AReineman wrote:
Oh my God, Trey -- Hilarious! Your killing me.
Andrew
Yeah, well go shoot with Tom for a while and you might want to kill something - especially if he uses that CRAPPY PAN/TILT, ought to be a boat anchor, tripod head.
Trey Neal wrote:
Yeah, well go shoot with Tom for a while and you might want to kill something - especially if he uses that CRAPPY PAN/TILT, ought to be a boat anchor, tripod head.
Trey you are killing me !!! a friggin boat anchor, is the thing THAT heavy?? Oh, my.. I have had some revalations on this day!!
Trey you are killing me !!! a friggin boat anchor, is the thing THAT heavy?? Oh, my.. I have had some revalations on this day!!
Charles
It aint heavy, but it is unwieldy. I've never seen anyone struggle so much with a piece of equipment as I did that day. Tom was sweating BBs wrestling that stupid thing and as you can see, I was the one who ultimately took the shot, with Tom's camera I might add
Trey, you are too darn funny!!
Thanks for the shots. I wish I had worked to courage to feed the camel out of my mouth. I was stressing over just touchin' the damn thing in the April tiger shoot.
Re: Tom Hicks secrets mdbassman wrote:
It would be very nice if Tom included how he took ( settings) the images so others can have a professional reference to gage their shooting.
Tom does include exif many times , but if someone actually thinks his work is about the gear then they will never arrive at the level he has achieved. His level of work isn't about the gear , it is about understanding ones prey, patience, attention to detail, steady suppot system, and being willing to throw away dozens of images to get to the good ones. There is not trick to being great , just a LOT of hard work , a lot of experimentation, and being willing to sit down in chigger infested grass to capture pictures of bugs , just isn't on most folks "to do list" . The dedication is what has set Tom apart , don't insult him by thinking it is about the gear
To McFadden..I entered NO insult to Mr Hicks..I thought that being the professional he is he might be interested in helping give us less fortunate beginners with some reference to guide us in learning how to compose a shot. Using his results as a reference we might find out when a shot does turn out as we expected what it was we did wrong. Obviously you (Mcfadden)expect something less or more. Not everyone has the expertice you think you might have and what we all know Mr Hicks has.
Tom sorry if you thought my comment was an insult..that was the never the intention. It was not about gear nor was there any reference to what gear you used.
Mdbassman, Tom will not take this as an insult and McFadden knows about how much Tom dedicates to the macro field and he was just making the point that its not what he uses that causes the outcome. Knowing the exif info will not make you good, macro is trial and error. Maybe Tom use f 8 all the time does mean you have to, experiment with this stuff. Tom only shows the good stuff like me, there are many shots that does not meet the grade and you will have to try again. Tom will give you pointers along the way, he has much to offer and does. Macro is depanding and you must learn by doing and trying different things. You will learn alot just by studying his shots. Tom helped me alot by telling me what I am not doing instead of telling me what he is doing. If you stay around this forum long enough Tom will teach you by default.
Thanks Rob but I am not trying to side step any learning curve here. Yes I know "learn by doing" is the best way but sometimes one needs some guidance. I see Toms' wonderful shots, as well as many others here at FM, and look at the data if posted to see if maybe the shot was auto,manual, av priority, tv priority, creative mode, basic mode... If you find a composition that inspires you to learn, it lights a fire. If the author of the shot gives the shots data then maybe if in composing my shot and it comes out "screwey" I can refer to what a good shots profile is and see what mistakes I made and adjust accordingly. The use of aperature,shutter, white balance, and so on are creative modes in composing a picture. To some, like Tom, it appears natural. I am not looking for any easy way out just information/learning through an experts eyes. A forum is a place to exchange info, techniques, and learning..at least in my view. There is no need to "attack" a respondent because he seeks info to learn. I said nothing about Tom's equipment. This forum is not a contest/competition were info is used to "better" someone elses' image to win a contest. It is an arena for discussion not attacks. Not everyone is an advanced photographer or expert. Let's get to photography..Thanks again for the reply.
Dan
Edited by mdbassman on Jul 13, 2005 at 07:23 AM GMT (Reason: spelling and add text)
Certainly info on how a photo was created will help us learn. But we could hand Tom Hicks a $9 drug-store disposable camera, and he would come back with images that would astound us. It is the unique connection between his eyes and his brain, and many many years of hard work, that make him a great photographer. We may never be able to match the former, but we have the opportunity for the latter.
To Dan and others, First , thanks everyone for all the nice and funny things ya'll have said, I wasn't going to reply to this thread at all , part of it I find very flattering and then there are part that make me blush from embarrassment.
Please, all of you on these forums are some of my finest friends, but you give me way too much credit.
Dan I understand about info you want and how you would use it, I will try to get some for you on other shots. I pull my inspiration from allot of people here on FM. I'm not a master, or the master, but the Master Plonsky does visit us from time to time. Mark is who set the fire in me to capture the detail like has does , My good friend John Mcfadden , is truly a Master, and one who has guided me in the direction I needed at the time . When I first started macro I was hand holding and doing well, but John was the one who was always on my tail to use a tripod. After 8 months or so of him hounding me to use it I did, and to my amazement my photographic detail exploded. Then came my poor lighting skills, again it was John who got me through those times as well. Trey Neal is also one who has inspired and helped this poor sole understand both his camera and his computer.
Dan I have only been shooting for 3-1/2 years I use Av mode 99% of the time. I use the tripod allot , with shutter release , I still shoot my old D60 and some times my older still D30 .I use any and all lens to get the shot I want . I rarely shoot over 400 ISO and f stop are from f2.8 to f 32. I like to have control of the f-stop so I can control the DOF of both subject and background. I could really careless about the shutter speed. I have taken some of my best macro shoots in heavy deep shade and a 14 sec exposure, no flash.
I know some of the guys come across a little defensive, but they are also some of the best teachers we have and with out them we would be lost.
Again I will say I would love to take pics with some of the newer equipment but frankly I don't have the money so I’ve had to learn to use what I have .
I hope everyone has enjoyed them selves at my expense, you guys are too much.
Trey Neal wrote:
It aint heavy, but it is unwieldy. I've never seen anyone struggle so much with a piece of equipment as I did that day. Tom was sweating BBs wrestling that stupid thing and as you can see, I was the one who ultimately took the shot, with Tom's camera I might add
cmM. wrote:
Is that a 3030 head? Hey, it's not that bad
You are probably correct, it most likely isn't a bad tripod head but if you'd seen Tom fight that thing you'd think it was the most poorly engineered piece of equipment ever made. Of course Tom's primary macro rig isn't that tripod/head combo. He uses something quite alot different. Maybe he'll post a shot of his main tripod/head combo - you may be surprised
Trey Neal wrote:
You are probably correct, it most likely isn't a bad tripod head but if you'd seen Tom fight that thing you'd think it was the most poorly engineered piece of equipment ever made.
...so I'm not the only one
I want to come cean for once!
I have been building giant replicas of insect for Tom out of old shoes and used plumbing fixtures.
My son does the painting with spray paint.
huguito wrote:
I want to come cean for once!
I have been building giant replicas of insect for Tom out of old shoes and used plumbing fixtures.
My son does the painting with spray paint.
huguito wrote:
I want to come cean for once!
I have been building giant replicas of insect for Tom out of old shoes and used plumbing fixtures.
My son does the painting with spray paint.
Hugo
, Hugo , man I told you not to tell, Some of the older members might remember this but some one actually accused me of doing just that , shooting fake dragone flies , little model dragonflies that had been air brushed, and then some one said all my subject were dead and just put into positions to make a good comp. I wish I could remember who that was.
Great topic Charles ...
First let me say the very first image that open my eyes to macro was Mark Plonsky Yellow Hornet eating a pear (just outstanding) – it became my wall paper for over a year) he has many others... Then by chance I found this site and notice Tom's work s well I was hocked... I knew I had to go out and buy myself a digital camera...
How about creating a T.Hicks and a Mark Polonsky awards for macros monthly subjects? Both had had huge impact on may of us (ME for sure).
To both I say a BIG THANKS.
I have learned a great deal specially from TH and his countless tips...
On a last note “Honey its TOM's fault I spent all this money!!!!” he made me do it!!!!
DavidPereira wrote:
Great topic Charles ...
First let me say the very first image that open my eyes to macro was Mark Plonsky Yellow Hornet eating a pear (just outstanding) – it became my wall paper for over a year) he has many others... Then by chance I found this site and notice Tom's work s well I was hocked... I knew I had to go out and buy myself a digital camera...
How about creating a T.Hicks and a Mark Polonsky awards for macros monthly subjects? Both had had huge impact on may of us (ME for sure).
To both I say a BIG THANKS.
I have learned a great deal specially from TH and his countless tips...
On a last note “Honey its TOM's fault I spent all this money!!!!” he made me do it!!!!
