YOUR QUESTIONS, ANSWERED:
Over on instagram you guys asked me some questions. I was overwhelmed with the response! Thank you!
+ What camera/equipment do you use?
Right now I shoot on the Canon 6D. It's my child. (It cost about as much as one, so I treat it with the same tender love and care.) My go to lenses are the 50mm 1.4 and the canon 24-105mm. I use a manfrotto monopod for stabilization and it really does make the video 10x better!
+ What do you use to edit your photos/videos?
I edit on Lightroom with VSCO presets. They have a free downloadable pack that is AWESOME. Or you can buy individual packs for $60 each. So worth it.
To put my videos together I use Final Cut Pro X!
+ How do you find songs for videos?
Finding music for videos is my favorite part! I'm drawn to anything with a good beat. I edit my videos almost like a choreographed dance, and usually have the concept for a specific video months in advance. It makes it easier to film when you have an idea of what you want the ending product to look like. I find a lot of my songs through Soundcloud and vine (and you thought Vine was dead) and when I hear a good song I tuck it away into a playlist I use for editing. The song is so KEY. You want it to leave a lasting impression. Two summers ago, I made a short video of me and my boyfriend and posted it on Twitter. It made the rounds and got pretty popular. I wanted to think it's because I'm so dang cute, but every single comment was about the song I used! It was, "Catch and Release" by Matt Simons. To this day I still have people who tell me that song reminds them of that video, and that is the greatest compliment I could ask for. I try to do that with all of my videos. Use a song that pulls everything together and really connects with your viewer.
+ How did you get started in videography and what is your advice for getting started?
I've always loved film and movies. I'm fascinated by it all, and it was always something I wanted to explore. For me it started by making the 'year end video' for my cheerleading banquets in junior high. Then it became me getting really creative for my Spanish projects, or just making videos at the end of family vacations. I just really liked to edit and see my vision come together. Filming and editing videos was just a hobby and working with it professionally was just a small dream of mine. At the end of my senior year, A good friend asked me to film her wedding. I was FREAKING out! She's just trusting me with the biggest day of her life. No big deal. So in the months leading up to the wedding, I watched hundreds of videos on Vimeo and YouTube trying to teach myself. What really helped me though, was shadowing a friend who had a lot of experience. She taught me all of her tips and tricks and I was able to learn hands-on. She came with me to the wedding and I owe her my life because of it!! The video ended up being great and a week after I put it on the internet, I had three people emailing me about my prices and availability. It was crazy! That's just kind of the way the business works. Once I had a few weddings under my belt, I took a loan out and bought some nice camera equipment. It was expensive but it pays for itself pretty fast. A year and a half later, and it's my full time job. I'm on a plane to Seattle to film a wedding as I write this. So keep at it, if you're just beginning!! Look at me for example. It gets better I promise :) I haven't "made" it by any means, and I still have a lot to learn. But I have come so far and I'm proud. I'm so flattered that people are even asking me for advice on this topic. Here are my top tips:
- ASK FOR HELP! Like I said, shadowing someone is what helped me the most. Find someone who works in the field that you want to go into, and come with them to a job. You will learn so much.
- FIND YOUR STYLE. Find something that sets you apart from other videographers or photographers.
- START FILMING! The only way you can find your style, is if you start playing around with a camera. Film a highlight video of your next school year, or your next vacation, or just get some friends together and film a music video. As long as you're filming and getting experience.
- DON'T COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS. Everyone is guilty of this, but in a creative field this will drain you, fast. Especially with Instagram and so many social media platforms, I get so insecure about my work. "Why can't I edit like ____" or "If only I had as many followers as ____" it's so natural, and it's something I struggle with so bad. Something that has helped me though, is to let those people inspire me, and motivate me instead of discourage and intimidate me.
- DON'T GET CAUGHT UP IN HAVING EXPENSIVE EQUIPMENT! You don't need to have a $2000 camera to make good videos. Content and editing is everything. You can film on an iPhone and still make a masterpiece.
+ What are your current music faves?
Anything by Frank ocean. I'm whipped.
+ How do you travel so much?
If you haven't read my post "create the life you want" that will give you a good idea! Basically I never traveled much growing up. Our family vacations every year were to Idaho Falls for baseball tournaments. (TURN UP!!!) so when I graduated and got a taste of freedom, I decided to take a year or two off to do the things I'd been daydreaming about in classrooms my whole life. Most of that included traveling! Luckily I have the perfect job for someone with wanderlust. I travel all the time for work and get to see incredible places and meet amazing people, and I make money while doing it. Sounds too good to be true right? It's amazing. I use the money I make from videos, to go on other cool adventures and make more videos. The perfect balance. lol.
+ Where do you want to travel next? Top of my list right now is Europe. Specifically London, for reasons totally unrelated to tracking down Harry styles and making him fall in love with me. (but pretty much just that.) i'd also love to go to Italy, Paris, Sweden, Ireland...basically just a huge tour around Europe. I'm thinking February? Who's in? Also on my ever-growing bucket list is: Africa, India, Greece and Dubai.
+ Life goals?
To have a houseboat so people are forced to be friends with me.
+ How does the gospel effect your life?
I grew up in the LDS church. A blogger from Utah that's MORMON? groundbreaking. And I can say that the gospel is the only thing in my life that I am 100% sure of. I am so grateful for the gospel in my life. No matter how far I stray, or how many mistakes I make, it will always be there for me. It's so comforting.
+ How do you get over a boy leaving on a mission?
This one is hard! I got home from dropping my boyfriend off at the airport, and cried for four hours, slept for four hours, and woke up and cried some more. It was a cycle. Once I got the tears out of the way, I knew the only way to be happy was to keep myself busy. And it's hard because you feel so lonely. I wish I was one of those girls that could have a million close friends and a boyfriend but I totally wasn't! So when he left I had to force myself out of my comfort zone and hop back into the social scene. The other thing you have to remind yourself, is that time heals all wounds. That’s just good advice to get over any boy. It hurts so bad in the moment, but one day you'll wake up and you'll be just fine. Girl Power.
+ How many siblings do you have?
I have one older brother, two younger brothers and a little sister. Follow me on Snapchat @ itsindysev to watch me exploit my family on a daily basis.
+ Did you ever think you would get over 10,000 followers?
Never in a million years!! When I was in eighth grade my friend Zoe showed me Instagram. She made me an account and we were the only people around who had it. Back then Instagram was iPhone photo shoots, Marilyn Monroe quotes, and pictures of my puppy with a Valencia filter slapped on. I'll never forget when we each hit 100 followers. We wrote out this huge long post about how grateful we were for them, and how would be nowhere without their support. Adorable and hilarious. Fast forward five years, and Zoe now has 200K followers. No big deal!! And I reached 10K at the beginning of this year. It was a big moment for me because I realized a lot of important things. I remember having around 9,990 followers and checking my phone every 10 minutes waiting for the number at the top to change. I was soooo excited! And suddenly it did. my profile now read '10k'. The newly added 'K' almost representing a new social status. But that's all the changed. The number on the screen. I didn't become any cooler because of it. Overrated.
Instagram is a huge part of my life to be honest. It's my job in some ways, it's how I connect with people, it's how I stalk my ex-boyfriend's new girlfriends, it's how I document my life. But I will never let a number define me.
With that being said, I couldn't be more grateful or mind blown that 10,000+ people care enough to follow along with my life. Crazy!
+ If you could be a Kardashian who would you be?
First of all, I love this question. Second of all, it's a tough one. Let's weigh our options.
I love the strict rule of 'rappers and athletes' that they follow for dating. I can hang with that. But I could never marry Kanye. So Kim is out.
I love Khloe, but if I'm going to go full Kardashian I can't be the 'funny one' guys use to describe the less good looking friend. I'm already that girl. Done. Move on. I want to be the hot one. Kendall maybe???
But Kendall is kind of boring, right? And Kourtney is too mean. Kylie is my girl, but remember? I'm bad at makeup. I would run the lipkit business into the ground.
So after considering all options, I would have to say: North West.
And with that, i'll conclude this extremely long and unnecessarily detailed Q/A. Thank you so much to everyone who asked questions! If you have any others, leave a comment, an email, or slide in my dm's on insta.
love you all!
