Baby Deer - my first YouTube video in years

[John K Jordan]

I was asked to create a short video for an introduction to a virtual children's program at our church. Although I did video editing for years for my animation and graphics work, I no longer have that hardware up and running and haven't made a video in years! So Monday I bought a copy of Adobe Premiere Elements and spent some time reading and practicing to learn the process.

As a test, I found some clips I took on the farm on the farm with my Canon 70D DSLR and used them to create a short video. I learned enough about Premiere Elements yesterday to assemble and crop the clips, make a title, create slow motion cilps, add transitions, and save the result in a useful format. Then this morning I had to learn today's method to upload a video to YouTube!

The result is a very short video of some baby deer playing in a field at the farm. Nothing to write home about, but I would appreciate feed back on whether it plays OK on a variety of systems.

https://youtu.be/mr16CgfhwIk


https://youtu.be/mr16CgfhwIk

I was surprised that the deer were so close to me. I stood very still!

My next step (after the kid's video) is to think about making a woodturning video. Or one on baby chickens and guineas hatching. Or how to process logs into useful blanks with things everyone has around the house: An excavator, dump trailer, bobcat, tractor, Woodmizer sawmill, and oh, a shop bandsaw. :)

JKJ

[Dave Anderson NH]

Nice video John. I'm surprised that momma wasn't around.

[Lee Schierer]

It played just fine on my Samsung Tab A

[Nicholas Lawrence]

Played just fine on my iPad. Not sure how you were able to stand so still while following the bouncing fawn all over the map.

[Jim Koepke]

That was fun, thanks,

jtk

[Jerry Thompson]

That warms my heart.

[michael langman]

Playful little fellas. All I can think is, Oh to be young and full of vigor.

They look safe and happy at your place John. Brightened up my lunch hour.

[John K Jordan]

Nice video John. I'm surprised that momma wasn't around.

Mama typically leaves the young ones alone for times while she forages. When they get this old they spend a lot of time by themselves but mama may be watching from just inside the woods ready to call them if there is danger. She often leaves the very little ones hidden in high grass and tells them "be very still and quiet, I'll be back later!" That's why if you ever find a tiny baby deer out in the wild it should left alone - the mother is probably somewhere nearby. Lots of times people find one and think it's abandoned and "rescue" the poor thing, sometimes inadvertently sentencing it to death.

In rare cases a fawn is truly abandoned. Some years ago a newborn fawn was found bleating and crying near a neighbor's house for three days. At that point and after discussion with the wildlife people we decided something must have happened to the mother and I got permission to catch it. When I walked towards it it came running to me and let me reach down and pick it up. Turned out it was very hungry so I bottle fed it for a few days before transferring it to the wildlife rescue people. There are only a few places in the state certified to take such animals and try to raise them. We had to transport this one to a place hours away.

431023

JKJ

[Howard Pollack]

This may sound silly, but thanks for doing that. The world needs more people of compassion. -Howard

[John K Jordan]

This may sound silly, but thanks for doing that. The world needs more people of compassion. -Howard

Howard, I appreciate your comment! I discovered decades ago that the more time I invested in helping animals (and people!) the less time I focused on myself and the normal problems that can suck the joy out of life.

With the current virus situation people with compassion are coming out of the woodwork! A friend and I were talking yesterday - he's involved with a project to collect and take groceries to give to people who need it, both in "normal" times and especially now when many are out of work. He said he was amazed at the number of people who in just the last month are donating huge quantities of food and signing up to deliver, some of them people who said they had never volunteered for anything before. Maybe they are finding out it does the soul good!

All this food is being collected and organized in a local gymnasium. He said the gym was nearly full and they were running low on space. What a great problem to have! I suspect the same thing is happening all over the country.

And it's not just food. The 1st quarter donations to the church we attend were up $90,000 compared to last year in addition to over $20,000 that people specifically designated to help those out of work with their rent and bills, and that's with all the church services and programs canceled and the doors locked!

JKJ

[Ole Anderson]

Launching into a new program can be a slow process, looks like you have the basics figured out. Cute video. On my list of things to do shortly is to download the free version of DaVinci Resolve from Black Magic Design. It comes highly recommended from the 65,000 strong Church Sound and Media Techs FB group. Our church is unable to stream as usual and instead is using recorded Zoom meetings and previous clips to upload services to it's Livestream account and Facebook. I have volunteered to take over editing in May.

[Howard Pollack]

Fabulous! As I become older (now 72) the more clearly I recognize that the way to have a good life is to help others and not worry so much about one's self. It is easy, at least conceptually, and very rewarding! -Howard