In this article, we meet Daniel, a photographer who began his creative journey at a young age with VFX videos on YouTube. Over the years, his passion expanded into various artistic pursuits. Daniel’s experiences in filmmaking and photography in Iceland taught him the value of collaboration, cinematography, teamwork, and careful preparation while emphasizing the importance of adapting to the dynamic digital landscape to thrive as a content creator.
When I was just 11 years old, I was an ardent fan of the YouTube channel FreddieW, now known as RocketJump. Their VFX videos sparked my passion for creating my own. At the age of 12, I took the plunge and uploaded my first VFX videos on my newly minted YouTube channel, “MonkerVFX.”
My fascination with the world of entertainment has always been evident, and my ultimate goal was to bring joy and entertainment to others. For me, photography and videography are the means to achieve this goal. My VFX videos were just one way to express this passion, which eventually led me to explore various other hobbies with the same aim. I ventured into professional magic, embraced drumming in a band, delved into managing Minecraft servers, and honed my culinary skills for hosting guests, and now I’ve returned full circle to my love for the camera, much like my 12-year-old self.
As I’ve matured, I’ve realized the importance of embracing the world and making the most of our time. This realization has become the focal point of my creative journey. Through my lens, I strive to inspire others to explore the world. I aim to achieve this by showcasing the breathtaking landscapes that different places on our planet offer, with Iceland being a standout example.
My fascination with Iceland began after my first visit, where I was utterly mesmerized by its otherworldly landscapes. This fascination sparked an idea: to create a short film featuring an astronaut exploring various Icelandic landscapes, akin to traversing different planets. Astronauts symbolize the best of humanity – the spirit of discovery, curiosity, and exploration. This is how the concept of the short film was born.
With nothing but the vision of an astronaut at the center of the frame, I reached out to friends, brainstormed ideas, and embarked on a journey to craft a story that could be filmed entirely in Iceland. After a lot of thinking, I had a base for a story, but it still needed to be written and developed further. That’s when a friend of mine connected me with a guy named Juan Caruci, who enjoyed screenwriting in his spare time, as a hobby. We had multiple Zoom calls where we discussed the film and he helped me start to put it into a script and develop the story. We knew we wanted some sort of plot twist, or surprise at the end, which is difficult to do well in a low-budget movie, but we embraced the challenge, fueled by the inspiration of filmmakers like Christopher Nolan.
Once the script was finalized, all I needed was to confirm my friend Will Salas was going to be able to join me in Iceland for a month, as we both had remote jobs. He was excited about the idea and happy to join and support me. From there, there wasn’t much planning honestly. We had the script, I had an idea for where I was going to shoot most shots as I had already explored much of the country, and we decided where we were going to go each morning depending on the weather. It is hard to plan ahead when we have to work for most hours of the week and that combined with the unpredictable Icelandic weather made us make decisions at the very last minute.
It has been an exciting project that needed a lot more work than I could have ever imagined before executing the idea. We drove for 12000 KM in one month to get all the filming done, stayed up many nights planning the next shoot, and woke up early to get on the road as we had limited time due to the fact that we also had to work every day. It’s been a project that taught me so much through trial and error – I think the biggest lessons I learned and recommendations I would give others were:
Collaborate with an actor; it can greatly affect how your movie turns out.
Learn more about cinematography and how to create scenes that stir emotions. Making travel videos and movies requires different skills.
Don’t go it alone; you’ll need assistance. Doing all the production work by yourself can harm the final result. It’s best to have at least two people helping with production.
Plan your movie more thoroughly. Think through your scenes and create a storyboard. Don’t just improvise; allocate more time for preparation.
I will keep the above lessons in mind for the next projects. There’s a quote from Beethoven that says: “The true artist is not proud: he, unfortunately, sees that art has no limits; he feels dark about how far he is from the goal, and though he may be admired by others, he is sad not to have reached that point to which his better genius only appears as a distant, guiding sun.” I mainly relate to the part that says “he is sad not to have reached that point”; every day I believe I grow as an artist, learning new methods, changing my style, adjusting what I consider to be great. That makes it so I’m consistently looking forward to improving and not being immensely proud of my previous work. I am not sure what the healthiest approach is, but this is how I currently do it.
With that being said, there are a few photos that hold a special place in my heart. They represent not only my artistic journey but also the determination and effort that went into capturing them. It’s not often, but there are some timeless images that my eyes appreciate no matter how much I grow and change. What makes them unique is all elements together, the entirety of the piece. The composition, the colors, the story behind it, the struggle to get it…
One of those images is this one of the aircraft in Iceland:
The story behind this shot is special as seeing the final touch of light working out as how I had imagined it for this image, was just fantastic. We were in Iceland filming the movie when I had the idea for this photo. It needed to be pitch black, so we drove to the parking lot of the aircraft, slept in the car, and woke up at 3 AM to walk for an hour in the freezing cold darkness. Once we reached the aircraft, my friend put on the suit and stood on top of the plane. I set up the tripod and sent the drone out, and there was the special effect: The drone circling the plane also illuminated the plane. I love the colors, the composition, the concept, the astronaut in the center, and the interstellar feeling you get.
Here is another image I adore, and a before and after:
I love the composition and the colors in this shot. Obviously, every picture has a different editing process. For this one, I had a few different objectives. First, I wanted to contrast the greens. So the center greens have more of a yellowish brighter tone, while the greens on the outside are a bit darker and greener. This was done by simply creating an oval mask in the center, increasing exposure, and adding a vignetting mask around. I also created a gradient mask coming from the top increasing exposure, to emphasize the light coming in, and a gradient coming from the bottom decreasing exposure, emphasizing the depth of the forest. I also decreased the dehaze in the center, to give a little bit more fog to the center back trees. Lastly, I decreased the clarity of the image to lessen the sharp edges of the plants, giving it that glowy dreamy feeling.
You can see that I’ve used quite dark colors in this image, which is usually my choice. However, I also like to experiment with different things. My favorite colors are definitely the warm desert tones, like yellows and oranges. Nevertheless, I believe my style isn’t solely about colors; it’s more about how I compose the picture and the type of landscape I choose. I’d describe it as vast landscapes with elements that provide a sense of scale.
In today’s digital world, growing as a content creator goes beyond taking great photos and having a unique style that reflects your personality. Your audience often overlaps with other creators, and social trends play a big role. To expand your online presence and visibility, it’s important to adapt and occasionally diverge a bit from your personal preferences. This is just how things work.
If I could only do what I personally love, I’d create lengthy YouTube videos about different countries and upload them every two months. However, this approach wouldn’t help me build the online presence and brand recognition I need to sustain myself as an artist. So, I also make short video clips (reels) where I focus on using popular music and following visual trends that align with my niche. All the while, I still infuse these videos with my own creative touch.
As for the future, I embrace the uncertainty, finding inspiration in new experiences every day. My goal is simple: to keep creating, growing, refining my art, and enjoying every moment of the journey.
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