VLOG: Hong Kong 2017

DAMN, GABRIEL! BACK AT IT AGAIN WITH THE VLOGS. This post is a little (a lot) late, but I just wanted to share my travel vlogs from my trip to Hong Kong here on the website. I've been wanting to make vlogs a la Casey Neistat and so far the experience has been really fun and has taught me a lot of things about vlogging in general.

5 Things I've Learned About Vlogging

1. Talk to the camera

I think the biggest hurdle that people who are starting out with vlogging experience is the feeling/idea of talking to their cameras. At the start, it can be really weird and lots of people will stare at you like "what is that guy doing?,” but don't mind them, just don't take yourself too seriously and it'll be really fun!

In relation to that, always remember that when making vlogs, you have to LOOK at the camera. If you have something like a Canon 70D or Canon G7x, or anything with a flip out screen, it's really easy to fall into the trap of looking at the front facing screen to check for composition. And though it may seem like it won’t make a huge difference on camera, trust me when I say it does. It's really distracting when you watch your footage again and it really detracts from the whole “talking to your audience” feel. Don't worry though because I know it's a really tough thing to get over and I honestly still find myself doing it most of the time.

2. Change your angles

Unless you're Ed Sheeran or some really famous YouTuber, people will most likely be uninterested in watching your 10 minute long vlogs. You need to give people a reason to keep watching your vlogs until the end, and I think that one of the easiest solutions is to have fun and interesting camera angles. If you're gonna be talking a lot for extended periods of time (say at least 30 seconds), then I'd recommend you switch between angles to make sure people aren't just staring at one kind of shot the entire time. Plus, it really helps you get more creative with the space around you!

3. Know what you're gonna do, and vlog accordingly

One of the most fun things about travel vlogging is the spontaneity that it has. When you're exploring a new city and you wanna soak up all the sights and try everything, all while capturing every moment for your vlog, it's really easy to get carried away and end up shooting everything. Unfortunately, due to the physical limitations of batteries and storage capacity, sometimes one battery or SD card might just not cut it. It’s important to know beforehand how far your batteries/SD cards can go, and then vlog according to that. You don't wanna shoot footage all morning only to miss out an entire afternoon of exploration just because you didn't prepare enough juice for your camera. For those of your who are vlogging on a budget (or just don't bother to get a spare battery), I hope that this tip is helpful.

4. Have spare batteries/SD cards

For those people who don't have a limit to how much they can spend on their vlogging gear (I am very jealous of you) or just have a bit more cash to spend, I'd recommend having at least one extra battery and SD card on you. You may not use it at all, but it's a lot better knowing you have the option of going to a second battery if you're vlogging for extended periods of time or an extra SD card if you happen to be doing a lot of things that day.

5. Have fun

As cliche as it sounds, at the end of the day, the most important part is to remember to have fun. Vlogs are there to share the experience of traveling or whatever it may be that you're doing, but you shouldn’t let it get in the way of experiencing what it is you're doing. It takes time, but once you ease up and start enjoying, vlogging will find a way to integrate itself into your travel experiences, making your vlogs more genuine and overall more enjoyable to watch.

I wouldn't really call myself a vlogging expert or anything like that, but I just wanted to share some of my thoughts on what I've learned from my own experiences and hopefully you guys find at least one of them useful! So without further ado, here's the first part of my recent Hong Kong vlog. Hope you guys enjoy it!

Also, here are some photos that I took throughout my visit to Hong Kong!