Thomas Heaton Gets Grilled by Gavin + Mike Taylor in Moab

so I'm here in Moab we've just left the LaSalle Mountain foothills and it was called what wanna lake water lake want it like wanna count down keys out Warner said it promoter we pronounce it properly from England so I've got Thomas Heaton no I've got Mike Taylor we've been doing the out of Moab photography conference for the last day about three four days yeah and so this is your first time out here Tom what do you think it's terrible oh no it's fantastic the great thing about this is it hasn't stopped raining all week which is great to make you feel at home and yeah we can shoot desert canyons towers turrets arches but then we can drive for 45 minutes over in the high mountains Aspen snowfall bottom colors it's got everything yeah and I didn't even know about that so I'm glad you suggested it because otherwise I would never have come out in our the out-of-towners suggested it yeah so you've got a local the local tipped you off I did a local tipped me off which is invaluable which is why you should always chat to other photographers yeah they tell you about those secret locations Kristof for a dump or am i taking pictures oh he's taking pictures he's trying to pull one over and I'll pull a fast one so we are we committing then we're not so now I can't stop all just so you don't got the best is adequate advance compared to water in truth so Tom tell me out of all your travels what has been the most amazing location that you've ever shot I know I know it's a brutal question but the most amazing location is a small valley about 15 minutes from my house because you can travel the world and you can see the iconic sights but nothing beats creating a five-star image in your and I think sometimes it requires you to live there oh yeah a constant access I have a photograph of a tree that nobody will have an image of yeah and I didn't really say where it was taken so hopefully still nobody has an image of it and it's one of my favorite images yeah it's called star of the show well there put it on screen now yeah fantastic location really close to home and you know it hasn't been replicated by anyone else you know we go to Mesa ROG or the other one of the other arches you need to take your shot it's a nice book let's be honest kind of tender penny yeah so shooting locally with the intimate knowledge allows you to get images that just do not exist so with that shot is that was that like a you just kind of stumbled on the scene and it was like you got it immediately I was it like if you have to work it a little bit well I I saw the weather report it was gonna be cold really cold it's unusual for where I live so I went to a woodland I know really well but it's elevating about four five six hundred feet and because there was a temperature inversion the higher you got the warmer it became snow frost up there on the hills but down in the valleys was always frost so I knew there was a valley a really big valley with huge open meadows and individual treason and as an area at once it's visible never really got around to but I knew where it was and I knew that that was gonna be cold so I went down to this valley walked around and took some lots of images always with amazing hoarfrost that was covering everything then just as the light was starting to get a bit too harsh I saw this blonde tree back lit by the Sun still at hoarfrost on it but the background was still in shadow it was the other separation contrast you know a long lens to compress everything get rid of all that crap that was surrounding it yeah and the best thing is as the light hit the tree the frost immediately started to melt so you had like a minute to get this shot another minute and then the light would have spilled onto the background yeah shot would have been good if you're taking the photograph too early the tree would have been in shadow back when I want to be shadow very good so that image existed for a matter of minutes yeah time and that is why it's such a special image to me then why not such a special occasion and I don't think we've had a frost like it since so yeah excellent mark I'm gonna throw that same question to you what is what has been your like iconic bang I know I got that shot it's your favorite shot where was it marshal point lighthouse coach Marshall point lighthouse amen yes tell me about that what's so good about it way the tower cap is designed on the top of the lighthouse it throws this what I call the wagon wheel effect where there are shadow raised I've seen that light now yeah right and if if you can get to the right spot if you have a nice clear night you can get the wagon wheel effect shooting on the rocks right next to the lighthouse lighthouse in the foreground with the Milky Way right behind it you can get all that in one shot and it's I've I've been there many many many times and it's just a matter of being there at the right time at the right moment and being able to know exactly where to stand so that the light coming from the tower cap does not blow out the shot yeah and it's it's a theory on which but yeah so one of the things that they talked about today on that conference was like how do you feel when you know you've captured an amazing image and like for me I'm like my mom I've almost got the shakes I've got if I know I've got a killer shot and it's in the bag it's on that memory card and know I've nailed it okay I'm quivering I can't wait to get back and edit that though what's it like for you right yeah nothing changes my mood like a good photograph I can be having the worst day miserable cold where it drops my camera battery is run out I'm you know my 1% battery memory cards nearly fall I can't compose anything nothing's working I've got a headache I'm tired and I feel sick and then that moment of light that inspiration that composition that satisfaction of creating an image and finding something hit the shutter nail it hold your breath for a second while you zoom in and check your focus taking your exposure and then double check make sure yeah it's good and then it's just like oh I will literally be singing as I'm walking back to the car yeah just walking on air and that's why we did I don't think we would do it if you didn't get our feeling a heist sometime you know if love effort isn't it if you didn't get that emotional attachment to your image value event to see you just you come with feet on a shelf and you wouldn't pick it up again yeah so it's like anything it gives you that surge of adrenaline or something you know yeah that satisfaction and the feeling of being able to create something effectively nothing yeah so for me like photography the reason why I'm hooked on it weights and passion it's an obsession really is you get like two shots of creativity so you get one in the field when you're out shooting and you capturing that that image and it's you're out in nature you see in something that nobody else has seen you forgive at that perfect moment in time and you know you've captured it so that's like the first shock like that's the high and then when you get back to the lab and you're a homing it you download those images and you and you put together that vision that you are that's like the second shot of adrenaline that gets me like yeah what else do you have out there that gives you that double shot you could make it a treble shot print it oh yeah good point yeah you know finish you off put in a frame yeah printed large yeah yeah because that's I guess that's the ultimate goal of the photographer to see that that image on a wall on a physical piece of art that lit properly it's beautifully friend are mounted that's the finished planets a full journey it's in spirit an idea inspiration creativity creation of the image and you finish it off for the physical print yeah so much rather just looking at your phone forgetting about it that's the thing it's like how many times do you see an awesome iPhone shot and they're like people are really proud of it and it doesn t like they might have made a great composition this good shot but then they come to print that and if anything larger than a sort of 8 by 10 and it just looks shap Hank this is do we have time do we will know because I looking at this I think arches is probably killing it right now no stick to the plan let's do think time for this first rule of photography stick to the plan so what do you do when you go out shoot in right you've got a concept in mind you've got a location that you already know you're familiar with it do you kind of like let's just say you're not shooting one of your videos you just shoot in for you right do you say right I'm gonna stick to this comp that I'm in love with that I'm attached to and just wait for that perfect light or do you really work the scene and move around and wait for things to reveal themselves both so if I'm in a new location like we were today I move around look for everything anything inspires me a lot of time scouting just just being in the environment looking for anything to catch my eye but yeah if I have a shot in mind I will go and it's all about assessing the conditions if it looks like there is a reasonable chance that though is gonna happen and I'm going to get what I want I would just wait it out than what's going on around me but then sometimes you think okay this clearly isn't gonna happen the clouds are blocking the light so let's see if we can find something else it's all about reading the environment yeah because if you get the shot set up and the light just does not cooperate but things are kicking off behind you you've got a really where you got to react yeah but then you've got be careful lots of reacts and then though I kicks off behind you you get a mediocre shot with a great sky you turn around you go oh yeah it has to be patient sods law but I guess for you Mike like you've really got a plan and have a concept for your night photography images it's different right you've got to really think about what am I gonna do what lights am I gonna bring we're ever gonna put things how do you do I don't think Astros react to visit unless you get maybe a meteor or student stars I would say that yeah absolutely there's a lot of planning going on but at the same time whereas Thomas has spoken very eloquently about how he would approach a scene I would say you said we have to make people laugh you gotta be yourself mate you gotta be yourself that's what beep safar I still have not heard Thomas he never swears classy English man does not swim I myself never drop f-bombs okay so what's next for your travel plans what is the place that you're looking forward to the most well I'm going to Iceland again which I always look forward to now but I'm looking forward to stuff that hasn't been planned yet you know just having a break getting all the commitments out of the way the workshops the conference is everything mid to late November will die down I'll have three months of no commitments is that that's the time when I have a hot bath and whisky and start getting my books out and start looking for inspiration because all it takes me a few weeks before I start getting the book again you know I'll work my local area travel to Scotland stay in the van do the UK a bit and then I'll start thinking right what else is out there I've got a couple of months maybe I could find a week go so weren't you and then I'll start getting a book salary yeah so I'm excited for actually having no plans in family a sense because of what's to come do you find that as a traveler going overseas a lot you know you're used to a certain pace right you've got like workshop conference your own shooting things it's bang bang bang constant you're on the go and then when you do have that break where you've got like two or three months at home how long to get back on the road like right there in the middle of the night in the middle of dinner what's around like have I missed it no no stay stay good yeah let's listen to Thomas what that's no wonder no one reduces yeah what's it what's the deuce is it card for me like a deck of cards correct right is correct so is the reference for like a pork again yes as far as you know so Mike where's your next hot location in the state's all Canada hot location in two days we'll be going over to New Mexico to shoot Shiprock this time bad fish die bad lungs where the alien throne is located have you seen that place I may have seen it yeah you probably I've been to a couple of deserts in my life but the High Plains desert of New Mexico is the most desolate area I've ever seen yeah there are no power poles right there's no electricity for like 50 miles the only people who live out there live in trailers and they have outhouses they have no power they have no running water give nothing it's really desolate let's put it this way if you break an ankle out there you are yeah because there is no cell service there's nothing so I'm looking forward to that um but in the spring we're really excited because we've hired a Navajo guy to take us out into Monument Valley so this will be the first time we're doing Monument Valley at night yeah and when we announced the workshop to our alumni clients it sold out in less than 24 hours and we have like five people on the lead list so people people have been looking for cool trip to go out to up my alley at night so I'm stoked about that I'm looking forward to seeing those pictures my aunt you wrote it's a joke it's it's AMA what has been the most challenging location that you've ever shot sigh oh really so challenging why just nothing works you find a tree and you go yes you may be harder the tree behind it let me just thought oh there's another one behind me I'll just oh it doesn't work it's just you know you have to work so hard for you but just new things I will be easy right yeah okay forget I call it bridge shot down looking down you don't want that forget the towers so there's a couple of the icons aside go in there and try to make it your own it's really hard you have to work for it never walk so many miles as I do you want to be say okay from look ease but it's really frustrating because to the eye it's mind-blowing yeah to the camera it's like too much too much castle I think I experienced the same thing I didn't get a single good shot in there it's frustrating but the most to me the most challenging location I ever shot was Antelope Canyon because ever be Oh I mean it's spectacular it's like a it's a wonder of the world but it's so rinsed like there's so many people going through that Canyon on a daily basis I think they've actually banned tripod oh is that the shaft of life yeah maybe they maybe need that now but back when I did it you didn't I think you needed you need more permits if you're gonna sell that stuff racket if you need a commercial license but and that that's what for me was so challenging because everywhere you go you're bumping elbows you're bumping tripods someone's foot just walked into this it's a logistical nightmare but when you see the pictures this it looks like such a tranquil peaceful place I think Mesa ROG yeah so tell us about your first Mesa ash huge grand downloads because we were the drupal by i was thinking about some bass about in the picture it looks huge I thought it'd be 300 feet across alright so it was like four or five photographers suite for people here in terms of space turns out they Suraj is about 20 feet across and literally from where your tripod is you can lean forward and pretty yep so five photographers is reasonably comfortable for everybody getting a shot right so you can add to those five photographers people start getting to the edge of the arch and it's not that great but you know when I was there there was 50 photographers 50 put this picture on screen 15 photographers and all with tripods tripod iPhones like like Cather imagine I know imagine Brad Pitt just rocks up in there that's what it was like and the thing is as well there was no lights they were never gonna get the glow and nobody anticipated this nobody could read the weather there was got that spot sticking to it where me wanted me and a few of the group members we're forgetting the eye so let's go around the side and the air goes beautiful shots yeah nice light fantastic landscapes that you wouldn't even necessarily know but taking a base around yeah so is everybody else doing anything cuz the light never Cablevision's seen this and we have to go to court and I think that's the thing it's like when you when you show up an icon a famous icon and you don't get that classic cliched shark you're always disappointed yeah but if you've got the ability to adapt then you're gonna get something you just have to change your thinking and try not to get locked in just get this shot get rid of that competition overhead like people were shooting this thing with no reflected light so they're gonna get the image but they're gonna see all this all these other version from the same image but with gorgeous reflected light so yeah my bother exactly unless you're really into kind of blue tones and shadow and you're really making your own which are fantastic yes it's just funny because we walked up you know yeah all the other I was blown away by that fantastic yeah so your first impression of Canyonlands though overall was kinda months there arches permit this is a Mason annulus alright so I'm good Canyonlands yeah twice we did Green River overlook us and favorite fantastic yeah no crowds nobody there beautiful antiquity like perfect they torch yeah it's not somewhere I would have shot personally happy to take the group there and work the area which we did good exercise to go to an icon and Anshu the icon the end so as a judge so guys did you not find like what I found teaching on this conference was the standard of the students photography for like when we were doing critiques and when we were doing there and we were doing sessions one-on-one sessions they were unbelievable they were better than yours did she keep all good yeah but they were they were on a different level from what I've ever seen before they were very impressive yeah Jona here and genuine criticism that I gave one of the participants when I was doing a critique and genuine criticism I said it's too perfect it was too good I was like ah because it was the most like I can't critique this is always that is Portuguese guy I forget I mean today got me a handle yeah I watch it and I had lunch with him alright and we were chatting flat 20 minutes a second then let's see these pictures and I was like I quit good hender a think is named ender Helder was name is Khaled Elda Elda Elda is it held her head like I think it was held her yeah he was he was rather impressive that kid Jesus I need a piece so bad say we should all go on an excursion to the Del Monte mountain so what's it like in the Del Monte one of the questions that one guy asked and I get this ask this question a lot is how do you find and discover a few locations you look on Google Earth and you look on Google all that does is give you an idea as to whether or not the area has potential and the truth is you will not know unless your Driving's okay but driving you miss a lot yeah and a lot of their good stuff there like trails anybody have to walk so yeah mountain biking is a good way cover ground fast but honestly why don't you figure out an area that looks like has potential for boots just and time it's hard I've got a tip for you yeah how I discover a lot of mine by new locations especially where I live on Vancouver Island is I follow people that aren't photographers so people that are climbers ventures like so they they don't really care about if their pictures are any good they're just kind of documenting that that adventure and so you don't expect you know proper processing or anything like that but it's enough to see oh wow I bet if I got there with a tripod and a bracket two climbers always got two awesome rock faces and huge cliffs Elia they get viewpoints that you just can't get to from driving up to you know so I follow a lot of climbers cavers hip and and that you know what the best place to find a lot of them is on Flickr because I flick is like the oldest photography social media platform and people been on there for like ten fifty-eight you know things like so this is I love this comparison the Flickr is kind of like real life you know if you look on five hundred pigs it's like it's like porn so yeah so if you want yours poured like the women aren't real the pictures aren't real the place is unreal it's all it's all too much too - perfect yeah - like those you got Flickr so real life you can see amazing locations for more snapshots but yeah much more realistic ideas if you go to a location he's seen a five hundred pics well the chats are gonna turn up in here ago what's this and you know what's your philosophy and I want ask you this question as well Mike what's your philosophy on composites and fake I'll tell how I'll start with tell you how I feel about it it is I think it's all good it's all fine like if you wanna make a composite that's cool but disclose that you made a composite and tell me how you did it maybe give me some tips don't pretend that that's a real situation that that's a real scenario because if your followers book a flight book hotels book cars thinking that they're gonna see that they're gonna they're not gonna like you very much I'd say don't do it everyone you know it's hard whatever yeah yeah composites in terms of like you take one image and seven a sight of the light changes 10 second is you go I like the light of the moments it wasn't in the first one blend that's kind of fine it's still a moment in time it's when the landscape dramatically alters something added to it or taken away there's a well-known photographer babe I will not name who was a very famous image in Iceland me and my Icelandic friend Thor we look at this image really ladies this has got to find it so Thor went to find any found it found the location but he found half of the location because the right hands half of the image there and he was stood a clear point in the image you know a recognizable point but the left there was a valley in the picture but there was no valley in real life so this valley has been manipulated Paul there this creates this whole scene which is simply does not exist exist how do you feel about Mike I don't know what composites are but composites why would you pronounce it correctly how do you say aluminium American this is America we speak American American so yeah so how do you feel about about my bags you know this about me because the one time that you put out the it was like a sea stack ocean shot on the coastal work and I think if you have fantastic no good way behind it and you said in your description this is absolute rubbish this didn't happen but you know you can do this if you're creative I think that was the first time I contacted you and I said cheers to you man because I completely agree do whatever you want but certainly let people know if you're creating yeah exactly says anything you want to plug all right you can find by 2019 landscape photography calendar to have all my images from my last 18 months on YouTube

Channel: fototripper

Views: 48,426

Keywords: thomas heaton, photography, mike taylor, gavin hardcastle, moab, utah, fototripper, interview, landscape, outdoor, driving, funny, autumn, fall, october

Id: g6GDyQQlxxc

Length: 27min 18sec (1638 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 17 2018