That being said, however, it is important to note that while you can develop online videos for free or for very little money, it is essential that you always put your best face forward. There's nothing wrong with being quirky and fun, but regardless of what kind of video you choose for your site or how you create it, it's crucial that its quality reflects the brand you want to portray.

Behind the scenes
That brings me to the last style of video photographers tend to use. This is typically a behind-the-scenes look at how a photographer works with a client and what sparks his or her creative vision. It may incorporate parts of the other two videos I mentioned, but is typically longer and of higher quality, so as to present the photographer in the best light possible.

Again, you don't have to spend a lot on a project of this nature, but when photographers decide to invest in videos on their Web sites, this tends to be the product they choose. An example of one of these videos can be viewed on John Griffin's Web site, or you can see how one photographer has incorporated all three types of videos on Garret Nudd's Web site. Unfortunately, Nudd's site tends to require you to wait until everything loads to begin telling you anything, a design that's not particularly recommended.

What factors do I need to consider before starting a video project?
Once you have decided to incorporate video into your Web site, the next thing you need to do is ensure that your current site can support it and, if it can, how you want the video to be viewed.

Some Web hosting sites simply do not allow you to upload videos. If that is the case with your site, that's a deal breaker and you'll have to shop around for a new host (or just host the video portion of your site with a video-friendly service).

Similarly, you need to find out whether or not your Internet service provider (ISP) can support the bandwidth you would be using with a video and, if so, how much it will cost you each month. You want to be sure that the people who visit your site have a quality experience, so if you're hosting your site at a place that is not set up to deliver data quickly and efficiently, you may need to look into a new host or consider the alternatives.

One alternative to placing your video on your own site is hosting it for free on another Web site, such as YouTube, CutFrame.tv (now part of Photography Mentor) or Blip.tv. You can use the embed code to put those videos right on your site, but it will have the host company's logo on it. Depending on what you are trying to achieve, having someone else's branding on your video may or may not work. Again, it all comes back to how you want to portray your brand.

Once you get past that decision, you need to determine how you want to encode the video, if you have the knowledge to do this yourself, and whether or not you want the video to be a streaming or progressive download.