Tripod Feet – Claw Feet for Sand and Snow by 3 Legged Thing

I love my Gitzo tripod. A tripod that well made is worth the price. I must say I also love anything made by Really Right Stuff, just a great company with great products. They are my first stop for anything head or tripod related

In getting organized to photograph wildlife in Yellowstone in a week or two with Moose and the gang, I ordered the Really Right Stuff (RRS) Pod Foot Rock Claw tripod Feet to better deal with the anticipated snow/ice. They would replace the normal Gitzo feet during the trip. To my surprise they did not fit the Gitzo leg. The screws were too short. The great technical support staff at RRS quickly got back to me and told me that they have recently shortened the screw on the feet and they are now not long enough to engage into some Gitzo tripods.

Going onto the B&H website, however, I found another set of “B&H Website: Claws Sand/Snow Shoes” feet made by 3 Legged Thing out of London, which are designed for their line of tripods. Went down to B&H and with the help of their great staff, we tested them on the Gitzo model I use. We found that the thread on Sand/Snow Shows is 3/8″ and is long enough to fit into the Gitzo. Seem to be very well made and almost exactly like the RRS product. Problem solved. Onto Yellowstone!

Happy New Year!

Ah… a time of resolutions. A time to reflect on the past year. One constant resolution is to keep pushing the photography. Not always easy, but always a resolution.

2015…We had a lot of ice on the Hudson last year. Ice on the Hudson provides great opportunities to see the growing population of Bald Eagles that migrate in each year. The ice flows provide a nice rest stop for them after catching lunch. If you are patient and in the right spot, they will literally flow right by your location as they eat and protect their catch. I remember this day being zero to maybe 10 degrees but well worth it with all the activity. As you can tell, a Bald Eagle with a fish is a magnet for more eagles and this one is clearly ready to protect his meal…

Golf Course Wildlife

When I am playing golf with people I know, especially down South, you will usually find me with a camera in addition to my clubs. Most likely an 80-400 lens although I have been seen with a 600mm. The camera sits right next to me on the cart, and if possible I usually take my own cart so not to slow any of my playing partners down. Now I am pretty serious about my golf game and extremely aware of golf course etiquette, however, by playing when the course is not crowded, opportunities present themselves if you keep your eyes open.

Golf courses are wide open spaces and the wildlife that frequent the forests and water hazards are accustomed to having people around. Hence possible photographic opportunities, especially in the early tee times. When I am lucky and the course isn’t crowded there is the chance you can spend a little more time getting the image, BUT I NEVER will make a click if we have people immediately behind us. Pretty rude to hold up play for any reason. So you have to be ready and you have to expect very limited time to shoot and most likely no time to improve your position. Its either a situation where the light and the subject’s position is in your favor or you pass on the shot having seen another bird, mammal or reptile during the course of your round. And obviously you don’t crowd or stress the subject to get the shot. Hence the 80-400mm.

During Christmas week in Florida, we saw a wide range of birds and yes more than one Florida gator. On the second hole of one course we came up to an elevated green on a large water hazard. As we left the hole, this Great Blue Heron stuck is head up from the bank of the water hazard proud as punch to have found lunch!  

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Portugal and Spain

We just returned from a week and a half traveling through Portugal via the Douro River Valley. With vineyards occupying every square inch of land right down to the river, there were images to be made in almost any direction you turned. Met a lot of great people who shared the trip with us from Lisbon to Madrid. A memorable adventure. This is an image of Porto from across the river, just as the sun started breaking from the clouds. More to come….

American Cranes and Transport II

I was pleased to learn earlier this month that one of my images made the cover of American Cranes and Transport and resulted in a cover story of the project. A second image was used in the body of the story.

While the image was straight forward using the Df and 18-35,extensive reflections caused from shooting from within the terminal where challenging to remove. Attending Moose Peterson’s Click to Click Workshop in NYC the week after I shot the image opened my eyes to a few techniques that I was able to use separately and in combination.

So after spending over a year with Moose working through his Master of Light Program, why would I spend a weekend at a workshop? Its real simple. I have never, ever, ever attended a Moose Peterson event that I didn’t pick up something that helped move my photography forward. Each Moose Peterson workshop or event is distinct, constantly updated and full of information that can take you to the next level.

Master of Light Program featured in Volume 17.1 of the BT Journal

I had the extremely good fortune to have spent a good deal of 2013 working through the Master of Light Program under the close one-on-one tutelage of its creator, Moose Peterson. What started as a desire to get it right in camera (Moose’s mantra) quickly spread to a wonderful personal exploration with the camera and telling the story, all the time guided patiently (very patiently) by Moose. Sitting here today on the “other side” of that experience and looking back on it, the profound effect it has had on my approach to image making is pretty staggering and hard to explain without taking up way too much of your time. But,suffice it to say, more than I would have ever imagined when I applied for the Program and was accepted.

Moose has been a critical factor in my development as a photographer and story teller and for that I am extremely grateful. That such a talented individual that is in such demand within the industry spends such a significant portion of his time sharing and working with other photographers really tells the story. If you want to get better in this field, this is someone you need to follow. Trust me on that.

So MLP is completed but its not the end. Just the beginning.

Moose features our MLP work in Volume 17.1 of his publication, the BT Journal, which just came out and is available for the IPAD through the App Store on ITunes.