Log In

Reset Password

Conor is shooting at career making films

Conor Outerbridge (Photograph by Tristan Kermode)

For Conor Outerbridge, capturing his everyday life on film is practice for the future.

The 20-year-old former Warwick Academy and Saltus Grammar School student wants to make documentaries and movies one day and spends a good part of every day either filming or editing his material.

“I practice all day,” Mr Outerbridge, from Paget, told The Royal Gazette. “I try to film in manual mode. In any situation I have to know the right settings, I have to know everything to capture that moment.

“I want to be a producer in the future — I want to make documentaries and movies. This is why I do the vlogs. When I’m doing a vlog, I have to have my camera ready at all times.”

He has also been setting up a YouTube channel “because nobody does that here in Bermuda — nobody does the vlogging”.

“Every night I’m editing a video. For me doing this, I’m practising so much so that in the long run I’ll be really good at photography, video, editing and audio.”

He spends a lot of time working with fellow Bermudian Tristan Kermode to create “some awesome content” and they are currently working on some “lifestyle-type videos”.

Mr Outerbridge has also had a taste of the film industry, working with Burnt House Productions.

“I also just finished working on the Babymoon film that was here with Kelly McGillis — I did a lot of PA stuff,” he said. “I learnt so much and I made so many connections with that too.”

Mr Outerbridge hopes to study photography in Nova Scotia and has been interested in the subject since he was about eight years old.

“When I was really young I took this photo of a Portuguese man-of-war jellyfish. I didn’t think anything of it at the time.

“My grandma is really big into photography, so I guess that’s been a pretty big influence.”

He started studying business at Dalhousie University but realised “it wasn’t something I wanted to be doing”.

“I feel that everybody here wants to be in insurance, and everybody wants to be behind a desk. But growing up here, I always want to be surrounded by the water and doing photography and stuff around the water.

“I do a lot of surfing as my main thing, surfing, skin boarding — anything with a lot of water.”

He also got into lionfishing this year. He works at Ocean Blown Farm — a new start-up specialising in organic farming.

“On the side, I am doing my own little videos and photography, like freelance video and photography. Hopefully, once I get my licence, I’ll be able to do some aerial work if I get approved. It’s just really expensive.”

Mr Outerbridge got into aerial photography when he spotted a drone in the window of a Washington Mall store.

A video he took of three whales just off Grape Bay has been viewed more than 4,900 views on YouTube, “which for me is great”.

“It’s been really good,” he said of the reaction. “This was perfect for me because I’ve gained a lot of subscribers and a lot of views.”

Capturing the footage took a few tries, his drone malfunctioned on his first attempt.

But he knew he was in for another chance when forecasters predicted a perfect day to spend on the beach earlier this month.

“As soon as I come down, three whales — I think it was two males and a female — were up front, right where the reef line is, playing. So I got my drone out and just sent it out and then followed them for about half an hour.”

Mr Outerbridge usually operates the drone from the beach and can “confidently send it a mile out to sea”.

Not only does it give him a “different perspective” of the island, it also gives him different options to capture his other hobby, surfing, by providing a “a different angle of the ocean all the time”.

(Photograph by Conor Outerbridge)
(Photograph by Conor Outerbridge)
(Photograph by Conor Outerbridge)
(Photograph by Conor Outerbridge)