Wrap Up - Inside The Mind Of A Wedding Videographer

Well, did I need to be that screwed up over filming the next day?

No. Absolutely not. And I am in bed at 9:41pm on a Wednesday with the dogs and I am giggling at myself for being so silly. But I guess sometimes it’s okay to be a little dramatic and admit that you’re scared and then go ABSOLUTELY CRUSH IT after all that

The day went (mostly) wonderfully and I got so many wonderful clips and I got the audio I wanted and it all (mostly) looks and sounds great and I’m so excited to make the videos for them. And it was incredible to watch my friends marry and capture it through my lenses. I was happy, a little jealous, and a little sad… But mostly happy for them. And in pain. Carrying the steady camera rig and my handheld rig around all day was taxing

A couple random things that I learned that day…

• I need bags to carry random things when on location like that so I don’t have to keep carrying EVERYTHING with me from place to place

• Speaking of place to place, sometimes the places aren’t very close to each other and you might need to be ready for that too, little guy

• It might be smart to step in and be a little more bold with the timeline and getting things done next time instead of taking a back seat

• You need more batteries and more audio recording devices. You also need to keep refining your kit and your work flow

• Wedding videography is hard, but it’s all about finding those little moments and capturing the ✨ magic ✨ of that for them

• Everything takes longer than everybody thinks all the time always so make sure you get what you need and keep everybody moving

• You’re better at all this than you think. I might be time to stop doubting yourself and living in imposter syndrome and step into this thing boldly, you little bitch lol

Aight. So yeah. That’s all. I’m not even sure if anybody is reading this or if anybody ever will so it’s just me talking to myself at this point. If you are reading this, I would love for you to let me know somehow. Today. Whenever you’re reading this. Even many years down the road. Let me know… And I’ll tell you how things really worked out

Be well. Love. Cheers

Author - Matthew Brinker, Brinker Media House, LLC

Inside The Mind Of A Wedding Videographer

So… It’s 10:45 on a Friday evening. It’s Halloween. I’m in bed with my dogs. All my gear is charging in the kitchen. I’m doing random business things on my laptop while a World Series game is playing in the background

And I am freaking the hell out in my head. I am filming a wedding tomorrow. The real answer is… I’ve got this and it’s a friend who I’m filming for, but I am freaking out in my head because I want to do the absolute best job I possibly can tomorrow and I want to make the most impactful wedding video for them that I possibly can so I can have this be another leg of what I do creatively more regularly

I’m anxious. I’m scared. I am fully in self doubt mode because of this wedding tomorrow and because I’m going completely freelance and on my own. But I guess this is what everybody deals with at some point and time in their business or creative careers

So… Yeah. Here I am. And I'm gonna show up tomorrow and I’m going to do my absolute best

Author - Matthew Brinker, Brinker Media House, LLC

Running A Successful Digital Art Business

Where do I even start with this one?

My intent was to do a blog post about once a week. Maybe twice. I wanted to be really ambitious about this because a friend told me that blogs help you get ranked in search engine optimization, whatever that ✨ magic ✨ is. And I got really, really busy with the business and I lost it. And then I went on a trip and then life changed and now here we are… Let us recap…

When I posted my last blog entry, I was on a hot streak that got even hotter. June was the busiest I had ever been. I was on this intense high. I took a trip home and packed in a ton of video and photo work around it and I was slammed when I came home. I was doing it… I was really doing it. Traveling and making art for businesses and individuals and working for myself. Major high point for me

And then life changed. Things started to fall apart with my relationship. The start of this relationship was a huge catalyst for me restarting my creative career and I was feeling really secure and wonderful in the state of that relationship and the health of my business and the momentum. But… things ended. And I stayed fairly busy but I went completely sideways mentally and emotionally, to be completely honest. This was someone I had intended to spend the rest of my life with. And now they’re gone and they aren’t coming back

I’m sharing this because it really fucking matters… It matters because it’s part of the human experience and I am a creative human running a business and trying to make a living by making beautiful art for people as a videographer and photographer. And that break up hurt. A lot. Myself and my business… But I did reframe and refocus pretty quickly and got things back moving in a positive direction personally and professionally

Next chapter, I have had a ton of really cool meetings and opportunities since July. Business has been good. There are a lot of things in the works. And I finally decided that I was going to go all in and step away from bartending three evenings a week. I’m terrified. I’m legitimately concerned that I won’t be able to make it as a freelance creative on my own. And I’m sharing that because it also matters. As a 38 year old man, I am very scared that I won’t be able to make this dream of mine work. But I’m going after it and I intend to be back here more regularly to document that process as I go. I think this blog might turn into a diary of sorts. We shall see. Even now as I type this… This feels like a little bit of therapy that I will be thankful for down the road

So here it is… I’m going all in to try to run a successful videography, drone cinematography, photography, editing, and graphic design business. It’s just me. And I’m scared but I’m doing it anyways. Talk soon. Love. Cheers

Author - Matthew Brinker, Brinker Media House, LLC

Happy Moments As A Videographer & Photographer

I’m going to jump ahead here because I want to acknowledge how grateful I am for this moment in time…

I’ve had three meetings in the last couple of days with friends about helping them with their businesses with the skills that I’ve developed over the last almost decade. The first was a local market that felt like the corner stores that my grandparents would take me to and I get to help them promote their thing with my things. The second was a friend who is releasing a book soon and I am going to be her media guy and help her to blow up this book launch

And then, just now… I met with a company that I have gotten to know across the bar as a bartender here in town. They’ve been kind of privy to me relaunching my media business and my desire to be in the golf space for drone cinematography, videography, and photography. He is showing me around his office and his production space and talking shop and I said, “Hey, what is your relation to this tee company?” And he kind of blinked at me and said, “I invented those. I own the patent”

Back story on why this is so cool for me. I picked up golf somewhere in college. I love it. I love it more than anything I’ve ever done. I. Love. Golf. And I’ve always used this particular style of tee. And I’m standing in the office talking to this guy I consider a friend and I had no idea that THIS MAN was the person that invented the thing I’ve been using the entire time I’ve been golfing. And I’m here to talk about do drone, video, and photo work for this company

I played it cool. I left. I sat in the car. And I cried happy tears. I get to do this. I. Get. To. Do. This. I am so exceptionally grateful for all these skills and all this time and effort that I’ve put into this craft. I get to use my skills to help people that matter to me. And I get to do really cool stuff with them and for them. And this is why, when I was lost and had no idea what I was going to do with my life, I didn’t give up. I knew that tomorrow could be better than today and I had the power to make it my reality

And here I am. I was thinking on the drive over to the office that this is the first version of my life that I have actually enjoyed. And then that happened. There is ✨ magic ✨ all around me. In this town. In these people. In my head. There is absolute ✨ magic ✨ if you are able to tune into it

That’s all from me for today. I’m having a wonderful moment in my head and I am so thankful and appreciate of everything and everybody that has gotten me to this moment

P.S. I forgot that I get to work remotely for the old brewery back home still. The baby that I helped to raise… I get to keep helping it grow. And that’s fucking rad too

Author - Matthew Brinker, Brinker Media House, LLC

How I Became A Videographer & Photographer

So, this is how it all began…

I wanted to start this blog to document my story about becoming a drone cinematographer, videographer, photographer, graphic designer, editor, and digital artist. I remember being six years old. We had just gotten our very first computer in 1993 and I was playing in a 3D drawing program and I was completely enamored with what I could do. And I had absolutely no clue what to do with this new found computing power. I vividly remember making all sorts of weird shapes and designs and loving it but having no direction whatsoever

Fast forward to 2016 and I’m in the middle of a career change. I have no clue what I want to do with my life at this point, but I know that I have always loved photos and videos. I am watching YouTube videos of all these digital creators all over the planet. Some of the bigger creators are paying videographers to make videos for them. We have entrepreneurs with camera men following them around to document and create. And I thought… I need to get a piece of this pie. If I want to travel the world and make videos, I need to learn how to do this. At this point I had some amateur photo editing experience and I had made random videos in the sports and fitness world for personal use, but I had never thought I would want to actually do photo and video work. In fact, when I had purchased the computer I was using four years prior I had said, “Yeah, I don’t need any more computing power. I’ll never do photo or video work” and boy was I wrong

Anyways, I went to Best Buy and bought a little “creator kit” for my phone that included a tiny tripod, a clip on lens, a microphone, and some other random things. It was trash. I had no idea what I was doing. I started to record myself doing random things and making videos to learn how to use the editing software. I put myself through what I called “YouTube University” by watching any and every video that I could watch and trying to replicate those things. I made a bunch of really cringy videos that I will probably never let anybody see again. I spent about a year doing this until I bought a budget stabilizer and monopod for my phone and made some videos with that. The footage from the stabilizer on the monopod looked like a drone and I had my first video go viral of a sunset near my hometown. A friend said, “Looks like you need to start a business” and I did. Matt Brinker Productions was the first name I operated under and I made a bunch of other small videos that people took a liking to. They were also trash and will never be seen again, but everybody starts somewhere, I guess

That’s where I will stop on this first post. I plan on posting a couple times a week about what I’m doing and how I’m dealing with it, as I have now become a full time freelance creative. More soon… Stay tuned…

Author - Matthew Brinker, Brinker Media House, LLC