You know the whole situation in the
world, the feeling
down, being unmotivated, unchallenged,
frustrated and angry at times, blaming
somebody else for whatever reason is not
gonna get us anywhere.
Hitting the wall is not gonna wake up
the creativity
in anyone. What happiness means to you?
What
truly makes you happy? Can you capture
happiness
with your camera? I know there's a big
difference between the normal times like
in the history 2018
and now. Nah... I'm talking about now 2021.
Have you thought about what truly makes
you happy? Those little things which can
really make you excited and uplift your
mood so you feel like you want to grab
your camera
and get lost in photography and video?
If you are new here, welcome. My name is
Zdenka Darula. It's time for another
creative camera
challenge for you and also for me.
This time I'm going to be taking your
photos while you are taking photos
for the challenge, so we are all going to
be challenged. To start it off
I grabbed the camera and I started
thinking about myself
what truly makes me happy and I'm gonna
be sharing that in today's video and
some of you might be even
a bit surprised. During normal times
like in 2018 my answer would be very
straightforward and that would be
obviously figure skating. It has nothing to
do with photography and the video.
Let me give you a very clear picture. I
am not
a pro Olympic figure skater. I'm an adult
figure skater. I started when I was 40.
I do single jumps. I would eventually
love to do
maybe a couple double jumps, maybe one or
two but I'm not sure if I'm brave enough.
And now I'm going to sound exactly like
a Nike commercial from the movie I think
was called
"How to lose a guy in 10 days". Well, the
reason I
chose figure skating is because I'm
always on the go. I'm extremely busy
and I need to clear my head.
Clear my head from the hectic schedule I
have
even with photography. At that time I was
shooting weddings. That was my job,
not my hobby really. And let's put it
this way. Weddings are
hectic and stressful and I also needed a
break
from very hectic family schedule.
I needed to clean my head and
when I'm on ice, when I'm learning all
those new moves and jumps and all that,
I really clear my head. I cannot think
about anything else because
I don't want to break my bones. Well,
adults fall differently.
I fall like a bag of potatoes and when I
fall,
let's put it this way. Everybody knows.
When I learn new skills and I get tested
like all the other skaters are getting
tested, it feels like
million dollars. When you watch your
videos from the first year when you
started and then a few years later and
you
kind of compare the progress, the
difference is huge. Every year is getting
better and better and better.
You are your own enemy. You are fighting
with yourself,
you don't fight against the other
skaters. I fight with fear,
with my own fear most of the time. And
now it's
2021. What makes me happy now?
Well, it's not really that easy
to answer. Skating was taken away from me
due to pandemic. I haven't been skating
for a year now.
I've had some up and downs. I'm not gonna
lie. I'm pretty sure that you've had some
up and downs too
since the beginning of the pandemic and
I don't mind being open about this
because I
truthfully hate lies and pretending.
Pretending like everything is amazing
and perfect.
Putting on the fake smile just for the
camera. I was supposed to see my parents
last summer but that unfortunately got
cancelled
and this summer it's gonna be 3
years I haven't seen them
and they haven't seen their
grandchildren and
it's very hard because I'm the only
child. There is nobody else there
and those 3 years they haven't seen
them.
They are not going to have that chance
to have those years when the kids were
kind of still kids
not the teenagers again. Well, the next
time they're gonna see them, I hope it's
gonna be soon. I hope they're not gonna
see them
in their early teen years. On top of it
the rest of the family is going through
their up and downs
as well. One of the kids came to me
yesterday that
she doesn't want to do her competitive
sports anymore because
simply there are no competitions. There
are no shows.
She cannot showcase her skills
anywhere
and it feels like she doesn't understand
why she should be putting all the effort
and hard work when there is no reward
for her
at the end. I hope this is going to
change because the
endless hours last few years she put
into it,
it'll be a shame. All she wants to do
right now is just to stare in her
smartphone like
the rest of the kids because they have
nothing else to do. What truly makes me
happy now? Well, I realized that
actually photography is back. My passion
for photography is back. I'm not shooting
weddings anymore,
so the pressure and the schedule and all
that is gone.
I'm taking photos of stuff like just
being outdoors and taking photos of
random stuff
or products or food or anything for this
channel.
I think that this is one of the answers
what truly makes me happy.
Just being able to express myself
through the camera
and through the lens. Being at home
locked up,
it's hard definitely and I know because
I
worked from home for last 15 years and
once in a while you need to get out. You
need to change the location.
I think it would be better if you
actually work one or two days a week
outside of house so when you're at home
you feel like you're actually at home,
you're not in your workplace 24/7. So
one of the other things which truly
makes me happy right now is to go
shoot on a location. And the last video
was
yeah in a mud. I got very muddy. The
one when I was talking about the
transitions
but that's just because the winter is
going away.
Spring is coming up but we are in that
change of the seasons right now and it's
not looking that pretty. But the main
goal was to
talk about the transitions so I really
didn't care where I'm going. I just
needed to get that done.
And to maintain the social distancing to
be safe I just
optioned to go to the mud. What also
makes me really happy
is to see the kids being very happy and
laugh.
Like I mean laugh and I laugh with them.
And I want that laugh,
that true laugh which is coming out of
you and it's lasting more than
just a few seconds. There was one few
days ago.
I joined a month and a half ago this
quite intense fitness program. It comes
with nutrition and all that. That's why
I'm wearing
these. And our son decided to join for
one of the fitness
sessions. I warned him. I said it's going
to take 45 minutes and it's going to be
brutal and it was.
He was so funny. I haven't laughed like
this
for so long. I was crying with laughter, I
could not stop.
His commentary, that gentle swearing, the
way he was behaving, he was trying to
survive those 45 minutes.
Of course the next day he couldn't walk
down the stairs but
all he said, I'm doing it next time again
because he's in that age now
he wants to grow his muscles. Well I
think that, that
big bold laugh coming from you is all we
need right now
just to bring us the happiness back and
feeling uplifted. So the question is
my friends, what truly makes you
happy? Can you capture the true happiness,
the energy
or anything else which makes you happy
through your camera,
through your lens? Creative camera
challenge is on. You have until
April 30th 2021
to submit photos and videos if you like
to but please only submit clips,
don't submit the whole video of cut many
clips. Just, just like a one clip.
You can upload it either to ZD camera
challenge facebook group
or you can upload it to your instagram
account and use hashtag
zdhappiness2021. The important part of
this challenge is also to
include in your captions what truly
makes you happy.
You can write a very short description,
you can write a long one.
If you want to you can include the
camera and the lens you are using and
also the settings.
The most unique photos and videos will
be showcased and
reviewed early in May 2021. Hit the
thumbs up and subscribe if you want to.
If you have any questions and comments
you can leave them below.
I'm looking forward to seeing your work.
See you in the next video,
Cau.... Ahoj...