Here is Part 2 of my little documentary film about Mud Lake here in Ottawa. It's all gimbal footage except for the last 2 clips of a Black-crowned Night Heron at the lake. It was all shot on one day last week so the whole thing was shot in 4K and exported in 4K so the IQ is great.
What I'm trying to do here is give the viewer the kind of experience I have walking on the trail through the forest in the early morning sunlight. It's really a wonderful experience. Does this video and the music convey that sense effectively?
Thanks for watching and for your feedback.
Enjoy!
Rudy
Rudy,
I think you convey what you have written. Quality and score was top-notch. If you are putting this in a 4 part video all together when you share it, and it is 8-10 minutes long, in 2026 I think you will lose a lot of your audience. I don't think folks have the attention span much anymore, sad to say. Maybe if you are telling a story with that fine voice of yours, as this is playing, maybe you would retain them.
Dave
Hi Dave, thanks for watching and for your feedback.
This past year, I really dealt with the questions of video popularity and viewer retention. I spent some time studying what methods and tips people use to make their Youtube videos get more views and their channel more subscribers. I learned and implemented some of those techniques and really made an effort to boost my numbers. Then, after a couple of months or so I said to myself, "Hey, what the heck are you doing here anyway?!" And that was the end of that. I do keep putting large type on my thumbnails, but that's about all I do to increase the views.
So when I'm out in the field with my camera or by the water spending time doing what I love, I need to ask myself "why am I doing this and for whom?" The answer is definitely not for the people on Youtube or even on the other forums I participate in. Yes, it's fun to share with others and nice when people enjoy my videos, but I do my videos for really only 2 people - myself and my wife. Marny is a nature lover like me, but she has really bad allergies and can't join me out there. However, she loves my videos and we watch them together again and again and so we get to enjoy nature together. In fact, she often gives me input and creative advice on most of my videos as I'm making them. We've had a ball doing this for the last 5 years ever since I started doing videos.
My vision for this current Mud Lake mini-documentary is to create a longer, comprehensive video that sort of does it all in one big package knowing full well that the vast majority of YouTube viewers, when they see the time stamp on it, will quickly take a pass.... and that's totally OK with me, I understand.
Nevertheless, I'll do my best to interest them right off the bat and hopefully give them enough cool stuff to give them a great viewing experience for as long as possible. (I'm really glad that I don't have to make my living at this. ).
Cheers,
Rudy
Jun 27, 2026 at 08:31 AM
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