The other day, a colleague said to me, "You do good work. Whatever you put out there looks professional." I replied, "Well, I try."
It felt good to have my efforts recognized. It made me pause and think about how I want my work to be experienced by others. The truth is, I really believe anyone can do what I do—if they’re willing to learn.
I started by learning how to speak into a microphone. Then I learned how to record and edit audio. After that, I stepped into video editing.
My path to learning how to edit video, I truly believe, was God ordained. And I’m not so sure it was just to teach me a craft—but more so to teach me a lesson in believing in Him as my source. That’s one of the reasons I’m writing this lesson on videography: as an act of faith, believing in God and His ability to lead me.
When I worked in television news, starting out in market 48 at WMC Action News 5 in Memphis, TN — I began as an overnight video editor for a 2-hour news program. The funny thing is: I had no experience editing video, but I did know how to edit audio well. At that time, editing was from tape to tape, which is classified as linear editing. About six months into my time there, we were introduced to the Avid non-linear editing system. But that is a whole other story, I can go into greater detail later. One of the first things I really picked up was how important framing is. Framing isn’t just for making things look nice—it’s essential. Whether you're placing your subject or dealing with negative space, good framing is key. And honestly, editing taught me how to become a better videographer.
When my wife and I moved to Tulsa to go to attend bible college, God blessed me with the perfect job for that time at KOKI FOX 23, I had a Chief Photographer, Aaron McColloch, he was over all the photogs and editors. Now, a quick thing for folks who may not know: in the news world, we don’t really call them “videographers.” They're called photographers, even though they shoot video. And then there are editors. His job was to sharpen our skills, and he took that seriously.
I learned a lot from that guy. One big thing he drilled into us? Audio transitions and keeping things tight. That reminded me of what I heard back in my radio days, working with Argo Memphis, who was the overnight DJ and Producer the Ron, Steve, and Karen Show on WMC FM100 Morning Show, currently Argo Memphis is the DJ on SiriusXM Elvis Radio & KIX106 Memphis.
As an intern under his supervision, Argo used to always say, “Mikey, You gotta keep it tight” At first, I was like, "Okay...?" but it stuck with me. What he meant was: everything has to flow. No sudden, jarring moments in editing or in the way you shoot. Just a clean, natural flow.
That Chief Photographer in Tulsa... he was also huge on color. Proper white balance was non-negotiable. If the photog didn’t white balance their shot, that wasn’t the editor’s job to fix—unless you were willing to go into the package and manually correct it. Back then, I didn’t know much about color correction. I learned it layer by layer.
He also emphasized clean audio. At WMC-TV, it was the same deal: channel one was for A-roll, channel two for B-roll or NAT sound. That separation helped with fast edits and a smoother workflow. I appreciated that a lot as an editor. I mostly cut packages and news stories. And when I was editing those SOTs—sound on tape—shot stability was everything.
Here’s what I mean: unless you had an artistic reason to go shaky, your shots needed to be stable. Usually at eye level, framed to be trustworthy, clear, and readable. Nighttime? Use your light. Daytime? Get that white balance right. That is the standard.
This is the way. (Yeah—I’m throwing in a little Mandalorian there.)
Those were the rules for a solid newscast. I took it seriously. I always tried to get at least three seconds of good, clean footage. Sometimes six seconds if I could. That was something he always pushed.
Let me back up and talk about stabilization. I remember this guy at WMC who wore a Steadicam vest all the time—never took it off! At the time, I didn’t get it. I didn’t know much about cinematography back then—I was still just editing. But eventually, I understood.
There’s even this one time—I’d been editing for about six months—and my Chief Editor was pressuring us about time. I told her, “Look, at a certain point, I’m slappin’ and smearin’!” What I meant was, if I was up against deadline and all I had was national video or filler, I was just laying it down so the anchor had something to read over. Not the ideal method, but hey, I was just keepin’ it real.
Bottom line? Whether you're doing videography, cinematography, or photography from the news side, stabilization matters. Whether it’s a tripod, a Steadicam, or a gimbal—use it. These days, I shoot a lot with my gimbal and tripod. I still do some handheld work too, but I usually run it through a stabilizer afterward to clean it up.
Being a solid videographer is all about mastering the fundamentals—framing, color, audio, keeping it tight, and keeping it steady.
It’s honestly a little scary to think I have the knowledge to teach people how to learn a craft. But with God, all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26)
I’ve worked in TV news, churches, worldwide television ministries, and in higher education at a D1 institution. I’ve had the privilege to work directly with some of the world’s most influential Christian thought leaders.
I only say these things so you’ll have confidence in the instruction you’ll receive here. All praise goes to God for the skills He’s allowed me to use—for my family, and for the organizations and people who helped shape those skills.
As Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." And 2 Corinthians 5:17 reminds me: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
This is why I share this—not just to teach videography—but to share how faith has shaped my journey behind the camera.