Remember that old commercial, Prego tomato sauce I think (clearly I don’t remember it too well). Great taste? It’s in there…. and so on. In my case, it’s “Yeah, I do that too,” as in sound support/live sound, video production and marketing/public relations – though less of that last one in recent years.
One of the hats I wear the most is that of photographer, and it is of course the reason for this blog.
Often, since I offer both services (photo and video) folks ask about combing the two. I don’t offer a package for this, because I prefer to be the primary shooter in both instances and can’t do both at once. But I do have a hand-picked group of ‘second-shooters’ that’s more than capable of carrying the video portion if I’m taking stills. A friend of mine used to set up multiple video cameras (to include close-ups he could edit in later) then press record and start capturing stills. Crazy, I always said. If you want this level of production, you need more than one person providing coverage.
But, there are other parts of a wedding – like tents and catering and music. When it comes to that last one, yeah I do that too. Officially, I’m not a wedding DJ. That’s really a specialized sort of thing – but I do have the equipment most wedding DJs use. (I just don’t use it that way.)
So, when a recent wedding client who knew of my other hats asked if I could help with the music for a entrance and exit, I agreed and added it on.
Of course, I didn’t know then the two songs he’d email for me to convert to mp3s would be the wrong versions – we caught that early on. And, I didn’t know who would be ultimately responsible for playback until the wedding (ok, in the back of my mind I figured it would be me.)
Volunteer in place, and coached on the bullet-proof playback plan – I was off to capture the wedding in pictures.
So, in this business networks are formed. I could have referred this couple to a DJ, but for what they needed and wanted no DJ would want to touch it. Two songs.
No party. No dancing. No DJ through dinner. The only way it worked was because I was already going to be there and could price it reasonably.
Had they wanted to create a playlist and run their tunes through the speakers for another hour or two, this also would have been an option. I remember a wedding years back where the entire playlist was shared via CDs with the guests.
Need something special for your wedding beyond or in addition photography?
Video? (I’ve got a guy and a gal)
Tents? (I work with two companies in the area)
Flowers? (sure, we’ve got florists)
A PA to playback music? (Yeah, I apparently do that too…)
Never hurts to ask. I always say.
Jonathan Ment Photography (and so much more) at your service.
Thanks for reading. You can also find and follow/like Jonathan Ment Photography on Facebook & at www.catskillsphotographer.com and check out the broad-topic’d Ment Media Group “Business Blog.”
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