In this first presentation this semester in ARS 381, I am going to introduce one of my favorite photographer. However, I am going to use another way to introduce him : by starting with a story, a story about myself.
I love taking pictures.
The reason I love taking pictures is because I am terrible in drawing. That is actually a really bad experience while I am kind of like drawing. Until when I was 15 years old and got my own camera, things were getting better: finally I could find another way to “draw” something.
Like other people, I did not know which style I prefer at the beginning. I just pick my camera and shoot randomly.
Until one day in 2005, I bought this.
Chinese National Geography
This book became my favorite book, and I had became a fan of National Geography Magazine since that time.
This magazine have a huge impact on me.
For a little kid who always taking pictures randomly, all the breathe taking landscape pictures stuns me at that moment. I started to have a thought: I want to be a landscape photographer in the future.
One year later, I bought a new compilations of CNG.
This book was talking about Route 318 in China, and all the landscape along the road. By this magazine, I confirmed my thought: oh yeah, I will become a landscape photographer in the future.
However, there is a big question :
I am a lazy person.
Do you know why ARS 381 is my favorite class this semester ?
The answer in that the chair in the sinc site is pretty comfortable.
For a landscape photographer, lazy is the biggest enemy. After all, the pictures are not come from nowhere. You can not get those wonderful pictures just by sitting in your room and imagine how you can take all those pictures, right?
Well, to be honest, I know that clearly. But I do not really have the motivation to change this situation: I am too lazy to change.
Things do have changed, and it has changed in an interesting way.
One day, I was in my room, and did nothing as usual. I turned on my laptop, and logged into the video website.
I have found a video, and it was from a photographer.
Therefore, this is what I found.
This person is doing the same thing as I do : not motivated.
Alright, things are getting really interesting.
This person is called Thomas Heaton, an UK landscape photographer.
Thomas Heaton was born on April 26, 1984 in Blackpool. He was first introduced to the dark room at college when he was 16 years old and has been photographing ever since. He left his job as a video technician in 2010, and became a freelance photographer. He also started his Youtube channel, making videos about how he take pictures and the stories behind the screen.
The video I found was from this Youtube page and added a Chinese subtitle by a local translating group.
In his “Not Motivated” video, he went outside with his camera at last, and here was his work.
I have seen a lot of breathe taking pictures, but Thomas’s picture gives me another feeling: I can feel the peace of nature from his works.
In his Youtube videos, he also makes some “courses” about how to make the pictures. By watching his videos, I do learned a lot. And most importantly: do not be lazy, go out and take the pictures, as you never know what kinds of pictures you might miss if you do not go outside.
Also, his video shows me how hard work the landscape photographer would have to take the pictures.
” Thank you Thomas for telling me these,” I said: “But I will try my best to become a landscape photographer.”
Here are some pictures that taken by Thomas Heaton:
Wild Camp — Thomas Heaton
Cresswell Dawn — Thomas Heaton
“Out of the Darkness,” Northern Sweden — Thomas Heaton
Namibia — Thomas Heaton
“Halfway Gone,” Zion National Park — Thomas Heaton
( PS: Do you know the really amazing thing I have found from Thomas Heaton while I was searching for his information? I am a taoist, and destiny is a really important thing in Taoism. Can you believe how surprised I was when I found that Thomas and I share the same birthday? 🙂 )
Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Heaton_(photographer)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfhW84xfA6gEc4hDK90rR1Q
(All pictures are download or screen shoot from Thomas Heaton’s Flickr, personal web page, and his twitter. Presentation and research using only.
Copyright belongs to Thomas Heaton.)