Thomas Heaton

I’ve recently started watching his channel, I think though this is the way most YT photography/cinematography channels are going, lots more collaborations and getting other youtubers out there. Which in a way I like, but I mainly like the vids where you’ve got a photographer jumping in his car/van and camping out or getting up stupid early to try find something a bit special solo, because it’s more relatable.

I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure most of us don’t all have friends or a situation where we ourselves can just jump on planes to go visit all these fantastic places for a week or so to go hiking with award winning photographers. It’s nice and entertaining to watch, but I prefer the more intimate stuff.
 
Gavin's a very funny chap, and seems to have a laugh with anyone he has with him. :LOL: He has some good info and techniques in there too.

I'm looking forward to his videos of the trip to Scotland with Thomas Heaton, Nick Page a 'uncle grumpy' Adam Gibbs. (btw,
2018 International Landscape Photographer of the Year with Digital Camera World)

He thought he lost a load of pics and vids from the trip according Thomas Heaton's vids because of a dodgy card/camera, only to have been able to recover them when he got back to Canada.

Some of the others have already posted vids of the trip which were enjoyable, and included bits of Gavin, but his vids should be good. :) He also had to stay in the UK longer than planned because of problems with his passport/visa problems.
 
LeeRatters said:
That's the type of vlog that I prefer.
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Yeah reminds me very much of his starting days in YT land and personally for me his best. Mixing Wild Camping and photography was such a breath of fresh air in the YT landscape photography genre.
 
smr said:
He lives in Canada doesn't he? Not sure how long he has lived there for but he hasn't lost his accent one bit.
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He does - I asked him why on earth he'd bother with Scotland given he can get out to the Canadian mountains. His answer is "castles, Canada hasn't got castles".

I'd love the Canadian Rockies over summer/winter but the bear risk and very high tourist levels would get to me - but it's a landscape far more interesting and photogenic than our own.
 
SFTPhotography said:
I'd love the Canadian Rockies over summer/winter but the bear risk and very high tourist levels would get to me - but it's a landscape far more interesting and photogenic than our own.
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Our son is presently applying for permanent residency, having worked there for a couple of years. Unfortunately he's in Whistler, which isn't the most interesting area, but still pretty good. :D
 
ancient_mariner said:
Our son is presently applying for permanent residency, having worked there for a couple of years. Unfortunately he's in Whistler, which isn't the most interesting area, but still pretty good. :D
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He can always taking up Skiing.

I reckon there are some bob on landscapes around there. For me, it looks like BC and Alberta have the landscapes that work for me. Lakes, woodland then mountains and nice summers and autumns.
 
SFTPhotography said:
He can always taking up Skiing.

I reckon there are some bob on landscapes around there. For me, it looks like BC and Alberta have the landscapes that work for me. Lakes, woodland then mountains and nice summers and autumns.
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He's a mountainbike guide in the summer and a ski-tech in the winter. There are some amazing bits a couple of hours drive from Whistler, but the area close by isn't so special *by comparison*.
 
My boys off to Canada in the next couple of weeks. 2nd time in 3 years.
 
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SFTPhotography said:
He does - I asked him why on earth he'd bother with Scotland given he can get out to the Canadian mountains. His answer is "castles, Canada hasn't got castles".

I'd love the Canadian Rockies over summer/winter but the bear risk and very high tourist levels would get to me - but it's a landscape far more interesting and photogenic than our own.
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I didn't see any of the former and only the latter in any numbers at Morraine Lake... going back in a few days so I'll let you know if a bear eats me. It is on a scale unlike anything in the UK and is stunningly beautiful but I think each country offers something different and the UK has some of the best landscapes in the world imo.
 
justinminns said:
I didn't see any of the former and only the latter in any numbers at Morraine Lake... going back in a few days so I'll let you know if a bear eats me. It is on a scale unlike anything in the UK and is stunningly beautiful but I think each country offers something different and the UK has some of the best landscapes in the world imo.
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I suppose if you lived there you’d have a gun/rifle so if push came to shove you could shoot one - literally
 
I've just given Thomas another chance and started watching a couple of his recent videos of him out on the field (not his camera review or home ones yet) but he seems to have been listening to the feedback and he's back to just being focused on his photography instead of being a walking billboard. There's still the obligitory Square Space ad at the begining of the video which I don't mind as it's at the start and quick but it's a huge step forward IMO.
 
YoshiK1 said:
I've just given Thomas another chance and started watching a couple of his recent videos of him out on the field (not his camera review or home ones yet) but he seems to have been listening to the feedback and he's back to just being focused on his photography instead of being a walking billboard. There's still the obligitory Square Space ad at the begining of the video which I don't mind as it's at the start and quick but it's a huge step forward IMO.
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Yes I agree, I'd lost interest in his videos, but his recent videos have been really good.

I can understand why he ventured into gear review type videos, his first videos where he was out with his camera and tent were fantastic but there is only so many videos he can make in that format before they get boring.
 
Yeah, he certainly has picked back up again after his lull on content that he had. Back to where he was when we started watching him and more on location, adventure stuff.

Nigel seems to be going the other way.... All gear stuff and weekly "top tips"......
 
I've just started vlogging, and so far made 3 videos.

Went out this morning and just couldn't get on with it at all...

I went to my local park, which is quite an expansive park, only 5 minutes away, and is quite popular with people at any time of the day I guess... got up later than I had wanted but that wasn't the problem, still got there with time to set up and shoot some b roll if I wanted.

So I did a bit of b roll (where I was etc. and some other shots), then got to where I was going to compose a shot and there was another photographer there, and then another, who after a few minutes came quite close with his telephoto lens taking handheld shots of the landscape a dozen a minute.

I'd feel really awkward if I started talking to my vlogging camera when other people are about, I wouldn't mind so much if it wasn't other photographers but even then I wouldn't.

Basically I'd have to be at a location on my own, which is the point I'm making... if you're going to 'honeypot' locations or relatively popular locations/nearby to roads etc. there's always bound to be other photographers there, at any day of the year, well especially the weekend I guess.

After the sun was up, but still well within golden hour I ventured off and found a better spot anyway, and away from anyone and went back to feeling really comfortable and just able to talk to the vlogging camera and do what I wanted, but I just wasn't really up for vlogging about it then.

If I'd have gone to Mam Tor, or Winnat's Pass for instance this morning, there's already potentially going to be at least a couple or a few photographers there.

Before today though I've already realised that a lot of Thomas' videos when he is out on his own are just that, him out on his own with no one else around, unless he chooses to be with a friend or he's on a workshop. But he doesn't have any videos of him where people he doesn't know are with him on location, and I've seen him mention a few times that he also find it really awkward when other people are about.

I guess that's why he goes off on long hikes sometimes to get away from the crowds and to minimise the chances of other photographers/people being at a given location he has in mind.
 
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smr said:
I've just started vlogging, and so far made 3 videos.

Before today though I've already realised that a lot of Thomas' videos when he is out on his own are just that, him out on his own with no one else around, unless he chooses to be with a friend or he's on a workshop. But he doesn't have any videos of him where people he doesn't know are with him on location, and I've seen him mention a few times that he also find it really awkward when other people are about.
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Partly that, but he's also full-time so can pick and choose and doesn't really go to honeypots much these days. It also helps that his 'local' area, although generally popular with photographers, isn't as popular as the big National Parks.
 
smr said:
I guess that's why he goes off on long hikes sometimes to get away from the crowds and to minimise the chances of other photographers/people being at a given location he has in mind.
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He goes on long hikes because that's what's gets him to new places. He's said before that he enjoys hiking and camping even without the photography.
Have you seen his Cumbrian Way 77mile hike video, it's half an hour long and he only takes a couple of photos.
Besides he's done a lot of obvious/honeypot places in the past and now has the freedom to go where he wants and can do that at less busy times.
Going to new places keeps the content interesting. If you only ever shot vlogs within a 50mile radius of your home, you'd eventually run out of content.
 
I follow by Tomas. It's amazing You Tube channal about landscape photography.
 
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Not watched any of Thomas' videos since September but his latest video caught my eye, he's got himself a Fujifilm X-T3, as this is the big brother to the camera I'm currently using (X-T20) I shall be watching his next few videos with interest.

Not sure vlogging using his Go Pro did him justice, he's built himself quite a strong reputation and the quality of the video from the Go Pro is certainly a backward step, I can understand why he's done it though.
 
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nx4737 said:
Not watched any of Thomas' videos since September but his latest video caught my eye, he's got himself a Fujifilm X-T3, as this is the big brother to the camera I'm currently using (X-T20) I shall be watching his next few videos with interest.

Not sure vlogging using his Go Pro did him justice, he's built himself quite a strong reputation and the quality of the video from the Go Pro is certainly a backward step, I can understand why he's done it though.
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I thought the actual video quality of his last vid with the Fuji X-T3 and GoPro was actually quite poor. I've never had any issues with the video quality in any of his vids, and so never even thought about it, so the dip in quality stood out.

The Fuji seemed to struggle keeping focus during the video, and the GoPro was set to a very wide angle, and showed quite severe distortion at some points and seemed quite jerky, maybe because it was set to 4k. The colour grading of each video source needs work to match them too. He explained he was practising with the new set up, which would be used for trips where there would be a lot of hiking to reduce the size and weight before a trip to Nepal. I hope he got things sorted before the trip, because I would not like to go all that way, to such a beautiful place and mess up the photos or video.

With regard to the Fuji X-T3 being used for stills and video, with the GoPro also for video, if he was willing to go from FF to a crop sensor for the size and weight reduction for photos, then it would be interesting to know why he didn't just use the Canon M50 which he already uses for video, and seems to give good quality, and just add the GoPro to that. :thinking: Especially if he may also have to change his processing software from Lightroom to get the most out of the X-T3 RAW files. I'm sure he knows what he is going though. ;) Can't wait to see what pics he gets in Nepal. :):)
 
redhed17 said:
I thought the actual video quality of his last vid with the Fuji X-T3 and GoPro was actually quite poor. I've never had any issues with the video quality in any of his vids, and so never even thought about it, so the dip in quality stood out.

The Fuji seemed to struggle keeping focus during the video, and the GoPro was set to a very wide angle, and showed quite severe distortion at some points and seemed quite jerky, maybe because it was set to 4k. The colour grading of each video source needs work to match them too. He explained he was practising with the new set up, which would be used for trips where there would be a lot of hiking to reduce the size and weight before a trip to Nepal. I hope he got things sorted before the trip, because I would not like to go all that way, to such a beautiful place and mess up the photos or video.

With regard to the Fuji X-T3 being used for stills and video, with the GoPro also for video, if he was willing to go from FF to a crop sensor for the size and weight reduction for photos, then it would be interesting to know why he didn't just use the Canon M50 which he already uses for video, and seems to give good quality, and just add the GoPro to that. :thinking: Especially if he may also have to change his processing software from Lightroom to get the most out of the X-T3 RAW files. I'm sure he knows what he is going though. ;) Can't wait to see what pics he gets in Nepal. :):)
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I can fully understand why he's done what he's done, hiking for days with a bag full of heavy camera gear can't be enjoyable, even shaving a couple of Kg off the weight of his camera gear will make a big difference.

I switched from Nikon to Fuji last year, he won't necessarily have to change software, I've found the lightroom/fuji issue isn't as much of an issue as the internet makes it out to be.

I've actually found Lightroom and Photoshop can push fuji raw files much further than it could with Nikon raw files before the quality starts to drop off...
 
Considering he sells his pictures, going from FF to crop and from an L series to a kit lens (however good) seems a big step backwards to me. He's now carrying more batteries which will add some weight. I wonder how much he actually saved in the long run? And more importantly was it worth it. I'd live with the weight and go for best quality.
 
swanseamale47 said:
Considering he sells his pictures, going from FF to crop and from an L series to a kit lens (however good) seems a big step backwards to me. He's now carrying more batteries which will add some weight. I wonder how much he actually saved in the long run? And more importantly was it worth it. I'd live with the weight and go for best quality.
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We will have to wait to find out, as is latest vid was looking at, and learning from, his bad pics at home. :thinking:
 
swanseamale47 said:
Considering he sells his pictures, going from FF to crop and from an L series to a kit lens (however good) seems a big step backwards to me. He's now carrying more batteries which will add some weight. I wonder how much he actually saved in the long run? And more importantly was it worth it. I'd live with the weight and go for best quality.
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I found the video baffling to be honest. The standard 18-55 Fuji lens may not be be L class, but for a kit lens it's pretty good (at least on par with the Canon 17-55 f2.8), and why he bought the 55-200 I'll never understand, taking it to Nepal, when there are better, weather sealed lenses he could use. The Fuji batteries are quite lightweight though, I carry a stack of them, but rarely need to change them as it's the video that kills them, and I don't really do video.
 
swanseamale47 said:
Considering he sells his pictures, going from FF to crop and from an L series to a kit lens (however good) seems a big step backwards to me.
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swanseamale47 said:
I'd live with the weight and go for best quality
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Maybe because he realises that APC easily exceeds the quality his customers expect and he understands that the only people who can tell the difference in quality between APC & Full frame are some photographers, art directors and publishing professionals and they are not his target audience.
 
redsnappa said:
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Maybe because he realises that APC easily exceeds the quality his customers expect and he understands that the only people who can tell the difference in quality between APC & Full frame are some photographers, art directors and publishing professionals and they are not his target audience.
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When he first mentioned using the Fuji camera and lenses, he said it was just for the long treks. Time will tell whether the quality is good enough from the Fuji system, but I would think for the type of photography he does, art, and sometimes printed large, it could show up any flaws in the camera or lenses more than for the average person. That he saw flaws in one of the lenses he was using wide open, shows that he is scrutinising the images he takes, as you would expect, so he may be more critical than most people. Being a landscape photographer may mean that he is not at wide apertures that often, but having a system that limits in some way, could be a problem down the line. Obviously if it turns out that he is happy enough with what he gets, then he will of course be very happy with his choices, which is what we all want to be. :)

Thom seems to have gone to one post a week from two, and I don't remember him saying he was planning to do that. :thinking: Just glad he's still posting though. ;)
 
swanseamale47 said:
Considering he sells his pictures, going from FF to crop and from an L series to a kit lens (however good) seems a big step backwards to me. He's now carrying more batteries which will add some weight. I wonder how much he actually saved in the long run? And more importantly was it worth it. I'd live with the weight and go for best quality.
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Don't think he's selling prints anymore, certainly nothing on his website at the moment.
 
Didn't he stop selling prints because of selling his calendar? And then stopped selling his calendar because of Nepal? Something like that I vaguely recall.
 
redhed17 said:
Thom seems to have gone to one post a week from two, and I don't remember him saying he was planning to do that. :thinking: Just glad he's still posting though. ;)
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The banner at the top of his YT channel has been changed and the reference to "Every Wed/Sun at 18:00" has been removed, so he must just be posting on a Wednesday now...

I'd rather he only post one video a week if it's entertaining and informative rather than knocking out a dull gear video just for the sake of posting two videos a week...
 
redhed17 said:
Thom seems to have gone to one post a week from two, and I don't remember him saying he was planning to do that. :thinking: Just glad he's still posting though. ;)
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I guess its hard to keep up the same rate for a long time. Whilst it sounds a dream job to get paid for going out taking photos, it must be draining after a few years. Hard to see how you keep each video original. I still prefer his old videos where he is a normal bloke camping and photographing in places I could actually get to. I quite like the fact hes gone to a crop camera and a go pro. Makes them relatable again.

Interesting to see he has purchased an X-T3. That's the same camera I have and for the exact same reason. Walking the lakes with a sore back and shoulders due to a DSLR and two lenses quickly wore thin. Having the words best camera means nothing if I start leaving it at home. I personally find the X-T3 IQ excellent even on big prints. The X-T3 IQ is probably on a par with the 5D IV which is 3 or 4 years old itself (just my opinion mind).
 
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