An Interview with Award-Winning IPPVA Videographer Ronan Quinn

IPPVA wedding videographer Ronan Quinn came in 3rd place in the Wedding Videography Instagram Edit category during the 2021 IPPVA Awards Ceremony.

This is what I love: weaving multiple leaves of a story into the fabric of a film.

Ronan Quinn

Would you share with us a little bit of background on the awarded work?

This was an elopement shot with Peach Perfect Weddings (planners). It was due to be up at Dunluce castle but when I arrived up there early that day I realised there were lots of horrible builders fencing up so I contacted the planners who frantically tried to find a suitable place to move the ceremony too.

I had chatted to Michel and Mallory on Skype and they were very keen on getting some strong backstory audio elements into their film. This is what I love: weaving multiple leaves of a story into the fabric of a film.

Didn’t this wedding film also win the last Athloners Awards? Tell us more.

“Athloners” is a wedding videography conference that IPPVA member Richard Speedie brought to fruition and which we try to hold yearly.

It started off as a group of videographers learning from each other – some of us would take a subject and teach the others. That grew last year to having some outside experts coming in and also having our own awards.

I was lucky enough to win the Wedding Videographer of the Year award title with this film. I’m proud of that one as it was purely voted for by peers.

It also recognised contribution to the community as opposed to just the film.

We know a lot of our readers will love to hear more about gear, equipment and post-treatment/editing. Tell us more.

In terms of gear I am shooting all Sony cameras, Sony a73 and I think I may have used a Sony a6300 on the gimbal back then. For weddings and elopements if I am using a drone it’s always the smaller Mavic Pro – purely for portability.

Thank God as the hike down and back up the steps to get to our new location (Kinbane Castle) during the evening sun was tough going (videographers generally need 2 tripods of the ceremony which can be a pain).

Editing-wise, it’s always evolving. Especially how I colour films. I do always like to add some grain to remove the “clean digital look”.

What are you working on at the moment? Personal projects or client backlog – please share with us?

At the moment I have 2 small weddings to edit, but mostly am working on my brand, social media and SEO so that when we come out the far side of Covid-19, Amare Stories is in an even better place.

I have done some online courses and have paid for others that I still need to find time to go through.

Outside weddings I am working on another new brand and also planning at least 1 personal project.

Is there a particular movie or artist that has inspired/moved you in the past?

In terms of aesthetic/sound design and cinematography, I loved Peaky Blinders. Lately, I am trying to absorb as many photography books as possible. Books from the masters. While Instagram and all social media are good for marketing, I find they are echo chambers.

One photographer or videographer does something new… everyone follows. I’ve been guilty too.

I’m comfortable with my own work enough now that in order to improve it I am trying to go back to the fundamentals. I also have a strong pull towards photography and I don’t want my influences to be from weddings particularly.

So to sum up I would say be careful what your consuming, input usually influences output (this is something I am actively working towards and it takes a long time).

Have you had any other professions before becoming a videographer? Did you study videography or are you self-taught?

I’m self-thought, although I got a great start as my friend Cathal Farrelly took me out and I shot a few weddings for him. Back then I had a great job as a printer and never even considered videography.

Then the recession hit and I was left with very little options. Luckily it worked out for me and I think some of my personality and social skills, along with a love for story helped a lot.

What would be your 3 main tips for a videographer with a strong portfolio of personal work wanting to start a business?

It’s hard to know where to start at that one, but if they have good personal work they know the camera well. So I would say:

1. Define where you want to be in 3 years, define your target audience, build a brand that can make that a reality.
2. It took me 10 years of trial and error to get anywhere so I would also say… just start! Then tweak and improve. It’s just another journey in life, and you need to put in your hours.
3. One thing to fast-track success would be to ask others for help. “Hey how did you do that”, “Do you offer mentoring”, “What is it like shooting there”… all these things are questions people are usually happy to answer.  

What would you most love to shoot right now if Covid restrictions weren’t a reality? What do you miss the most?

I’d love to be shooting casual video and photos of my own family on a warm holiday.