As I continue to add content to my YouTube channel, I thought it would be fun to try something new and screen-record myself while doing an edit. During this process I remembered the importance of trying edits like this to familiarize myself with the programs I use on a day to day basis.
In 2016 I was always pushing myself to get out and shoot with my drone. That ended up being one of the best choices I had ever made in my life. The best part about this experience was getting to learn and appreciate the technology I was using. Three years ago when the Phantom 3 was around, it was much harder to make photo composites like this because the camera on the drone could never put out the desired quality I was looking for when editing.
Fast forward to 2019, I realize a little bit of time and patience had taught me a much valuable lesson. Throughout my days of going out and shooting everyday, I learned everything I wanted to about composition, lighting, camera settings, piloting, airspace, editing etc. Doing this for work learning how to use the drone for video was also a huge part of this aerial journey. I failed many times over and over trying to create new photos and videos that were unique to me. However, I would always go back and shoot them until I felt they were right.
I realize now all this time I had dedicated to my craft turned me into this sort of perfectionist. I felt motivated to create my own work and constantly get out to shoot regardless of the situation. It was a bit of a fun attitude to have. In some ways being a perfectionist was a good thing and some ways it was a bad thing. Yet again, this was just another valuable lesson I learned.
Creativity comes with the consistency of doing. Being conscious of what you want to achieve and setting out to make it possible versus trying to make everything perfect right away. Learning takes time and sometimes things positive/negative have to happen naturally for someone to truly learn and fully understand them. Today I look at aerial photography in a new way; a refined way in which I can be more creative than ever before. Sometimes it's nice to leave the house without the stress of having to take a perfect picture or capture a specific moment, but rather learning to go out and shoot for fun, to try new things and take risks with your work that you feel confident with. If you never try, you never know.
It took me years to learn everything I did and I had an amazing amount of help and support from friends and family. Today, as I sit here sharing this time-lapse and refer my lack of knowledge in Photoshop, I also acknowledge that learning takes time if we are willing to make the effort. It's really cool for me to sit here and think, "Wow, that took me like two and a half hours to do and I got stuck for quite a bit trying to remember where that clone tool went.... Oh there it is! This is much better, this is kinda fun, I miss Photoshop, I should do this more." The video plays by in less than two minutes, yet so many interesting things and fine details slip by in the creative process.
I thought it would be fun to share this in hopes of inspiring others to get out there and try something new when you shoot. Sometimes we get so caught up in our craft (in my case videography for work) that we claim we don't have time for personal work or just simply focus on what makes us money. In the end, I've found most of my success in creating things that feel valuable to me and I think that is something every artist should have.
