My first monthly vlog is here! This month, my Highlights post has come in the form of a vlog, and it documents some of the best bits from the past 30 days. I kicked things off at the start of the month by heading to Birmingham with my gal pal Emmie, for the Ibis Lates event at their New Street Station Hotel. In a collaboration between Ibis and The Roundhouse, the Ibis Lates events aim to raise money for Teenage Cancer Trust while showcasing some of the best upcoming artists in an intimate gig setting.
After a quick burrito (can't argue with that), we made our way to our home for the night and got ready for the evening ahead. When we went downstairs, the lobby/breakfast area of the hotel had been transformed into a fully fledged gig venue, complete with green room which became our base for the event. First in the line-up was Kenan Kian, the perfect choice to open the event with his upbeat sassy tunes, and let's be real, anyone that starts a track "this is for all the bullshit bitches out there" gets my seal of approval! What was most inspiring was to hear how he had dealt with homelessness and other issues, which obviously have influenced his performance and songwriting. Next up was soulful Malunga, who brought a beautiful voice with an eclectic mix of influences before the headline act. Birmingham-based duo Ekkah took to the Ibis Lates stage to deliver an upbeat set, full of good vibes and 80's/electro-pop influences. It was a brilliant night and I'd definitely recommend going to any of their future events for a budget-friendly night (tickets are £5) of great music, all in aid of charity.
After a quick burrito (can't argue with that), we made our way to our home for the night and got ready for the evening ahead. When we went downstairs, the lobby/breakfast area of the hotel had been transformed into a fully fledged gig venue, complete with green room which became our base for the event. First in the line-up was Kenan Kian, the perfect choice to open the event with his upbeat sassy tunes, and let's be real, anyone that starts a track "this is for all the bullshit bitches out there" gets my seal of approval! What was most inspiring was to hear how he had dealt with homelessness and other issues, which obviously have influenced his performance and songwriting. Next up was soulful Malunga, who brought a beautiful voice with an eclectic mix of influences before the headline act. Birmingham-based duo Ekkah took to the Ibis Lates stage to deliver an upbeat set, full of good vibes and 80's/electro-pop influences. It was a brilliant night and I'd definitely recommend going to any of their future events for a budget-friendly night (tickets are £5) of great music, all in aid of charity.
My other Highlight of the Month had to be going down to London for the Manfrotto Masterclass, a day of vlogging education from the experts. After bumping into pal Annie at St Pancras, Starbucks in tow (I learnt the hard way that their Cinnamon Buns don't taste as good as they look), we headed to the event held at Lumiere Studios in Southwalk. First up was a masterclass in all things YouTube, direct from a vlogger's mouth. The lovely Josie from Fashion Mumblr gave us the inside scoop on everything from turning viewers into subscribers and how to beat that bloody YouTube algorithm (don't even get me started...). It turned into a bit of a Q&A situation and I left confident that I was on the right track, with a few new things to try too. Some key things that I took were: a) publish straight after uploading instead of scheduling (the algorithm doesn't priortise scheduled videos) and b) publish outside of "popular" times (lessens the competition to get your video seen).
The next masterclass was from expert photographer Jim Marks (who has produced both still and video campaigns for big-name brands like Dove and Nike, as well as shot with celebrities including Hugh Laurie and Jennifer Saunders) all about lighting, something that I was very eager to learn about. One thing that I really took from the talk was that it wasn't so much about the type of lighting you have, more so what you do with it. He spend a lot of time explaining how light moves and how to manipulate it to get it to work for you, with things like diffusers and reflectors. I currently have a pair of softboxes, and had been wondering whether to purchase a ringlight, but I've since altered the positioning of the light source. Having one light above you pointing down at a 45 degree angle works best (although watch the dark shadows underneath your chin as you might need a reflector) and then the other light can be used to brighten the background. It's made so much difference!
Out of anything, Jim recommended the Lykos LED lights (from £300.95), which are expensive but a lot more space-saving than my current setup, as well as the Lumimuse 3 LED Light (£45.95) for vlogging. I've opted for the more affordable, pocket-friendly ML120 12 LED Light (currently £19.98), which I'm looking forward to playing around with on my camera, as well as on my iPhone with the help of the ShoulderPod G1 Grip* (£24.90), which we were kindly gifted at the event. The last masterclass had a focus on iPhone photography, and it's definitely encouraged me to ditch the camera in favour of more "in the moment" content for vlogs, and they recommended using an app like FiLMic Pro (£14.99) where you can use manual functions to manipulate your lighting situation for better quality footage. It was a really informative day, and I've already put some of the tips into practice! P.S. You can use code FOLLOWER17 for 20% off on the Manfrotto website!
Make sure you check out the vlog and subscribe in time for next month's!
What has been your highlight from the last month?
- Many thanks to both the Ibis Lates and Manfrotto teams for having me at their events -
- As always, this does not affect my view and I will always give an honest opinion of a product/brand/service -
