A photographer pal recommended me to a client whose wedding was yesterday. When he turned up he found two vidiots doing the video (his term not mine though I quite like it). The bride explained that she'd decided to save some money and hired a new young business, "very keen young men" with degrees from the local Metro university.

These two were armed with nothing more than two palmcorders, still plastered with labels proclaiming "Full HD" etc.

The wedding was a Reformed Jewish wedding and my pal noticed that the two vidiots stayed outside the canopy (not the technical term) during one of the key parts of the ceremony and had disappeared entirely for most of the reception including the sections with prayers and dancing.

When they returned he asked where they'd been for the previous 90 minutes and didn't they know they'd missed some important sections of the wedding. It transpired that they'd both run out of batteries and had driven over to the nearest shopping Mall - itself about 20 minutes drive away - to buy new batteries from the Sony shop.

Hi Philip

You have to admire them for being so brazen!! I wonder if she actually paid them???
We have much the same here with photographers..young girls leave school and enrol in the local tech college for a 6 month photography course. Daddy then buys them a Canon 5000D for $849.00 and they are now "professional wedding photographers"
However they are easily spotted on wedding directories when they offer two photogs from 2pm to 10pm to cover virtually everything AND they toss in a bonus of two 16" x20" canvas prints and the total fee is $800!!!
(presumably to pay Daddy back for the camera???)

We had a few students here setup a "Do your wedding for free" ad too. The only catch was the the bride had to pay for the hire of cameras from the local college and also pay for the hire of the college's edit suite too. They vanished pretty quickly!!

Shucks, I paid nearly $9K for my two cameras last year and you are telling me that I could have got away with a pair or palmcorders??? Our local web store has HD camcorders for $199.00 each.

Believe me, they will not be the first or the last you hear of ... I enjoyed the story though!!!

Chris

outside the canopy (not the technical term)

Chuppah. Pronounced "Hoopah". Helps if you are choking on matzoh when you pronounce the Ch sound.

It transpired that they'd both run out of batteries and had driven over to the nearest shopping Mall - itself about 20 minutes drive away - to buy new batteries from the Sony shop.

I wonder how long those "new" batteries lasted, don't they need charging before use?

What a sad story.
1. Bride and groom's video will not be what they hoped for.
2. Vidiots probably won't get paid a single penny for their blunder.
3. In the end, nobody will be happy.

I'd love to see the final product posted somewhere.

Watch this vid

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/6146261/15958642

Wow! That wedding video you linked to was soooooo bad. The news report did not say what he had charged for his services. Turns out any amount would have been too much.

Not only was it all horrible the picture in picture concept made no sense at all.

We even had footage of this guy "down-under"..he made world news last year!!

It doesn't actually stop there either..he is also a school photographer and had hundreds of claims from irate parents who never got what they paid for. He wasn't just a "flash in the pan" either...he had an established photo shop in the area but this particular wedding put him in the limelight!!

I'm sure that Philip will know a lot more about it and there is actually a thread right here about the guy as well!!! Even the so-called experienced people can mess up as well!!

Chris

You can ALWAYS find someone to do it cheaper
Old saying and very true. It's too bad because it only takes a few to ruin it for all the rest. People like this are taking money out of our pockets because THIS is what people remember about video. sigh, maybe it IS time to retire.

"You get what you pay for"...also very old and very true!

Sadly, the bride will not even get THAT, as she lost all the key footage by accounts.

Even if she didn't (or doesn't) end up spending a dime on the "services", she was "penny wise and pound foolish" - lost all possibility of recording the biggest day of her life, probably over less than the flowers that will be dead before the honeymoon is over.

"Old saws" don't change with technology (or a piece of sheepskin), and some people never learn.

And yes, Sony batteries don't come charged, typically, so these "university educated" MORONS really truly were about as "keen" as a spoon. My kids are brighter than these two, they won't see "college" for quite a while, but they understood the importance of fresh batteries at 18 months old... and they aren't bad with a camera either, maybe I should hire them out?!

The very first purchase after the camera itself should be 2-3 larger size batteries (and of course enough media to record the entire event start to finish, even if you do "start and stop" a bit).

Real or fake?

Wedding funny video :) on Yahoo! Video (http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4781634/12765970)

Hey Kelly

Technically it could quite easily happen!!! The shoot was an amateur one but the falls looked pretty genuine to me..unless they are stunt men that really know how to fall!!!

Notice that everyone appears really shocked too!!! With a gag normally someone will let out a chuckle at least.

I wonder if they carried on after she redid her makeup and dried out her dress????

Chris

Staggering story, do they just not value their wedding day??

Steve

You can ALWAYS find someone to do it cheaper
Old saying and very true. It's too bad because it only takes a few to ruin it for all the rest. People like this are taking money out of our pockets because THIS is what people remember about video. sigh, maybe it IS time to retire.

Don't retire yet, Don!

There are lowballers and pretenders in every business. It's our job to continue to produce quality work and let those who don't value it continue getting screwed by the amateurs out there. I don't believe that cheap videographers ruin it for the rest of us. I believe that the cheap videographers just keep the cheap clients out of our hair.

Ignore them and continue doing what you do. The good clients will come to you.

Don't retire yet, Don!

I believe that the cheap videographers just keep the cheap clients out of our hair.


well said, i completely agree.

Hah, yeah I know and I probably won't retire but every year I think more and more about it. I'm in my mid 60s and after 27 years of video and 12 years before that as a still photog with way too many weddings under my belt, I keep thinking about every year. Problem is if I DID retire then I'd have to play golf 4 or 5 days a week, spend time with my wife, my kids, my grandkids and my dog. Not necessarily in that order of course (well maybe) and honestly, I'm sure I'd go out of my mind. I have to keep busy so...I just don't want to keel over at a wedding with a camera in my hands, the B&G would probably want a refund. ;-)

My guess is that it's fake. The fall does look real but too many little things seem to make it not real. His fall didn't actually make her fall either. Watch the grooms before the stunt begins. He seems to be acting.

Problem is if I DID retire then I'd have to play golf 4 or 5 days a week

If you're looking for sympathy...

I guess this might be defined as client-sponsored experiential learning or auto-apprenticeship.

I would hope their next great adventure is not into something like buying a some overalls from home depot, a bongo van, painting it up as a mobile workshop, then running aournd with a set of vicegrips, a few cans of oil and servicing automobiles.

Don. If you keeled over for the count at the ceremony with camera in hand, would you not be wearing a beatific smile upon your face doing what you like doing as you take your final bow. It would only be one wedding and the parse would be there handy to administer the last rites.