Just to share my personal experience when we were hunting for wedding VG ourselves. Well, I was travelling a lot and didnt know that many people back then. I left the hunting to my wife and she came up with a list which was gathered from the forums. I had a look, some of them I knew, some of them I never heard of BUT the reviews were really HOT. We took the effort to drop by with an appointment and… we were real disappointed by some of the stuff we saw. How did someone who charge that much, with great forum accolades produce a video that.. eh, didn’t really impress me.

I then went to the forums and had a look. I realised, the cyberworld is full of trickery. What you read, may not be the truth. Sometimes facts can be manipulated to shape a certain perspective. Not everyone in there can be trusted! Sometime later I realized that some forums collect fees in order to have a thread, hence the aggressiveness to solicit for sales I guess. Although we didn’t lose much in the selection process, we wasted precious time and encountered some disappointment. Thaz why there are serious forums where you are required to register in real identity to force people to take responsibility for their actions.

What’s my two cents? Check out the works personally. If they have an online presence, watch their videos, you can’t go wrong. And if you are looking for Cinematic Videos, I honestly think there are less than 10 in Singapore that are capable of producing truly cinematic wedding stuff. Dun get me wrong, I’m not saying the rest are not good. There are also a lot others that do great work, just that the approach is different and I only pay attention to the cinematic styled. Its just scary to start seeing the term floating up everywhere. Crappy home video styled Videographers calling themselves cinematographers…??

At the end of the day, fix a budget, shortlist 3 candidates and interact with the Cinematographers. Make sure you not only like their style, you got to hit it off with the personality. Its your big day, dun make decisions that you will regret for years.

Good luck!

http://vimeo.com/channels/hwm

I decided to start the HWM Video Review Channel for the education stuff. Feel free to check it out here on the blog or directly at Vimeo.

Location: Our Lady Queen of Peace Church
PG: Stephen Loh (Lyrical Moments)

It was a welcomed sunny day after several days of groomy weather. Joycelyne was really excited and real joy to work with. She was so giggly that she couldn’t complete the vows without giggling =) The two of them was a real blast to work with for they were so spontaneous. It was also our fast time working together with Lyrical Moments for FUSION. Stephen is really innovative and daring. I was really surprised with some of the shots.  Another great PG buddy for Firewerkz. Time to sleep!

Had a tie up with the nice folks at Cathay to support a sharing session targeted at Photographers. Crowd size was pretty nice and matured. Shared some DSLR video making stuff. It was a mad rush after the session as I had to prepare for Sat’s early shoot. The most shocking thing was a part of the session was found on Youtube today! Now I know what the paparrazzi make people feel like…. yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyiiiiiiiiiikkkkkksssss

Location: Halia @ Botanic Gardens
PG: Max (Chris Ling)

A lovely wedding that took place in Botanical Gardens. Weather was bad during the gatecrash but it turned out ok during the ceremony fortunately. CK was a little shy but Sylvia’s brilliant smile was a pleasure to capture. We tried something different this time again for the entire event was pretty touching. And yes, I was glad to meet up with Sook Yee from last year’s job. Its great to meet old friends again =)

Its late, I’m tired. BUT, I’m happy. Because I found my old work from 2004! I cant believe I have been working on weddings for 5 years now. In fact, it could be 2003. I’m trying to check the date of my earliest work but I do not have the time now..

Looking back at my old videos is such an experience. I realised how crappy my videos were ha ha .. oh well, we all go through the growing phase.

Unfortunately I can’t share those videos but maybe i’ll show it to prospective clients for them to find out why the pricing in the market is so varied!

This is for the folks that are having problems loading your SDE/Highlights into your iphone (ipod touch is not the same workflow).

1. Add the given file to itunes (Select add file)
2. Drag file to iphone. Doesnt matter where you drag it to, it will go to one place only
3. Open “Ipod”, select “Video” at the bottom.
4. Show off your SDE to your friends!!! (Use headphones in Office!!)

PS: Blackberry support coming soon. Beta in progress

Location: Marina Mandarin
PG: Vanesse (Bridal Veil)

After a crazy week of earthquakes and hazy weather, we had a nice day with Edwin & Serene. It did help that Edwin is also a photography buff so we could connect real well. I was shocked that he sang the song that I was intending to use for the SDE when cornered to sing for Serene!!! Bros and siss were very sporty and they gamely entertained the photographers many request. Was very touched to receive compliments of the SDE after the dinner. Thank you all, u made my day!!

Location: Swissotel Stamford
PG: 1950

High school sweethearts get married today! It was a really fun and touching wedding. 12 years of marathon love story + a bunch of great friends + tight knit families. We enjoyed ourselves today. Managed to squeeze everything in, including the solemnization and even a story line in time for the dinner. I was particularly touched by their personalized vows, which was used in the SDE. All the best!!

PS: Joanna Dong CAN SING!!!

Check out the 7D video below for some shots of the wedding

Location: Shangri-La Orchard
PG: Jesser Sim

A challenging SDE, with less than 5hrs to do and we had to include the 5pm solemnization into the SDE. I like challenges, and we did it by 7pm!! It helped that Sean and Diana was really natural and fun to shoot. Hmm and I really liked the pool area heh heh.

Oh yes, did I mention this shoot was done with Canon Singapore’s blessings to try their yet to be released camera? Hmm yes we had backup cameras that day of course!