They say if you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life. Well... getting to see the world from my current perspective is pretty awesome!
I graduated from the University of Delaware with an English Degree (Business & Technical Writing) and I wanted to be a magazine writer (think Almost Famous writing for Rolling Stone Magazine). So when print media died and the digital age came, I had to learn a new way of thinking. (The Digital Curve)
Early on in my professional career, I learned banking, collections, accounting, some finance, and then, found my groove in business sales by working for Careerbuilder.com and the Yellow Pages in Chicago.
I played in a band in Chicago for 12 years. While trying to make it like everyone else in a big sea of opportunity, I needed to find my pond to settle in and flourish, so I put down the guitar and moved back home to the eastern shore of Maryland. I took what I learned from my Yellow Pages days and morphed it into what I do today. Video Marketing for Businesses.
I never went to school for film or photography, I knew basic aviation from my father who was a fighter pilot. I took every second of my free time and learned film - how to work with shutter speeds, aperture and ISO. That was only half of it. Then there is lighting, framing, color grading, audio, and graphics. I learned that James Cameron (Director of Titanic & Terminator movies) never went to film school and was self-taught, so I thought... I am going to do this. I'm all in!
It is a never-ending chase for perfection that only videographers or musicians know. Writing the perfect song, taking the perfect shot, capturing the perfect moment. That addiction is what keeps you coming back.
I went underground. My PlayStation collected dust while I read and watched videos, took online classes, and picked the brains of people who knew what I wanted to learn. Then, I went out and made mistakes, I failed, yet I failed forward. I screwed up a lot in the beginning. I blew out full video shoots, forgot to plug in microphones for audio, and I have reverse shot takes where I was filming BETWEEN takes! (Not fun explaining to your subject why a reshoot is necessary).
But... all of these mistakes made me better. I learned through experience, and to me, that is the best way to learn that no book can teach you. Life experience.
Today, as I type this, I am shooting more in manual modes, learning the lay of my Panasonic Lumix Cameras (GH5 and GH6), and color grading. I can visually see the growth in my work, learning framerates, and how to best manipulate speeds and positioning.
As I come up on 5 years on this Digital Curve journey, reinventing myself in 2017 was the metamorphosis I needed to grow personally and professionally. Work no longer feels like a chore because I love what I do. It's never too late to change your path. Find your passion and go for it!
Chad Alvarez is the Founder and CEO of Digital Curve Marketing. To learn more about our services, please contact chad@digitalcurvemarketing.com or call direct 301-798-7904.
