Getting Started as a YouTuber....Ugh...

I decided a long time ago to start posting videos to YouTube and posted a couple of concert videos I took at a Joe Satriani concert a couple of years ago. I enjoyed the process of creating the videos in an uploadable format, and so I later posted some more from a second Satriani concert, and then created a few slideshow videos as well.

That brings me to a few months ago. I decided that I liked some content that some YouTubers were putting out, but I found myself looking for 'someone like me'. There are lots of people who play guitar and post guitar videos. There are others who like video games and post gaming videos. The problem is that the ones I find seemed to be way to focused, and thus extremely advanced for the topics I was interested in. So, I decided that I would start putting out things that interest me, a regular guy. I'm not a virtuoso on guitar, nor am I a hardcore gamer. I wanted to find casual videos for these topics, but these are few and far between. I've also been writing product reviews for Amazon since I became a member, back in 2000, so I have hundreds of written reviews, so I figured that I would modernize and make video reviews of products as honestly as I did my written reviews. So, I decided to take the plunge.

I looked at my camera, and found that while it will work for creating vlogs, etc., it's not the best. The current standard camera, a refurbished Canon 70D costs $750 from Canon! That doesn't include a lens, either. People who vlog and create YouTube content use a Sigma lens that alone costs $400. Did I mention microphones? No? A Rode shotgun mic that everyone likes, again, $150-$250. And lighting? Extra!

So, for a camera, lens, and microphone that's become the de-facto standard for YouTube (so much so that at this year's YouTube convention, they gave away gift cards to B&H photo, and many YouTubers bought this exact setup) costs roughly $1400. Ouch.

I'm going to bite the bullet and try to make a few videos using the equipment that I have, and slowly start adding as funds become available.

Jaded

I just realized how jaded I've become. I work in IT, so I'm configuring a new application and doing some testing. As a part of that testing, I sent an email from my work account to my home account, and it took almost 5 minutes for the email to arrive. I was constantly clicking refresh on my browser.

I can remember growing up, actually hand-writing letters to friends and family who lived out of state, and having to wait weeks to get replies. Now, I am impatient with a 5 minute delay? Wow...

I'm working on putting together a narrated slideshow that gives some details on a bed frame I built a while back. I wanted to build it because we got this great bed, but it sat on a flat plastic platform, so there was no under-bed space for storage, or a place for monsters to live. The bed has no box springs, as it's an air bladder mattress, and doesn't need one.

We could have gotten a regular, cheap metal bed frame, but you're still limited to 6-8 inches of under-bed space, and we wanted more. Those square plastic risers just weren't an option for me. They just seem too unstable. Off to the workshop!

I decided to build a wood platform that the mattress can rest on. One issue that we have is that the mattress is a queen, and the stairs going up are split, with a landing in the middle, so if I made a large platform, we'd never get it up the stairs.

So I sat down with some paper, a pencil, and all the algebra and geometry I remember from high school and commenced to work. In short order, I had a plan.

Keep an eye on my YouTube channel for the overview video that will be uploaded soon!

Let's Get It Started

I'm getting this thing started. So far, I've put up a Facebook page, an Instagram page, a Patreon page, and a twitter feed, so I can get the word out.

I'm a technology nerd who loves all thing tech. I also play guitar, love to hike and camp, and am quite the chef. I wanted to use Facebook and YouTube to post information about products and services that I've looked at, and want to give other people an honest review, so that if a product isn't quite what it advertises, you won't waste your money on it.

Honest Review. What does that mean? That means that whether or not a vendor gives me a product at a discount, for free, or even PAYS ME to review it, I'm going to tell the truth. People deserve the truth, don't they?