so... my video production companies name is:

Visual Magic Productions

I've owned and operated it for the last 7 years

I don't advertise ANYTHING anymore and haven't in about 4 years... ever since I REALLY started working on a career in the Petro Chem Industry.

So... I REALLY want to get into photog and join my video and photo together.

I'm not gonna try to advertise myself as this "pro" photographer, but I am certainly gonna try to to get some spec work done for practice and then maybe some paying gigs in the future.

as stated above, my current companies name is Visual Magic Productions, I'm thinking about closing that down or just putting it off to the side and creating a new dba.... but my problem is I can't figure out if I wanna change the name or start a new one

After this busy season at work I DO plan on creating a website of some video work, i.e., Weddings, AUTOx video's, Drap Strip video, TV commercials I've done and a photo gallery of my best pics.


Should I leave it as Visual Magic Productions and just join in Photog...OR

give it a new name like,

Beezwax Photo and Video



comments

I don't know what would be best but naming it Beezwax would come across pretty unprofessional I think.

Originally Posted by emorphien

I don't know what would be best but naming it Beezwax would come across pretty unprofessional I think.

I was thinking that too... seems... kinda childish

Maybe just drop the magic and call it Visual Productions?

I don't know.

Either way I'd be curious to see your video work.

Originally Posted by emorphien

Maybe just drop the magic and call it Visual Productions?

I don't know.

Either way I'd be curious to see your video work.

go here

http://www.htown-dsm.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=52

What 1980's VHS Camcorder are you using for those videos?

Im going to be completely honest here. This isnt a rip or callout, just really needs to be said. I dont think you should remotely consider charging people for photography until you have 110% the knowledge, experience, and equipment to do the job. Its one thing to do stationary objects and landscapes and sell prints. However people are a completely different ball game.

I know you have done wedding videography, but they are completely different. Wedding photography is NOT something you just jump into bc you have a DSLR. There are people with years of experience who wont touch weddings. They are incredibly stressful, demanding, and important. As the photographer you need to be able to work on the go, be able to make fine adjustments to camera settings, lens, flashes, and equipment without even thinking. PP time will most likely be a full 40hr week. I avg 1500+ images on a small wedding. So not only camera equipment, but you need to be thoroughly versed in Photoshop.This is all before you even begin shooting, thats when you HAVE to get certain shots, no redos. Photos are the 1 thing that the couple will have for the rest of their lives. They will be on walls, and given to family and most likely passed on through generations. Its a huge responsibility and investment. I cannot remotely stress the importance of this.

That being said, Beezwax as a name is unprofessional. I woudnt even remotely consider offering photography services until you have a thorough understanding of everything.

$.02 and opinion.

Originally Posted by _L_U_C_A_

What 1980's VHS Camcorder are you using for those videos?

That would be my ex-SONY DSR 350

I went compact and now own a DSR PD170...w/ all the fixin's

Originally Posted by subimatt

Im going to be completely honest here. This isnt a rip or callout, just really needs to be said. I dont think you should remotely consider charging people for photography until you have 110% the knowledge, experience, and equipment to do the job. Its one thing to do stationary objects and landscapes and sell prints. However people are a completely different ball game.

I know you have done wedding videography, but they are completely different. Wedding photography is NOT something you just jump into bc you have a DSLR. There are people with years of experience who wont touch weddings. They are incredibly stressful, demanding, and important. As the photographer you need to be able to work on the go, be able to make fine adjustments to camera settings, lens, flashes, and equipment without even thinking. PP time will most likely be a full 40hr week. I avg 1500+ images on a small wedding. So not only camera equipment, but you need to be thoroughly versed in Photoshop.This is all before you even begin shooting, thats when you HAVE to get certain shots, no redos. Photos are the 1 thing that the couple will have for the rest of their lives. They will be on walls, and given to family and most likely passed on through generations. Its a huge responsibility and investment. I cannot remotely stress the importance of this.

That being said, Beezwax as a name is unprofessional. I woudnt even remotely consider offering photography services until you have a thorough understanding of everything.

$.02 and opinion.

I will NEVER do wedding photog... just for the record.

the only photog that I see myself doing is simple stuff like High School sports games, cars and maybe in the future...some head shots

I understand EXACTLY where you are coming from Matt

Agreed with the above, I'd change the name to something more professional. I don't personally find Visual Magic Productions to be all that professional sounding. Maybe something like "Your Initials Multimedia", that way you can incorporate both once you're to a level (probably a few years away) that you can charge for some photographic stuff.

Originally Posted by subimatt

Its one thing to do stationary objects and landscapes and sell prints.

i agree...

-1 or anything with beezwax in the name
-0.5 for the current name, it's too cliche and borderline unimaginative which coming from someone who doesn't know your work, is bad right off the bat

keep thinking, i'm sure you'll come up with something!

Originally Posted by Stime187

Agreed with the above, I'd change the name to something more professional. I don't personally find Visual Magic Productions to be all that professional sounding. Maybe something like "Your Initials Multimedia", that way you can incorporate both once you're to a level (probably a few years away) that you can charge for some photographic stuff.

lets forget about the charging for photo's part for a while..


"Your Initials Multimedia",

what are you initials?

Originally Posted by b84wm

i agree...

-1 or anything with beezwax in the name
-0.5 for the current name, it's too cliche and borderline unimaginative which coming from someone who doesn't know your work, is bad right off the bat

keep thinking, i'm sure you'll come up with something!

I know you posted this while I was typing my reply to Scott... but a lot of people know my video work and ask for my services repeatedly (not weddings..that would be a BAD thing). They also know that I am a VERY nice person to work with.

Originally Posted by Stime187

Im not taking a stab at you Scott. Just saying that if he shot landscapes and they didnt work out. Say he blew exposure, or missed the sunrise or key shot, Either A: people wont buy them or B: he gets up tomorrow and tries again. That happens with weddings your screwed. And im sure you know what I meant, but its been a loooong day.

Originally Posted by b84wm

what are you initials?

BSW

Originally Posted by beezwax

I know you posted this while I was typing my reply to Scott... but a lot of people know my video work and ask for my services repeatedly (not weddings..that would be a BAD thing). They also know that I am a VERY nice person to work with.

why did you ask for everyone's opinion if you have it that figured out?

Originally Posted by beezwax

BSW

BSW productions

done.

Originally Posted by beezwax

"Your Initials Multimedia",

Are you serious?

Why would I ever want you to call it "Your Initials Multimedia"? Obviously, I want you to insert YOUR INITIALS in place of that.

Originally Posted by subimatt

Im not taking a stab at you Scott. Just saying that if he shot landscapes and they didnt work out. Say he blew exposure, or missed the sunrise or key shot, Either A: people wont buy them or B: he gets up tomorrow and tries again. That happens with weddings your screwed. And im sure you know what I meant, but its been a loooong day.

Matt... I know all about the life of "LIVE" event productions.. you are making it sound like Phot is WAY more difficult than video for weddings... it's not all that far off...

if you miss a shot, move on...

my camera NEVER stops rolling at a wedding... I generally shoot about 10 hours of footage. you can't redo LIVE, you capture what you can... as a matter of fact, I think that video can be MORE complicated at times because you can't move around as steadily as you can with photog to capture the shot. Camera jitter CAN't be removed, only cut... you can't cut it, because there are voices that will be cut and if you cut those voices then you are making garbage on a DVD.


I have no intentions on charging ANYONE for photo for a while

Originally Posted by subimatt

Im not taking a stab at you Scott. Just saying that if he shot landscapes and they didnt work out. Say he blew exposure, or missed the sunrise or key shot, Either A: people wont buy them or B: he gets up tomorrow and tries again. That happens with weddings your screwed. And im sure you know what I meant, but its been a loooong day.

Oh, I hear you, Matt. I was just giving you a hard time.

Originally Posted by b84wm

why did you ask for everyone's opinion if you have it that figured out?

BSW productions

done.

I don't have it figured out... BSW Productions? well.. i dunno

Originally Posted by Stime187

Are you serious?

Why would I ever want you to call it "Your Initials Multimedia"? Obviously, I want you to insert YOUR INITIALS in place of that.

sorry... my wife says I'm one of Jerry's kids

Originally Posted by quirkeejames

^ Your Initials Multimedia has a nice ring to it.

I thought the same thing

Originally Posted by Stime187

Oh, I hear you, Matt. I was just giving you a hard time.

i'm officially bowing out of this thread, good luck everyone.

Originally Posted by b84wm

i'm officially bowing out of this thread, good luck everyone.

thanks for your comments

Originally Posted by beezwax

Matt... I know all about the life of "LIVE" event productions.. you are making it sound like Phot is WAY more difficult than video for weddings... it's not all that far off...

if you miss a shot, move on...

my camera NEVER stops rolling at a wedding... I generally shoot about 10 hours of footage. you can't redo LIVE, you capture what you can... as a matter of fact, I think that video can be MORE complicated at times because you can't move around as steadily as you can with photog to capture the shot. Camera jitter CAN't be removed, only cut... you can't cut it, because there are voices that will be cut and if you cut those voices then you are making garbage on a DVD.


I have no intentions on charging ANYONE for photo for a while

Where did I say it was more difficult than video? All I said was that just because you can do one, does NOT make you anywhere near capable of doing the other. Im not getting into the video vs still argument, this is a photo forum.

OK, my $.02... If you like the name you have now, what's wrong with it? It doesn't specifically reference video in it at all, so if that's working for you and people know it, adding photography to your lineup is possible with that name.

That said, and don't take this the wrong way, you're not ready to sell anything yet. I know you've covered that already but it's worth repeating.

Originally Posted by subimatt

Its one thing to do stationary objects and landscapes and sell prints. However people are a completely different ball game.

There are people with years of experience who wont touch weddings.

*cough*

Originally Posted by jacobsen1

*cough*

*double cough*

Originally Posted by jacobsen1

*cough*

Originally Posted by Stime187

*double cough*

^ you both should have talked less to Markitos these passed few days...

Originally Posted by thomps6s

Some people think because Landscapes are generally still images they are easy to capture. Which couldn't be farther from the truth. Whenever I see a comment like that I generally get steamed.
However, I realize what you were going for here, but when I first read that, I was like "Fluck that" man!

^ yea, and part of it was just to push Scotts buttons.

Originally Posted by thomps6s

I think the posts above have been pretty accurate, get to the point where you are confident and consistent and then bring your photography into your company. I would keep the name the same, especially because it is out there already.




Some people think because Landscapes are generally still images they are easy to capture. Which couldn't be farther from the truth. Whenever I see a comment like that I generally get steamed.
However, I realize what you were going for here, but when I first read that, I was like "Fluck that" man!

Yeah, Matt didn't mean it like that. If I didn't know that he respected what we do and the skill it takes, I might have been annoyed, but that's definitely not what he was meaning.

So, yeah, agreed.

Originally Posted by Stime187

Yeah, Matt didn't mean it like that. If I didn't know that he respected what we do and the skill it takes, I might have been annoyed, but that's definitely not what he was meaning.

So, yeah, agreed.

Yea, there is no way I can replicate what you do Scott, You know I love your shots and fully understand what you go through to take them. So by no means was I undermining what you or any landscape photographer does.

Originally Posted by subimatt

Yea, there is no way I can replicate what you do Scott, You know I love your shots and fully understand what you go through to take them. So by no means was I undermining what you or any landscape photographer does.

Exactly. I knew what you meant, just wanted to be sure no one accidentally took it the wrong way.

now turn your head to the right and....

Originally Posted by jacobsen1

*cough*

Originally Posted by Stime187

*double cough*

i think the fundamental difference between landscape/archetecture/still life photography vs. something like a wedding is who the customer is.

with the wedding, your services have already been enlisted and you get your one shot at fulfilling the request. things happen quickly and one time only. you're constantly scrabbling around trying to be everywhere at once, keeping your gear together and close at hand, and also trying to be respectful of the people actually trying to enjoy themselves while having a big glass eye thrust in their faces. there is an already-established expectation of the final result in place before you even pull out the camera.

with the still life, there are just as many difficulties, but they're of a totally different nature. with landscapes such as i see from scott and shawn you're usually out in the wilderness, and just GETTING there is an accomplishment. you carry everything you need on your back because there's no wall outlet available for a battery top off. keeping things clean and dry is a challenge. finally, you're far more at the whim of mother nature, so that requires an amazing amount of patience and timing. you may sit for hours and hours and NEVER get the shot.

obviously in BOTH scenarios you need to be on the ball with your compositional and technical chops... shutter/aperture/framing/dof/etc. but when you don't get the shots you wanted out in the field, who have you disappointed? just yourself--that's who you're working for at that point. when you don't get the shots at the wedding you just let down tens of people--including yourself--and two of them (the couple) extraordinarily. there's a lot more people depending on you when you do contract work like that.

jm2c
ken

ps you can also substitute a lot of other things for "wedding" in my example... sporting events, motorsports, parties/social functions, porno, etc.

Originally Posted by Sephro

I've done a fair amount with video but never for money. I can not speak on weddings since I've never done them...
Video is very different than photography because most of the time it's not just one person that will do the work to get it job done. There are people that are good with PP and there are people that are good with the camera work... then you have to work out logistics etc... If you have just one person doing everything you get that low budget feel where there is one camera angle for the entire clip. Sure you could work different angles with one person but that will make everything more difficult.

With photography one person can do it on their own. Photography is less forgiving than video in a way. With video if you are taping something even if you screw up for 1/2 a second it's not a waste. With photography if you miss that moment it's completely gone.

To compare video to photography in regards to inanimate objects is moot... How often do you see someone out recording a landscape? If they want something like that a photograph would generally be better.

(again not talking about weddings here)

I agree and I disagree

first, I disagree about your video:weddings concept a bit... a 1/2 second in a wedding video IS wasted, flow is the key to a successful video, if the flow is interupted then you'll lose the attention of the viewer.

I generally use 2 cameras in every wedding I shoot.. A roll and B roll...

A roll is Static, wideangle
B roll is moving

single camera wedding videos are a PITA and quite boring IMHO, and I agree with you there.

I do not have an opinion on photog with any shoot, simply because I have NO expereince at and all I can do is listen you these comments.

in addition, Video have similar variables as photog does, lighting, positioning, concept, composition... and a main key factor is audio levels...

true "videographers" don't just point the camera a roll... we have audio that we need to keep up with as well..

Originally Posted by subimatt

^ yea, and part of it was just to push Scotts buttons.

Originally Posted by Sephro

Did you miss where I said I was not talking about weddings? I said it twice...

sorry... I get to typing and forget everything said...my bad

Originally Posted by want_to_be

Don't take this the wrong way but I hope you don't/didn't really charge people for your video services yet.... When I was in HS if I turned in work like your commercial examples I would have failed. I know you said you are still learning but I would really suggest you spend some time learning the basics. Again don't take this the wrong way but looking at your video/photo work I would wait till you have a better grasp on things before you worry about a name. I'm not saying I'm a pro... Hell I have been shooting for 4 years and wouldn't charge for my work...

based on your thread that you posted about "HATE", I'm just gonna go ahead and say this.

I went to the New York Film Academy for 3 years to learn film on my own dollar... not video, but film. I have co-produced MANY Indies, Shorts AND have worked in a LIVE television Studio as a post production engineer and subsistute camera operator. I have won 3 awards from HPVA and WEVA for most creative ameture wedding video in Houston in 2002 and 2003. I have been hired by Landry Seafood, Inc. to shoot, edit and produce TV commercials for their comany that play on TV as we speak. I have also created Industrial Training video's for Shell Inc... those videos are used internationally.

Those samples that you saw there were not for TV also, those are called Webcasts, have you heard of them? The amount of motion that you see is limited due to the supply of bandwith from when those were shot. You'll also notice that the length of them are about 5 times LONGER than the regular TV commercial. You obviously have no earthly idea what you are talking about video since you are a want_to_be photog.

also... if you read all the posts instead of just clicking the links to view the samples...you might have come up with somthing a little more Constructive to say.

your post has been reported for bumping and bashing.. because nothing you said is in relation to the subject