That was Zen, this is Tao

art (ärt) n. 1. Human effort to imitate, supplement, alter, or counteract the works of nature. 2.a. Conscious arrangement or production of sound, color, forms, movements, or other elements in a way that affects the aesthetic sense; production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic medium.   - Webster's II, Riverside University Dictionary

Digital Zen

I spent almost a year researching and reviewing video camera specifications and wedding video production in general. At the time, my wife and I were considering getting back into wedding photography or video business. BD (Before Digital) it was pretty easy to please clients with just a little bit of analog editing and simple titles on VHS.

With the birth of Digital Video (DV) in 1995 the industry changed forever. By the turn of the century video production in was completely computerized.

Capturing Light . . .

Resolution or TV lines of resolution . Bottom line, the higher the camera resolution the better it looks on the screen. But like everything in life there is more to the story. Some consumer DV cameras have better resolution than broadcast cameras in use just a few years ago and most home TV sets don't even come close to the resolution of even a cheap DV camera. So how the video looks on your TV is affected not only by resolution but, by the camera, the computer program that convert the data, your own TV, and even the brand of DVD player and cables you use.

Color or color resolution . The human eyes can resolve millions of shades of color-no camera even comes close. I believe a 3 CCD (Charged-Coupled Device) camera produces more natural color . Again, there is more to the story . Camera brand, size of the CCDs, and most importantly the camera lens makes a difference. In professional video and photography, analog or digital, today or 100 years ago, the quality of the lens is a key factor in the quality of the image. Cheap lens, bad image.

Lighting . Wedding ceremonies and reception are notorious for bad lighting. Good lighting is essential for a good picture. Digital cameras in general perform poorly in anything but bright diffused light. Professional cameras perform much better, but a candle lit ceremony and reception will not look the same on DVD as a well lit church.

Sound, a real nemesis.  Resolution and color are relatively easy to manage, but good sound can be elusive if not impossible. Wireless, shotgun, pressure zone, and stereo microphones can make a big difference, but have their limits. A wireless microphone on a groom works great for the vows, but may not pick up the officiant, the soloist or the music clearly. Sound at the reception is even harder to capture. Naturally, everyone is having a good time talking and laughing, music is playing, and all that sound is bounding around a room not built for quality sound.

So unless your wedding venue is a Hollywood sound stage, we can't control the lighting , the sound, or even stop a guest from sneezing, and generally we can't do a second take. Also, many churches or ministers have regulations on the placement or movement of the videographer. Face it, there are just some things we can't control on your wedding day. We can only acknowledge it, plan for every possibility and as professionals, do what we can to capture the cinéma vérité artistically and with clarity. We believe a professional artist must be able to work with the tools and material available. We are proficient technicians and we believe that is the easy part. There is more to the story .

...Art.

At Lighthouse Digital we truly believe that every wedding is unique, beautiful and that day is one of the greatest expressions of joie de vivre . The quality of the day does not depend on the venue, good lighting, or the music-it's about people and their joy of living. A beautiful bride, flowers, the smiles and tears, the music, there are to few days in life as joyful as a wedding day. At Lighthouse Digital our goal is to keep our focus on you, your family, your friends and capture that essences, the joy of the moment, not just the light.

Larry & Karen Laskowski

The existence of forgetting has never been proved: We only know that some things don't come to mind when we want them . ~Friedrich Nietzsche

Email us at lighthousedv@knology.net or Call us at (843) 345-1467