Jeff Blogs

When I first purchased my Gitzo Series 3 monopod I needed a head to hold the camera. At the time I selected a Really Right Stuff BH-40 mid-sized ball head. The ball head was amazing and was perhaps the finest engineered photography accessory I have ever seen in my life.

It works perfectly securing the camera or the lens. The only issue I have with it is the fact that it is too versatile for what I need. The BH-40 was designed to be a tripod ball head. It is designed to adjust on any axis.

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I’ve been a Nikon fan for several years. The cameras are always first rate and they have some of the best lenses in the business. But it is more than just hardware that keeps me coming back to this manufacturer.

Nikon has continuously been developing their software and web presence to add value to their product line. This coupled with their Nikon Schools educational arm provides a wealth of information on just on cameras but on camera techniques.

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It’s interesting how the migration of photography from film to digital has changed the way we take and share pictures. During the film era I was very judicious of what I took pictures of. After all, I only had 24 or 36 shots per roll so I had to be careful in deciding what would be captured. It was always hit or miss as to whether the shot I just took would turn out the way I wanted or if it would be yet another failed attempt to capture what was in my mind’s eye.

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My daughter Tiffany is currently taking a photo journalism class at college. She is extremely talented, much more so than I am so it has been fascinating to watch her progress through this class. Each week they are given an assignment to complete using different techniques.

This week her assignment dealt with strobe lighting and flash photography. When these assignments come up it usually results in a sit down meeting between the two of us where I am responsible for figuring out the technical aspects of the shoot while she lays out the artistic side.

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I’ll be the first to admit that when I began researching monopods and ballheads I had no idea what I was doing. Until now my photography was predominately handheld. On those occasions when I needed a tripod I relied upon an aluminum model that I purchased at K-Mart in the early 1980’s. This was definitely not what you would call state of the art.

I have to admit; when I bought the monopod I inaccurately assumed it came with some type of head to mount the camera to it. When the monopod arrived you can imagine my surprise when I found that all it had was a threaded bolt at the top.

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