I am so excited! I finally have a decent tripod! I went to Best Buy after work this evening and purchased the Sunpak Pro 523PX 64″ model with the pistol grip ball head. It has a lot of features that I really like, including:
- Pistol grip ball head with trigger control (no more levers!)
- Quick release plate with a built in screwdriver (no more using a coin to tighten and loosen the screw)
- 360 degree rotating ball head (no more taking the camera off the tripod and repositioning the not-so-quick release plate to change from landscape to portrait mode)
- 2 bubble levels
- Adjustable lift n’ lock center column (with an extra shorter column for tabletop configuration)
- Neoprene leg grips
- Center column accessory hook
- Carbon fiber leg sections
- Rubber feet with retractable spikes
I love the pistol grip trigger control. It makes it possible to reposition the camera and have it locked into place for the next shot with just a squeeze. I can’t wait to take this thing out this weekend and give it a test run!
The only photography that I got to do today was totally by accident. We had a baby shower for a co-worker in the office today, and the person who was supposed to be taking pictures ran out of memory in their point-and-shoot camera after only a couple of shots. I happened to have my camera at the office with me, so I grabbed it and started shooting. I had the telephoto lens already attached, so I went ahead and used it. All the better to get shots of the action from the far end of the conference room table. It also gave me some depth-of-field variety:
Since these were just snapshots, I only published them to my Facebook page, but you’re welcome to view them (click here). The conference room had a ton of natural light, so I only needed the flash when taking pictures of people who had their backs to the windows. I had the camera on Auto the whole time, and I was pretty pleased with the way the pictures came out. I haven’t edited any of them, just published them as is (except for some resizing, of course).
I’m hoping to get some good shots this weekend. They’re predicting a 60% chance of rain tomorrow and 30% on Sunday, so it could be dicey. But I’m determined to find that window of opportunity so I can get my dose of Zen–I need it!!