If you’re a professional photographer you need to be seriously looking at the medium of video as a skill that should be in your repertoire. Making the change isn’t as hard or scary as you may think.  

Chris Brogan over on his blog makes a fascinating case for why we all should be learning how to shoot and edit video. Did you know over one billion hours of YouTube clips are watched every single day? With sales of print publications in constant decline brands are turning to the online mediums where they can reach the most people and as photographers, we need to be in those places too.   

If you freelance for clients you will have noticed that most are already using video, in addition to still photography. Still and moving image are becoming so intertwined as a profession that it won’t be long before most are expecting you can do both. In such a competitive industry who do you think will be hired more? You guessed it, the ones who can take pictures and record video.

It’s not all doom and gloom though as I really do think that video is a great medium to express yourself in. I actually find when I experiment with the format that I come back to photography with fresh eyes. Yes, you’re going to need to learn some new skills and try a few new pieces of software but a lot of the experience you have as a photographer is transferable. As I mentioned in my last post, being able to see trends in the industry ahead of time will allow you to prepare and adjust for them. Video is one huge elephant in the room and the sooner you uncover your eyes and feed it a peanut the better.