Wedding Films- why bother?

I was chatting to a few prospective brides at a fair on Sunday and for the first time I got the feeling that Wedding DVD's, or Videos as some people still insist on calling them, are seen in quite a negative light. Whilst chatting to one of the photographers exhibiting at the fair she made a very valid point that people almost feel like they have to have a photographer- its just part of the wedding rules even if they hate having their picture taken!
The main worry people have is that they are scared of watching themselves back on film- a worry I can relate to completely! I am never keen on being filmed and am convinced that my voice sounds a lot different on film than it does in real life (I hear David Niven but in reality it is more Peter Kay). I suppose I should overcome my own dislike for being filmed to have a good grasp on why other people won't enjoy it. To this effect I have decided that I am going to make a few introductory films for my You Tube site explaining why I feel people should part with their hard earned cash to allow me to capture their magical day. Whilst I undergo the dramatic makeover that will be required for my performance I will let you into a sneak preview as to its content...

Wedding Films are now light years away from the old musty camcorder efforts of the 80's and 90's- the editing is slick, the footage is steady and the sound quality is crisp and clear. When you book with myself you can decide the theme of the film...it can be shot reportage with me blending into the background or we can make it in the style of a documentary with the main people playing an active role. You will get to see the groom nervously pacing whilst the bride is on her way, you will get to see the guests whilst you are off having your photos taken- in short you will get to see all those magical moments you will either miss or not be able to take in on the day. So many couples are so overawed on the day they struggle to remember even the key moments- have a film produced and 10 years later you will be able to sit back with a nice glass of wine and it will be as if it was yesterday.

Look out for my thoughts on YouTube- if I can overcome my fear of being on camera so can you...and allow me to capture your most special of days in a way which will stay with you forever.

Currently embracing Social Media!

I am currently embracing all aspects of social media! One thing I have realised is to market yourself properly you have to be a regular contributor to twitter, facebook et al. Working on Hoot Suite has enabled me to cut down the time spent working but it does need regular loving care and attention!

Today I have also used Adobe Illustrator for the first time in over two years- I love the Adobe products and once you master one (in my case Photoshop) the others are just incredibly easy to use and the end result is always impressive (well as impressive as my design skills allow it to be!). As I advise students when teaching photography if you are interested in digital photography invest in Photoshop elements. It is a stripped down version of Photoshop but still very user friendly and allows you to let those creative juices flow!

Wedding bookings are building up at a nice pace at the moment but still have a lot of dates to fill- if you or anyone you know is in the process of booking their wedding please ask them to give me a call to discuss how I can help with the photography and videography for their special day. As always I can be reached on 07841289310. Don't forget I don't just work on weddings- if it moves I will snap or film it!

Hello world!

Hello and welcome to my first blog! My name is James and I am the owner of JB Digital Productions a video and photographic company based in the North West of England. I will be keeping people up to date with various projects I have on the go at the moment and sharing my (lack of) worldly wisdom on a hopefully regular basis!

Currently I am working on three projects, 2 wedding DVD's and a wedding photographic assignment. Danielle and Ben's wedding is currently nearing completion which was shot on a lovely hot day at Haigh Hall near Wigan, Mick and Rachel of Blackburn is in the intial stages with an expected finish date of 2 weeks from now and Martin and Nicola's photo's are currently being worked on in Camera Raw before being imported to Photoshop CS4 for the production work.

One thing I am noticing at the moment is how popular certain pieces of music are for the Wedding DVD's! With the thousands of pieces of music available in the world if not hundred of thousands I would say there is a core of around 30 songs which are regularly requested by brides to be! Most popular so far this year is Jason Mraz "I'm yours" which is now being used for the 5th time this year. I am guessing that certain pieces just lend themselves to the productions and must invoke similar reactions with the couples. I also like to use slightly different pieces to give it a certain feel and have been using artists like Carey Brothers, Joshua Radin and Citizen Cope for a few years now along with the fantastic Zero 7 who's music could just be written especially for me in a few instances!

Ok that's it for this first post as i need to get on with the jobs in hand. I hope you come back and check the posts and follow the progress of my business as time goes on

JB