I have always had the eye of a photographer. Whether it be a disposable point and shoot, snap and print Polaroid, or Iphone camera. As a youngster something fascinated me at the thought of capturing a live moment forever. Oddly, this didn’t always apply to typical Kodak moments. This could simply have been a sign, building, or cars on a semi busy intersection. Maybe it was my upbringing and how I grew up. I lived a rough childhood segregated between fighting divorced parents. However my everyday life was fairly simple with one or two best friends, school, visitation routine between parents, and a lot of me time in between. It probably was that me time that allowed me to be more attentive towards the little things.
As I look in through boxes of old pictures, a good portion are of my picture friendly family and I, which is why I find so much comfort in being in photos. But a third of these photos are from me, stretching from my late single digit years to my late teens before the digital age kicked in. Files on my laptop and desktop took over from there. The travel bug has always been in me as I jetsetted to simple vacation spots like Virginia, Florida, and Puerto Rico (U.S. soil) every year. What relevance does this all have to capturing and editing video of my trips? Because my love for photos allowed me to evolve for something that presented so much more. Thanks to my dad, movies have my heart as I have so much love for movies of all kinds. Sitting late at night movie after movie, from horror, to action, to comedy also gave me the ability to naturally analyze how movie-makers do what they do best.
So in conclusion, when you take my evolved love of travel with my web design skill, knowledge and software access and my skill of good photography and video, you get an unique individual with the ability to be a traveler, photographer, and producer all in one in a land far away from home. All of this in one person with a backpack on his back. Little by little, I have realized that I can take as many pictures as I want to and write as many blogs as I can. But my travel journal and documentation of adventure lies within the videos I capture along with commentary I add, whether it be along the journey or voice over. Fortunately, in my lifetime exists an evolving world of internet and technology to allow me to have the privilege of doing all this.
On my train ride through the rural sections of eastern Ontario en route to Ottawa from Toronto, I sat next to a girl jotting down her travel insights and thoughts on old journal paper. While doing so, I aim my iPhone to the side of the train as trees, homes, cars, and railroad crossings buzz by. I may or may not be the next famous travel filmmaker, but how I document and present my footage to the world on sites such as YouTube is surely loved by many. I show my audience my travels as if they were with me and it works beautifully. In my perspective, most people are presented whats hot. Why not the in betweens? Point A and point B are exciting, but you would be surprised at how many oo’s and ahh’s you experience as a traveler when you put your camera down. To me, it is all worth the hard work of hitting record some more. And it is almost like artwork: a combination of video clips done in such a way with the appropriate music to go with the feel of where I am. I not only enjoy my travels and allow others to enjoy, I give myself the pleasure of reliving my adventures in the far future in a unique fashion. Whether I am setting off for a two week trip or a long term journey, no matter what I do, I will not stop recording.
My YouTube Channel
