code: private function base64EncodeMedia($mediaPath)
      {
          //get media type (extension)
          $type = pathinfo($mediaPath, PATHINFO_EXTENSION);
  
          //get media data
          $data = file_get_contents($mediaPath);
  
          //encode the filedata with base64 - and then concatenate to make the encoded string.
          $encodedData = 'data:image/' . $type . ';base64,' . base64_encode($data);
  
          //return the encoded data
          return $encodedData;
      }
docs: Base64 encode the Media located at $mediaPath.
  
  @param  string $mediaPath media where it's located
  @return string