Transcript:

Okay Tin Man, it's Craig Elson here in Los Angeles.

Not too far from you. I think here to give the belated video testimonial for the amazing course

I just took with you over these past many weeks, lots to say

but let me cut to the chase

for any of your potential new clients out there that if you're on the fence

and considering working with Tin

Man and whether it's for in-field in-camera technique,

whether it's post processing

or both, whether you're a relative newcomer to photography

and just in love with wildlife

or you're fairly advanced photographer there is going to be plenty

for you learn so I highly highly recommend taking the time to spend with tin man in his course.

I can tell you I will sign up

for anything he offers in the future it was that good. My background in photography.

I am a wildlife, landscape,

and travel photographer and in that order. Wildlife's always been my first love. I started out,

you know drawing pictures of animals

when I was a child and it carried through to a love of seeing them in film

and cinema and you know for any one of my generation watching

Mutual of Omaha, Wildlife Kingdom back in the day

and just you know,

hoping to get to Africa someday in life,

and I've been fortunate enough to do that and photography has been a big big part of that.

I first got into photography more than 30 years ago.

Now I was fortunate enough in college to take a trip around the world called semester at Sea

and I was able to see 12 different countries for the first time.

I'd never been outside of the United States in my life,

and I thought I should document

that so I borrowed my father's Nikon 2020 model film camera obviously film back in the day and off

I went I think I came home with 63 rolls or something like that in in 90 days away.

And from there. I've just I've always loved photography,

you know, my my interest level has has waxed and waned a bit as life,

you know takes its course and getting married having kids working on a career etc,

but it came back with a vengeance about four years

ago when I took my family to Africa

for the first time as a family. I had spent five

or six months of my life on Safari at that point photographing every day all in the film world,

but in 2016, I took my family over there and I bought a new digital camera.

I replaced my Canon 40D that I had bought in 2008,

I think and I bought an 80D and I bought a new 300mm lens.

I thought maybe that would be enough and I got over there and I realized it wasn't even close.

But I just completely fell head over heels back in love with photography

and certainly Wildlife Photography in particular and ever since then I have studied and practiced.

I've bought new gear I wound up buying all of the top-of-the-line Canon gear both bodies

and lenses and shot those for the last four years.

I taught myself Lightroom. Before this course I knew a very little bit about Photoshop.

So I was excited to learn some of the new techniques that Tin Man had to offer in Photoshop

and they did not disappoint.

That is for sure. My photography just looks dramatically better as a result of what I've learned.

So that is been you know,

just a great journey these last four years picking photography back up and along the way,

you know, whether it's following social

media or finding the great photographers around the world and their websites online.

Studying their techniques, taking courses, etc.

I came across your work, Tin Man, both on social media

and your website and immediately was blown away by it.

I love the simplicity,

you know, that's a very high compliment in my book. The Simplicity, the power

and the emotion that you talked about all the time.

It was readily apparent in your images and and how you process them.

And I was hooked and so I began to follow you and so when this course came available,

I immediately signed up and you know,

my goals were to get much better post-processing.

I really wanted to understand the over-sharpening techniques

and some of the noise reduction things that you were doing

or at least that I perceived that you were doing.

And certainly you were and are, and I thought I would you know,

potentially pick up a few things along the way

as it related to in-camera

in-field technique and boy it blew me away beyond beyond the scope of my imagination of

how much I could have learned in the time we spent together.

You know, I consider myself to be a pretty advanced amateur, very well-versed in Lightroom.

I I know my cameras inside

and out, incidentally I made the switch about five months ago now and shoot Sony.

I’ve sold all my Canon gear and I've gone into Sony

for the autofocus capability

and some of the other things that they're able to do that,

you know, I just don't see with Nikon and and Cannon.

So anyway, I was hoping to pick up some more tips on that front and I did you know,

I would like to think over time I could potentially win some awards

or at least go through the process of submitting images.

And having them considered for awards. I'm a pretty competitive person.

I was a competitive athlete for most of my life.

I like to win but I love the art that's involved in photography.

And that's why it is my passion. It's the combination of the art with the technical

and your course has been tremendous in assisting

all of us and thinking about both of those elements

and how you bring them together to create and make images.

And then I you know, I think the other thing I would say in terms of you know,

look, there's a lot of courses out there. We could all spend all day the rest of our lives,

you know doing online instruction and going on,

you know workshops and so forth,

but I've not yet met an instructor like you who brings the

energy and the passion and the work ethic and a great sense of humor,

and the accessibility, being accessible to your clients, it just ,your love

for your craft shines through in everything you do and it's very inspiring

I think to me and to others.

So again can't recommend you

as a teacher highly enough and I will always be your student going forward.

I promise you that and I think anyone else that you know was thinking

About that it would be their privilege.

So until the next time whether in person or online,

I hope you're well and and thank you so much for everything you put into that course.

I know it was a tremendous tremendous amount of work

and you know it really served all of us well,

and it was without a doubt in this crazy time

we're living in, it was what I have most enjoyed

and what I've most look forward to and it certainly,

you know, really improved my photography and for that.

I'm very very grateful. Thank you.