Customer Reviews

The Wedding Video Handbook: How to Succeed in the Wedding Video Business (DV Expert Series)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a videographer new to the wedding business, I'm constantly in search of more information to guide me in my work. I own the Video University DVD on professional wedding videography and read the forum there regularly. I also have several other books on the topic from various years past. In purchasing this book I was hoping for an all inclusive look at the wedding video business from someone who's established in the business. I believe this book does a great job of covering the bases and surpasses any other single book I've read.

There are so many facets to this business that it would be a stretch to expect any one source to provide you with all the answers. While this book does a great job of pointing out most of the factors you will need to be aware of, I found myself with some questions regarding certain points. I don't feel as though it's fair to fault the author for this. The book is awesome. But I was prompted to further my investigation using other sources. The thing to keep in mind is that I didn't even think about those topics before reading the book. Could it have gone deeper? Of course it could. But even though I had some questions, I was made aware of issues I hadn't even thought of.

The music topic is a question of legality. The author states that he is not a lawyer and that it would be inappropriate for him to provide a definitive answer. He points out that there is a possibility of legal ramification for using copyrighted music. Duh. He also discusses royalty free music. In the end, he states that the choice is up to you whether you want to risk a record company lawsuit. It's true that there's no concrete answer given. This is a very controversial topic and I respect the author for laying the facts on the table and leaving the decision up to me. The fact is, I'm responsible for my choices.

All in all I thought this was a great book. The price is fair and you will get a large amount of insight into many facets of the business. Will you need to dig deeper? I believe you will. But The Wedding Video Handbook will definitely get you pointed in the right direction quickly. Thumbs up.

I believe everything you might want to know about starting and succeeding in a wedding video business is contained in this book. Kirk provides a LOT of valuable insider insights which can be very valuable especially to people who have never been business owners. I had to wrestle with giving this book four stars or five stars only because some of the material being dated. But of course being dated is to be expected when any book addresses video and computer equipment four years ago. The book is copyrighted 2005. Keeping in mind that video and computer equipment is dated, I must still recommend this book to people just starting a wedding video business mainly because of Kirk's providing good working knowledge of the BUSINESS of wedding videography.

I'm a professional wedding photographer. I've also been shooting wedding video for about four years. As far as a video editing station: get the fastest processor, all the ram your operating system will use, a couple terabytes in external hard drives for storage, a video card with HDMI and you pretty much have what you need. I think a decent video editing computer station will cost around $1,000 if you shop smart and build yourself. Yes, I'm talking about a PC. I also prefer HP workstations (see HP xw8600 Workstation Desktop PC ( 3 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processor 5450, 4 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, Genuine Windows Vista Business). If you want a video editing station you can economically upgrade yourself as time goes by, go with a PC. To get the most out of your PC investment, just be prepared to learn a few basics about computers in general. This will keep your PC system running smoothly at least 99% of the time and is a more cost-effective solution than a Mac. If you don't have time to learn about computers and if you're not interested in building and/or updating your computer system now and then, I then recommend a Mac. Currently, I'm using a Lacie external blu-ray burner. I prefer using external devices as much as possible since this makes upgrades easier and faster.

For starting in the wedding video biz as of this writing, I would recommend the purchase of two or even three JVC Everio GZ-HD40 120GB High Definition Camcorders JVC Everio GZ-HD40 120 GB AVCHD High Definition Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom. They pack a lot of punch for the dollar. You wouldn't have a substantial investment in video gear as you would with pro or prosumer cameras. You can get started in the biz with less pain and offer your services at more competitive prices while providing excellent quality work on blu-ray discs.

This is a very informative book. Well written by a professional of the industry. Has all the information you need from start to finish.

This book was a joy to read. It is well conceived and written in a clear language. The writer shares many valuable facts about making wedding videos, gathered from his extensive experience and warns against common pitfalls. I particularily gained a lot from his ideas about how to market and shoot wedding videos.

The advice on structuring contracts alone was worth the cost of the book, which also included practical advice on every aspect I was interested in. Highly recommended. The only downside overall was with UPS (yet again).

I was rather disappointed in this book. Much of the material was so "generalized" that it was not at all helpful, most was just plain common sense, and some was completely outdated. (Hey Kirk.....High Def IS here!) I would say that maybe 25% of the information was useful. Unfortunately, books covering this category seem to be rather scarce, so there are not too many other options.

With the exception of the short part of the book on equipment which is dated, this is perhaps the best book on doing a wedding video out there. (For equipment look at Videomaker) Not only does this book cover getting the job but it goes into all sorts of aspects of shooting wedding videos.

This is a down to earth book on Wedding Video business. Very informative and even gets shot descriptions down. The attached DVD is a tremendous asset! Giving you visuals of the shot descriptions in the book. I highly recommend this book for beginners and intermediates. Some experts out there may get some things out of this too!

This book was some help but I'd say it's outdated and amateurish and would help others avoid this book for that very reason.

This book covers a good deal of ground about the wedding video business. Unfortunately, in quite a few areas it is a bit overly broad and there are many references to refer to your manuals for various things. While i agree, people should use the manuals for their various software applications and camera equipment, there must be a way the author could have given his own more detailed approach to the things he uses in his own business. This book is a buy, but you'll be left looking for more elsewhere. John Goolsby's Business of Wedding & Special Event Videography should be another must have for those interested in wedding videography as a business, so stick that one on your list as well.