Did Wedding Videography ‘Teacher’ Rob Adams Steal His Spiel From a Peer?

(Private Video — Use password “stolen”)

Often there’s a fine line between inspiration and theft. But watching side-by-side comparisons of wedding workshops conducted by videographers Adam Forgione and Rob Adams, it’s hard not to conclude there’s wholesale plagiarism going on.

Forgione, a well-established pro who co-founded Pennylane Productions and has helped train other shooters for years via workshops and instructional videos, recently posted the comparison video on Vimeo. He notes that Adams attended one of his workshops in 2011 and later purchased a companion DVD.

The video shows instance after instance of Adams dispensing advice, from how to pace video with the wedding music to smoothly incorporating guests into footage, in an almost word-for-word echo of Forgione’s spiel.

Some of the ideas are pretty standard stuff for anyone in the business, but others are pretty original to Forgione. And in many cases, Adams’ wording and specific choices (right down to Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” as an example of waltz time) are exact mirrors of what Forgione teaches.

Adams has yet to respond on any of the sites or Facebook pages he maintains for his video and teaching business, and he’s still scheduled to teach (with wife and business partner Vanessa Joy) at the January Imaging USA conference in Phoenix. Supporters at venues reporting the alleged theft aren’t exactly doing him favors, either. Sample defense theory: “Perhaps they read the same user manuals!!!”

If all of this sounds depressingly familiar, your probably thinking of star photographers Jasmine Star and Doug Gordon, outed, shamed and shunned this year for swiping marketing/inspirational copy from other sites.

(via SLR Lounge and Photo Stealers)