In this video, I take you through the three camera setup that he uses for video blogging. This includes the BlackMagic Designs video mixer, video assist, sound mixing desk, cameras and microphones. This is a must view video if you have ever contemplated video blogging or have been curious about what was involved.

I must admit that it took me a while to work out which equipment to purchase as I had more than just video blogging in mind. One of my behind the scenes projects includes creating the audio book for my science fiction novel "Battleframe". This is a bit of a labour of love but one that I'm really looking forward to doing.

The equipment that I'm using includes:

• Blackmagic Designs ATEM Mini - video mixer
• Blackmagic Designs Video Assist - displays what camera I'm focused on and records the video.
• 2 x Rode procaster microphones with desk mount stands
• 2 x Rode Lapel micrphone that I plan on using mainly for interviews while on the move.
• Behringer QS1222USB sound mixing desk
• JVC HD camera for wide shots
• 2 x Panasonic H-VC800 HD cameras
• LED lighting rig to illuminate the set
• Brickwall backdrop

I'm sure that as time goes by and I get a little more experience in this new medium that I'll update various components. What is for sure is that I'm having a LOT of fun creating the videos. Make sure that you like them and subscribe to my Youtube channel. I would also encourage you to sign-up to receive alerts from WhizzbangsBlog each time I release a new article/video. This is new feature that I've only just added to my site.

Have a great weekend and go and get creative!

Michael

One of the most powerful things you can do in your life is to develop a razor sharp focus. We can spend huge amounts of time on issues that may concern us but which we have little to no influence over.

Your business or work may be faced with a large number of opportunities, but should you really try and tackle them all or just one or two? Sorting out the answer to this question is often the difference between success and failure.

How does focus apply to your family and friends? Does your crazy hectic schedule get the best of you and loved ones end up getting the scraps left over? Being focused can transform who you are to those you love…..I wonder what life would be like if you were really focused on what mattered?

This is the very first Saturday Musings video I’ve produced, and I hope you enjoy it. Don’t forget to subscribe to the Youtube channel, leave a comment or click the “like” button.

Yep, you read that heading correctly, it’s my birthday today. I’m fifty-four years young, fighting fit (well, sort of) and feel just as energized now as I was thirty years ago. The big difference is I now have a LOT more perspective on life and in particular, what really matters.

At my birthday time, I began to reflect on my life and just how blessed I am. My wife and kids are completely awesome and we’re all healthy. I have a fantastic business in an even more incredible industry. I have friends across the world and can jump on a plane to meet with them whenever I would like. The list goes on and on…..

I remember when I was a teenager my goal was to become a millionaire. I met the girl of my dreams, got married at twenty-one and discovered that with her I was worth far more than a million dollars….I’d discovered something priceless.

This sounds so touchy feely but it’s a real fact of my life. I’ve been married for thirty-two years (thirty-three this year) and I can say that I’m more in love with my wife now than I was when we were first married.

Late one night at the NamesCon conference I was sitting in the bar with a group of people and one of them asked me how is it that I’m so happily married. I will condense a long conversation in one sentence, “Seek first to serve, rather than be served.”

I was speaking with a person the other day and encouraged them to start reading. Yes, we all read a huge amount of Twitter, Facebook, news feeds and even blogs but what I suggested they do is pick up a book.

We spend so much time “catching-up” that many of us forget that reading is more than just about getting the next sound bite. When you read a good book, fiction or non-fiction, you are entering the mind of another person and getting their thoughts on characters, plot or their views on a particular topic. This meeting of minds can have an impact of you by expanding your own horizons or challenging your own perceptions.

At their core, books are a structured set of considered thoughts that have often taken the author a significant chunk of their life to construct. This considered opinion is very different from a Facebook post which is more often than not, just an opinion or at worst an uninformed opinion.

For example, let’s imagine you see a Facebook post on climate change and immediately “like it”. You have effectively shared your opinion on the topic to untold numbers of people around the world, but do you actually understand the issues around climate change?

When I was in high school my English teacher drummed into me the art of critical thinking. Don’t take on face value what is being said, dig into the facts and seek to understand all sides of an issue prior to making up your own mind. Then, once you’ve formed an opinion, hold it lightly as it may be wrong.

I believe the desire to come to grips with real issues has been in steady decline as the world has become highly defensive in their haste to take offence. From experience, too many people react rather than really think. This may seem quite judgmental but ask yourself, when was the last time you argued against your typical position on a real issue to force yourself to view the other side of an argument?

Since September, Australia has been up in flames. Now, in the height of the fire season, almost the entire eastern seaboard is now caught up in an inferno that can only be described as apocalyptic. Major cities like Sydney and my home of Melbourne are shrouded in a smoke haze that beggars belief…..and yet, there is hope.

Yes, millions of hectares of land have been scorched to a cinder, towns have been razed, lives ruined and sadly lives lost but amongst all this devastation there are stories that give you faith in humanity.

The volunteer firefighters that put themselves in harms way to rescue those that cannot rescue themselves. These incredible men and women have selflessly pushed themselves to the brink of exhaustion as they race in front of the inferno to buy some time for children, elderly and the infirm to escape the holocaust.

It almost feels pitifully inadequate to say, “Thank you” to such amazingly brave individuals. There is the wives, husbands and children of these firefighters that wonder if their brave loved one will survive the day or night…..sadly, the nation has wept with the families of some that didn’t.

Then there are our friends abroad. Highly trained firefighters have flown in from New Zealand, Canada and the United States and have come to put their lives on the line to help us. I’m reminded of the Bible verse (John 15:13) that says, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay his life down for a friend.”

This help is like a soothing salve on an open wound to the people of Australia. To have nations that are willing to help in times of strife will be long remember into the decades ahead. I’m also reminded that it wasn’t too long ago that California was burning, and these same countries banded together to do whatever they could to help in that horrific disaster.