A quick look at junior Caleb Verpoort’s Instagram page will quickly show a collection of short videos documenting his adventures and hobbies. These videos are filmed and edited by Caleb himself. With clean camerawork, clever transitions, and attention-grabbing color grading, Caleb is clearly talented and passionate about what he does.

Caleb’s interest in videography was sparked in 2009 by a ski video he made with his cousins and brothers for Youtube. Caleb looked up to his older brother and wanted to be just like him, so when he saw him filming on his camcorder he was fascinated and wanted to do the same.

Caleb has been making videos since the summer of 2010 when he got his first camcorder, and now he films with a Sony RX10 III, DJI Phantom 3, and a GoPro Hero 4. He edits his videos with with Final Cut Pro X.

“My ideal camera setup is my DSLR for cinematics, GoPro for action/underwater clips, and drone for aerial videos,” Caleb said. “As far as gear goes, I have a backpack to carry everything, a laptop to edit on, several cheap mounts for my GoPro, and an external hard drive to store the videos safely.”

Caleb has considered a career in filmmaking, but he sees himself pursuing it as more of a hobby than a career in the future. However, views can change so Caleb says that he will have to wait to see what the future holds in order to make that decision.

In order to constantly improve his work and improve upon new techniques and styles of film, Caleb is always thinking of new ideas, experimenting, and seeing what interests him.

“I mess around with my camera and editing software all the time, whether it’s making short videos or Xbox Forza drift edits,” Caleb said. “When I first got my DSLR, I brought it to my cousins USHL hockey game and made a short edit of him and his team just for fun. I found that making this was extremely enjoyable because it combines two of my hobbies/passions.”

After pursuing this hobby for so long, Caleb has found many people who inspire him to better his own work and who offer up new ideas for videos. This specific community is very active on Youtube and Instagram, and they share new content very regularly, serving as a constant feed of inspiration.

“There are many content creators on various sources of social media such as Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter that have inspired me,” Caleb said. “Some examples of these people are Matt Komo, Nainoa Langer, Andreas Hem, and many more. Watching the content produced by these people helps inspire new ideas and styles of film. It has showed me how much you can learn and improve if you stick to doing what you love. Watching the awesome videos they produce makes me want to get better and reach their level of creativity.”

Caleb may make these videos purely for his own enjoyment, but they are very well received by his friends and family. A quick glance into the comments section of his Instagram page will reveal constant compliments, which serve as more motivation for Caleb to keep producing content.

“Along with what many other filmmakers would say, my biggest inspiration is my audience,” Caleb said. “When family or friends compliment the videos it inspires and motivates me to keep on creating more because I know it brings enjoyment / entertainment to others.”

Videography can be an expensive hobby, but it doesn’t take a fortune to get started. Caleb did not start with expensive equipment, and while he has now built up a more expensive arsenal of camera, he says that it is the content, intention, and execution that matter– not the camera. With a few words on how he feel about videography for beginners, Caleb feels that it’s purely about the enjoyment.

“My advice would be to do what makes you happy,” Caleb said. “You don’t need any top of the line softwares, cameras, stabilizers, etc. to make enjoyable content. With today’s technology you can make an awesome, inspiring film with a smartphone and a free application. Don’t try and compare your content to others. Look at it as something fun to do and watch how you improve over time. The reason I like film so much is because it captures a moment in time. It creates a memory that I can visit over and over again.”