Hey Guys I have been here on the forums the last couple months and have learned alot!! Thanks guys. But I kinda get depressed after I watch all your great videos! I can see that I have a ways to go. I was just wondering what kinda training, (college, self taught, or whatever) did you guys go through. This is my first year of getting serious about videoing Weddings. How long did it take you guys to get going? I have 8 or so weddings to do so far this year so im getting some weddings but I feel like I need a little help, (encouragement or something) :)

I'm still in college, about to graduate with a film major.. I also studied television heavily in high school and also did a lot of experimenting with cameras on my breaks... so I guess you can say a little bit of a mix between college and being self taught..

I'm a purist self-taught.. no education, no degree. no experience.. I've only picked up a camera for video about 1.5 years ago. I learn as I go, and experience many lesson learnt and thankfully I am able to get myself going in the business.. However, I've come to realize that the techniques are teachable, the gears can be bought.. but creativity must be born within. I think the best way to learn is for you to get as many experience and try to be creative with your works.

I studied media production at Asbury University (which has the most AMAZING program). I didn't know squat going in, but really learned a lot in school. With that being said, the best way is to just get out there and do it. Set your prices low for a while, do a lot of weddings and build experience. Then steadily raise your prices. I felt there were three big milestones for me in terms of my wedding videos:
1) two cameras and one videographer to 3 cameras and 2 videographers
2) SD to HD
3) HMC150 to DSLR

I watch people's work all the time. I get so many ideas watching other videographer's work. Iron sharpens iron. Don't hesitate to ask questions. Although you might not have a degree in it, you have passion and desire. That's huge.

Hey Guys I have been here on the forums the last couple months and have learned alot!! Thanks guys. But I kinda get depressed after I watch all your great videos! I can see that I have a ways to go. I was just wondering what kinda training, (college, self taught, or whatever) did you guys go through. This is my first year of getting serious about videoing Weddings. How long did it take you guys to get going? I have 8 or so weddings to do so far this year so im getting some weddings but I feel like I need a little help, (encouragement or something) :)

Hi Tyson,

The fact that you recognize you "have a ways to go" is a great start. You should have that feeling.

IMO, you can give yourself the equivalent of a masters degree in videography online and with other sources if you look hard enough and study the information. That combined with getting out there and shooting is key.

Specifically I'd start with the training video "Camera Command" if you haven't already seen it. Understand how the camera works, then master techniques.

I have spent countless hours on Lynda.com getting to learn the various software I own. I didn't get much the first times through. But now when I encounter a situation as they discussed, I know I can go back and revisit that topic. I have only bought it by the month because watching training videos for a month straight will drive you batty. :-) So I buy a month, get burned out watching and go back in again some time later, to fresh or start a new software title.

Tyson, I've been in the wedding video business for 19 years and I still get depressed after watching all the great videos on here. Sometimes I'll watch a StillMotion video and after, I feel like quitting this business because I'll never be that good.

Heres our history

Mintyslippers was formed 4 years ago after filming a friends wedding.

Video was not a hobby or anything we studied, by trade I was an IT manager, Julie an office manager

18 months ago I left my day job to go full time, julie about 8 months ago

We are self taught but also spend a lot of money each year on training in some shape or form

Its important, to train to keep up with whats going on. Otherwise you end up competing based on price and that means it only goes down.

Business is doing very well indeed.

Hands on experience + 2 or 3 workshops a year has been a great formula for me.

I read this one post on the ups and downs of photography/videography. Its a good struggle to push yourself. I started out a year ago with photography. Read a lot and scoured the forums. Joined local shootouts and connected with others at the same level. Watched a lot of training videos. Now I'm working on training my eye, and working on composition, and trying to improve my post so I can develop a style. I'm a big film buff, so I feel like every movie I watch is a lesson learned on how the pro's do it right. For those that went to school, any text books that you really enjoyed?

Haven't read through this but recommended a lot by others:
The Five C's of Cinematography: Motion Picture Filming Techniques\
Good for understanding light:
Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting
This is a good video version recommended by others, haven't got through it yet:
Matters of Light & Depth Matters of Light & Depth

Enjoyed this on composition:
The Filmmaker's Eye: Learning (and Breaking) the Rules of Cinematic Composition
I think there is a videographers eye book that might be good.

This was a neat video worth picking up at a local library:
Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography

27 years ago when I started in video, I knew nothing. I used what I could from 12 years as a still photographer. As time and technology progressed I got together with some other people I met and we all ventured into the ask questions syndrome which is a very good thing to do. What I asked someone could answer and vice versa. Anyway, with the internet and the forums the questions became easier to answer and many subjects that never came to my mind were asked by others and those answers got stored in my mind just in case. I learned by doing. Maybe not the best way for everyone but that's the best way for me.
As far as today, well, I'm with Michael. Sometimes I feel like I should retire now, I know I can't compete with some of the people that post here, I won't mention names as there are a lot and I don't want to offend anyone, but I also realize that over the years I developed a niche, and people know me for that. My reputation is what it is and frankly at my age to try to start changing now probably wouldn't work out to well. I am what I am and do what I do. While I can be and am flexible, I'm not Stillmotion or JMags or any of the multitude of other fabulous wedding filmmakers.
How much training??? Continuous, never ending, on goining, no one knows it all. Keep working, develope a style, be flexible with it as it will change as the morket does, do the very best you can on each and every job and keep watching others work. If you can get 1 idea from someone elses work it's worth it. If not, it's still worth it because if you like the work you have something to aspire to.

Thanks Guys!! Alot of help coming from here! :)

Broadcast Engineering school that I got halfway through before I realized that working for a sleazy network news would not be for me. I have just been building on that background.

i'm in the same boat as the OP.
i started out doing video, then photography, then bacj on video all in a 1.5 years time.

i have learned most from reading books and wtahcing how-to videos.

when i discovered i kind of had an eye for it, my limitations were GEAR, so i save dup a few pennies and purchased a hmc-40, since then, i have ventured with my brother and now we own a 7D with a few lenses. I'm really good with tools, so building a JIB was my next step.

i feel like the forums can teach a lot!
i am an I.T. infrastructure Egnineer and do video as a hobby.
eveyrhting has been self-taught. i don't have 45k$ to spend or the time to go to school.

in reality, video has brought me 0$ but it was taught me a lot, and allow me to acquire gear (i tell people not to pay me with money, but with gear)

anyways, i think that as long as you have the passion for motion pictures, it should be enough. i am not a film buff...i do recognize a good take from a bad one, and i find myself pointing out continuity errors to my wife, but i don't specifically follow a director(or even know his name for that matter)

anyways, i guess i typed a little too much.

be creative, be crazy...think of the most outrageous thing you can do, and step it down a tad...that's what i do :)

I do video as a hobby self taught am able to do a good job in video and not to shabby in editing. I shown some of my videos to a co-worker and he told me to do wedding video for his daughter and I say NO because I am nervous about doing people wedding. Few years ago I know nothing about video/editing, I've learned from forum like this one and watch other people videos. As time go on, I've gained knowledge in editing/video/video FX etc. I came from Hot Rodding (Specifically Corvettes) That has gotten so expensive that I sold my heavily modified turbocharged corvette and got into Video as a new hobby and I love it.

that is exactly the reason why i went into video./
cars just got too expensive, and the wife wouldn't stop nagging about it.

video si cleaner...or so she thinks :)