Today, anybody out of job thinks they can buy a camera, put together a great website and videotape weddings. Is this what you want for your most precious day and memories?

What to Look for:

Many individuals ask why should I pay for a pro video when myself or friends and family can tape it with our camcorders? Even with access to camcorders today, most friends and family don’t have the training and or experience as well as the professional broadcast equipment of a professional videographer.

Professional videographers have made the investment of purchasing state of the art broadcast quality cameras and editing systems that most of the public cannot afford to invest in. Professional video production companies also have other equipment that most consumers don’t have such as camera cranes, dolly systems, multiple cameras, professional audio microphones, and most of us have college degrees and years of training at broadcast stations and cable networks.

Wedding video is something that a lot of people are unfamiliar with. First of all, let's talk about the "Videographer". The term is the same as photographer, but pertains to one who shoot video. A videographer will be the person behind the video camera.

Some people ask, "Why have a vidoegrapher if I'm paying for a professional photographer?". Others ask "Why have a photographer if I'm hiring a videogapher?". It's a good idea to have both. There are things that a videographer can capture that a photographer cannot. Take for instance the toast. A photographer can not capture the emotions of the made of honor getting choked up during her speech.

Professional wedding videographers can range in price from $500 to over $5,000. What gives? As long as they’re professionally trained, properly equipped and experienced, why the drastic difference in price?

First of all, it’s important to understand that videographers (this goes for photographers and other artists too), assign a value to their work based on their time, effort, equipment, expertise, and a whole lot of factors that can vary from artist to artist, depending on their approach and demand for their product.

1. Are they really pros?

Recent advancements in technology have made camera equipment and editing software very affordable. The downside of this is that now there are a lot of wannabes calling themselves "cameramen" and "editors" when really they are just "guys with a camera and some software."

I received a request for information recently and the sender stated, "One of our guests has offered to shoot it for us and their offer is attractive considering your asking price". Although I can understand budgets, it is unfortunate that clients compare professional services with their friends who happen to own cameras.

My respsonse was to ask these questions of anyone, especially friends and family, who you are considering captuing one of the most important days of your life:

The number of film makers attending your wedding can impact the intrusiveness of the filming itself. In this case, more is often less, as one camera person running around with a shoulder mounted camera and a headlight on the camera, trying to catch every meaningful shot, is far more intrusive than several film makers stationed strategically in the background on tripods with an off- camera light bouncing off a wall or ceiling.

With several film makers you can have a cocktail hour fillmed at the same time as a photoshoot at the same time another person is setting up mcrophones in the reception area. Thinking that one person can do the job, and do it well, and unobtrusively, will likely result in some major limitations on your final product.