Personalities Of The Event Industry: Meet Popular Wedding Videographer.. Lanre Esho Of Lanre Esho Films

LANRE ESHO IS AN ERUDITE VIDEOGRAPHER WITH VAST EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS FOR EXPLOITS. IN A EXCLUSIVE CHAT WITH H.E.B, HE SHARES HIS THOUGHTS ON THE PROSPECTS OF THE INDUSTRY AND WHAT STANDS HIM OUT. ENJOY IT WHILE YOU CAN.
 

H.E.B: Let Us Meet You And Please And Tell Us What You Do
Lanre Esho: My name is Lanre Esho, i am the lead cinematographer for Lanre Esho Fiilms. Basically, we do weddings and we make a movie out of it. We are not exclusive to just weddings as we do other events, we do documentaries, normal event coverage but we major in weddings.

H.E.B: How Did You Come About Videography?
Lanre Esho: I had someone to do my wedding video and it was really terrible. I watched my wedding video once and I just realised that wedding videos can be as good as photography. Like we’ve had it in a while in Nigeria. I started studying about it and I did a couple of courses online and I put the product out there to my surprise people really liked it and that was how our style of wedding coverage has come to play.
H.E.B: How Many Weddings Do You Cover In A Year?
Lanre Esho : For last year (2015) we did about 40 weddings. This year we are trying to reduce the number of weddings we do so that we can actually give better quality. My target for this year is in the range of 30 weddings for the whole year so as to afford us to give quality rather than just have weddings every Saturday in and out like that.. I will rather do two weddings in a month and give the best quality and make sure they get their jobs on time than concentrate effort on a couple of jobs and then mess up one or two.
H.E.B: How Do You Keep Yourself Up To Date With New Videography Techniques?
Lanre Esho : I subscribe to a lot of blogs that deal with film gears generally. So when a new technology comes out those blogs carry them and then I get the information as soon as they come out and I spend a lot of time online. I spend practically all day online and especially in the evenings when I get home or when I am less busy. Mostly I’m on my laptop surfing the net.
H.E.B: The Vibrancy And Clarity Of Your Work Stands You Out, How Do You Achieve That?
Lanre Esho : It boils down to equipments and the craft of it because you can have those equipment and not actually turn out what we do. Overtime we understood our equipment very well and we know how they work and we upgraded to even better equipments now. We are currently using some cinema cameras and lenses that typically you won’t use for weddings you would probably use them for a movie but we have started adopting that into what we do and we hope to shoot a wedding one day with a red camera like the ones they use for musical videos.
H.E.B: What Are The Highlights And Breakthrough Moments In The Growth Of Your Business?
Lanre Esho : I think my storytelling has really helped. I can’t take out the God factor.. God has given me the inspiration to do all of this but the second to that is that people want to watch a story and even if you use all the best gears in the world and it does not have a story then your content falls flat. I have had brides watch their wedding videos and they cry because I told their story very dramatically. So I think that’s what gives us an edge.

H.E.B: How Much Input Does Your Client Have In Choosing The Best Shots?
Lanre Esho : I have 100 % creativity in what I do because I know what is best for my clients. It’s not like pictures when you take them they now select the pictures they want for their album. For videos you can’t really do that . I have tried it in the past where I allowed couples choose the song I use on the video but it didn’t really work because I was trying to pass a message and the song they probably chose did not just fit in. So I tell them upfront that I have to have 100% creative control over the movie I want to do. The other part they can decide is probably if they want the whole wedding coverage on a dvd or they want part of it. Whatever part they don’t fancy in their video I can edit that for the full coverage. But as for the film, I take 100% creative control.
H.E.B: How Do You Cope With Guests Taking Pictures While You’re Taking Your Shots?
Lanre Esho : It’s something that we have had to deal with and we shall continue to deal with. I tell some of my friends that the greatest thing that has happened to technology is putting a camera on a phone because everybody is now a photographer and a videographer. Even a guest will stand in front of your camera, look back , look at you and continue filming knowing fully well that you are being paid to do what you are doing. I have friends that do the same thing in the US and they tell me they can’t cope with the Nigerian audience probably because they are more coordinated, everybody is seated. They understand the fact that even if you have to take pictures you do it from your sit not stand in front of the couple and do all those things. Because of the market we are, we have grown into it and we know we have to deal with it and our client will not take any excuse so you have to take good shots somehow. I have had a case where I had to forcefully push the person off. I didn’t like it but the person was not just going to leave my shot so you have to do anything to make it happen.
H.E.B: What Keeps You Going
Lanre Esho : A good story inspires me. I like to work with couples who have a strong story. Once I consult with a couple and I enjoy their story it helps me tell it better through my lens. I think that keeps me going and the fact that I don’t want to fail just keeps me on my toes to want to up my game. Basically, I think I have my own standard I try to recreate standards for myself at every point in time.
H.E.B: Are You A Canon lover Or A Nikon Lover?
Lanre Esho : I wouldn’t say I am a Canon or Nikon lover.. all of my camera’s are canon but I have been seeing new technologies of cameras and I might make a switch very soon because there are smaller cameras now that don’t even cost as much as canon and they give better output.
H.E.B: If You Had To Choose One Lens To Work With From Now Till Eternity, What Lens Will You Choose?
Lanre Esho : I would choose a 21-105 canon lens. It is slightly wide for me to get some wide shots and its just has enough zoom for me to get close to an object if I need to.
H.E.B: What Lessons Have You Learned The Hard Way
Lanre Esho : Taking clients brief is very important because I have realised that clients are different and their wants differs so you cannot generalize that all your clients want the same. So I think I learnt that the hard way because I’ve had clients call me back and go gaga on me because they wanted something and I delivered another thing. So sometimes we have to re-edit so that we can please the client. They pay the bills so you have to satisfy them.

H.E.B: Of What Benefit Is Social Media To Your Business?
Lanre Esho : A lot. Instagram precisely has really stepped up my business a lot . I can’t over emphasize social media because it helps me get my content out there and people get to see it all around the world .
H.E.B: Tips On Becoming The Best Wedding Videographer?
Lanre Esho : I would say go back to your books, go and perfect your art. Go and learn how to tell stories the best way you can. Even if the pictures are not clear but you are telling a good story it will sell. If the elements are not together but people can understand you are trying to pass a message across and the best way to tell a story is get peoples emotion. You go into a movie theatre and for 1hour 30 min you’re captured, you don’t want to do anything other thing your sucked into that movie they have just played into your emotions and once I can do that to a client then I’m happy.
H.E.B: How Do You Unwind After A Job

Lanre Esho: Because I’m a very busy these days, I try to spend time with my family because I’m always away from home a lot of time and so any time I need to unwind, I would rather want to unwind with my family. I have two boys so I want to spend some time with them and I love travelling.
H.E.B: Words To Live By?

Lanre Esho: Life is not a rehearsal; it’s the real thing so choose wisely. There’s no second take to life.