Launching my YouTube Channel

I was going to write an article this week extending the recent thread on colour grading into the realm of video. As some of you might have guessed based on the sudden interest in microphones and colour grading, I’m officially launching my YouTube Channel in August. I thought maybe some context might be useful!

Chris Wright on YouTube

Some of you will know that there is a Chris Wright Photography YouTube channel. It’s something I picked up a few years ago, dallied with and then the sheer volume of actual client work took over. Suffice it to say two years later; the channel does not represent where I am today. So launching my YouTube Channel properly, with regular posts, is necessary and long overdue!

In the period since I registered the channel, I took to posting the best of the videos I made or contributed to for clients. Unsurprisingly really, there was virtually no interest in what I consider to be pretty decent films. Some were made with Arts Council grants, some privately funded, but audiences stayed away. Why wouldn’t they? Unless you’re a cinematographer, these videos are selling somebody else’s product and are of limited interest to photographers.

Existing Content

In some down moments, I also made a couple of very rudimentary “how to” videos describing some workflows for DxO PhotoLab, and these were popular. With zero promotion, views are approaching 1000 each. I started researching content on YouTube and found that there are dozens of photography-oriented channels of variable quality attracting thousands and, in a couple of cases, millions of viewers.

So, I’ve decided to put in the hard yards and make some regular content that will be informative, and entertaining and hopefully start to build a community around landscape photography, Spain and Creativity. I also have the course that should have been launched in February and would have been except for some unforeseen circumstances that, honestly, knocked me off course for months and the Phototours that will now be scheduled for next year, 2024.

Why Launch a YouTube Channel?

Changes in the way people consume content and the way people find content place websites at the mercy of the Google algorithm. So on this site we have good audience retention figures and very good levels of engagement, but our ability to attract new visitors has been declining since March this year when Google committed to AI much more comprehensively.

The site will not disappear, but it will have another shop window, YouTube. I want to provide a different type of YouTube experience, and while I find my feet, there may be some experimentation with content. I don’t want to be just another ‘gear’ channel although there will be some kit oriented material. I do want to provide useful content. I built a viable photography business in the UK over a period of six years and that experience of both building the business and honing my techniques will inform my videos.

So what will the channel consist of?

New Content

I’ve always maintained that I will only promote products I use and like. So don’t expect a lot of affiliate marketing.

Useful Videos

I will be making studio-based instructional material on some of the DxO products that I use. Pure Raw, and some components of the Nik Collection. I’ll be looking at Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop techniques. Additionally, I’m going to cover video, so expect to see some Da Vinci Resolve material. Landscape and Urban photography tips will also feature. Expect the detailed “how to” videos to be mirrored on this website. If there are complicated steps to follow, it’s easier to follow them in print!

VLog

In addition, there will be occasional Vlog material where I talk about aspects of photography that interest me. In the same style as this website, these Vlogs will be categorised under Art, Business, Craft and Technology.

Location Videos

And finally, there will be location-based episodes filmed at the locations I take other photographers to, initially in Spain and, if that goes well, North Africa too.

When will all this happen?

Kicking Off

I aim to go live at the end of July or the beginning of August when everyone is on holiday and nobody will be watching YouTube! There is a method to this madness; My thinking is that people will want to see a few videos so they can get a view of what the content is like. I don’t want to delete the client work because it means a lot to me, but there will be some coherent playlists once I’ve accumulated more than one or two.

Why you should Subscribe

This YouTube channel will be pretty unique in that we will be majoring in Spanish locations. Spain is woefully underrepresented in the photographic world, so we’ll be looking at locations you haven’t seen before that will make your jaws drop!

If this sounds like a journey you’d like to be a part of, subscribing to the YouTube channel now will help prime the algorithm for new material. Also, if you sign up for the mailing list at the bottom of this article, there will be exclusive content and discounts on the phootography expeditions and courses. These will only be available to readers of this website.