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Photography has been a mainstay of the worlds of marketing and promotion as well as playing a central role in corporate events, weddings and much more over the last half century however with the invention of higher quality video cameras at lower prices this trend has been changing in recent decades.
Many freelancing photographers are diversifying their skill set and offering video as a complimentary service to their clients. If you add videography to your resume you will become more versatile and significantly expand your potential client base.
With Improving Technological Capabilities Your Clients Expect More.
Many jobs in the competitive field of marketing now require both still photos and video footage for their advertisements! A great example of this is the real estate sector. Traditionally, a house or property would be advertised with a few pictures and a lengthy description of the main features which, when taken together, would give the buyer a fairly good idea of what they would get for their money. However, in recent years realtors have upped their game and now frequently include video tours of their properties and even 360 degree photos of the rooms within it. This allows the buyer to get a virtual tour of the property from the comfort of their own home!
For photographers, this means that if you want to work and land clients in the sector you are going to have to expand your skill set and offer more than just photography!
7 Reasons Why All Photographers Should Get Into Videography As Well.
- Video is the Booming Trend: With video footage being one the most important parts of the internet, on platforms as diverse as YouTube to social media, company websites to realtors, there’s never been a better time to spread your wings and get involved! The trend towards more videography is growing fast and looks set to continue into the foreseeable future. Video is used for storytelling, to build brand awareness, for educational purposes, to sell products, and much, much more! If you are freelancing as a photographer, then developing your videography skills will open up a whole new world of opportunities that you can use to build a new client base and increase your income. Learning the necessary skills in video creation and post production will position you well for the future as the demand for video only looks set to keep growing!
- Expand Your Skill Set and Challenge Yourself: The one sure way to stagnate your creative process is to stop challenging yourself and trying new things! It’s always easier to stay with what you already know and can do without a second thought so why not try something new, chase new opportunities and overcome the challenges you will be faced with along the way? Don’t forget that all the new skills and perspectives that you learn in your videography will naturally feed back into your photography which will continue to improve and evolve in new directions as a result. Exploring new creative outlets, such as videography, will bring a new dynamism to your still photos and help you continue to grow as a creative. It’s well known that when you learn new skills you also enhance the skills you already have, so take advantage of the opportunities available in videography and add a new feather to your cap!
- Diversify Your Business: As a working photographer it’s likely that you’re always looking for new ways to expand your current business and get new clients; and one sure fire way to do that is to diversify the services that you offer! Adding videography to your services will allow you to take on more ambitious projects and work in a greater variety of jobs! Being able to deliver both still photos and video of an event like a wedding, for example, is a top selling point for clients who are looking to treasure the memories of their big day! You can also charge more for your services if you are offering more than just still photos and you can use this extra income to buy better equipment, which itself will improve the services you offer too! Soon you’ll find yourself in a virtuous cycle of an expanding business, higher profits and improving equipment and services!
- Video is a Powerful Marketing Tool: You can use your videography skills to showcase your own work on social media, your own website and in any marketing communications you are making. You can use videos to make slideshows of your photography or you can use videos to promote your services to new clients. Show off your editing and post production skills, catch the eye of new customers or simply develop your branding with high quality, professionally shot videos to be seen as authority in your field.
- You Can Create Video Tutorials: If you’re looking for ways to build a passive income then you can use your videography skills to make engaging educational videos for YouTube. You could teach beginners the basics of photography, or videography, and then post your videos on your own channel. As your audience grows you can monetize the channel. These videos stay on the channel forever so once you have made and posted them you’ll receive a passive income for years to come! As well as providing you with a passive income, teaching others how to be better photographers by making video content is a deeply satisfying thing to do and is a great way to give back to the community!
- Improve Your Portfolio: By adding video to your portfolio you will have a bigger impact on your audience and the people who see it, including of course potential clients! Showcasing the fact that you have a diverse range of skills will mean that you can leverage higher prices for your work and will make your business look more professional and well rounded. You can also add video clips to your Homepage, About page and other sections of your website to improve user engagement and retention. This will add up to more client requests and more opportunities presenting themselves in your working life.
- Make the Most of What You’ve Already Got! If you’re using a pretty decent DSLR camera then you will already have fairly good video recording capabilities in the palm of your hand! There are many types of videography that you can do with a DSLR camera on a professional basis including real estate footage, fashion shoots and other short form content. You will probably have to buy a tripod and maybe an external mic, but aside from that you are pretty much ready to go!
Which is Better Paid – Photography or Videography?
There is not a guaranteed answer to this question because it will depend on several factors, such as who your client is, what your level of expertise is and how well established you are in the field!
That said, on average, a videographer will tend to out earn a photographer. The average photographer in the USA can expect to earn approximately $43,000 per year, compared to around $65,000 for a videographer.
Increase Your Income By Diversifying.
By diversifying the services you offer you can significantly increase your income by adding videography to your resume! The highest paying roles for both photographers and videographers, tend to be in the commercial sectors as opposed to working for the general public. You can leverage much higher compensation if you’re working at a corporate event than at a wedding for instance! Similarly, you’ll be paid far more if you work for a large fashion brand than if you’re doing photo shoots for a small start up clothes company selling their goods on Etsy!
This means that photographers can still earn a great deal more than videographers, depending on who they are working with. So a photographer working at the Paris Fashion Week is going to earn more than a videographer working for a small real estate company making virtual tours of suburban properties.
As a general rule, you will be better compensated for videography, although, if you can produce both still photos and video footage you put yourself in the best of both worlds with more opportunities available and the chance to deliver the goods on a wider range of projects.
Getting Into Videography As A Photography Can Open New Doors.
Each and every day, more than 1 billion hours of YouTube videos are watched by people around the world and Facebook states that they receive almost 8 billion daily views of videos on their site, many of which are short form content made by freelance videographers; and that still doesn’t include videos on business websites, streaming services and so on!
For some years now there has been a growing trend, particularly online, towards more video content, in every category and genre you can think of! This means there are amazing possibilities just waiting for you if you start to work on your videography and begin to incorporate it into your professional life.
As a photographer you already have the fundamental skill set needed to be a top quality videographer and so if you take the time to practise, study up on the methods and techniques, and put yourself out there, you’ll be well on your way to an exciting new chapter in your life.
Have you thought of getting into Videography?
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