Happy (?) Anniversary
This past Friday marked the one-year anniversary of “two weeks to slow the spread”. It is truly hard to believe that an entire year ago, COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic and our country began to shut down.
A week into our “Work from Home” stint, I decided to re-locate from my home in Charlotte, NC up to Virginia Beach with my girlfriend. We were heading into summer soon, at least I would be holed up near the ocean. I honestly did not think I would still be here! Call me a skeptic, but I was certain this whole situation would blow over after a week or two on lockdown, or at the very least I would be required to come back to regular office hours. Neither has happened after a full year into the pandemic.
Fortunately, the work I do has afforded me the ability to not only work 100% remote for an entire year, but to remain employed. Like most everyone else, I was now facing more free time. Simply not having a commute adds another 10 hours per week of “me time”. In the beginning, I did what I imagine most everyone else did…stay glued to the news, hoping to find a silver lining, or any bright spot in these darkest of days. I binged watched Netflix and Hulu, ultimately falling down the rabbit hole of insanity that was Tiger King. When the series was over, I then turned my sights to YouTube. It’s there that I rediscovered, in a sense, a love of filmmaking. YouTuber’s such as Peter McKinnon, Daniel Schiffer, Peter Lindgren & Chris Hau, along with countless others, caught my eye, and I was hooked! Every tutorial, every gear review, even videos talking about how they were adjusting their lives and business models to the pandemic. I decided that it had been long enough since I did anything creative, and this newfound free time might be the silver lining I was looking for in the pandemic.
So, I hunkered down and did some research. After what seemed like hours of frustration I landed on a camera and accessory bundle that would not break the bank but was good enough to start out with. If it turned out I hated it, I could live with the amount I would have wasted. Thanks, Stimulus Check!
When the Amazon package arrived, I ripped apart the boxes and excitedly rushed to start taking pictures and video. And they were all terrible. Too dark, blurry, out of focus…I was thoroughly unimpressed. It was obvious to me that getting to even the same level of photos I had been taking on my iPhone for years would take a ton of coaxing.
I had seen so much test footage and photos from this camera, the Canon EOS M50, that I was determined I could reach that same level. So, I kept at it, every photo and video I took over the next few weeks came out slightly less terrible than the last. I was slowly getting the hang of the fundamentals.
Over the weekend, I posted my first few videos to my YouTube channel in celebration of Pi Day [March 14th] I am excited to see how the channel grows, and hopefully bring some helpful tips and entertainment to those who follow. One year ago, I would have never guessed we would still be under quarantine. Hopefully in another year, I will be able to look back and say I would have never guessed my YouTube channel would take off like it has!
If you are reading this, I hope you are weathering the storm of the pandemic and want to thank you for stopping by the site. If you have not already, be sure to connect with me on social media for more content.
