I feel like letting others document is the most overlooked one. "Letting go" is often something I forget to do, to let life do life as people also see it. I didn't realize how much joy I could get from seeing the photos that my little cousins took with my expensive camera (much to the anxiety of their parents) during a Thanksgiving get together. It was so innocent and honest and captured so much more of the moment than I could by myself.
Absolutely, every trip now, either with family or friends, I teach the basics of the camera and let people use it, actually encourage them to use as much as possible, It’s amazing getting the camera later and seeing all the photos, feels like film all over again, I’m always pleasantly surprised. Some friends have zero technical experience, but a much better eye and different perspective.
"Take more photos than you think you should" A tip for young people like myself. Unforunately I do not remember who the quote is attributed to. Great video!
Beautiful video man. I once read a quote online saying very similar to what you are saying here - about why we should try to capture the 'mundane' moments especially. The parent making dinner, the friend reading a book, a lover doing their hair. These 'mundane' moments might seem boring, but they make up 99% of life. The 1% - the big moments that everyone takes photos of - do not represent the vast majority of your time on earth. Love!
Nothing illustrates the need for documentation than when you can look through the photos of an era gone by; when you graduate college, when your kids get older, when you're no longer single, etc you look at the photos from that time and relive the great memories
Since I first got a film camera I’ve been really inspired by the idea of being the “family historian” - I take loads of photos of my family - still not consistent about filming things, but I’m glad for scenes I have captured that way, especially with my fiancée
Gene, part 3 hit me. My daughters had recently offered to take photos using my point-and-shoot film camera. I love watching how they perceive environments and document moments.
I started isolating. Hiding myself from people I know to avoid judgement. In doing so I stopped really enjoying my life and few years passed. I'm trying to get a camera. Visited a friend who made me like the idea of it. I mentioned I'm getting one to a friend and 1 family member. Their immediate response was about money and getting companies to hire you. I didn't know how to explain that I'm getting it to document even the most boring days of my life. To make those days and moments important. to appreciate them more. To appreciate people more. I'm not looking to make money. I'm hoping to save myself from the cage I've carefully built.
i hope you do succeed in saving yourself. i know how it feels to live in a cage like that so i hope you find the strength to live life freely and fully . sending love
You just made my brain click and, trust me, I was badly needing it to click for the last 5 or 6 years. I got a new purpose again and I like it. Thank you.
Lovely video. I love seeing people with this mentality. I feel like as life becomes more and more digital, the less life is documented on a personal level. I've printed my film photos for years so that my family may be able to enjoy them once I'm gone. I want people I love to see my life as I saw it through the cameras I used, not through old social media pages.
A quote that was dropped in TOP (Mike Johnston's blog) about why to photograph was: "Because people die". I have photographed since I was 9-10 and entered film in my teens, even with that fleeting motivation to document I even caught Kodachrome. Looking back I am glad to my former very young self that those moments and people are photographed. It's a mixed feeling seeing an image form on the developer tray from a TriX negative shot 10 years ago of late grandpa. It's fantastic now to have a lot of different tools to do this, specially video with the phone. On the latter, good that phones are already excellent for snapshots and carry largeish sensors.
i'm a uni studnet and a new creator who just started 1.5wks ago. i remember watching your videos back when i was in high school: they were highly instrumental in shaping my motivation and the 'vibe' of my videos. documenting my life - and sharing the reflections along the way - is what i do. and i don't think i would've started if it wasn't for content like yours. i know this comment is far delayed, but thanks for being a star of guidance, gee. and to anyone watching - if you're lost and in your teens/early adulthood - i hope you find a community on my page. i believe you saw this comment for a reason. loved this video. keep going!
This is such a sign… I was just recommended your video. Never heard of you before, never documented my life…. until 10 minutes ago. I started running more seriously last year September. Had to pause entirely in October due to knee pain. Started over in March this year and ran twice every week since and registered for my first ever half marathon on September 19th this year. However, fast forward a few months: knee pain again. Had to pause by the end of July. I have invested a lot of thought and money into my comeback since and even did a running analysis to learn more about what I am doing wrong or if. Today was my first run since end of July. The goal for the half marathon next month is still on and while I have had so much trouble in the last months, I decided to document my journey beginning today. 10 minutes before seeing this video pop up on my start page, I recorded a quick video. I plan on continuing to doing so over the course of the next months. So hopefully next year around this time, I will have finished my first ever marathon and also documented my journey towards it. Again, it feels a little bit like destiny seeing this video as I have not looked up any similar videos and your video came out of nowhere. Thanks for sharing, I will stick around - you became some part of my journey today.
Apart from documenting life through photographs and videos, I like to write down all of my activities or experiences that happen to me on my calendar app. Besides appointments, dinner dates, events, and so on, I like to document the mundane, such as what movie/show I watch or if I ever find a restaurant that I spontaneously go in to eat at. It can be tedious at times since things change all the time, but looking back on a specific or a random day and there's a list of what you did that day waiting for you to see is like time traveling to me.
Definitely feel this. I'm so thankful for technology and how far it's come. Having the ease of recording video/taking pictures on your phone does (in some way) allow you to still be in the moment. My son is 3 now and I often watch old videos back because it's so easy to access the date/time/etc. Great video, man! New Sub here.
Love how you put this together!! Looking back on memories is something I love to do, and it's amazing how technology makes documenting everyday life so easy today 😁
Gene, this video is so special. Not me just casually weeping on my couch thankful I've started to document more and inspired to continue to. Thanks for such a lovely reminder.
i have a youtube channel started back in 2016, reason behind starting channel was documenting my life like places i visit, the things i do where my family back home in Nepal can see it and experience through my lens. I am in los angeles right now, and fell deep into the algorithms of likes and views and seeing not progressing the channel made me held back and super inconsistent. Now i realise why i started in first place to which was to document my life rather than running for views and likes. I still love making videos and this video connected with me so much i will start making videos again and capture the precious moments which i get to live. Thanks
awesome video. as a 46yr old dad, one thing i can share is to continue documenting your kids even in their teen, tweens, and so on. Also, i also recorded my daughter's voice when she started talking.
This is a wonderful glimpse into your and your children's views on your family. Thank you for sharing it. Seeing videos like this and how other photographers like Matt Day document their lives inspires me to do the same and personally, this is what I feel gives me the most joy in photography.
Bro this is so inspiring and heartwarming ;0 Your kids will definitely appreciate the memories they've documented growing up. And it's just always nice to see how far you've come and the memories you've made on your journey. Will definitely start doing this.... heckk will even give my kids one of these cameras for the future :^0
Really appreciate that man! For real I absolutely love that our kids document with their cameras as well and I can't wait to archive all their images for years to come.
I rarely print my photographs, but watching photos and videos through my 50' 4K TV is very satisfying. I even want to get a bigger and better TV. It's like the most immersive way to recollecting my memories 😂
Great video. As a middle-aged person, I take a lot of photos and videos of my family to create full-length videos. However, my wife and kids often ask me to stop. In response, I remind them that they'll always have these memories to look back on of their childhood their friends their family, and the places we visited so when I'm gone they can always look at them laugh and cry.
I was lucky when my mum decided to hand her video camera down to me when I was thirteen or so. It sparked my love of video and since then, I always have a camera in my hand. Having these memories of my family documented is probably the posession I cherish most, so I totally understand this video! ^^
I think this is a really important and underrated way to show your life. As we get older, it gets more special looking back on the small moments that you or I have captured through pictures or videos. I remember reading years ago about the need to document one's life, even if it's just for you. It can help make us appreciate the small moments or the little things more and more. Thanks for the video Gene.
As the saying goes, the best camera is the one you have with you. Smartphone camerass have certainly come a long way in terms of its quality and use cases. Filming an entire 4K movie on your PHONE was unfathomable until recently. It's certainly gotten a lot more people into the world of photography and cinematography - that's a good thing. However, it seems like pulling out the phone has gotten so easy and part of life that people have forgotten what it's like to live in the moment. The 90s and early 2000s, at least for me, were great for my childhood memories. We all got together to look at PHYSICAL PHOTO ALBUMS! We did not rely on sending photos over text or just looking at moments on Facebook. As much as I wish all of my childhood could have been filmed digitally , the memories associated with the photos that were developed throughout the years still live on in my head and I am glad most were documented for me. I can look at these photos and remember the events surrounding them because I was allowed to live in the moment. While my siblings and cousins have way more photos and videos of them as children thanks to the rise of digital cameras and smartphones, they will never get to experience seeing the majority of their lives captured on film cameras and camcorders.
I am in loooove with this video 🥺 as someone who documents her daily life, i feel this!!! I tend to forget a lot of things if I don't see them, so it's very important for me to take photos and videos as often as I can (while still enjoying the moment! :D)
those vtech cameras are such a great idea omg i myself am documenting my life by capturing my thoughts and emotions in both journals and youtube videos talking to the camera. i also like to take pics and videos with my phone because google photos reminds you years after about some of those moments
There’s a fine line between making a concerted effort to document your life and experiencing life through a device/camera lens, which in my opinion bastardizes the overall emotion of an experience not only for yourself but for the subject.
This makes me want to make a video called the unimportance of documenting my life. Personally, when I am behind the camera I feel like separate from the environment i’m filming because i’m physically looking through a piece of technology, when I should be living in the moment. Photography is not a present activity, the entire purpose of photography is everything but the present. It is to be able to look up photo of the past and taking photos now to have them in the future. I heard long ago that taking photos of something will impede the clarity of that memory in the future. I am working on not being caught up in trying to capture every moment, and instead letting them pass by. Only I will remember them clear on my mind which makes them special to me. just my 2 cents
ive been making youtube videos for 5 years now! i love doing it and i don't think i will ever stop! documenting is super important, thank you for this video!!!
I did something similar. I started journaling. I started with a mechanical typewriter. Then bought a printer and photo paper, a lot way cheaper to print photos. Now I journal with a fountain pen. Make it enjoyable, you'd be glad you did it when you read back on it.
Watched this when it first came out, and I had to come back to say I've come back into taking pictures and videos of everything the way I used to do years ago, and I'm so happy I did because I know these are the moments I'll be sharing with friends and family later on. Thank you for this!
I recently really thought about the power of photos and video, especially video. To be able to capture moments in life to last forever. To be able to see and hear your or a family remember or friends and remember small moments years from now is truly special. Great video.
"to last forever" that's the problem of overthinking about it. Nothing last forever, everything dies and it's normal, accept it. Memories and souvenirs are made to be memories and souvenirs not present moments. Don't forget to live your life, be present. I like photos and videos but don't forget it's fake, it's a way to present the world, it's not the world.
@@bobich1244 You’re right. I definitely think it’s all about balance. Like being on your phone recoding a whole concert, there’s no point in that. The audio will be bad and you would never watch it again. Now if you took a small clip and a photo or 2, you can actually be present and appreciate what’s going on. I just think the act of taking photos or video throughout life is a good thing to do to be able to look back and see who you were at different periods of life. You’re exactly right that nothing lasts forever and being present in the moment, nothing beats that.
This made me tear up, thank you for sharing your family moments! I document through film photography, it's my favorite way to stay present but document a little something sweet.
Thanks for the reminder. I have a tendency to take barely any pictures and when I looked back at my pictures from this past summer I noticed I had barely any. Gonna do my best to be conscious to document the things that I want to look back on.
growing up, i always resented those who pulled out their phone during times where we needed to be "in the moment." but whenever i look back on photos and videos of said moment, i'm always transported back to those times that i've cherished so dearly. now, i finally understand the difference between capturing the entire moment vs snippets of those moments. after watching your video, i realized that i'm always taking photos while my partner takes videos of those moments. it's been really healing and comforting to look back to those memories because i've had a pretty tough year (moved to vancouver from boston, then to seattle). this video was beautiful- thank you for sharing some of your fondest moments with us ❤
I used to loathe the 'family pictures'. That 'us standing in front of That Interesting Thing' kind. When I started taking pictures myself, I would take verything but those. Years later my father got really sick. And not long after that, he was gone. When I look at those pictures now, I see my family, all of us, together. At different stages of our lives. I see how we were changing, how fashion was changing, how our standard of living was improving, how proud my parents were to get their first new car, to build a house. I wish I took more of those now. But I wish I recorded videos even more than that. One of the things I fear the most is that I'll forget. The sound of his voice. The way he talked. The way he laughed. The way he moved. All those small things that made up who he was. Motion picture is so much more complete at storing memories. I'm grateful I have at least those few, shitty clips made with my phone. /Damn man, your video made me more emotional than I have courage to admit./ I stumble upon old photo albums at flea markets every time I visit one. Someone's life. Thrown away. I have one very old photo album with family pictures. Without annotations. There are people I never knew and I don't know who they are. These things remind me that documenting stopped at snapping pics and recording is like keys without a key fob. They might mean something to you. You know what doors they open. But once you're gone, if there's no fob with something scribbled on it, if you haven't taken your kid to that door and explained what's behind it and why it is important... it's just some key. We have a whole box of keys left by him. We have no idea what they're for. But on the other hand, maybe it's not important. They were useful to him. And it alone was worth it.
Thanks for all these videos. It's really the type of content I'm looking for and that touches me. For those who are interested, I also post little moments of life like this on my channel, even if it's less edited and quite different. It's in French, but there are subtitles :)
Thank you for this lovely video, Gene! I think a lot about how I cherish the little bits of memories from folks in my family and how precious it feels when we get glimpses of their scrapbooks, photo collections, video footage and journal pieces from long ago in the past. Sometimes I think of how grateful I am to have these bits of memory survive all these years as a gift from a loved one from the not so distant past. In a way, having these bits of documentation about one's life ended up becoming a treasure that has always encouraged my parents to always share with my siblings growing up the memories of things from their own lives. It feels like we keep those we love alive by sharing memories of things we love with each other forward too. 🥰
I love this video! it really speaks to me and I agree in many ways. I hardly ever consider my photography as documenting life though, I see it more as an action in the moment and I don't reflect on the 'after' of it. I love to look through the photos once i connect my SD card to my computer, and sometimes edit them and work them into collages on photoshop, but really I think taking photos is a way for me to hold onto each moment a little longer. Maybe its like im already mourning the loss of a moment when I take my camera out to take a photo. thats a weird and shocking thought. moving on. I was shocked that journaling wasn't in your list! But also completely understand why it isnt too- I don't know of one person that is consistently or near consistently committed to journaling as often as they'd like. But one thing photos might not capture perfectly are the thoughts running through your head or the hidden social dynamics in each photo, which is why i appreciate journaling. it's also a real act of self love. being patient with yourself as you write slower than you think. I love love love the idea of giving cameras to your little ones, thats good to keep in the back of my head. Also one final thought: in letting others document your life, the time distance between old photos, but more evidently in old videos both taken by yourself, years ago, at that point it feels like another person. I recently put 2 and 2 together and looked through my SD card that was on my nintendo growing up, and there were videos! audio files! photos! photos caked in filters! it was amazing to reconnect with myself at that age and me now.
I love taking photos and videos of my life, my family, friends and loved ones. But I have to say that the video breaks your heart when someone is missing. My father died 10 years ago and I can look at the photos of him with a smile, but every time I watch a video of him it totally breaks my heart. Even so, I feel good knowing that I have his videos in case one day I feel like crying and seeing him moving and especially something that we don't give much importance to, remembering the sound of his voice. It can be said that it is my greatest treasure, my photos and videos, I have up to 6 copies as a backup.
Glad youtube did recommend me this video, especially as someone who is not capturing the things moving around myself, it actually made me smile, nice content bro!
Absolutely Love this ! Just watched some videos I took in 2020 and so glad I had them. Your children will be so happy you have captured so much too. Amazing
I began documenting my life because I wanted to document the changes happening in our physical world, in parallel. For example, I am noticing autumn colours changing earlier and earlier each year. Documenting my life helps me notice that while I am growing, the things around me grow or change too. Sometimes in subtle ways, sometimes in big ways. And without documenting them, they might slip past me.
What you said there about taking a photo with a film camera but still being present in the moment is a great observation I hadn't thought of of. In fact it might be the one thing so many of us have been trying to put our finger on that has eluded us for so long. After pressing the shutter button you only have the moment to absorb and appreciate and can't get lost in reviewing what you have taken. It's a very thoughtful observation that I hadn't thought of. Great video and you have my sub .
Congrats on the breakout video. This was concise and engaging and carries an important reminder. Thank you for reinforcing it for us. All the best to you.
Man I wish this video was longer! I’ve watched it a few times now and every time I come back it’s more special. It brings tears to my eyes watching the special moments and makes me want to document my family more and more. Love your work!
Love the kids cameras part of this video! How it’s shot from their smaller POV, and the lower res gives me nostalgia from the digital camera era we grew up in 🥹
Thank you. I watched this video 2 months ago and it made me start documenting my life through a 35mm film point and shoot and an old Canon DSLR I dug up from 10 years ago. It has felt rewarding seeing these moments crystallized into these photos and I feel good knowing I have moments to look back on in the future.
As a middle aged person, I've raised a family, with the similar ethos in mind. Documenting the small moments sometimes wasn't easy with camera tech that was "evolving" toward 1080p. Some of the videos and pictures I have now look like they were shot in the 1920s! But I'm glad I have all of it...every last megabyte. Thanks for posting this, Gene.
personally, i love the aesthetic of 'your parents and their friends in the 80s', where photos were taken in a different way compared to now: candid-looking with simple poses. i've recently started taking pictures of my friends when we're having fun together and it's nice to look back at pictures of their faces laughing
bruh! cant agree more. Other tip is multiple back ups. I use G photos because its free. Also, the letting your kids document each other is so cool. especially the little bits of them singing. i got a little one so definitely keen for this.
For me, sketching is the way I document my life. Through YT and IG, I try and show the process of it but I also feel it detracts a lot from that...however, watching this has (re)sparked why I draw and perhaps is inspiring me to restart my YT channel also....
love this! it always irritates me when people make fun of others filming and taking photos of everything but I love it and I always did and always will do it in one form or another. I don't feel like it's taking the "living in the moment" experience away from me but rather adds to it and extends the feeling that I felt in that moment. Of course there are things so special that you have to avoid any distraction to really feel them but In general I just love ee documenting everything
I think there's a nice balance to be had of snapping a photo or a video and then putting it away in order to equally enjoy the moment presently for yourself. I've always struggled with this though, with putting things away and accepting whatever photo/outcome I got with the one effort. You really only need one or a few photos for the memory and capture of a moment.
nice video man! one of my favorite ways to document life is throught journaling, its pretty much like having pov of my life and I get to see what was going throught my head atm
Love the vidreo. Thank you. I particularly have been using an app to capture 1 second of my life everyday. Have been doing it since 2016, and it's a great way to just remember days and moments that otherwise we would forget. I also like to keep a drawing journal where I write/sketch about my years, and also do some film photography as well.
Hey Gene, I finally got around to watching this piece and it is so beautiful! I strongly resonate with the importance you speak of and also your points. On an artistic level though, this video was just so lovely - the fact that you let the videos your daughter filmed play for that long hit me quite hard and had me kind of watery in the eyes and I DONT EVEN KNOW WHY!? Maybe because it reminds me of the bliss of being a child, I don’t know, but the point is you made that punch pretty strong in a very good way so thanks for that😂 Also it‘s so cool to see that this video is popping off🤩🙌🏼
TEO! My man thanks so much for the love and support. Cheering you on from here and always looking forward to the next video you post. Haha every time I watch this video it gets me emotional too. Hoping to make more pieces like this!
I love this Gene, and I feel the same way about film photography. I’ve been shooting almost exclusively film recently and it’s been a blast. It’s so much more authentic and I love that it doesn’t disconnect from the moment too much. Like you said, after a picture is taken you have to wait for it. I love that. Great video!
I love film photography to document my daily life. The picure feel more special that way. I am also planning on doing a "recap of the year in photos" book in the future
This is such a thoughtful video. I feel inspired and can feel the love that you have captured from your family. I need to print my photos. That was amazing. I am truly touched and inspired. Thanks again!
I love the sentiment but sadly I discovered through photography that I have no life worth documenting. Photography was my escape, but it quickly became a reminder of that inescapable loneliness instilled in me through my childhood. It became a barrier between me and the potential for life within me. All perfectly mirrored in the distance to my subject in photography. I'm capturing my life as it is, distant.
Video is such a difficult but rewarding way of documenting. Pictures are individual stories, they live by themselves. Curation and sorting are everything you need for keeping them alive. Videos, on the other hand, they somehow always need to be bedded in a project, whether big or just a VLOG, which requires effort and a much more throrough approach to the post-documenting part. This is what I mostly struggle with, to find a balance between the amount of effort to put in.
How are you guys documenting your lives? Leave a comment below!
By photos. Rarely thru videos.
iPhone, mostly work photos and photos of hot wings and beer.
yes, as many people, since my daughter was born!
I devoting time to create 1 video every 7 days. Still challenging to do by self.
Forgot mention. Only do this to learn art of video combining all passions.
I feel like letting others document is the most overlooked one. "Letting go" is often something I forget to do, to let life do life as people also see it. I didn't realize how much joy I could get from seeing the photos that my little cousins took with my expensive camera (much to the anxiety of their parents) during a Thanksgiving get together. It was so innocent and honest and captured so much more of the moment than I could by myself.
100% to all of this. Always hard to let others do it, but so worth it
This is beautiful ❤ gives me some Ideas
Absolutely, every trip now, either with family or friends, I teach the basics of the camera and let people use it, actually encourage them to use as much as possible, It’s amazing getting the camera later and seeing all the photos, feels like film all over again, I’m always pleasantly surprised. Some friends have zero technical experience, but a much better eye and different perspective.
"Take more photos than you think you should" A tip for young people like myself. Unforunately I do not remember who the quote is attributed to. Great video!
thanks so much!
Beautiful video man. I once read a quote online saying very similar to what you are saying here - about why we should try to capture the 'mundane' moments especially. The parent making dinner, the friend reading a book, a lover doing their hair. These 'mundane' moments might seem boring, but they make up 99% of life. The 1% - the big moments that everyone takes photos of - do not represent the vast majority of your time on earth. Love!
Couldn't agree more
Nicely said 👍
Nothing illustrates the need for documentation than when you can look through the photos of an era gone by; when you graduate college, when your kids get older, when you're no longer single, etc you look at the photos from that time and relive the great memories
yes yes yes
Since I first got a film camera I’ve been really inspired by the idea of being the “family historian” - I take loads of photos of my family - still not consistent about filming things, but I’m glad for scenes I have captured that way, especially with my fiancée
That’s amazing love to hear it!
That’s a great idea ❤
Gene, part 3 hit me. My daughters had recently offered to take photos using my point-and-shoot film camera. I love watching how they perceive environments and document moments.
Love to hear it man. Keep having them use that point and shoot!
I started isolating. Hiding myself from people I know to avoid judgement. In doing so I stopped really enjoying my life and few years passed. I'm trying to get a camera. Visited a friend who made me like the idea of it. I mentioned I'm getting one to a friend and 1 family member. Their immediate response was about money and getting companies to hire you.
I didn't know how to explain that I'm getting it to document even the most boring days of my life. To make those days and moments important. to appreciate them more. To appreciate people more. I'm not looking to make money. I'm hoping to save myself from the cage I've carefully built.
Hoping you can find a way to take photos, even via your phone to start documenting. YOU GOT THIS
i hope you do succeed in saving yourself. i know how it feels to live in a cage like that so i hope you find the strength to live life freely and fully . sending love
I am pretty much living in a cage too, to make it short…wanna chat?
So do i... So I think Capture the moment is best idea
You just made my brain click and, trust me, I was badly needing it to click for the last 5 or 6 years. I got a new purpose again and I like it. Thank you.
Man that's awesome. Incredibly stoked for you!
Lovely video. I love seeing people with this mentality. I feel like as life becomes more and more digital, the less life is documented on a personal level. I've printed my film photos for years so that my family may be able to enjoy them once I'm gone. I want people I love to see my life as I saw it through the cameras I used, not through old social media pages.
absolutely love this, thank you for sharing
A quote that was dropped in TOP (Mike Johnston's blog) about why to photograph was: "Because people die". I have photographed since I was 9-10 and entered film in my teens, even with that fleeting motivation to document I even caught Kodachrome. Looking back I am glad to my former very young self that those moments and people are photographed. It's a mixed feeling seeing an image form on the developer tray from a TriX negative shot 10 years ago of late grandpa.
It's fantastic now to have a lot of different tools to do this, specially video with the phone. On the latter, good that phones are already excellent for snapshots and carry largeish sensors.
Yes to all of this, absolutely incredible
i'm a uni studnet and a new creator who just started 1.5wks ago. i remember watching your videos back when i was in high school: they were highly instrumental in shaping my motivation and the 'vibe' of my videos. documenting my life - and sharing the reflections along the way - is what i do. and i don't think i would've started if it wasn't for content like yours.
i know this comment is far delayed, but thanks for being a star of guidance, gee. and to anyone watching - if you're lost and in your teens/early adulthood - i hope you find a community on my page. i believe you saw this comment for a reason.
loved this video. keep going!
let's go that's incredible! You got this!
This is such a sign… I was just recommended your video. Never heard of you before, never documented my life…. until 10 minutes ago. I started running more seriously last year September. Had to pause entirely in October due to knee pain. Started over in March this year and ran twice every week since and registered for my first ever half marathon on September 19th this year. However, fast forward a few months: knee pain again. Had to pause by the end of July. I have invested a lot of thought and money into my comeback since and even did a running analysis to learn more about what I am doing wrong or if.
Today was my first run since end of July. The goal for the half marathon next month is still on and while I have had so much trouble in the last months, I decided to document my journey beginning today. 10 minutes before seeing this video pop up on my start page, I recorded a quick video. I plan on continuing to doing so over the course of the next months. So hopefully next year around this time, I will have finished my first ever marathon and also documented my journey towards it.
Again, it feels a little bit like destiny seeing this video as I have not looked up any similar videos and your video came out of nowhere. Thanks for sharing, I will stick around - you became some part of my journey today.
man that's really special thanks so much for sharing. Hope that your running journey only gets better and stoked that you're documenting it all!
Apart from documenting life through photographs and videos, I like to write down all of my activities or experiences that happen to me on my calendar app. Besides appointments, dinner dates, events, and so on, I like to document the mundane, such as what movie/show I watch or if I ever find a restaurant that I spontaneously go in to eat at. It can be tedious at times since things change all the time, but looking back on a specific or a random day and there's a list of what you did that day waiting for you to see is like time traveling to me.
Another super cool way to document and remember things
Definitely feel this. I'm so thankful for technology and how far it's come. Having the ease of recording video/taking pictures on your phone does (in some way) allow you to still be in the moment. My son is 3 now and I often watch old videos back because it's so easy to access the date/time/etc.
Great video, man! New Sub here.
Love to hear it man and thanks for the support!
Love how you put this together!! Looking back on memories is something I love to do, and it's amazing how technology makes documenting everyday life so easy today 😁
YES! Technology comes with pros and cons for sure, but this is definitely one of the pros
Gene, this video is so special. Not me just casually weeping on my couch thankful I've started to document more and inspired to continue to. Thanks for such a lovely reminder.
HI!!! So great to hear from you! Appreciate you for the kind words and don't stop documenting!
i have a youtube channel started back in 2016, reason behind starting channel was documenting my life like places i visit, the things i do where my family back home in Nepal can see it and experience through my lens. I am in los angeles right now, and fell deep into the algorithms of likes and views and seeing not progressing the channel made me held back and super inconsistent. Now i realise why i started in first place to which was to document my life rather than running for views and likes. I still love making videos and this video connected with me so much i will start making videos again and capture the precious moments which i get to live. Thanks
let's go!
awesome video. as a 46yr old dad, one thing i can share is to continue documenting your kids even in their teen, tweens, and so on. Also, i also recorded my daughter's voice when she started talking.
Aahhh yes! I definitely plan to
This is a wonderful glimpse into your and your children's views on your family. Thank you for sharing it. Seeing videos like this and how other photographers like Matt Day document their lives inspires me to do the same and personally, this is what I feel gives me the most joy in photography.
Thanks so much for the very kind words!
Bro this is so inspiring and heartwarming ;0 Your kids will definitely appreciate the memories they've documented growing up. And it's just always nice to see how far you've come and the memories you've made on your journey. Will definitely start doing this.... heckk will even give my kids one of these cameras for the future :^0
Really appreciate that man! For real I absolutely love that our kids document with their cameras as well and I can't wait to archive all their images for years to come.
I rarely print my photographs, but watching photos and videos through my 50' 4K TV is very satisfying. I even want to get a bigger and better TV. It's like the most immersive way to recollecting my memories 😂
hahaha that's incredible
Great video. As a middle-aged person, I take a lot of photos and videos of my family to create full-length videos. However, my wife and kids often ask me to stop. In response, I remind them that they'll always have these memories to look back on of their childhood their friends their family, and the places we visited so when I'm gone they can always look at them laugh and cry.
YES. It's worth it. Maybe hard to understand now, but I'm eternally grateful that my parents took tons of photos of our family while I was growing up
I was lucky when my mum decided to hand her video camera down to me when I was thirteen or so. It sparked my love of video and since then, I always have a camera in my hand. Having these memories of my family documented is probably the posession I cherish most, so I totally understand this video! ^^
Dude that's incredible, absolutely love it
I think this is a really important and underrated way to show your life. As we get older, it gets more special looking back on the small moments that you or I have captured through pictures or videos. I remember reading years ago about the need to document one's life, even if it's just for you. It can help make us appreciate the small moments or the little things more and more. Thanks for the video Gene.
couldn't agree more. Thanks for watching!
As the saying goes, the best camera is the one you have with you. Smartphone camerass have certainly come a long way in terms of its quality and use cases. Filming an entire 4K movie on your PHONE was unfathomable until recently. It's certainly gotten a lot more people into the world of photography and cinematography - that's a good thing.
However, it seems like pulling out the phone has gotten so easy and part of life that people have forgotten what it's like to live in the moment. The 90s and early 2000s, at least for me, were great for my childhood memories. We all got together to look at PHYSICAL PHOTO ALBUMS! We did not rely on sending photos over text or just looking at moments on Facebook. As much as I wish all of my childhood could have been filmed digitally , the memories associated with the photos that were developed throughout the years still live on in my head and I am glad most were documented for me. I can look at these photos and remember the events surrounding them because I was allowed to live in the moment.
While my siblings and cousins have way more photos and videos of them as children thanks to the rise of digital cameras and smartphones, they will never get to experience seeing the majority of their lives captured on film cameras and camcorders.
A lot of valid points and great perspective thanks for sharing
I am in loooove with this video 🥺 as someone who documents her daily life, i feel this!!! I tend to forget a lot of things if I don't see them, so it's very important for me to take photos and videos as often as I can (while still enjoying the moment! :D)
YES! Love to hear it!
sounds like you wouldnt be so forgetful if you would stop recording everything lol
@@alexc9963 well yeah? because it would definitely help me remember things that happened?
those vtech cameras are such a great idea omg
i myself am documenting my life by capturing my thoughts and emotions in both journals and youtube videos talking to the camera. i also like to take pics and videos with my phone because google photos reminds you years after about some of those moments
yes to all this
for me. i like documenting my life so that when times get tough I can go back and look at those memories of how happy i used to be.
Also a wonderful reason to document.
There’s a fine line between making a concerted effort to document your life and experiencing life through a device/camera lens, which in my opinion bastardizes the overall emotion of an experience not only for yourself but for the subject.
Could not agree more
This makes me want to make a video called the unimportance of documenting my life. Personally, when I am behind the camera I feel like separate from the environment i’m filming because i’m physically looking through a piece of technology, when I should be living in the moment. Photography is not a present activity, the entire purpose of photography is everything but the present. It is to be able to look up photo of the past and taking photos now to have them in the future. I heard long ago that taking photos of something will impede the clarity of that memory in the future. I am working on not being caught up in trying to capture every moment, and instead letting them pass by. Only I will remember them clear on my mind which makes them special to me. just my 2 cents
Definitely an interesting perspective
coming from recommended, this is the most valuable and beautiful video I've seen in months. thanks!
That means a lot, really appreciate the kind words!
this makes me grateful that my dad captured my youth so well
that's awesome!
ive been making youtube videos for 5 years now! i love doing it and i don't think i will ever stop! documenting is super important, thank you for this video!!!
appreciate the support
I think people need to realize how good it feels to document your life, Its a like movie you can rewatch over and over again.
100%
I did something similar. I started journaling. I started with a mechanical typewriter. Then bought a printer and photo paper, a lot way cheaper to print photos. Now I journal with a fountain pen. Make it enjoyable, you'd be glad you did it when you read back on it.
That’s so rad!
3:31. That's so cute! "hi daddy" 😢. You can always look back to it when they grow up!
Thanks so much!
Watched this when it first came out, and I had to come back to say I've come back into taking pictures and videos of everything the way I used to do years ago, and I'm so happy I did because I know these are the moments I'll be sharing with friends and family later on. Thank you for this!
Heck yeah love to hear it man!
I recently really thought about the power of photos and video, especially video. To be able to capture moments in life to last forever. To be able to see and hear your or a family remember or friends and remember small moments years from now is truly special. Great video.
Thanks so much! For real, to have these moments on video will mean the world years from now
"to last forever" that's the problem of overthinking about it. Nothing last forever, everything dies and it's normal, accept it. Memories and souvenirs are made to be memories and souvenirs not present moments. Don't forget to live your life, be present. I like photos and videos but don't forget it's fake, it's a way to present the world, it's not the world.
@@bobich1244 You’re right. I definitely think it’s all about balance. Like being on your phone recoding a whole concert, there’s no point in that. The audio will be bad and you would never watch it again. Now if you took a small clip and a photo or 2, you can actually be present and appreciate what’s going on. I just think the act of taking photos or video throughout life is a good thing to do to be able to look back and see who you were at different periods of life. You’re exactly right that nothing lasts forever and being present in the moment, nothing beats that.
This made me tear up, thank you for sharing your family moments! I document through film photography, it's my favorite way to stay present but document a little something sweet.
SAME!
Thanks for the reminder. I have a tendency to take barely any pictures and when I looked back at my pictures from this past summer I noticed I had barely any. Gonna do my best to be conscious to document the things that I want to look back on.
Heck yeah man, there's no such thing as over documenting!
growing up, i always resented those who pulled out their phone during times where we needed to be "in the moment." but whenever i look back on photos and videos of said moment, i'm always transported back to those times that i've cherished so dearly.
now, i finally understand the difference between capturing the entire moment vs snippets of those moments. after watching your video, i realized that i'm always taking photos while my partner takes videos of those moments. it's been really healing and comforting to look back to those memories because i've had a pretty tough year (moved to vancouver from boston, then to seattle).
this video was beautiful- thank you for sharing some of your fondest moments with us ❤
Appreciate you taking the time to share a bit of your journey!
I used to loathe the 'family pictures'. That 'us standing in front of That Interesting Thing' kind. When I started taking pictures myself, I would take verything but those.
Years later my father got really sick.
And not long after that, he was gone.
When I look at those pictures now, I see my family, all of us, together. At different stages of our lives. I see how we were changing, how fashion was changing, how our standard of living was improving, how proud my parents were to get their first new car, to build a house.
I wish I took more of those now. But I wish I recorded videos even more than that.
One of the things I fear the most is that I'll forget.
The sound of his voice. The way he talked. The way he laughed. The way he moved.
All those small things that made up who he was.
Motion picture is so much more complete at storing memories. I'm grateful I have at least those few, shitty clips made with my phone.
/Damn man, your video made me more emotional than I have courage to admit./
I stumble upon old photo albums at flea markets every time I visit one.
Someone's life. Thrown away.
I have one very old photo album with family pictures. Without annotations. There are people I never knew and I don't know who they are.
These things remind me that documenting stopped at snapping pics and recording is like keys without a key fob. They might mean something to you. You know what doors they open. But once you're gone, if there's no fob with something scribbled on it, if you haven't taken your kid to that door and explained what's behind it and why it is important... it's just some key.
We have a whole box of keys left by him. We have no idea what they're for.
But on the other hand, maybe it's not important.
They were useful to him. And it alone was worth it.
Dang man I appreciate you taking the time to share this
Thanks for all these videos. It's really the type of content I'm looking for and that touches me.
For those who are interested, I also post little moments of life like this on my channel, even if it's less edited and quite different.
It's in French, but there are subtitles :)
let's go man that's awesome!
Thank you for this lovely video, Gene! I think a lot about how I cherish the little bits of memories from folks in my family and how precious it feels when we get glimpses of their scrapbooks, photo collections, video footage and journal pieces from long ago in the past. Sometimes I think of how grateful I am to have these bits of memory survive all these years as a gift from a loved one from the not so distant past. In a way, having these bits of documentation about one's life ended up becoming a treasure that has always encouraged my parents to always share with my siblings growing up the memories of things from their own lives.
It feels like we keep those we love alive by sharing memories of things we love with each other forward too. 🥰
Yes to all of this!
UA-cam suggested the video and I'm excited to say that I love your style. ❤
dang that's incredible thanks so much!
I love this video! it really speaks to me and I agree in many ways. I hardly ever consider my photography as documenting life though, I see it more as an action in the moment and I don't reflect on the 'after' of it. I love to look through the photos once i connect my SD card to my computer, and sometimes edit them and work them into collages on photoshop, but really I think taking photos is a way for me to hold onto each moment a little longer. Maybe its like im already mourning the loss of a moment when I take my camera out to take a photo. thats a weird and shocking thought. moving on. I was shocked that journaling wasn't in your list! But also completely understand why it isnt too- I don't know of one person that is consistently or near consistently committed to journaling as often as they'd like. But one thing photos might not capture perfectly are the thoughts running through your head or the hidden social dynamics in each photo, which is why i appreciate journaling. it's also a real act of self love. being patient with yourself as you write slower than you think. I love love love the idea of giving cameras to your little ones, thats good to keep in the back of my head. Also one final thought: in letting others document your life, the time distance between old photos, but more evidently in old videos both taken by yourself, years ago, at that point it feels like another person. I recently put 2 and 2 together and looked through my SD card that was on my nintendo growing up, and there were videos! audio files! photos! photos caked in filters! it was amazing to reconnect with myself at that age and me now.
this is all a great point! I'm definitely open to documenting life in so many other ways so appreciate you sharing this!
I love taking photos and videos of my life, my family, friends and loved ones. But I have to say that the video breaks your heart when someone is missing. My father died 10 years ago and I can look at the photos of him with a smile, but every time I watch a video of him it totally breaks my heart. Even so, I feel good knowing that I have his videos in case one day I feel like crying and seeing him moving and especially something that we don't give much importance to, remembering the sound of his voice. It can be said that it is my greatest treasure, my photos and videos, I have up to 6 copies as a backup.
This man, that's special. Stoked for you that you have those pieces to remember him
What a beautiful video my friend. I think it is super important to documenting your life, so you also can look back one day and just remember
100% thanks for the kind words!
Glad youtube did recommend me this video, especially as someone who is not capturing the things moving around myself, it actually made me smile, nice content bro!
thanks so much!
Bro your channel is so underrated. This video is so well done.
Haha thanks so much
Every point was solid, but part 3 especially! Seeing another person's perspective is really special. The camera for kids is such a great idea
right?! It was unintentional at first, but it's been the best
Part 3 made my eye leak. Reminds me of my 3 and 5 year old daughters. beautiful moments... and piano music, brother!
Dang man that means a lot that it resonated with you
Absolutely Love this ! Just watched some videos I took in 2020 and so glad I had them. Your children will be so happy you have captured so much too. Amazing
I definitely hope so!
I began documenting my life because I wanted to document the changes happening in our physical world, in parallel. For example, I am noticing autumn colours changing earlier and earlier each year. Documenting my life helps me notice that while I am growing, the things around me grow or change too. Sometimes in subtle ways, sometimes in big ways. And without documenting them, they might slip past me.
Such a great reason and motivation to document. Appreciate you sharing this!
Same here
I love this. Thank you for sharing!
Stoked that you enjoyed it!
What you said there about taking a photo with a film camera but still being present in the moment is a great observation I hadn't thought of of. In fact it might be the one thing so many of us have been trying to put our finger on that has eluded us for so long. After pressing the shutter button you only have the moment to absorb and appreciate and can't get lost in reviewing what you have taken. It's a very thoughtful observation that I hadn't thought of. Great video and you have my sub .
Thanks for the love and support!
Thank you for this video. I used to film my kids a lot when they were younger but I don’t so much anymore. That is going to change.
Glad to hear it! It'll be worth it years from now
Congrats on the breakout video. This was concise and engaging and carries an important reminder. Thank you for reinforcing it for us. All the best to you.
thanks so much!
Man I wish this video was longer! I’ve watched it a few times now and every time I come back it’s more special. It brings tears to my eyes watching the special moments and makes me want to document my family more and more. Love your work!
Yo yo!! Appreciate the shout out on IG and for your support man!
Love the kids cameras part of this video! How it’s shot from their smaller POV, and the lower res gives me nostalgia from the digital camera era we grew up in 🥹
For real 😭 Almost makes me want to make an entire video on their cameras
I definitely need to start doing this
Better late than never to start!
Thank you. I watched this video 2 months ago and it made me start documenting my life through a 35mm film point and shoot and an old Canon DSLR I dug up from 10 years ago.
It has felt rewarding seeing these moments crystallized into these photos and I feel good knowing I have moments to look back on in the future.
Absolutely love thta!
Powerful.
YOOOO. Thanks brother. Still stoked for the day that we link up
Great video Gene! Thanks for sharing this perspective.
Thanks for watching and for the kind words!
As a middle aged person, I've raised a family, with the similar ethos in mind. Documenting the small moments sometimes wasn't easy with camera tech that was "evolving" toward 1080p. Some of the videos and pictures I have now look like they were shot in the 1920s! But I'm glad I have all of it...every last megabyte. Thanks for posting this, Gene.
Bryan you're the man thanks for the very kind words and yes yes yes to documenting!
I like those cameras your kids have. Such a great gift!
Right??
personally, i love the aesthetic of 'your parents and their friends in the 80s', where photos were taken in a different way compared to now: candid-looking with simple poses. i've recently started taking pictures of my friends when we're having fun together and it's nice to look back at pictures of their faces laughing
let's go that's awesome! It'll be worth it to look back on all those photos some day
bruh! cant agree more. Other tip is multiple back ups. I use G photos because its free. Also, the letting your kids document each other is so cool. especially the little bits of them singing. i got a little one so definitely keen for this.
yes yes yes to this
Very inspiring. I am really bad about documenting my family life and I really want to work on that. Thank you for this.
Appreciate the kind words. You can do it! It'll be worth it every time when you look back years from now
For me, sketching is the way I document my life. Through YT and IG, I try and show the process of it but I also feel it detracts a lot from that...however, watching this has (re)sparked why I draw and perhaps is inspiring me to restart my YT channel also....
Love to hear it, you got this!
I think this video was the most perfect and precious video I’ve ever seen… It meant so much thank you !!
Thanks for watching!
This is adorable to see the kiddos documenting. 😍
it's truly the best
love this! it always irritates me when people make fun of others filming and taking photos of everything but I love it and I always did and always will do it in one form or another. I don't feel like it's taking the "living in the moment" experience away from me but rather adds to it and extends the feeling that I felt in that moment. Of course there are things so special that you have to avoid any distraction to really feel them but In general I just love ee documenting everything
I think there's a nice balance to be had of snapping a photo or a video and then putting it away in order to equally enjoy the moment presently for yourself. I've always struggled with this though, with putting things away and accepting whatever photo/outcome I got with the one effort. You really only need one or a few photos for the memory and capture of a moment.
Honestly couldn't agree more!
For sure it's definitely a balance!
This is really touching footage, bro! Thank you for inspiring me!
Thanks man!
Randomly got this video in my recommendation. This is so, so beautiful, Gene!
Stoked you came across it!
nice video man! one of my favorite ways to document life is throught journaling, its pretty much like having pov of my life and I get to see what was going throught my head atm
I've been seeing this more and giving it a try!
What a beautiful and special video! Thank you for sharing your memories with us!
Appreciate the kind words!
This video changed my perspective of seeing things. How beautiful!
Love to hear it!
Lovely video - great job! The slower pace and consideration are refreshing on YT.
Appreciate it!
What a heartwarming video Gene! ❤
Thanks so much! It's definitely one I'll look back on years from now.
This video was so refreshing. Even if the tips are things we already do, the storytelling was everything great job!
Glad to hear it! Sometimes it’s the simple things that matter the most 🤷🏻♂️
My wife and I are about to have our first baby. This is really well timed for me. Love seeing such special family moments treated with such care.
dude yes congrats!
thank you for sharing! I love vlogging life!
Let’s go!
i know for fact that documenting your life, findings, experience, solving your problems and documenting it IS EQUAL TO PERSONAL BRANDDDDDDDDDDD
hahaha you're not wrong!
You earned another subscriber! Amazing work and documenting is important for the memories you can create and look back at when time passes! 😢
YES! Thanks for the love!
Gene, great video. Thank you
thanks so much!
Love the vidreo. Thank you. I particularly have been using an app to capture 1 second of my life everyday. Have been doing it since 2016, and it's a great way to just remember days and moments that otherwise we would forget. I also like to keep a drawing journal where I write/sketch about my years, and also do some film photography as well.
That's absolutely so cool
Hey Gene, I finally got around to watching this piece and it is so beautiful! I strongly resonate with the importance you speak of and also your points. On an artistic level though, this video was just so lovely - the fact that you let the videos your daughter filmed play for that long hit me quite hard and had me kind of watery in the eyes and I DONT EVEN KNOW WHY!? Maybe because it reminds me of the bliss of being a child, I don’t know, but the point is you made that punch pretty strong in a very good way so thanks for that😂
Also it‘s so cool to see that this video is popping off🤩🙌🏼
TEO! My man thanks so much for the love and support. Cheering you on from here and always looking forward to the next video you post.
Haha every time I watch this video it gets me emotional too. Hoping to make more pieces like this!
I love this Gene, and I feel the same way about film photography. I’ve been shooting almost exclusively film recently and it’s been a blast. It’s so much more authentic and I love that it doesn’t disconnect from the moment too much. Like you said, after a picture is taken you have to wait for it. I love that. Great video!
Man that means the world thanks for the kind words. Film forever!
I love film photography to document my daily life. The picure feel more special that way. I am also planning on doing a "recap of the year in photos" book in the future
Heck yeah that's awesome!
I’m the photog in the family. I’m all digital. I like your last tip. I should start printing more. At home.
For sure, I promise it's a blast and a different experience to experience photos in a physical form
This was so heartwarming 😭😭❤ So special to see those memories!!
😭😭😭 They'll take their cameras on our trip to EU too!!
This really is beautiful. Your channel is going to go far. Best of luck, keep it up.
That's so kind, appreciate it!
The feels 🥹❤
every time 😭
these are probably one of my favorite videos
Thanks so much!
This is such a thoughtful video. I feel inspired and can feel the love that you have captured from your family. I need to print my photos. That was amazing. I am truly touched and inspired. Thanks again!
Man that means a lot thanks for the kind words!
you are awesome dude. After watching this video, I am inspired to document my life memories in more systematic ways.
heck yeah love to hear it!
I love the sentiment but sadly I discovered through photography that I have no life worth documenting. Photography was my escape, but it quickly became a reminder of that inescapable loneliness instilled in me through my childhood. It became a barrier between me and the potential for life within me. All perfectly mirrored in the distance to my subject in photography. I'm capturing my life as it is, distant.
Sorry to hear that. Hopefully your circumstances get better and you can keep documenting
@@geneyoon11 Thank you
Video is such a difficult but rewarding way of documenting. Pictures are individual stories, they live by themselves. Curation and sorting are everything you need for keeping them alive. Videos, on the other hand, they somehow always need to be bedded in a project, whether big or just a VLOG, which requires effort and a much more throrough approach to the post-documenting part. This is what I mostly struggle with, to find a balance between the amount of effort to put in.
For sure! Sometimes documenting on your phone is enough!
@@geneyoon11 yes but then what? I have 1 TB of combined video and photo on my icloud. Photos can be shown randomly as Diashow, but video?