My choice to pursue videography for a living is a long story! When I was in Elementary School I started entering writing contests, I would write short stories, poems, and more. I won a few contests and even had some of my work published in magazines. I fell in love with writing, and I really wanted to become a writer, but I was told that writers don't make much money.
At the age of 15 I picked up my first camera. I was in High School and taking pictures for a photography class, developing my own film. I fell in love with the art that I could create. Once again, I explored photography as an option to make a living, and I came to the same realization as I did with my writing.
My family really struggled while I grew up, often wondering where the rent money was going to come from for next month. We ended up getting evicted from many houses, having to move every 6 months or so for most of my youth. From this, I learned that making a decent living was something that I absolutely HAD to do.
At the age of 16 I started working full time, and going to college full time with my eye on a degree in Business. I studied marketing, psychology, and all other aspects of business. This was where I would make my living! At the time, I was working for a great company that offered much promise. I was promised a great living if I just finished my schooling, I would stay working for the same furniture company, but I would branch out into their Marketing department. I was absolutely thrilled! That was.. Until the company went out of business.
As a hobby, I started making videos for YouTube. I would do tutorial videos, how to's, and so on. My wife's cousin got married, and I brought my new camera along just for fun. I took a few pictures, (not many) and put together a little video when I got home. I shared the video, and everyone loved it! This was my A Ha! moment.
I love photography, I love taking a single image and telling a story with it. But, even better, how about taking lots of single images in the form of video to convey the same emotion, maybe even multiple clips and telling a story.
With my education and background in business, and marketing, I knew that there was a psychology to storytelling. Just like with a TV ad, or a movie, there is a storyline. A beginning, middle, and an end. With any video, you've got to tell a story, and the art to the craft is creating a convincing string of video clips and dialogue that develop your story. With video, I get to force my viewers to feel emotion. They feel what I they are told to feel, with the tone of the music, pace of video clips, dialog, and the timing of everything combined.
Nowadays with everyone having access to a camera, more and more people think they are photographers. With cameras getting smarter, being able to do more for us, anyone can be a "photographer". It takes a lot more discipline to get the exact shots that I want. When I am shooting video, whether it be for a wedding, music video, promo video, or other event, I have a vision of exactly where each shot will be used in the final product. With video, I am able to combine my first love of writing, with my second love of photography, along with my college education in business and marketing.
When a client books with me, they are not just getting a guy with a camera. They are getting a guy that knows about storytelling, timing, and tone. This comes into play with wedding videos, and that's why I have such great reviews from my clients. Because of my background, I have a lot more to offer corporate clients, for promotional videos, music videos, and more.
See, I told you it was a long story!
Do you have a question for me? Ask away!
rhender@me.com
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