Wedding Photography and Video in Jamaica - Slow Season Deals!

WEDDING COVERAGE SPECIAL DEAL: Jamaican Residents, January & February Weddings only! - Video and photography package J$60,000.00! Non Residents U$1,000.00! Travelling fees apply for some venues. Contact us through our website.

Black Friday Special Wedding Package Deals

Greetings!
Destination Weddings in Kingston, Ocho Rios or Montego Bay Jamaica - U$1,500.00 includes video and photography coverage.

Jamaican residents: Contact us for your super-special rates NOW!

RIU Weddings in Jamaica-No more outside vendor fees

We so love covering weddings at the Riu Hotel in Jamaica that we will now save our clients the headache of paying outside vendor fees to have their wedding professionally covered. There are some conditions, but we have come to realize that the huge outside vendor fees charged by some venues have caused some couples to settle for less than fabulous wedding photography and video coverage. We will be adding other hotels such as SANDALS, BREEZES, SAN SOUCI and other venues to this program so ask us about your venue before going with the hotel's photo shop for coverage of your special day.

This is NEW! Spread the word.

RIU Ocho Rios Jamaica Wedding

Tanya and Lee were wed yesterday in beautiful surroundings at RIU Ocho Rios. Tanya and Lee's wedding was planned in six weeks and was executed flawlessly despite the fact that they both live in the USA. We all had a ball and yes we have the pics to prove it! I'm just posting one shot that I particularly love.

BTW: Tanya's Dad is awesome with planning and details. He is the first father-of-the-bride that I have seen so involved in the wedding, hats off to you Mr. Henry!

RIU Ocho Rios is a fantastic place to get married, the grounds are spectacular, the beach awesome and the staff happy and happy to help. I have so enjoyed the weddings I have covered there that I have booked a week-end there for myself and my family.

Just a quick update. Its late and i'm still recovering from video and photography coverage of a week long series of events for one of my large corporate clients which ended last night.

Life is generally busy. the recession seems to be fading (note I said seems to be). My wife and the children are great and my brides are happy. For now, all seems right with my world. the future is bright and I have lost weight as planned. More wedding postings to come soon. (I hope)

I will need to tell all about Suzanne's wedding. She is just an amazing person who made an amazing entrance to her wedding and stunned her groom!

William & Kate wedding coverage package-Jamaica

Personally I was awed at the coverage of the wedding ceremony of William and Kate. I could not find the video cameras, let alone the videographers! That was the ultimate in unobtrusive wedding coverage. In the church I could not find the photographer either! Fascinating! this is how wedding coverage should be.

In the real world however, budgetary constraints and wishes of the couple usually do not allow for this kind of coverage. We are however offering a package which makes an affordable approach to this kind of super-discrete coverage. Its our William & Kate special package.

This package offers discrete video coverage using at least 3 video cameras. A wireless microphone on the groom and formal attire on our team is already standard operating procedure for us. Two experienced, professional photographers also formally attired round out our coverage team. Images chosen by the couple will be presented in our High-End photo books, while the video will be presented on authored DVDs with motion menus and scene selection options(these are already standard on our DVDs).

Already our team receives numerous positive comments on our unobtrusive style of wedding coverage and our formal attire. For years we have been using minimal and cool lights at the ceremonies we cover. With this wedding coverage option we intend to raise the bar once again, providing unmatched wedding coverage for discerning couples. View our website and give us a call for a no obligation consultation.

Do you really enjoy your job?

Do you really enjoy going work each day? Do you like what you do? Do you like your boss? Do you do it just for the money? I've been thinking about this as I recover from my Flu-Like symptoms (my wife reminds me"its not the Flu as you have no fever") which have been persisting for more than a week now. You see, I only work at stuff that I find fun. I have had about 14 different jobs during my lifetime. When it was no longer fun, I moved on. I recently started a new business and it has paid back my entire initial investment and then some, but i'm not sure I want to work this hard anymore. I have a problem with careless staff, lazy staff, the ridiculous excuses for doing dumb things, the attitude. I'm not sure I want or need the stress.

The recession has helped me to live on less. I don't really need that million dollar kitchen renovation or the new C-Class Mercedes that I was all set to get(although they would both be nice) I have grown to enjoy my 20 hour work week, working with the kind of clients I want to work with, shooting weddings at locations I like shooting at, spending time with my children in the afternoon and taking my afternoon naps...

Of course it could just be that i'm not feeling well right now and i'll be back to my usual driven self in a couple of days. we'll see...

Its been so long since I last posted. Two reasons: First, I got a Blackberry and so don't even turn my PC on some days. Second, the sheer volume of work. It is now 3:41 AM and I am actually editing a wedding video that should have been finished yesterday. (waiting for it to render now)

The Landscaping Division of my new business has also been keeping me busy(I need to shoot some images from our last project to upload) There is a lot of work out there!

We are all well (Stephanie has had a fever since Tuesday night but its under control) and life is good. (Rendering has finished. Back to editing.)

Will blog again soon. (I hope)

Hurricane Tomas-The non-event & The Milano Wedding

So as I suspected it would be, Tomas was much ado about nothing. Very little rain, no wind, and I am stuck with the task of moving ten heavy bags of sand to the back of my house.

The wedding on Saturday was a beautiful but taxing event. The minister was almost an hour late(the one time the bride was actually ready on time), he called the bride the wrong name during the ceremony (actually I think it was during the blessing) and we had to shoot in the rain. It was a light drizzle, however the rain kept getting into the lenses of the cameras causing us to wipe frequently. This will make editing the video an unspeakable headache as my hankerchief will be seen frquently blocking the view of the couple!

Lisa & Robert were a fun couple to work with, no worries at all. Their bridal party was made up of easy-going, fun people. Mainly from the USA,(I think they all were) the groomsmen consumed generous amounts of Red Stripe Beer and beef patties to get themselves ready for the ceremony.

The locations used for the ceremony and the formal portraits served to remind me that the recession had totally bypassed some addresses as there were no hints of recession to be found anywhere near these homes. I will include a shot or two. I returned home vowing to purchase some orchids and revamp my water feature with new plants and more Koi.

All in all it was a great event, and we wish Lisa and Robert all the best in their life together.

Now I must get back to sorting their wedding images. BTW, the rainbow at the ceremony was just unbelievable.

Now We Wait - Tropical Storm Tomas Draws Near

So now we wait. I bought ten bags of sand today for use in encouraging water from the road to bypass my house this time. They are awaiting deployment near the gate. My standby generator is gassed up and ready.

I have an outdoor wedding booked for Saturday so this storm has exactly one day to pass. The venue looks fantastic at this point.

Personally I feel this will not be nearly as bad as Tropical Storm Nicole was recently. The fact that the country seems to be in the best state of readiness I have ever seen reinforces this view.

I am busy learning a new video editing program as I have gotten tired of throwing money at the editor I have used for years. (talk about trying to teach an old dog new tricks!) This is hard work!

I will keep you updated on the happenings as long as I have power and internet access.

Tropical storm Nicole hits home

Some pics I shot earlier tonight when water from the road invaded my house. All these shots were taken standing on my lawn. The first two shots are of the road just outside my home, the last two shots are of my driveway. I fear the clean-up will take weeks. 8 inches of rain fell in 10 hours today. I think another 8 fell tonight alone! I think all the fish in my water feature have swam away as it was flooded out. I'll keep you posted!

So after two trips to my Dealer in Florida my video editing machine seems to be back online. I say seems, as it seems to be acting up already and I re-installed it on ly Monday this week! We will see how that goes. I was charged U$500.00 for the dealer's tech department to spend 5 hours working on the machine only to have them say they cannot fix it, it needs to go to the manufacturer who charged another U$400.00. Anyway enough of that. My projects are backed up and I have some serious work to do.

By the way, I booked my hotel on hotels.com and I will always. It was a one night stay in Florida as I was just dropping off or picking up my editor. This trip I got a nice room with a desk, executive chair, cable TV, King bed, breakfast and newspaper in the morning for U$41.00 plus tax, total U$45.00. They had a pool, excercise room and internet area with free use of the computers. Plus a free shuttle to and from the airport!

I could not believe how nice the place was when I got there as I had greatly lowered my expectations due to the price. It was also close to all the places I needed to visit.

I met a guy on the plane who said he had 11 children with 9 different mothers. My mouth fell on the floor! I ensured that he left with my card as he should be having weddings in the family at some point.

Its back to school time, Jonathan and Stephanie did well last term and are adjusting to their new teachers. I have added pics from their last prizegiving. Stephanie was Top Girl and Jonathan got a medal for academic excellence and five other awards.

Accident scenes Holiday week-end in Jamaica

Drove to Montego Bay twice this weekend past. The driving on the road was deplorable. Passed 4 accident sites on the way. Here are two. The car on its top is a JUTA taxi which usually carries tourists. Someone immediately tried to scratch the JUTA off the trunk and was about to remove the licence plates when I took this shot.

Masters Weddings - New coverage options

Although the recession is allegedly over in the USA, its not quite the same in Jamaica and the feedback we are getting is that although many brides wish to have us at their wedding, cutbacks have caused them to rethink the decision.

We are therefore introducing a less expensive video & photography package in our signature line called the Deluxe Lite. This applies to weddings of Jamaican residents living in Jamaica.

Use the contact page on our website to get information on whether your wedding qualifies for this special package.

Wedding in Jamaica - Giovanni and Peta-Ann

Peta-Ann & Giovanni have been in love from school days, I think. Well anyway for a long, long time. As a testament to the power of modern technology their pre-marital councelling sessions were held with Giovanni overseas and Peta-Ann and the minister in Jamaica with live video conferencing via Skype.

I found this couple really relaxed around each other and a lot of fun to be around.

Again I feel blessed to have such wonderful people come into my life and wish for them every success in all their ventures and adventures.

i phone 4 short film

The following short film was shot and editied entirely on the new i phone 4. Simply amazing.

"Apple of My Eye" - an iPhone 4 film from Michael Koerbel on Vimeo.

Jamaican Wedding Video

Jamaican Wedding video. I'm trying out a new video share service. Please take a look at one of our videos.

Excelling at Wedding Videography Part 2

Now that you think you have the technical competence to videotape your first wedding you need to think about equipment. In my humble opinion a basic kit would include the following:

1. A good camera. (the latest trend is using a DSLR to shoot video. I am old school on that; I use a DSLR to shoot stills and a video camera to shoot video, but its up to you). Be sure to check the low light performance of the camera you are considering buying, as the days of roasting your clients with 300 and 500 watt lights are long gone.( or so I thought; I recently saw a videographer with a 300 watt light on his camera standing 2 feet from the couple. Needless to say, they were all sweating profusely) Modern cameras give remarkable images with minimal light. I often use no additional light for my ceremony coverage and if I do need light I use a 10 watt cool light on my camera. This ensures no discomfort for the couple.

2. A firm tripod. Ensure that the tripod you use is made to hold the weight of the particular camera you are putting on it. I use commercial grade Manfrotto tripods with fluid heads as they are fully adjustable and give no camera shake even with heavy cameras.

3. Lights. Your use of lighting at the ceremony should be minimal, however at the reception venue it is OK and usually necessary to use brighter lights. Get professional lights mounted on a light stand. If you use a very bright light mounted on your camera you will likely make it very uncomfortable for anyone to whom you direct your camera. If you have a light on a stand, raise it above eye level and point the light slightly downward. If you keep it a practical distance from your subjects they will be able to see comfortably even when the light is directed toward them.

4. Microphones. Your audio capture is as important as your video. Get a wireless lavaliere microphone for the groom to wear so that you can capture the vows without the external noise at the venue(sneezing guests, crying babies etc.). At the reception you can use either wired or wireless microphones for the toasts if they will all speak from a podium. I do not ususally plug into the DJs mixing board for audio as most of them will introduce unacceptable levels of hiss and distortion into the feed.

5. Miscellaneous Stuff. Extra tapes(unless you use a tapeless camera), Gaffer's tape(to tape over your cables to avoid a trip hazzard), a surge protector, batteries, microphone cables etc.

I started out renting my equipment from another videographer and you may be able to do the same. (sorry, currently I do not rent equipment)

You will also need an appropriate outfit (a good suit is prefered), clean and comfortable shoes, decent bags/protective cases for your equipment and a pleasant demeanour.

Next we will look a bit at your actual coverage on the wedding day.

I have posted a shot of myself in the very early days.

Excelling at Wedding Videography Part 1

Greetings to all! Now that I have a bit more time on my hands (I thought someone told me this was a recession-proof business...ah well) I am turning my attention to a project which I have wanted to work on for some time, helping aspiring wedding and corporate videographers and photographers benefit from my experience.

I will speak mainly to those aspiring to the lofty calling of covering weddings, capturing the actions and emotions of what may well be the couple's most important event. Let's start with videography(I can hear the collective sigh from the photographers. Don't worry, we will get to photography eventually)

Before you even buy your first camera you should have fixed in your mind why you want to do this and what you wish to accomplish ie, how great do you really want to be. It may be just to earn a few extra dollars, as was the case when I started out as an apprentice, rolling up wires and carrying tripods and lights many years ago, or it may be to create beautiful wedding movies, family heirlooms to be enjoyed and treasured by your clients, my current motivation. As you can see, it is OK for your motivation and goals to change over time, but if you are not passionate about your craft, you will never excell at it.

Learn the basics. When I started out the internet was nothing like it is now, a global resourse for knowledge and training. I was actually the first wedding videographer in Jamaica to have a website, and I paid dearly to have that privilege. Now there are tons of websites with tips and advice for videographers. Make use of these. In Jamaica there are courses at CPTC and Carimac which didn't exist in my earlier days, to train videographers in the art of shooting and editing. I had to do it the old fashioned way, learning first by experience, being called fool and slow and stupid by my boss.

I have found training videos and going to seminars in the USA a great help in honing my skills and I strongly recommend these avenues of learning.(be careful, accept information from those actually making a living at wedding videography)

After learning the theory, what next? Try to tag along with an experienced professional on a couple of jobs. Offer to work for free, just to get the experience. For the wedding videographer our job can be one of the most stressful experiences. Commercial shooters of advertisments get numerous re-takes, sometimes doing one 10-second shot ten times. We do not have that luxury. If we miss the vows when they are said, we are sunk! Observe how the professional moves through the wedding day and learn from him or her.

My next post will go into what to do when you think you are ready to shoot your first wedding.

"My mom always told me that happiness was the key to life.
At school they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up.
I said “happy" and they told me I didn’t understand the question.
I told them they didn’t understand life."

I read this quote today and reflected on how few people are truly happy these days. So much anger, so much divorce, so many financially challenged individuals.

Could we perhaps slow down the frenetic pace at which we live and take the time to focus on the truly important stuff? How about the things and people that truly make us happy? How about doing things that we are really passionate about? I recently added some Koi to a small water feature I have at home and enjoy watching them especially at feeding time.

Now while there is not necessarily any financial benefit to this excercise, I feel such diversions add to the quality of life we enjoy. (of course cooling out on a personal yacht or in a vacation home in Aspen would be preferable, but getting to that level is a different ball game entirely)

Find a diversion. What is the point of working yourself to death only to pay bills? Where is the fun in that? Think about it...