A question I am often asked.
Why and when did I first get interested in videography?
In the beginning, recording videos was spurred on by my passion for teaching martial arts. As far back as the mid-90's, I was recording and producing training videos for my students at home and abroad. Early training material was filmed on analogue camcorders and uploaded to my academy martial arts website in a private members section.
In 1999, things started to get a bit serious when I purchased my Canon Legria GX30, back then, this camera cost over £700, this topped out at about £1000 with accessories. In 2004 (21 years ago) I produced and released my first training DVD, this was the year before YouTube was founded.
YouTube (somewhat) made training DVDs redundant, however, this opened the door for me to share training material and videos of my journey throughout Europe teaching at international seminars via my first YouTube channel. Sadly, my first channel was deleted accidentally when I deleted what I thought was an inactive email account. Moving forward about 10 years, I suffered a period of depression. Life seemed robotic, it seemed all work and martial arts, every day seemed like Groundhog Day (where the same events happen again and again). Life felt meaningless and humdrum. So, to combat the depression and stress, I decided to rekindle many of my outdoor interests from my teens. This was followed by combining my love of sharing my hobbies in video form with the launch of my David Wilson Out and About YouTube channel in 2019. As the saying goes, the rest is history.
Sharing my interest in the outdoors and places of historic interest via social media platforms (YouTube and Facebook) is like therapy for me. I am self-taught and am merely a novice in the art of videography and production, but I push myself to create better content constantly.
As a pensioner and widower (who works a few days a month), I find the challenge of planning, filming, and producing videos very fulfilling. Many people who live alone seem to get lonely and wallow in self-pity. Interests and hobbies are what is needed to mentally and physically challenge oneself.
I intend to continue to challenge life physically, mentally, and technically for as long as I am able.
