We have just hit 10,000 subscribers count on YouTube! Hurray!
Special thanks to all you beautiful people for the support. I started hitting YouTube more seriously back in July when I decided to post 2 videos per week, and was aiming to hit 10,000 subs by end of 2019. However, little did I expect, that goal happened much earlier, we are in September and it is now 10,150 subs and counting! I know for many 10k subs is not a big deal, especially when we live in a world where a 2 minutes video of a cat eating a corn can generate a million views. It may be a small step, but to me, this is a positive encouragement to drive me further and to strive to improve myself in the alien world of YouTube! Of course, all thanks to you guys for the likes, comments, shares and subscribing.
Why YouTube?
I never intended to start or get serious in YouTube. However, I do admit that the world has moved on, photography blogs are losing popularity. Blogging or no blogging, I am still an active photographer, shooting both commercially and working on personal projects. YouTube seems like a great platform to reach out to an audience, and to continue to share my passion in photography. It is a place I can showcase my work, rant some ideas and share my skills and experience as a photographer. It is also evident that some techniques or explanation are better executed in a video format, than writing. It is easier to show how to take a portrait of a stranger through a behind the scenes video in 30 seconds, than writing a 2000 words article.
Why did I not start sooner?
Blogging and doing a video are so different. In the blogging world, I don't have to show my face, and I don't have to speak. Writing is also easier to edit. I don't have to care about how I sound like, or if there is something in my hair, or if my face is in focus when I deliver a speech. I can write a blog entry anywhere, anytime, without worrying about lighting or camera battery levels. I was never comfortable speaking in front of a camera.
Furthermore, I am a complete noob when it comes to video shooting. I know not about the 180 degrees rule (slowly picking this up now) or how to create cinematic looking footage. Photography and videography are so different, now I need to think of a story-board, a script and B-rolls? Oh and also audio recording, because nobody likes to listen to poorly recorded voice speaking for 10 minutes long. There is a whole new world for me to learn, and I was just not ready to jump in yet.
I released a video about the Olympus E-M1 Mark II and Firmware 3.0 in June, and it did really well. I made the video because it was easier to show the new features in video, than writing them. The response was quite positive, and after making an actual video and putting it up, I thought to myself, I can actually do this! I did everything myself, setting up a camera on a tripod, recorded my own voice separately (to be sync-ed up later) and you know what really baked the cookie? I edited that entire video in Windows Movie Maker. Yeap, the noob in me cannot be more obvious.
Seeing that it was possible for me to handle everything alone, with careful planning and much consideration, some time in early July I decided to pursue YouTube more seriously. I knew I was not ready but if I kept telling myself that I will never be ready. So I decided to just jump in and do it!
I decided to upload two videos per week, every Mondays and Thursdays. I have been consistent ever since until today. There were a lot of stumbling blocks, I made a few mistakes there and here, but hey, I guess those were necessary. And in about more than 2 months later, now, we are at 10,000 subs! I did not see this coming at all.
It was not easy, trust me! At least not for me.
I am a terrible multitasker. I have to take care of the camera that is filming myself speaking or demonstrating something. The first camera to shoot video of me stays on a tripod, usually at a public location, so the fear of someone snatching the tripod with a camera and lens on it was always present. For every single shot I need to reframe, re-focus, and adjust the exposure settings. Then I have to also think about what I am shooting, or doing while being recorded in video. This is the tricky part, normally when I shoot, I gave 100% concentration to get my shots, either street shots, portraits, macro or anything else, I do not have to worry about anything else. Now that I am doing video, all by myself, I have to care about camera settings on two separate cameras!
Besides the camera on hand, and on tripod (recording video), I also need to record audio, and that was done on a lavalier mic attached to my shirt (quite obvious if you have seen any of my videos) and that mic goes to a voice recorder in my pocket. The audio track was recorded separately and I sync them up with video in post. Oh speaking of post-production, I have absolutely zero knowledge jumping into this. I decided to use Da Vinci Resolve (since it is free) and I have to learn everything from scratch!
I have so much more to learn, it is a long, long way, but hey, I am able to reach an audience and share meaningful content through the YouTube platform, that itself is true, and is enough reason for me to keep going. I know not where this will lead me, but not knowing keeps it both exciting and fun!
Again, thanks all for making the 10,000 subs possible. Shutter therapy goes on!
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