Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
Starting today, Peak Design is no longer a bag company, it is also a tripod company. They just announced a new travel tripod that goes by the simple name: Travel Tripod.
If you are a fan of how Peak Design does their bags and clips, there is a good chance you will connect with their tripod as well.
The travel tripod has some features that set it apart from other tripods. (I have yet to try one, so I am trusting Peak Design’s press release on this).
During my recent visit to the USA, I decided to forego the lightweight travel tripods and go with something a little more substantial. Something that could stand up to all day use at NAB 2019 as well as trekking around the Arizona landscape.
I also needed something that would work for video. So, my tripod for this particular adventure was the Manfrotto 190X Video tripod & 500 fluid head. The ideal setup for shooting video at NAB, but some might think it a little unusual for landscape photography. For me, though, and I mentioned this briefly in a vlog I made during the trip, video tripods make the best landscape tripods. I want to tell you why.
There are a few brands out there that make small, compact tripods. But SwitchPod is a new product that aims to provide you with everything you need from a mini tripod. It’s small, lightweight, compact and it transforms in a few seconds. And you could find it useful regardless of the camera you use and what you shoot, be it photos videos or vlogs. Well, especially vlogs, I’d say.
Tripods already come with a set of legs, so why not give them a set of arms, too? If you shoot video, and particularly interviews, you’ll know the hassle of having to setup a bunch of stands for a couple of lights and your microphone. The SquidRig plans to solve that by adding three arms right onto your tripod. It’s a bit like a grown-up version of the Gorillapod Octopus.
GorillaPod is a handy little tripod that can make your life easier on various occasions. And in this video, COOPH has an idea for making your own. You most likely already have all these items and tools at home. But even if you don’t, it will cost you a couple of bucks to get them and make your own DIY GorillaPod.
I love low angle photography! It brings fresh and unusual angles that makes your pictures stand out. You can buy Platypod for this purpose but I didn’t want to spend $100 on a chunky piece of metal. This site have many suggestions for do-it-yourself low angle stands including a frying pan. Good luck taking it on your trip. Here is a super low angle solution under $20. In addition, in my opinion, it is more stable, probably lighter and more compact then Platypod.
I see a lot of new products come through my inbox. There are a lot of people out there right now really pushing to try to create something new and interesting. Something that makes us rethink everything we thought we knew about a particular type of product or process. They don’t always work, but sometimes something comes along that challenges the norm.
I’m not suggesting that the new Lumapod tripod sits in one particular camp or the other, though. I’d have to try one before I could make any kind of judgement. But it definitely looks a little strange. It packs up into what looks like a giant minimalist light sabre handle. But when you open it up, it’s a monopod with feet… and string.
This is an odd one, and I’m curious what you guys think. When I first saw this, I thought “that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen”, but a couple of friends said it looks quite useful to them. The more I thought about it, I could see potential uses. But some of the claims made in the Steadify’s Kickstarter campaign are a little off-base.
The first of those being that it is “the first wearable stabilizer”. You can see what they mean by “wearable stabilizer” from the photo above. But that not really true, as this idea’s been floating around for years (and you can find similar for about a third of that price on eBay).
Here is one of the weirdest products we’ve seen. It’s called the Platypod, and it’s the world flattest tripod. The Platypod is a small flat metal plate that hs a few features that makes it a pretty cool device if you don’t require the height of a tripod. Actually for some low-profile uses, it even better than a tripod.
When I was in college in the early 2000s, I still vividly remember how much I had to improvise to make my shots look like a real movie. Back when sliders and gimbals still weren’t available to the masses, we had to create makeshift rigs with PVC pipes and ride skateboards for tracking shots.
Of course, a lot has changed since then. These days, even amateur filmmakers now have access to all sorts of accessories online to achieve cinematic shots. However, I think it’s still important to instill in people the value of DIY ethos in filmmaking. You can’t always bring a carload of gear to every location, so learning how to shoot quality footage with minimal equipment will benefit you in this line of work.
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.
To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.
JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.
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