- Hey everybody, this is Roberto Blake of robertoblake.com
helping you create something awesome today.
So today we're gonna talk about five reasons
that photographers need to learn video.
As a creative professional I know that the idea
of learning one more thing on top of everything else
you have to do is daunting.
We've also heard the phrase Jack or Jill of all trades,
master of none, which by the way, is a load of crap.
There is nothing in the universe if you've been doing this
for five or 10 years where learning one more thing
is going to all of a sudden take you from being a 90
or 95 at this to being a 70 or 75 at it just because
you wanted to get better at something else.
You didn't become a worse photographer when you had
to learn to change diapers as a parent.
You didn't become a worse photographer when you had
to learn to use a computer or drive a car or do any other
of a hundred other skills that you picked up along the way
that you have mastery over.
So I'm really not interested in the excuse of
Jack of all trades and master one thing because
it's crap and no one told that to Davinci.
So now that we've gotten that out of the way,
here are five reasons why as a photographer it's
to your advantage and benefit to learn video
whether it's DSLR, mirror-less, or even a camcorder
or God forbid something expensive like an Epic Red Camera
which no one can afford ever, so let's get into it.
Reason number one: money.
Being able to offer one more thing to your clients.
Having one more service in your pipeline is another
revenue model and if you're doing this for a living,
or if you're a small business, or you're an entrepreneur,
we all know the top line revenue is one
of the most important things that we can ever
have a conversation about, being able to add
another service to your pipeline.
Being able to take your existing inventory of materials,
meaning your camera, and using a function it already has,
that you've already paid for, IE in this case video,
and being able to make that profitable means
that you're getting more bang for the buck
out of your investment.
It means that you're utilizing what you already have
and getting so much more out of it in terms of revenue
and value.
You're being able to offer a new service to your clients.
That means that they're not going to a competitor for that.
You're not having to outsource for that, so you're retaining
more of a relationship and more of the revenue
and I don't have to stress how important that is to you.
You're a smart enough business person to get it.
Reason number two: marketing.
Video marketing, as you're well aware because
you're watching this video, is something that is very
advantageous for you regardless of what your profession is.
I don't care if you're photographer, a graphic designer,
a musician, a freelance writer, video can help you reach
new people, new clients, all the time.
80% of all web traffic over the next five years
according to Cisco is going to be internet video
and you're seeing it play out in the marketplace.
So I would get on board with this as quickly as possible.
Being able to market yourself effectively with video
as a photographer is fantastic.
It means that you can get client testimonials on video.
It means that you can show behind the scenes of your
photo-shooting process so that someone can trust you
as a photographer and see what the real experience
of working with you is like.
It is a great way to market and advertise yourself.
It is a cheap way to do video advertising in YouTube
geo-targeted to your local market or in Facebook
using dark post.
This is a great way to build up clientele, so I would
definitely get into it as soon as possible.
Reason number three: you already have a camera that does it.
If you already have a DSLR or mirror-less camera
that was made any time in the last three to five years
or longer, the odds are it has video capabilities.
Why not go ahead and utilize this.
You already paid for it.
There is no price that you can pay to like get a modern
camera with all the best ISO settings
and all the flexibility in the world
that doesn't shoot video at this point.
You're not gonna save any money by not shooting video.
So instead of wasting that opportunity, I would say
leverage it like we talked about for the previous
two reasons.
Reason number four: it's not difficult to learn.
There are so many free videos online including
videos that I've done that can teach you how to use
you existing DSLR or mirror-less camera to do video,
and if you're worried about editing, again there are
tens of free tutorials that allow for that.
There are also some paid video guides out there
that make this really simple.
So this is something you can pickup in a relatively
short period of time.
It's something that a 15 year old kid shooting YouTube
videos has figured out.
There's no reason, as a seasoned professional,
that you can't learn this and that you can't start
benefiting from it.
So let's just take that excuse off the table.
And reason number five, this is probably one of the most
important reasons actually: shooting video can actually
make you a better photographer.
The interesting thing about video to think about
is that it's really multiple still frames.
So this is gonna help you with anticipating action
and movement.
It's gonna help you think about composition in a new way.
It's gonna help you think about story-telling in a new way
if you start shooting video.
You might actually start seeing from a completely different
perspective that can help you advance your creativity.
Your eye for composition and just how you think about
getting your shots and I think it's going to be
a valuable lesson experience for you if you at least
give it a shot.
So those are five great reasons why I think every
photographer should get into video.
Now if it's something you're struggling with
I've go plenty of videos on the channel for beginners,
they're trying to get into videography,
and if there is a video that I haven't made yet
that you think you could use to get some help
or a question that you have, leave those
in the comments section.
I'm more than happy to answer them and help you out.
Question of the day: what's holding you back
as a photographer from shooting video?
Let me know in the comments as well.
Anyway, Like this video if you like it.
Don't forget to subscribe.
Check out the awesome other content on the channel,
like all these tutorials I just mentioned.
As always you guys, thanks so very much for watching
and don't forget, create something awesome today.