A new perspective on the happiest day
Linnea Howard films weddings for a new way to make money
A sneak peak at Linnea’s perspective of the wedding’s she attends.
December 12, 2019
Being able to relive your special wedding day is a feature that not all people are able to experience. Junior Linnea Howard films weddings for a low budget price while the average price for a videographer can range up to thousands of dollars. By taking her passion and CHSTV experience, she is able to expand her career options.
Finding a passion and pursuing it can be hard for students, however Linnea Howard has had plenty of time to develop into a talented videographer. Howard started filming weddings a year ago and found her love for filming in middle school.
“I started doing broadcasting in VMSTV and I didn’t even really wanna do it but my mom wanted me to do it,” Howard said. “At the time I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into but I am so glad I did it because it has been a huge part of my life ever since.”
Howard has many connections in order to make her career take off. With the help of a family friend who is a wedding planner, Howard has been able to reach out to a variety of people. She is able to gain connections and met new people in order to gain much more exposure. In the future, she hopes to continue videography, however for a different subject than weddings.
“I wanted to get into it because I needed a fun way to make money without doing a regular job,” Howard said. “I started out doing it for free but I eventually worked my way up and now I make money from them.”
“I wanted to get into it because I needed a fun way to make money without doing a regular job. I started out doing it for free but I eventually worked my way up and now I make money from them.” — Linnea Howard
As a high school student, it can be difficult to have such large responsibilities however Howard has much support from her friends and family who make it all possible. Her parents have been team players who drive her to every wedding, close or far away, and wait until the long day is over.
“I think Linnea has great potential for a career in everything related to video production,” junior Birgen Grueskin said. “I can tell she really has a passion for it and it’s really interesting for a unique outdoor activity.”
Howard typically brings extra equipment for precautions. Starting out, she would run out of storage or battery life but over time she has been able to learn and improve from her mistakes. She packs a camera, tripod, gymbel, microphone, extra SD cards, multiple batteries and microphones.
“I think CHSTV has given Linnea a lot of experience for this type of career of Video Production. Students in CHSTV typically don’t work on projects similar to filming weddings and stuff but it definitely has given her some different characteristics that you need for that career,” Grueskin said. “Producing, filming, communication and working together with people who you’ve never met before, all these put together definitely help with her career choice.”
Howard typically works as a budget videographer. During her first few weddings she started for free as a way to build up a resume. She later began charging $25 an hour and as time progressed and she gained more experience, she has started charging $40 an hour. This counts for the time at the weddings all through the editing time as well. From the last wedding, she made roughly $450.
“Mostly the people I do it for are people who normally wouldn’t be getting a videographer because I am a very low price point for a videographer because of the amount of experience and my age,” Howard said.”Most videographers are usually like $5000+ for the same thing I’m doing. I usually do it for people who think it would be fun but aren’t ready to invest in a really expensive one.”
The full wedding day lasts about eight hours from the bridesmaids getting ready, the first look with the couple, the ceremony, the speeches, the dinner and the cocktails. After a wedding, Howard is exhausted. She continues to film because she loves the happiness in weddings that she feels cannot be found anywhere else.
“The couples are usually super happy about it and it makes me feel super good about doing it because I know it is something that they’ll have to look back on for the rest of their lives,” Howard said. “They can show their kids and I feel really good about being able to give them this opportunity.”
