Category: YouTube Channel Information

Life Update: Where I’ve Been & What I’ve been doing

I guess this whole blog is kind of full of “life updates” from me. It’s basically where I share what’s been going on in my life.

I’ve fallen far behind on my logging my meals on here. It gets tedious, honestly, and I imagine they’re equally as boring to read. My goal was to be as open as possible with how I lose my weight. I feel like I met that goal. The last 15 or so pounds will come off in a similar way with a little more movement. The first thing I’ll say is that I have not given up and I am still losing weight albeit slowly. Last update I wrote here, I weighed 168.5, today I weigh 162.5. This is a 6 pound loss over about 3 months- ish. I had a 6 week plateau in there and I just recently started losing again, but that’s how weight loss works sometimes. I also recently started jogging again and am planning to run a 5k in mid-May, as long as it doesn’t get cancelled.

On to that now. Of course, the Covid-19 virus is affecting me, my family and how we live our day to day lives. My uncle-in-law has cancelled plans to visit his elderly (90 year-old) parents due to a fellow competitor in a tournament sending an email indicating that he had been identified as having Coronavirus, only to discover later that it was a hoax and that the guy just thought it would be ‘funny’ to say that he had it. My in-laws have had to cancel travel, important meetings, etc… My husband is working from home for the foreseeable future. I am dealing with some of the most debilitating anxiety I’ve ever dealt with. It is affecting my everyday life, and my sleep is highly disrupted. I wake up at least once every 2 hours. I am having nocturnal panic attacks. And my day is filled with worrying thoughts. Thoughts about this virus and whether or not I’ll lose someone I love, or if someone in my family will get sick. I keep telling people to stay indoors, but, I feel like some of them aren’t concerned yet. I spoke to my grandparents yesterday, and I just can’t help but to worry about them. Hug the ones you love, my friends.

I know some of you also know that I do YouTube from time to time. I have absolutely not had the time for that. I had really wanted to go on VypLive, my friend @Vyyyper on Twitter’s YouTube channel. But I couldn’t find the time. I’ve been over here getting myself situated to stay indoors for as long as physically possible, as much as possible. Of course, it’s going to be hard, but going for a drive here & there and a jog once every couple of days is what I hope will keep the cabin fever at bay. Another thing: I have decided to focus my YouTube channel on Lululemon, much like my main blog at www.lululemonexpert.com. I hope this improves the audience experience. I have unlisted most of the other content on my channel after receiving complaints about x-type of content only being 2 or 3 of my 80 videos. I don’t want to get into specifics, and I truly did want to have a “variety” type channel,- even though I know it does not work for growth, as that is not my goal- but I also don’t want to disappoint people who discover my channel. So, I will only be making Lululemon-related content, or perhaps just primarily Lululemon related content. To be honest: I’m probably going to make other videos, but not make them “public,” since the actual goal of my channel for myself was to capture my life as well as helping people. And I can capture my life by posting videos but not making them “public.” And I can help people make good purchasing decisions by posting my Lululemon Hauls and collection videos. Or, I can just entertain them- which is also helpful in a way 🙂 I know that was long-winded, but it was actually a really hard decision for me to unlist a lot of my videos. I just decided that people knowing what to expect on my channel was going to be prioritized based on feedback I’ve received.

Anyways, I will be sure to write again soon, Thanks for reading, y’all!

Equipment I Use for YouTube

Good day, fellow #NoSmallCreator family member! Or human interested in the equipment I use, hello to you too! I just wanted to write today about [some of] the equipment that I use to make my YouTube videos, as a “smaller creator” on YouTube. 

The first thing I think most people are interested in is the camera. I currently use a Canon 80D, which I bought for myself for Christmas last year, just prior to starting my channel. I think these consumer model cameras are great for people who are just starting out and the autofocus is really good, in my opinion. My previous camera, (which I was actually able to sell for about $300, even though it was really old!) a Canon T3i, was good, but it did not make good videos because the autofocus was so poor. I’ve heard that the autofocus is better in the newer models (like the T6i or T7i), but not as smooth as in the 80D model. I’ve even heard that the audio picks up the sound of the lense as it is autofocusing, which is not the vibe I’m looking for in my videos. The T7i model is cheaper than the 80D model, so if you’re looking to save some coin, I think a good mic and some sound-editing could fix the sound issue. The newest Canon camera body out is the M50– I’ve heard really good things about it, and if you’re interested in seeing it in action, check out this video on Brian G Johnson’s channel where he shares how to set it up for the best vlogging quality.   

I also own a Canon G7x Mark II. It’s a much smaller camera I use for vlogging when I’m running around and it’s perfect because it allows me the freedom to keep it in my purse, and people don’t react to it the same way they do when I’m vlogging using my large Canon 80D. On top of that, it’s MUCH lighter and easier to hold away from my face for long periods of time.

Canon G7x Mark ii

The second and arguably most important thing, since most people will tolerate lower video quality, but not poor audio quality, is your mic. I own 4 mics that I use in different situations. I have one RODE  Video Mic that sits atop my Canon 80D when I’m filming at home in the “studio” which is basically, at my desk in front of my many ikea box shelves. I also use a Blue Raspberry for recording voice overs and during the odd livestream. 

My third mic is a lav-mic I use when I’m out & about using my vlogging camera, it’s SUPER cheap- I was just unwilling to pony up the $60 for the Rode smartLav+ instead, I spent $12 and got this Lav Mic by POP Voice. The reviews were positive, and I was in no hurry, so it wasn’t a risk for me to maybe have to exchange it for the Rode model if the Pop Voice one didn’t work out. Well, I’m happy to say that it absolutely worked out, and the audio for almost all my vlogs now comes from this mic- which is miles better than the audio from the Canon G7X. Trust me, if you buy the G7X, you’ll want an external audio source- the native audio on that camera is just not great unless you’re in a silent room. Otherwise, it picks up everything.

The final mic I have, which I actually haven’t even used (YET!) is my Rode Reporter Mic. I plan to use this during interviews, but I’ve not ventured so far in my YouTube journey as of yet. It is the best on the market in my opinion for newbies, as far as reporter mics go & I’ve heard it in action on a lot of my favorite creators’ channels. 

Anywho- Those are a few of the things I use right now as far as camera and sound go. What do you use on your channel? Let me know in the comments below!