Oh how could I not adopt Travis, after all with his three legs he could be wonderfully talented! As I clicked on some videos and read more about him I just fell in love. I tell you this fella is talented! He can sit, stand up tall, stick his head between his legs, stand on one leg (with some help ) and fold up small! There is one trick that I hope this rescue from England doesn't do and that is roll over! If you haven't guessed it by now Travis is a tripod designed by photographers who own and run the company Three Legged Thing in England! Tripods are an essential item to photographers as they help immensely to stabilize a shot. For a nature photographer like me who likes to blur the waterfall or attempt photos in low light tripods are essential. I cannot hold still long enough. Trust me since my old tripod broke I have tried to hand hold or shoot from rocks and trees. You can only imagine how many shots I've had to delete!
Finding Travis was not easy! There are tons of tripods out there. The higher end or pro tripods like Manfrotto and Gitzo can run up to $1000 and then there are others that are really cheap and flimsy cost as little as $30! Well, cost was certainly a huge factor in choosing a tripod. I actually wanted to get Travis's brother "Billy" as he lightweight and strong with his carbon fiber body but he was nearly one hundred dollars over my budget! Tripods have come a long ways in the things they can do compared to when I last looked for a tripod. You couldn't get as close to the ground, invert the head or unscrew a leg to have a mono-pod! Many tripods do these things now a days and the idea or basis can be traced back to the founders of Three Legged Thing! At first I was very overwhelmed by the options. I read and watched many many reviews on amazon, youtube and from google searches. For my camera set up I learned that the load capacity of the tripod had to be three times my heaviest load which would equal about twenty pounds. That and price (anything over $200) would be out of the picture. The tripod had to be compact and light to lug up mountains or many miles into the wilderness. I also wanted to be able to purchase a spare mounting plate for my 400 mm lens so I don't have to worry about swapping the plate and loosing parts. The last thing I wanted from my tripod was a long warranty and good customer service. Travis has a five year warranty where most only have a one year warranty except for Tycka which offers a six year warranty. Tycka had a 65" carbon fiber tripod for just $139 on Amazon but I could not find any reviews on it or information on customer service so not knowing much other than product description I chose Travis over that one. My child was very happy to meet his new younger brother and clapped wildly has Travis came out of his box! He was as amazed at how tall he stands, (as tall as me) and danced all around him. So welcome home Travis the tripod with a name( instead of a model number I would never remember)! I hope I have not bored you too much! Hopefully the weather will allow me to get out and shooting again! Hurry spring, cabin fever has us all pulling for you! |
Julie MetottNature Photographer, wife, mother, lover of outdoor adventure! Archives
November 2022
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