Photographer or Videographer?

Good morning to all bloggers... (or afternoon or night... depending on the time you are reading this post). A thought has been buzzing my mind for the last couple of weeks, and now I want to share it with all of you... so sorry folks but there are no photographs today... just thoughts!!

In these last 10 or 12 months the industry of photography has been benefited by the addition of video capabilities included now in the DSLR cameras. I do like the merge because I found myself in some situations where I wish to have a video camera additionally to my still-camera; such situations were more like having a good time instead of trying make more $$$ (for example last summer vacation trip where one of my daughters fell into the water, and I wanted to capture her laughter and the reaction of the entire family( and even though I did take photographs and they turned out beautiful), or when my family and I went to hike up into the Wasatch Mountains and I wanted to video record it to show my mother later-on, but I didn't bring my video camera with me).

Said that, I want now to focus on the reason why I went into photography: it's simple, I love the artistic points of views, and not merely showing the facts. I love the interpretations I give to my own photographs, and I love to hear (or read) the interpretations other people have of my photographs as well.

I understand that the reasons why other people goes in photography are different than mine and theirs are as valid as mine; therefore, what I am about to say is just my own personal point of view of my decisions. I have decided that I WILL NOT DO or add videography in my company as part of my own personal business and craft, because I am not making money for the sake of it or the gain of it, but because I LOVE photography.

Videography is a different form of art, it has a different approach and a much different workflow. I confess publicly that I like videography if I would do it as a full time and dedicate my 100% time into it and create artistic documentaries, such as I have never seen before. If were to be a videographer, I would like to become a director or the same and most likely the camera man as well; but I am not ready to make that jump, at least yet.

I don't want to make myself a mess by jumping into both worlds at the same time, and forcing myself, later on, to hire a second person to do my artistic stills or my artistic videos... I know it's going to be too much if I do it now.

My customers hire me for my interesting points of view and the high quality results of my photography (as far as I had heard them say directly to me). And I know (or at least I kind of wish I could do great movies and great videos, but that monster will be chewed and mastered little by little; and who knows, may be later on I make a full jump or add it into my baggage of knowledge and great experiences.

I don't like saying NO to knowledge, so I will and I am not saying not to videography using my DSLR, but what I am saying is NOT NOW!... maybe later doing a full jump into that type of art.

AL.