Giving Youtube a Second Chance and The Story Behind My 2nd Camera

My last blog was May 22, 2018 (Filming now that I'm back at work); when I look back so much has happened. I went back to work after a year of maternity leave and decided to focus on my career. With a new found confidence I was able to work my way up into a job that I was initially very intimidated by. I decided to focus on my family, Ethan turned 2 years old and on June 30, 2019 we welcomed our second son Adam.

It took some time to adjust to having a newborn again and how to raise 2 kids, but after a couple months we (my husband and I) got the hang of it. Once we settled into our new life and new family there was a part of me that felt like something was still missing and I'm not talking about having a 3rd child. 

As a mom, you give everything to your kids; literally your heart and soul. But I find in our generation, young moms still want something thats just for ourselves that doesn't involve family and kids. Something that gives you a break from everyday life. I needed a creative outlet and something to keep me occupied; pretty much a hobby. I missed making Youtube Videos. 

When I went back to work it was very difficult to create videos, I was also very discouraged and disappointed that my channel wasn't getting enough views and subscribers. So I decided to take a break. I only had 200 subscribers, I figured what was the point of creating and uploading if no one was going to watch, so I just decided to stop but I never deleted my channel. 

It wasn't until my sister was planning her wedding that I decided to make a cute wedding video for them. It was an interview style video, we still had all the equipment I used for making videos; mic, lights and camera. Once everything was filmed I did the editing and put it all together ready to show on their wedding day. 

While I was editing their video I felt excited and motivated again. Just to give you a timeline, I gave birth on June 30, 2019; a week after I had gallbladder surgery and my sister's wedding was on October 12, 2019 which I really wanted to be involved and help out as much as I could despite having 2 kids. Not to mention I also wanted to loose weight for the wedding haha (there's a connection to me loosing weight and my camera, keep reading). So much was happening and in this craziness I rediscovered my love for creating videos and how much I needed it in my life. 

On August 30, 2019 I posted my comeback video Chopped Salad w/ Beef Stir Fry. It was only 1 min long and I only used 1 kind of angle. It barely got any views but creating this 1 min video was everything to me. It gave me a sense of creativity and just reminded me how much I love making videos. After I posted this video, I honestly did not care if anyone watched it. I enjoyed creating it and it was the best therapy after giving birth. 

For awhile I just created videos of food that I ate everyday and I was also starting my weight loss journey. I joined a facebook group called "The Biggest Loser", I wanted to loose weight so badly and I wanted to win. First place was $1200!!! I said to myself if I win I could invest more money into my Youtube channel by upgrading some of the equipment, mainly the camera. I wanted a second camera so I could continue to shoot with 2 angles. I was using my sister's older model and I felt bad for always borrowing her camera. I also needed a tripod that could shoot over head angles thats really popular and relevant. I was on mat leave so spending any extra money on hobbies wasn't the best for our budget, so winning first prize became my goal and motivation. You'll notice for a period of time (August 31, 2019- November 30, 2019) most of my videos were low carb and almost had nothing to do with filipino cuisine, that's because I gave up rice and carbs to help shed the weight. Then on Dec 2, 2019 I posted my first carb loaded video Chicken Adobo Rice, the Biggest loser ended so I was back to eating rice again. 

Are you curious to know if I won? ....

I did!! I won first place and was the biggest loser!! I lost 19.73% total weight lost which in pounds was a total of 26.8lbs. Doesn't sound like much but I'm short so even loosing 5lbs makes a difference. 

At first I wanted to spend half of the winnings on a camera and put the other half into savings. But it was my husband who convinced me to invest in a higher quality camera. His reason was that if I was really serious about my Youtube channel I needed to think long term and how I can really change the quality of my videos. He was right, I want this to be a long term. We did a lot of research and watched so many comparison videos. We decided to go with the Canon EOS 90D, which is comparable to what some of the top Youtuber's are using. 

I studied and researched how to use the camera so I could really improve my video skills. It took a handful of videos for me to really see a difference. These are the videos that I am most proud of Instant Pot Pork Sinigang, Special Seafood Sinigang because I could really see a difference from when I first started and where I am now. 

I still have more to learn and a long way to go... 

This is all I will share for now but if you follow me, you'll know that lots has happened in 2020 with Lala's Kitchen.

Stay tuned for more blog posts =)