Welcome back!
Me
This weeks letter I felt like it would only be right to introduce myself and what I want to accomplish with this newsletter and my goals and dreams for this year.
My name is Kyle Burila, many of you know who I am. But for those of you who don’t know me personally I’m a 20 years old from Utah. I currently live in Charleston, South Carolina.
I like to call myself a creative, I’ve always had an act for dreaming of things and wanting to accomplish them. This past year I picked up a camera and started making short form content just small little videos I enjoyed making, I’ve filmed a few wedding, and I often film behind the scenes for one of my photographer friends. I love nature! Growing up I always loved going on campouts with the boy scouts group I was apart of but due to loving sports as well, I was often busy the times we had campouts. I feel last year at the beginning of 2023 (the first year I wasn’t apart of a organized sports team since I was 5) I’ve had the urge to see this magnificent world we all are apart of. Seeing mountains, oceans, trees, and sunsets daily makes those things seem like there not all that great but they’re what make our experiences and I enjoy capturing and portraying these views in ways that make people feel the content.
A big goal of mine this year is to become a better filmmaker and to create content I’m proud of. I have an interest in digital marketing so I think it’ll be really cool to create good enough content to film some sponsorships and go on some cool adventure around the US by the end of the year. One thing I have on my vision board this year is to film a concert this year I think that would be really fun and good experience, I also want to document someone’s big game tag this fall during hunting season those would be some really cool things I feel I can accomplish this year.
Creative Spotlight
Earlier last week I was scrolling looking for someone to spotlight and I was thinking I wasn’t going to be able to find someone but then I came across this creator that goes by steveslense
Steve gave me one of the coolest responses he is truly something special and I can’t wait to watch what he accomplishes this year and so on because he is an inspiration to me and I know so many others.
Steve is 21 years old and is one of the most relatable people I’ve conversated with. When I’m looking for creators to spotlight and I’m thinking of questions to ask them I’m kind of asking for myself in a way because I know creating is creating can sometimes be hard and taxing on capturing every little thing. So with the first question Steve hit it right on the nail for me, I asked him what has been the biggest lesson he’s learned since photographing the outdoors and creating content
His response hit home. . . Steve said “Enjoy the adventure. I feel like sometimes our goals or desires to create content and hone our craft can sometimes become more burdensome than beneficial. while improving photography, videography, and editing skills is something that I want to do, and continually am doing, sometimes I just need to put the camera down and the laptop away. sometimes we just need to enjoy the moment and let go of the impulse to capture or crate content from it. so not every moment needs to be captured, some you need to keep for just yourself and those you experience it with.”
After reading his first response I knew Steve wasn’t your ordinary outdoor photographer, I asked him a few more questions such as what is a dream location you’d like to venture to this year? what inspired you to create? and what is some advice you’d give your past self from a year ago?
Steve shared with me that his dream location is the dolomites in Italy, I had never heard of it before so I took to google and I was met with these beautiful mountain peaks that looked straight out of a dream! nothing I have seen before with its Grand Teton esque peaks and Yosemite like valleys with old Italian country towns. Steve’s advice for his past self was spectacular because I feel like I hear many creator struggle with this and I feel like it needs to be said LOUD and CLEAR! Steve’s response was “Don’t be afraid to shoot more in public/busy locations! I feel like people that want to be content creators but don’t know how to or if it’ll even work out let their fear of judgement stop them. they’re too scared to bring a camera with them on even the small everyday life moments because they don’t want people to be critical of them or judge them. in reality there’s so many people doing that very thing, that in most casers it’s welcomed and you’ll connect with more people just by doing that.” I personally struggle with this but I can attest that it is true! a few weeks ago I went and film a digital journal entry where I was talking to my camera on the docks by the ocean and had a very cool conversation with a guy that was just curious of what I was doing out on the dock with my camera.
Dear Steve,
With the question of what inspired Steve to create really touched my heart and I wanna give its own section.
“What inspired me to create? Really my relationship with Jesus. God has given me a huge desire to be outside in his creation, that’s mostly taken shape in outdoor recreation ranging from white-water kayaking, rock climbing, and snowboarding. I love being outside because it brings me so close to God. in that, I’ve recognized what a privilege it is to have the health, ability, and means to get outside and do all of that. so, I started creating at first just to capture memories for friends, but it’s growing into sharing those adventures and memories with people that don’t have that same ability to get outside. I know most people who do adventurous thing don’t know God tend to worship creation instead of the creator, so I'm hoping that people will be able to see a glimpse of gods glory in the content I create.”
I titled this section dear Steve because I wanted to share my thoughts and firstly wanted to thank him for sharing his thoughts, goals, and beliefs with me. honestly after reading all the responses from Steve and learning about what he wants out of this year in content creation and life, it made me look inward to myself and the fundamentals of why I first wanted to start on this journey of content creation and exploring the world. If there is anyone out there questioning what they’re doing with their life career wise or in any aspect of it know that if you want to stop and change the trajectory of your life and chase your dreams know that it is possible. It is possible if you are truly wanting something and are intent with your actions you can make it. Don’t live a life of regret because one day we will all be growing old reflecting back on what we’ve done throughout our lives and also the opportunities we didn’t take. I took a risk on moving across the country from Utah to South Carolina because the opportunity presented itself. Steve has showed me that it is possible he is only a year older then me and a few months ago I was really questioning why a bought a camera I hadn’t picked it up in a week or two but the basic fundamental that Steve remind me of why I picked up a camera is to explore Gods great creation, there’s not a single place on earth that is the same as another and getting out to adventure not only to share but to help yourself connect with nature and appreciate where we are and that were all on the same journey in life.
thank you again Steve.
thank you guys for reading this weeks letter I hope it has touched you as much as it did me while writing this. love you guys.
some links to check out
Granola Tiktok:https://www.tiktok.com/@granolapark
support me ❤ venmo: https://venmo.com/u/Kyle-Burila