Conversations with Rodney Kidd

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rodney Kidd. 

Hi Rodney, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
I was in the Air Force for 10 years. My last duty station was in Guam, which is a United States territory just south of the Philippines. It is truly a hidden gem of the United States. It’s a small island that is 85 degrees year-round and pretty much every ocean view looks like a desktop screen saver. I separated from the Air Force in 2015 and I started a tour business called Tropical Tours Guam. During this time, I would take tourists on a hike to a waterfall or cave. After that, we would go snorkeling, followed with lunch at one of the local restaurants. During their whole excursion, I would take pictures and Go Pro videos of the guests during their time with me. It was an absolute dream job, but Guam is about 7500 miles from Michigan. I have an amazing family and I had already been away from them for over 10 years while in the military so in 2016 I decide to sell the business and return home to be closer to them. 

When I returned home, I started working on my MBA. While in school I begin to notice that wedding videography was becoming more popular. When I was in the military, I traveled to over 40 countries and I would always take photos and videos of my travels. I still had a pretty nice camera so I purchased some more equipment and decided to purse filming weddings on the side for extra money while in school. However, within my first year, I had booked 47 weddings. Year after year I was booking over 40 weddings and I loved it. Everyone is always happy at weddings and I get to provide my couples something that will be cherished by them and for their future generations. 

After about 2 years in business, it became clear that I could make a career out of video production. Fast forward to today, I have been filming weddings for almost 6 years and I am currently building a commercial side of the business. I got married myself to my beautiful wife Kara in 2019 and we have a little boy that is about to turn 1. I never thought that I would be where I am at today. I am a devout Christian. Many times, in my life I didn’t understand why certain things happened, but I believe if you listen and follow his will through any storms, you will end up exactly where you need to be. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
With any business, it is challenging in the beginning. I learned in school that 9 out of 10 businesses will fail in their first year and of the ones that succeed past the first year, many will end up shutting down before year 5. That is a scary thought while building a business lol. On top of that, video equipment isn’t cheap and for the first 2 years, I was basically putting everything back into the company to upgrade video equipment and processes. 

After year 2 everything seemed to smooth out. However, we all know what happened in 2020… I was actually on my honeymoon when Michigan was shut down due to the pandemic. It was and is a challenging time for everyone, especially the wedding and entertainment industry. However, God willing, it seems we are beginning to pull through and people are ready to get back to normal. During my recent weddings, I can tell that everyone is so excited to be together again after being apart for so long. We are all social beings and I am so happy to see families reunited. 

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
As a wedding videographer, I feel the thing that separates me from other videographers is my use of audio and my ability to tell a story. Everyone has different styles but I think a wedding video is going to be so much more timeless when you can watch a video 5, 10, or 20 years down the road and hear wedding vows of your spouse, a parent, or sibling giving a toast, or seeing your spouse, future mother or grandmother interviewed on her wedding day. Wedding videography has transitioned so much over the past 5 years. My parents have a VHS of their wedding ceremony, which was just a single camera in the back of the church. Today, it a full-fledged production with several 4K cameras, drones, and professional audio and lighting equipment covering the entire day. 

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
There is a YouTuber named Kraig Adams. When I first started filming weddings in 2016, he had a YouTube channel called Wedding Film School and he was inspiration and teacher to me and thousands of wedding filmmakers. He recently stepped away from the wedding industry but his content is still available online so he still is a monumental influence on wedding filmmakers today. 

More important, I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for the support of my family and my amazing wife. 

Contact Info:

• Email: rodney@camerakidd.com
• Website: www.camerakidd.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michiganweddingvideographer/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/camerakiddvideography
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR104lJy7pyNoE4gmMnmpdw