Taylor Pendleton never thought she'd one day become a YouTuber.
In 2018, after years as a wedding photographer, she was ready for a new challenge. At that same time, a marketplace for videographers and photographers was looking for new talent for their YouTube Channel.
“Not knowing the first thing about video creation, I applied to be one of Moment’s filmmakers,” she said. “Which was the start of the YouTube career I never planned on."
In this role, she honed her craft as a video creator, filming everything from product reviews to tutorials on photography fundamentals.
Fast forward to 2022, Pendleton was ready to branch out on her own—she launched a YouTube channel called graincheck. With videos exploring how Pulp Fiction impacted photography to experimenting with $5 thrifted cameras, the channel quickly became a haven for her to offer unique takes on film and digital photography.
A little more than a year since, graincheck has exceeded Pendleton’s expectations. Her videos have struck a chord with fellow photographers, growing her channel to more than 25,000 subscribers.
“I love the genre so much because it allows me to document my life and process as a photographer,” she said.
A “One-Woman Show”
Like many YouTubers, Pendleton does everything all on her own. She's planned, shot, and edited each video posted to her channel.
“I’m pretty much a one-woman show,” she said.
Her creative process doesn’t rely on formulaic tactics or rigid timelines. Every video starts off like a blank slate, taking shape in its own unique way.
Sometimes, Pendleton shared she sometimes finds inspiration while she's out and about shooting b-roll or photos, and sometimes, she doesn’t discover the heart of a video until she’s deep in the edit.
“I find my work is better when there’s freedom to not have to know where I’m going,” she said.
Elevating Stories with Track Club
For Pendleton, editing is one of the most important elements of video creation. It’s how she fleshes out stories and determines the underlying spirit of her videos.
Music is essential to her creative process, and Track Club's curated catalog is a vital tool. Featuring carefully curated, high-quality tracks, Track Club's music library enables creators like Pendleton to find authentic music that perfectly suits their content.
“Finding music that works for my videos happens in significantly less time than it used to,” she said. “Especially since I can go to MixLab and tweak it to be exactly what I need.”
MixLab is Pendleton's favorite feature. It allows her to remix songs as she sees fit, which helps her nail a peaceful, calm tone that speaks to her ethos as a creator.
Take her most popular video so far, “365 days of only black-and-white film”. It opens with a slow-paced, crescendoing instrumental. Paired with her narrative voiceover and majestically shot B-roll, the music helps hook viewers into a dream-like state.
"MixLab is something I didn’t know I needed," she said. "Being able to customize each song I use to help me tell my stories has been a game changer." And her audience has taken notice.
“The comments prove that - the music is always mentioned,” she said.
This is sponsored content created in partnership with Track Club.
Try Track Club for 4 months free and be sure to check out Taylor’s curated playlist here.