Micael Widell Newsletter #32
Captain's log
November was a good month! I tried the MIOPS splash device, something I want to play around more with in the future. I got to be one of the first people in the world to play with Laowa's new super-tiny ultra macro lens. I did an experimental long-form video where I shoot, develop, scan and edit a roll of medium format film in real time.
And most importantly, my passion for photography and making youtube videos came back after being a bit lower in most of September and October. Sometimes we all have periods where we feel less inspired, but the important thing is that the inspiration comes back, and it has done that for me :) Sometimes we just need to focus on something else for a few weeks.
/Micael
My most expensive lens ever
Earlier this year I purchased my most expensive lens ever; the Sony 135mm f/1.8. I have always loved 135mm lenses for portraits, as I think they produce the most beautiful rendering and some of the most mindblowingly sharp photos I have seen. I have owned the Samyang 135mm, and later the Canon 135mm. But the Samyang 135mm is 100% manual focus, which can be tricky when doing portraits of children running around. And the Canon 135mm I used with an adapter on my Sony camera, which made the autofocus miss pretty often.
So finally I decided to get my dream portrait lens. And the Sony 135mm really delivers. Together with my A7iii camera and eye autofocus, it nails focus on pretty much every photo – it is such a joy to use. I might make a video about this lens later on.
What will happen on my Youtube channel in 2022?
Early this year I quit my part time job as a software developer to go full time on photography and youtube. However it was with the disclaimer that my second child had just been born, so I kind of knew that I would not really be able to truly work full time with youtube videos.
And indeed, this year I have been able to spend maybe 20 hours per week on my work, on a good week where the children aren't sick. Actually, if I look back on my four years as a Youtuber, I have never been able to spend serious time on my channel – at most I have had around 15-20 hours per week. I think this has been both good and bad for me and for my channel.
The good parts are that I have always seen my youtube-hours as something precious that I really want to make the most out of, and as something scarce that I really want to enjoy. Also I think it has made me a lot more efficient in my work – as I have always been so limited on time, I have simply been forced to develop ways of producing my videos that are very time-efficient.
But the bad part is that I have never been able to produce as many videos as I need to make my channel truly take off. Despite this, the channel grew rather quickly between 2017 and the summer of 2020. After that the growth has slowed and never really picked up again. This is a bit stressful as I don't make enough money yet to truly be able to live off my channel. I need to have more work hours per week, so I can produce more videos and therefore get more views, to be able to make more money. Also with more time, I would be able to reach out to some new sponsors, and make more money that way as well.
Thankfully the day where I can finally put some more serious time into youtube is likely coming soon :) In the spring of 2022, my daughter should be able to start going to kindergarten. Then both me and my wife will be 100% child-free for around 35 hours per week, which should enable me to spend around 40 hours per week on my Youtube work. I am really looking forward to this, because I think my channel has so much potential to grow when I can finally spend some serious time on it.
My Published Videos since the last newsletter
- Macro Photography with the MIOPS Splash Water Drop Kit
- Laowa 85mm f/5.6 2x Ultra Macro Lens Review & Sample Photos
- POV: I shoot, develop, and scan a roll of film
- Yashica A: My best camera purchase of 2021 – only for Patreon supporters
Goodbye for now
Thank you for reading this far, and see you in a month! Feel free to follow me on YouTube, Instagram and Twitter in the meantime. If you like my work, please consider supporting me on Patreon. And lastly, please also feel free to tell your friends about this newsletter, and to reply to it if you have feedback or comments :)
/Micael