thanks in part to some of the inspired work I've seen from the others who have posted their stuff, I've got a small wedding I'm mixing down that will frankly knock their socks off - got some incredible shots that "just happened", and all will fit together nicely. A few missed shots, some blah stuff, but that's how it goes, and the dead spots are what the "cutting room floor" is for!

Got the groomsmen goofing around when they thought the camera was "off" (it wasn't - I almost feel out of my chair as they took turns dancing and monkeying around!!), got killer footage of the couple in sillhouete with the sun behind them as they dance & kiss... lots of great material.

Video takes a different mindset and a lot more work but if you deliver something that blows people away (even if you've used it a hundred times in other videos...), you can justify the $$ - and if the couple is visually oriented, they will play the DVD until the bits wear off... Hopefully their friends will see it and want the same thing!

I recall WEVA did a survey and found that brides that did video were ALWAYS glad they did, and the ones who didn't were sorry they didn't have the video... surveys may be "biased", but the couples I've talked to really REALLY love the video - and I always put a slide show of the best pictures on the DVD so they can "put it on their (wide screen LCD) wall".

Like anything else, show the "client' something that they really like, and educate them a bit, and you'll be busy enough.

[Kevin Shaw]

Originally Posted by James Klatt

When I look at photographs, I can look at them in whatever order I want. I can also choose to share just a few. I can also socialize while sharing pictures with someone. All in all, it is much more casual, and sometimes even meditative.

To some extent that's true, but less so as video delivery becomes more flexible and accessible. DVDs allow random access and file-based video sharing will improve on that even more, for those who want to pick through their video clips like pictures. It's true that watching a video is a different experience than flipping through photos , but then people don't spend hours every night watching still images on TV...