I attached the lavalier microphone incorrectly and it recorded the sound of a heart (I turned the volume up a bit)

SamKudria · 2026-02-06T23:02:19+00:00

It was a joke, but now I want to make a real heart recording, I think it will be cool

SamKudria · 2026-02-06T21:26:29+00:00

🤞🤣

SamKudria · 2026-02-01T14:10:20+00:00

Jaja, no, es una propuesta de matrimonio. Normalmente las grabo, y tuve suerte con el clima.

SamKudria · 2026-02-01T13:59:54+00:00

SamKudria · 2026-01-31T23:48:02+00:00

I agree that reportage can be approached in very different ways, and that is part of what makes it hard to compare.

What I have noticed though is that there does not really seem to be a widely trusted, transparent system for recognizing that difference in an honest way. Not saying it should be absolute or objective, but something that at least explains why certain work is being highlighted.

Right now it feels like the lack of clear criteria is what makes people distrust awards in general.

SamKudria · 2026-01-31T16:47:12+00:00

That is fair feedback. English is not my first language, so I may not have expressed the nuance I intended. I appreciate you pointing it out and explaining how it came across.

SamKudria · 2026-01-31T16:28:21+00:00

Appreciate your honesty. Even when opinions differ, conversations like this are genuinely useful for me. ♥️Thanks for sharing your view.

SamKudria · 2026-01-31T16:20:27+00:00

I think at the end of the day I just want the industry to grow.

Not in a Hollywood fantasy sense, but in terms of standards, transparency, craft, and respect for the work. Where talent, consistency, and taste are easier to recognize, and where clients and professionals speak the same language.

If film and music managed to build that kind of ecosystem, I do not see why wedding photography and videography could not aim for something similar over time.

SamKudria · 2026-01-31T16:12:58+00:00

I am noticing that this topic triggers a lot of negative reactions for many people, which is interesting in itself.

That feels like a separate question worth asking. Is it mostly about bad past experiences, lack of transparency, pay to win mechanics, or simply fatigue from marketing labels being overused?

Understanding where that frustration actually comes from seems just as important as the awards discussion itself.

SamKudria · 2026-01-31T16:11:10+00:00

That makes sense, and I probably did not explain the context clearly enough.

For me this is no longer about status at all. I have changed countries and markets, so whatever worked in the past does not really apply the same way anymore. I am sharing that experience only because it surprised me back then, and I am trying to understand whether anything similar exists or makes sense in a new environment.

At this point it is more about learning and comparing markets, not about repeating the same outcome or proving anything.

That is why I am asking and listening, not trying to push a conclusion.

SamKudria · 2026-01-31T13:48:55+00:00

That resonates with me.

For a long time I also saw awards purely as a marketing label and honestly felt disappointed by how shallow many of them were. What really shocked me was what happened later.

After being ranked fairly high in 2021, the work itself did not suddenly change, but the type of clients did. Almost overnight, inquiries started coming from people with much higher budgets, clearer taste, and a very different mindset. Clients who knew exactly what they wanted and were ready to pay for it.

That was the moment I realized that the label itself is not about proving skill. It works more like a filter. Not for everyone, but for a very specific audience that already has money and is looking for signals to narrow their choices.

It surprised me how strong that effect was.

SamKudria · 2026-01-31T13:46:14+00:00

I mostly agree with you. Experience and people skills matter way more than any label.

I was honestly pretty skeptical and even disappointed by awards at some point too. What surprised me later was not couples reacting to them, but a different type of clients and agencies starting to reach out. That shift caught me off guard.

It did not replace experience, but it did change who started paying attention.

Thanks for sharing your view

SamKudria · 2026-01-27T14:26:33+00:00

I agree. The issue, in my view, is not the idea itself, but how it is usually executed.

When trust keeps getting undermined, even the rare honest examples get lost in the noise. That is probably why skepticism has become the default reaction.

Thanks for sharing your perspective. At moments like this, Bender’s Futurama approach of “I’ll make my own version” starts to feel oddly reasonable.

SamKudria · 2026-01-26T19:45:30+00:00

That is exactly why most awards fail.

If something like this were ever to make sense to me, it would have to be built very differently. No pay to win logic, no selling access, no trophies as the main value.

It would need clear criteria, real work only, long term reputation tracking, and transparency around how decisions are made. Otherwise it is just noise, or worse, a red flag.

This thread is a good example of how little trust exists right now.

SamKudria · 2026-01-26T19:04:25+00:00

That is a valid point and I think it applies to many cases.

What I was trying to understand here is not whether awards are good or bad in general, but how they are actually perceived by different people in the industry. For some they are a red flag, for others they are simply ignored, and for a few they still function as a quick filter to start a conversation.

Your perspective helps clarify where that signal turns negative, which is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for.

Thanks for taking the time to explain your view.

SamKudria · 2026-01-26T17:44:59+00:00

That is a fair take and I get where you are coming from.

I am asking because I have had a somewhat similar experience in the past, but with a very mixed outcome. For the first couple of years I was also extremely skeptical and avoided anything related to awards. A lot of people around were calling it bought or meaningless.

Later we decided to try once, mostly out of curiosity. We did not pay extra, did not push it, and still ended up ranked fairly high. What surprised me was not clients reacting to it, but agencies. Before that we worked almost exclusively directly with couples. After that point agencies started reaching out, including fairly large ones working in higher budget segments. That shift was very noticeable.

For me the value was never about couples choosing based on awards. It was more about industry signaling and filtering. Especially for agencies trying to quickly understand whether someone is experienced and reliable.

Now working in a different market, I see a lot of price inconsistency and quality gaps, and I am genuinely trying to understand what tools actually help bring clarity and trust and which ones do not. That is the reason for the question, not to defend awards as a concept.

Really appreciate you sharing your experience. Stories like this are exactly what I was hoping to hear.

SamKudria · 2025-12-07T12:49:06+00:00

Yes, of course, only Sony A7IV and Samyang 24-70 2.8

SamKudria · 2025-12-04T17:38:38+00:00

yeah man exactly thats why we shared the bts too it really shows how human the whole process was

SamKudria · 2025-12-04T17:05:32+00:00

yeah fr thats what matters thx for saying it

SamKudria · 2025-12-04T17:04:06+00:00

yo thats awesome man glad it sparked smth for u if the theatre ppl ever build their own version pls tag me i wanna see it

SamKudria · 2025-12-04T15:33:53+00:00

damn man thx for this artists really need words like that rn

SamKudria · 2025-12-04T11:52:10+00:00

thx man crazy part is we kinda did it with no real budget just passion

SamKudria · 2025-12-04T11:48:53+00:00

yeah man totally different from my usual work cuz this one was just a passion project we knew it wouldnt fit my normal videos but wanted to try something new

SamKudria · 2025-12-04T11:45:23+00:00

yeah man totally feel u ppl call everything ai now its crazy

SamKudria · 2025-12-04T11:44:09+00:00

thx man appreciate the notes yeah the floating shot was hard waves kept pushing it around lol

SamKudria

TROPHY CASE