when i first decided that i wanted to blog about things, i had made a post about My photography and what it meant to me at the time, a lot has changed over the last year so i thought i would fill you in (:
In June 2016, I got funding from the Princes Trust After putting a business plan Together which was to create video content for businesses.
Before i got the funding, i had met someone to work on the plan, and branding, At the time i did not have a camera and i had to make do with what i had which was a Ipad Mini.
Putting the plan together was a nightmare, creating daft copies after draft, having to put long terms and short team goals, how would i market myself and things like that this often put a lot of stress on me and caused my depression to be really bad.
The finished product was a shirt with my branding, business cards and over 30 pages of a plan.
as you can see from the picture above.
Using the Ipad was so stressful as the tripod i had to fit a Ipad never seemed tall enough, so it was often put on boxes, I met with a business client to do a test video for their business
The whole process did not go great, the video went on Youtube Under private for months as the client was not happy with it and then i delete to get rid off all the footage ): as i was not happy with it either.
It was then i Realized that i was going to really struggle at the whole Business video approach and decided a few months later that running a business is not what i wanted anymore.
I had a lot of trouble of My website as me and the person creating it has different ideas and well we did not get on, someone else took on the website but this person could not grasp the concept that it needs to be modern and putting on a image from google images of Grantham was just not acceptable!!!
So the website that was known as Danmediaproductions.co.uk is no longer there.
I started Making Vlogs which i had made in the past but this time talking about my issues and what i had been up to, i guess it was another way of trying to make myself feel better and put myself in a better frame of mind to get on with the day.
Most of the time these vlogs were filmed around Grantham, but the one i love the most is when I traveled to Lincoln to meet a group of people for a day out and met a local musician, I loved Lincoln because of the views of the water near the city Centre and of course steep hill which i had to walk up plus a hour from there in order to get to the pub where i was meeting the people (:
I enjoyed putting together the video after and its a great memory to look back in fact i have not been to Lincoln since that day ):
Back then my photography was not great either because i had no idea what settings to use combined with using a really awful editing program which at the time i thought it was great.
This program was called lightzone which was supposed to be like lightroom but instead made the pictures ultra small in size and look rubbish.
So i just kept learning, both with video production and photography in hopes something would click.
in August 2016 I had popped down to the local food bank, as i was in need of some help,
it was there i had met someone who worked there and was learning photography to,
The first proper makings of putting a video Together and it did not go well, i told Brian this and tried again this time much better, so i created a few more about the team, and one other video (:
My Facebook went mad, with over 1,000 likes on my photos even though they were to me not amazing quality and the video was getting a lot of attention as well, this was when i knew i could still help my local community as a hobby instead (:
From that moment i started working on connecting with people and creating networking opportunities.
In December Sarah Stock was running for a campaign in Sleaford and asked if i could Film the whole conference, which was a good day out to support her and also help out, one to add to my portfolio.
I got the chance to watch a Lincolnshire County Council Meeting also in December, and then until the end of February 2017 The video making front went quiet.
I did not feel in a great place in my mind, and was not enjoying making them, so instead i focused more on learning photography, and working on my physical health as well.
The problem i have is i like to be creative, i like to explore and dabble into different things.
I love making music to and i was using my video skills to try and make visual music videos.
This took hours and days of watching videos on how to do certain things and waiting nearly half a day for the video to export !!!
In those 2 months i had not uploaded any video content, i was still trying to latch onto the idea that i could make videos for businesses.
I know the layout of how i want the video to go, but filming it and learning what effects you want is 2 different things.
So when you have the love of playing tennis and wanting to come up with a amazing creative video for that business, and just crumble under the pressure it really affects your thinking.
this was a intro i had made for the video at the time (:
I knew then that being a video producer just was not what i wanted to do anymore, so i looked around to see of any way of studying more about photography.
I was in look at Grantham college was having a min courses, which was a photography club once a month, and Photoshop lessons once a week !!!
Learning about what settings to use on the camera and learning how to edit photography was really paying off, i was noticing how much clearer my photos were and that photography i managed to capture of Nottingham last year was looking so much nicer and to this date love 2 photos i managed to make look amazing as you can see below (:
The need to try and be part of a community but also still make videos was urging to come out, so that is what i did another march to save Grantham A &E went off, this time wanting to put a better video together, the video did good but once again the photography was doing so much better !!
From that point is when my photography really took off, and i connected more and more with the community (:
The following week saw the biggest task at hand and a totally new experience for me, which pushed my anxiety levels to the max, as i was surrounded by nearly 250,000 people.
This was Going to London, to save our NHS !!!!!! Because i had got involved with the campaigning locally, i was asked to come with to march in London.
I knew my laptop was not great with battery left using editing programs but i still brought it with me, to edit Sarah Stock as she pumped up the bus journey and to transfer over 200 pictures and tons !!!! of video clips taken throughout the day of the march.
Between having a heavy backpack, my laptop, and holding now and then protest signs it made me so tired by the end.
Ive said it before but video production is not a easy job, you have to sort through all the clips to see which ones you will use, edit them, put graphics in, check levels etc, wait for it to export, upload it with good information about the video, share it to different sources, all that just for one video haha, and i had done 5 or 6 i think, on top of sorting through 200 photos to edit !!!
Again the community loved my pictures and again i knew that sticking to photography was my little niche (:
As well as improving my photography i was working on, networking with people and seeing what other ways i could help my community.
So i created a twitter called helping lincolnshire, where i could tweet and retweet anything to with events, posts that businesses had post etc just another source for people to find out whats going on around Lincolnshire !!!
If its not not being asked By ITV to use my photos of the marches in Grantham, then its using how open i am about my mental health and to also promote a good cause on the radio !!!
I had been working a lot on my physical health playing tennis, but also creating blogs about the scheme the tennis club had put on, I got asked to go on Gravity Fm, and then a week later, to BBC Radio Lincolnshire, this was again another step forward in my life using my skills !!
For me what i love about being creative is i take what i do in everyday life, like playing sports, going to the gym and make something more out of it that will help people !!!
I have already done a blog post about the gym i go to so i will not go into to much detail, but i used my photography and social media marketing skills to help them out (:
Another achievement for me was still not wanting to give up creating video but now looking at it from a different perspective, which was covering events.
This being only a few days after going on the radio so it was all happening so fast.
In April 2017 it was St Georges day In Grantham, with lots of stalls, Parades, Dancing and much more going off.
A Group called Octovox was Performing and i feel in love with them as they style was acapella,
and reminded me so much of pentatonix (:
After the day had finished i worked hard on editing the photos first, and then i made a video of just them singing, and a video about the Parade, using Octovox singing as the background hehe (:
I dont claim to be a expert at video production and i know my video making skills need to improve a lot, but as i mentioned above photography is more my passion.
I kept challenging myself to take the same photos every few months around Grantham, but to always improve.
One night it was really nice so i decided to take a small stroll around the town, I noticed the colorful sign of a betting shop and wanted to experiment with the picture when i got back home as you can see above.
One thing i know how to do is get the photos out there, to as many facebook groups, on twitter, instagram etc so again when you think of anything media related there is always much more work to it that people do not see, they just see the end result being the video, pictures etc (:
In may i wanted to challenge my aniexty but also expand my skills into seeing live bands around Grantham, and capturing it.
I love music and always will, even while i write this i am listening to music haha.
The first band i went to see Under the covers, I had brought my camera with me because i wanted to do if i could cope, sadly it got to much for me and left a hour in.
I wrote a blog post about seeing them though, which in fair was a short blog, but it seemed to do really well better then anything i had written at that time.
I forced myself to see more bands and even connecting with the guy who runs the scene who was also a photographer (:
Being able to connect with people gives you so much more insight into their lives but also you get to help each other.
I think the biggest life changing event in terms of my media skills has been meeting CJ Hatt
I really got on well with the guy, and he really liked me making videos of him performing and my photography so much that a few months later, i am going in the car with him to 2 events he played, getting a insight into a musicians life and keeps saying i am his official photographer hehe (:
Although that change in my life has set things in motion, i think for me my achievement in terms of video production skills has to be when i covered a fun day a few months back at Dysart park in Grantham !!!!
I had decided the day before to do some Re-branding with watermarks both with photography and on the videos i made, which really worked a treat (:
I was at the event most of the day, and i think i walk around all the stalls and what was going off at least 10 times, trying to capture the best spots but to also make sure i was not missing something like the dog show as you can see with the picture above and below.
I had edited over 50 pictures, and now it was time for the video editing to start,
with events you need to put a good video together but its also time based, as the later you post it the less attention it will draw and well it was needed to be up quick for a reason that i did not even know of at the time.
With the video i wanted to create the theme of it being fun, since that was the meaning of the event.
The music i used with it worked like magic and i also added a comedy side to things towards the end.
Hannah who worked for the Fun day team, loved the video and photography, that she asked me if i could do my very first editorial for Grantham Matters, which they posted along with my work !!!
So you see if i had posted the video a week later and really nick picked at very little detail to maybe make the video better it would not have got the fame it did !!!! everything happens for a reason is my motto i live by (:
my biggest achievement though overall since starting my media Journey was being asked questions for the Journal and having a whole page about, where i came from and why i do what i do to help the local community !!!!
this last few weeks as been a lot of achievements as I had put a lot of photos together with a blog post about how Feel Good Fitness In Grantham has helped me so much, which got shared onto their page and a lot of people loved it (:
To entering my first photography competition for World Rivers day
I have my wonderful Counselor to thank who i had been seeing for a few weeks now, we talked about a lot of things, inc that i do a lot for the community, but not a lot just for myself, like going for walks and capturing the wonderful place of Grantham, something i had not done in so long because of still loving photography but it was more event based then inspired based !!!
The team who runs the rivers day loved my photo and used as their cover for the event.
On top of that when i went to the event, I was asked to be in a photo with others to be used in a upcoming Journal newspaper so fingers crossed its in there haha.
One of the things i love about being creative is stopping doing one creative thing to do another and things turning out great.
While i was writing about The London Experience, i wanted to go through and create black and white versions, in the past i never bothered with the concept as, black and white photography was not my thing, but the more i started to explore and love photography, the more i liked looking and creating them.
with making black and white photography, its not as simple as hitting the filter and hey you have it.
for me i like going into the filter, fine tune little bits, maybe make the sky a bit brighter, or for example on the picture above the sign saying no cuts more visible (:
For black and white i even start experimenting with shots taken in Grantham of just normal day life, but in a kind of Darker way as seen below (:
So overall its been a big year for me, My media targets may not have been hit to what i wanted to set out and achieve but with taking steps to push through my depression and aniexty, i have connected with the community, and i have achieved things i could never dream off !!!
I honestly can not even think where life will take me next, I just live each day as it comes, pay attention to what is going off in the world and try and help (:
if i can help just one person or one business, and put a smile on their faces then i am happy.
I dont make a living for this and do not see it in the future its just something i really love doing !!!
So there you have it sorry for the small pictures as, i cant seem to get a hang of using other sites, for now i keep blogging on blogger (:
If you would like to see full size photography of my work,
then please follow me on the links below and have a great..... day
My social links
https://www.facebook.com/dmpphotographyuk/
https://twitter.com/DanMediaP
https://twitter.com/DMPWORLDMUSIC
https://twitter.com/DanielMVlogs
https://www.instagram.com/dmpadventures/
http://dannytheexplorer.tumblr.com/
http://dmpuk.weebly.com/
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