Content creator Terry Warfield creates videos about photography, filmmaking, gear reviews, tips and tricks, tutorials, editing and more. In this video, Warfield is talking all about vlogging and how he does it. “The gear I use, tips and tricks,” he says, “anything that I can give you to make it a little bit easier for you to feel comfortable on camera – I got you.” Watch as he shares his tips for creating a successful vlog and the gear he uses to do it. Make sure you subscribe to the Sony Alpha Universe YouTube Channel for more.

Tip #1 - Don’t care what other people think. Watch as the content creator shares more of his tips and gear to make it easier for you to feel comfortable on camera.

Vlogging Tip #1: Don’t Care What Other People Think

First Warfield shares his number one tip if you’re looking to get into vlogging: Don’t care about what other people think. “You just have to get over the fact that people, no matter what you are doing, or who you are, or how good you look or how bad you look, or whatever it is, people are always going to have something to say.” 

Vlogging Tip #2: Be Free On Camera

His next tip is to be free on camera. “People want to see the personality,” he says. “So don’t feel like you need to get on camera and be somebody that you’re not because when you’re trying to do that it shows and people can kind of see through it.”

Vlogging Tip #3: Be Consistent & Persistent

Warfield’s third tip for starting to vlog is to be ready to be consistent and persistent. “There will be times where you will put a lot of work into a video, and you won’t necessarily get the result that you wanted,” he explains. “But I promise you if you keep going, eventually you will start to see the results. It takes one view, the right view, to change everything for you.”

Using Your Gear To Help Tell The Story

Whether Warfield is using the Sony ZV-1, Sony FX3, or whatever the case may be, he always tries to include people into what he’s using to create the vlogs. “For example, I did a couple of vlogs where I used the ZV-1,” he says, “because I think it’s the perfect travel camera. I shared my experience throughout the day using it. I guess I’m just mindful of the gear I’m using and anytime I have thoughts about it I share them, and then I just edit it all together.” 

While the gear is important, he says that it's only important once you’ve already nailed the basics. Once you have your videos and way of storytelling figured out, you can share the gear with your audience to help add to the story.

“If I had to give a beginner one camera that I would recommend, it would probably be the Sony ZV-E10. It’s the perfect little small camera, it’s not too expensive. It has a ton of features that help content creators out, like the flippy screen so you can see yourself on camera. It has super crazy reliable autofocus. So it has a lot of tools built into it that really help our content creators. And there’s a huge assortment of very inexpensive lenses that you can get from Sony to kind of complete a kit. So it’s a really good starter camera.”

Warfield, who has years of experience creating vlogs, has the Sony Alpha 7 IV and Sony FX3 in his bag. “The Alpha 7 IV is probably the camera that I grab first because it is such a good blend between quality and photography, quality and video, great battery life, it’s got stabilization built into it.”

He continues, “If you had to pick one lens to go along with your Sony Alpha 7 IV, or whatever camera you’re using, the Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master II is the way to go. And the reason I say it’s the way to go is because it’s so versatile. Especially as a vlogger or content creator, most of the focal lengths that we use are within 24-70mm.”

Even with the very versatile Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master II, Warfield likes to have a variety of other lenses, like the Sony 85mm f/1.4 G Master, in his vlogging kit for when he wants a different look. He also carries multiple camera bodies for redundancy in case something were to happen to one, and also to capture the same scene using different angles.

Aside from cameras and lenses, Warfield says he would also focus on a good quality microphone and at least one or two small lights that can help you out in darker scenarios. “Even having something like the Sony ECM-B10, it’s super inexpensive but it gives you really, really good audio. And it takes the guesswork out of needing to adjust audio levels and all that stuff.”

Just Do It!

Now the only thing that's left is to get started. “I know a lot of people have doubts and they say hey I’m going to start next week or I’m going to start next year," Warfield says. "My advice would be to start today. If you’re thinking about getting into photography, filmmaking, vlogging, online content creation, we don’t live in a better time than we do right now to get started. Stop procrastinating, stop being so scared about what people think of you, and if you want to put yourself out there, put yourself out there and don’t pay attention to the results.”

See more of Terry Warfield’s work on his YouTube Channel. Make sure you subscribe to the Alpha Universe YouTube Channel for future videos like this one.