Change Your Default Settings
When you first get your camera, it’s typically set to “Auto”. Your camera has default settings telling the camera how to take the picture. You get automatic decisions made about how bright the photo is, how saturated (full of color) it is, the range of colors, how much of the photo will be in focus etc etc. Now, don’t get me wrong, you can get GREAT results on auto. BUT. The magic happens when you know enough to change your settings. The magic happens when you know what each of your options mean and what you need to manipulate to cultivate the results you want. I may have achieved the…
2019 DragonCon Video Highlight Reel
If you had seen a few months back, I stated that at Dragoncon this year, I would be focused on improving my videography skills. The plan was to bull doze into many new areas in all of pre-production, production AND in post. Specifically I worked on: In-Camera transitions. (see 0:23 the TARDIS to Dcon sign, 0:49 the punch and Phazon Pixie Cosplay’s change in costume, 1:16 the dice to drone shot, and 2:22 the glasses to cosplay photo shoot) Crazy editing effects I’ve never tried before (0:00 with the strobe effect, and the flashing between scenes – also used throughout) This also includes the super fast pace this video took…
I’m not cosplaying at Dragon*Con 2019 and here’s why
Last year I went to Dragon*Con 2018 for the first time after being completely jealous on September 3, 2017 when my friends who had went told me all the fun things they had done. When I went last year, I brought costumes with me and during the four days I was there became Regular Sailor Jupiter Punk Sailor Jupiter Lady Loki and Dustin of Stranger Things Why then, am I not cosplaying this year? Feel free to watch the vlog I created on just that. 🙂 Cliff notes version? I want to focus my efforts on creating an epic travel vlog. Boo-yah.
What are your Three Words?
Happy Independence Day to America! I would also like to wish a “Happy Independence Day” to everyone who realizes their destiny is forever in their hands. No matter how our hands are or feel bound, our thoughts are always our own. Today has reminded me of an activity the illustrious Tress Hotzel of https://tresshotzel.com led us through at a recent coaching event in Ann Arbor which was an echo of the same activity the magical Sandi Maki of https://www.sandimaki.com ran our team through in January. What are your three words? What three words capture the essence of you? What ideals speak to your inner most essence? Happiness? Love? Joy? Trust?…
Permission to Speak? Granted.
I am blessed to know so many amazing and inspirational people! One of them, Nick Suino of https://nicklaus-suino.com put on a kick-butt day-long event and asked me to speak. So I did! I come to the stage at 2:36 I talk a bit about my story and how asking “What’s the worst that can happen” while either making consistent small steps or jumping head first into something helps to develop us into the person that we aspire to be.
Your Life is a Movie and You are the Editor
The Director may have the vision, and the Camera Operator may capture the shot, but it is the Editor who decides how the story flows, where the scenes appear, which shots gets seen and which don’t. We are all Editors – irrespective of whether we make videos for our selves/businesses or not, we are all Editors because we are all editing the movie that is our life. Will we see that person again? Did they move the plot forward? Are they contributing to our character growth? We decide the supporting actors who push us in our character arc. We can also decide to cut those that do not move our…
My Best Life Speech : Inspired (video)
I forgot to post this on my blog! Oh no! Last month I spoke at the Best Life Summit in Durham, North Carolina – it took me a long time to come up with what I wanted to say, but I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out – even if I haven’t exactly watched myself give the speech… Video Transcript : Emcee: And next up we have Katie Curtis. She’s from Michigan. She’s an undercover princess with an eye of a videographer, and right now she’s just finished a movie called The Pirate Pool movie, which the main character is a dog. If you don’t believe her you…
Questions on Intellectual Rights and Answers from the Universe
I’ve had a quandry rattling around in my head. Usually when we have some thought playing on repeat, it’s not something beneficial. It’s just some open loop that we run over and over looking for closure, mostly without realizing it, and usually not finding what we’re looking for until we finally bring it into focus. This time was no different. I work in a field of intellectual rights. It’s easy to NOT steal something physical, but the whole world gets murky when the goods are virtual. What constitutes copyright infringement when the products are words, photos, videos, and ideas? Thankfully, I haven’t had to deal with any “theft” or potential…
TOP TEN Ideas for a video withOUT using your Face (video)
If you just didn’t feel up to appearing in your own video, here are 10 ways to make a video without using your face! Resource section (aka giving credit where due!) Thumbnail photo by Adrian Pelletier on Unsplash My instagram Glenn Matecun- Estate Planning Lawyer Whiteboard software Kevin J. Anderson (he’s available for speaking engagements too!) Camtasia Live video from Dragoncon Pool shots- Legendary Escapes Pool in question (TV SHOW AND MOVIE I MADE) Tutorial mentioned Chelsea Claire (Phazon Pixie Cosplay) Stock video resources: https://www.videoblocks.com https://www.pond5.com https://videohive.net/
Sometimes you win while sleeping (usually after sacrificing lots of sleep)
I awoke to a flight attendant tapping my shoulder and urging me to pull down my tray table. Odd, don’t they usually wake you up so you can do the opposite? Groggily, I pulled down the tray in a dreamy, Charlie pre-golden ticket state to reveal a (not gold but) yellow sticker proclaiming, “Congrats! You found the lucky seat, you lucky so-and-so! You’re like a leprechaun born with a rabbit’s foot finding a heads-up penny underneath a horseshoe in a field of 4-leaf clovers. #spiritluckyseat” Still in a fog, I only nodded as I was handed a voucher for 5,000 free miles on Spirit and my seat number was announced…
Inspired Stories. Inspired Videos. Inspired Lives.
