Life happens so fast! Great Photographers and Videographers know that it takes planning to ensure a successful shot is captured. You don’t have to be a pro to get a good shot though. It’s often simply about being at the right place at the right time with camera in hand. To be consistent at this does takes practice. Here are some simple tips to ensure you are ready when “the moment” is right. If acronyms are your thing, always think of MACK. 

Memory

Availability

Charge it

Know it

Memory- Keep an extra tape/memory card next to the camera. Make sure your memory card or tape (in the camera) has extra room left on it. 

I know this sounds like a no brainer, but how often has this happened to you? Have you ever faced the delemma of having to delete pictures just to make room on your memory card? Have you ever had to fumble around to find a card or tape only to find that you lost the shot? It’s easy “remember the memory! “

Availability- Keep your camera within easy reach at all times.

I can’t stress this enough. From my own personal experience, if I have to work too hard to find my camera, or dig to extract it from a case or bag, often, the instant is gone. I suggest keeping your still camera and/or video camera on a mantel or on a shelf high enough to keep away from the kids, but within your reach. “Out of site, out of mind” is true in this case. If you leave your camera visible and ready for action, it takes mere seconds to run, grab the camera, turn it on, and take your shot. When your one year old is ready to walk, you’ll be ready with camera in hand!

Charge it- Always keep an extra charged battery available. 

For video cameras, I suggest having at least three batteries available and fully charged. The larger the better because video cameras suck up energy quickly. Camera flashes drain the charge more rapidly as well. 

Know it- Know your camera like the back of your hand.

If you are familiar with your camera then you will be able to confidently take pictures quickly and with better results. I know, manuals are boring! If technical reading is not your thing, there are plenty of online tutorials, user groups and blogs to help you know with your gear. Many sites offer free information, tips and tricks, and training DVDs to purchase. Google your camera’s name and model number and see what you find.

It’s often the little details that can determine weather a successful shot is taken. The question isn’t weather interesting things are going on around you. It’s are you available to capture it?

The creative process is about taking different ideas, concepts, influences, etc. and combining them together to come up with something that is your own. I am constantly viewing the work of other professionals, meeting and chatting online, looking at art in books and galleries, and downloading demos and attending video expos. I do this to gain insight into new trends in art, photography, design, and videography.

I thought I’d share with you a list of some of these artists who have had a significant impact on my work. These individuals have excelled in their craft and posses certain attributes that I find fascinating as well as informative. They have helped me to see and think about my world in new and exciting ways. Please take a look at some of what they do. You might find yourself being inspired as I have been.

Ron Dawson Cinematic Studios 

 Randy Stubbs Silver Star Enterprises

Bluecore Media

David Williams DVideography

As a professional Videographer I understand the importance of accurately documenting life’s events. It’s not always about “the now.” so much as it’s about “the when.” I am always forward thinking to the second, third or fourth generations who will have an opportunity to look back and actually see and experience life as it was. Digital video will play an enormous roll in all of this. It already has.

So what is the moral of the story? Don’t let the opportunity pass you by. The resources are readily available to you. The future generations will benefit greatly from your extra time invested in capturing your memories. Take pictures and video and write things down. Scrapbook, make photo montages, video edits, etc. Be your own family’s historian. Interview your subjects and get them to be involved. The memory making process should be fun! Keep in mind that video is like a window back in time. You are giving your future audience the best representation of time is it is now. This is very important.

If you are getting married hire a professional Videographer! Understand that video is really the only way to document both site and sound. It is affordable and extremely valuable as time goes on. Preserve all of your photographs by scanning them into a high res digital format. Transfer your videos to DVD and back them up. It only takes a few simple steps that will reap huge benefits in the future. Take care of your memories lest you loose them or even worse, your legacy gets forgotten.

My mother’s scrap book serves as a poignant reminder that time moves at the blink of an eye. I want my life to be remembered, not because I think I’m so amazing, but because I believe a life worth living is a life worth remembering. I want to leave behind a positive legacy that adds to the world when I’m gone. I don’t want to be remembered as some interesting old guy in an antique scrap book. I want to be the great, great, great grand dad that everyone knows!

We now live in the digital age. Advancements in Photography, Videography, and audio recording have paved the way for our family histories to be preserved and shared for all generations like never before. Digital storage is inexpensive and readily available. You can email it, post it, copy it, watch it and hear it in many different formats on a myriad of different media devices. Future generations will greatly thank the inventors of this age in regards to digital acquisition and archiving of historical events. It is astounding when you think about the quick leap from film to digital in just the last 10 years.

I believe video to be the most powerful of all digital mediums for several reasons:

1.Video communicates effectively because it combines both site and sound.
2. Video is very affordable and accessible to the masses. Cameras are getting smaller, cheaper, and better in quality every year.
3. Video is able to be shot, edited, archived, duplicated, shared and displayed in many ways and in many different formats. (TV, web, ipod, v-phone, tape, DVD, HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, etc) It’s everywhere.
4.The video you shoot now will be transferable as technology evolves.
5. Advancements in HD video allow for more accuracy in color, contrast, and detail providing a more realistic viewing experience. 

The important thing is that I, the viewer, can come to a better understanding of a person if I can actually hear them talk, observe their mannerisms, and see how they moved about in their world. I can view their expressions and feel their emotions. Video’s representation of movement, light, color, and sound is like looking inside a window that goes back in time. The old phrase, “If photographs could talk” is no longer a question. Video provides the ultimate viewer experience and a price that is no longer cost prohibitive. 

After my mother passed away, I inherited a family photo album that had it’s beginning somewhere in the late 1800s. Within its delicate pages contain the photographs of many of the deceased relatives on my mother’s side. Some of these folks go back six generations! This family relic is an absolute treasure. It has become quite the conversational piece.

The old family album. Notice the impressed leather cover and the brass locking mechanism on the side. 

One of the original owners of this book was my great, great, aunt Maud. She actually took the time to write down the names of each person in the album - making sure the spellings were correct and the names were complete. I am so thankful she did that! Without this information I would have absolutely no idea who these people were and what their relationship is to me and to everyone else in my family. Maud lived to be 98 years old and was born in 1884. I had the pleasure of knowing her when I was a child. (I’m only 37) I have many fond memories of her at the family built, colonial house, where she lived in Pittstown, New Jersey. Walking into her house was literally like stepping back in time. My family history goes way back to pre- revolutionary times here in America. Maude is the only person from her generation that I ever really knew. Without her, these pictures may have gotten lost in the vast timeline of history with no connecting point to give them context and meaning; reduced to nothing more than interesting photos of strangers long gone.

My great, great, aunt Maud. This picture was probably taken at around 1893. I’m guessing.

Even though this family album is very informative and captivating, I can’t help but feel a gnawing sense of frustration. Why would I be frustrated? The more I study these pictures, the more questions I have that bring no immediate answers. Who really are these people? What did they have to say? What were their beliefs? How did they live? Would I see some character qualities in them as I see in myself? What were their personalities like? The questions follow one after another.

Sadly, this scrapbook, although very fascinating, is like an announcement to a theatrical show that can never be seen. The marquee is lit, but the theatre doors are closed to that period of time. Sure, I know their names. I can see what they wore and guess what they may have been like, but I’m still left wondering. There is a disconnect that runs between these generations and mine. Are the real memories of these family members going to live on? Surely their lives were worth something! In a larger sense, all of our memories are just one or two generations away from total obscurity. What are we doing to make sure the next generation understands the previous?

These are some pages from the book. Notice the old guy on the left? He is my great, great, great, grandfather, Daniel Christy Little. (Six generations ago) The other folks are basically a mystery to me.

The internet and new portable technologies have opened up tremendous opportunities in sharing videos with family and friends. Before, video was mainly distributed either by TV broadcast, VHS or tape formats, and much more recently, DVD and CDRs. Remarkably, the video world has changed significantly even in the last two years. 

We now have amazing social networking internet sites like, YouTube, Facebook, and MySpace where video can be uploaded and shared for free over the internet. Great video hardware devices like the iPod, Apple TV, the iPhone and other video enabled cell phones allow for instant “dailing up”of all your stored video files. These devices are wi-fi enabled to allow for wireless streaming of content where ever there is a wireless signal. (home, office, coffee shops, restaurants, city sidewalks, businesses, etc) It’s everywhere! 

Post a video on YouTube and watch it on your Apple TV, iPod, or cell phone instantly. You can embed or link your YouTube video inside of emails , on your blog, or website with a simple copy and paste command! 

It does all seem a bit overwhelming, but fret not. This technology is available simply if you want to reach out and grab it. If not, a DVD, HD-DVD or BluRay disc works fine. (That’s a post for another time) The internet and newer hardware designs just add more avenues to share what is already yours; a video of a time that is worth remembering.

New Creation Productions can upload your video to a host of several social networking sites. I believe this adds more value to your video investment becasue more people will see and share your video production. I am constantly adding new content to my main webpage, my YouTube page and this blog. Please check back frequently for new  posts! Thanks!- Tim Danyo

This is a little clip I edited for Celine Michelle Photography. Celine wanted the video to be fast paced, fun, and energetic- something that would exemplify her unique style and artistry. She chose the song by Postal Service entitled, “Come Down Now.” Once I heard this song I instantly began to get a sense of the timing and how the images were going to work together within the tune. At certain points in the clip, I literally edited one photograph per frame- causing the pictures to zip by at lightening speed. This is very representative of a wedding where things are happening all around you at a million miles per hour! The key is being there and having the presence of mind to snap off the best frame. It takes a huge amount of talent, skill, and lots of practice to Photograph a wedding well. I really like Celine’s work!  Enjoy everyone! 

 When I went to get my portrait taken, my little 6 year old daughter, Hannah, came along. It was a nice little “daddy” date. I find my kids to be so inspirational and fun. Any chance I get to go out and be with the family I take it! My family are the coolest people I know. Hannah and I skipped and sang all the way to the studio. Yes, even grown men can sing and skip with their daughters! Hannah likes to help out at the studio and wants to be doing what daddy is doing much of the time.

Every now and then, when I can devote my complete attention, I’ll let her take videos and pictures of the family. I am always amazed at her focus and determination to get a good image even at this age! She starts to direct her little sisters and brothers and tries to get them “in frame”- albeit awkward and a little unnerving, but hey, teach them when they’re young to enjoy making art and it will stick with them for the rest of their lives. It’s always interesting to see what subject matter she chooses. Sometimes, it’s a favorite book on the shelf. Sometimes it’s her Thomas The Train set or her sisters playfully yelling and screaming and running around… (”Hannah… be careful with that expensive camera!!!)It gets me excited for the future when one day, if she really wants to, she could be one of my assistants and eventually ,maybe, a copartner in the company. It’s a dream of mine to have a family run and owned Videography company. We’ll see how it goes…I’ve got three other little ones as well. Little Nathan (10 months old), Elsie (2.7 years old), Saidee (4.5 years old).

Needless to say, there is never a lack of interesting photographs and video to take of all of these wonderful stages in life happening before mine and my wife, Misty’s, eyes. I’ve always got the cameras on the mantle ready for action. If I can’t grab the camera right when I need it, I may loose the moment.Our lives are a series of a trillion moments laid out in time. Each second, each frame, comes and goes. Tick, tick, tick, tick. You can never get them back. They are gone forever.My wife and I have made a very concious decision to be with our kids in “the now”, and not let the moments slip by without truly living in them. I think I carry this same sense of urgency into my work. When I’m shooting a wedding video or capturing a live event, I know there is a lot riding on my abilities to capture this time right now. I love this challenge! -Tim Danyo

I’d also like to thank the 250 brides who attended the event. I hope you were able to receive all of the information and get a good sense for the style and scope of our work. If you didn’t make it to our our booth you can always call and set up a free consultation or view some online demos of our work at our main page

This article has beeb copied and pasted from WEVA (Wedding and Event Videographers Association) website. It makes for a very interesting read!

January 06, 2006

Sarasota, FL - If there’s one thing brides today can agree on, it’s that future brides should have their weddings videotaped. This is according to a new nationwide survey of brides who were married in 2005.

The ground-breaking survey, commissioned by the Wedding & Event Videographers Association International (WEVA), was conducted last month between December 12th and December 22nd by Breakthrough Marketing, Inc.

The survey was conducted by telephone of a cross section of brides from around the country. Results showed ninety-eight percent of surveyed newlyweds recommended that brides have their weddings videotaped.

Interestingly, brides still don’t fully appreciate the value of video until after the wedding. Before the wedding, only a little more than half of surveyed brides considered wedding video a ‘Top 10′ service in comparison to other wedding-related services. However, after the wedding, that number climbs to 75%.

Of surveyed brides, 38% did not have their weddings videotaped by anyone ‘ amateur or professional, and apparently have some regrets. Sixty-three percent of them now either somewhat or strongly recommend that future brides hire a professional videographer.

Ninety-eight percent of brides surveyed used the services of a professional photographer compared to only 29% for professional video services. However, surveyed brides who used professional services for both were expressive about what they like best for each of these professional services.

WEVA, the first organization to survey actual newlyweds (as opposed to brides-to-be), regarding the value of wedding videography, commissioned a similar survey, the industry’s first-ever, three years ago.

Not surprisingly, newlyweds today say it is more important than ever for brides to have their wedding video delivered on DVD. Three years ago, only 27% of surveyed brides said it was very important to get their videos produced on DVD. That number climbed to 55% for this latest survey. For brides who spent over $30,000 on their weddings, 75% said it is very important for them to get their video on DVD.

WEVA’s 2005 survey also probed brides’ interest in new and emerging video technologies. One stood out. Fifty-five percent of surveyed brides said they were interested in high-definition DVD.

In addition, 43% were interested in still prints from video; 32% were interested in widescreen format; 29% were interested in live Internet webcasting of their wedding; and 21% said they were interested in the new video production concept of a ‘Same Day Edit.’

Collectively, these new technologies and capabilities are very important to brides. When asked, ‘Would you have hired a professional videographer if any of these services were available to you?” thirty-five percent of brides who did not have their weddings videotaped said they would have hired a professional videographer had these services been available to them; 45% of brides who had their weddings videotaped by an amateur said they would have used professional services if the services were available; and 60% of brides who spent over $30,000 on their weddings said they would have used the services of a professional videographer had these services been available.

Results of this national survey, conducted by Breakthrough Marketing, Inc., are based on telephone interviews with 500 brides who were married in 2005. For results based on the total sample of brides, there is a 95% confidence factor that the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4.75 percentage points.

Breakthrough Marketing, Inc. (Des Moines, IA) is an industry firm which regularly researches the attitudes and buying patterns of brides, as well as industry trends among specific wedding services.

As seen at http://www.weva.com. Reprinted with permission from the Wedding & Event Videographers Association International (WEVA International)