John Bentham is an award-winning photographer specializing in documentary & portraiture.
His images have been widely reproduced in periodicals & books. He photographs on assignment for magazines, record companies, design companies and advertising agencies. His clients and publications include AUDI, CitiGroup, Ericsson, Fidelity Investments, Forbes, Mercedes-Benz, Newsweek, The New York Times, People Magazine, Pfizer, Rolling Stone, Sony, Time, United Technologies and Vanity Fair.

John has photographed such public figures as Harrison Ford, Philip Glass, Valerie Plame Wilson, author Frank McCourt, SEAL, Todd Oldham, David Bowie, Uma Thurman, Mark Morris, Julianne Moore, Kofi Annan, Jessica Simpson, Jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves, Maroon 5, The Black Eyed Peas, the late Kurt Vonnegut and the immortal Evel Knievel.

John is an instructor at the Digital Photo Academy who participated in the Trek-Tech Trek New York photo walk. Here’s his take away after giving his new Trek-Tech gear a workout.

“Everything in photography is a compromise, but in some cases, you need a specific tripod. The best case tripod is a light, rugged, versatile, relatively inexpensive tripod with a decent height range. This is where the Trek-Tech products fit nicely. Using high strength materials and quality manufacturing techniques, Trek-Tech has managed to minimize weight, yet still offer height and versatility in a well built, rugged system. The tripods also disassemble, which makes them compact, and fit nicely in the location bags provided.

The Trek-Tech GO! Pro has collapsible legs, which are a nice feature on a Monopod. Ordinarily, when using a Monopod, you need to lay the camera down in the dirt, or rest it on something, to retrieve a filter out of your bag. With the Trek Tech system, you simply set your foot on the GO! Pro leg, thereby keeping the camera and lens aloft, and freeing up both hands to mount a filter (or eat lunch).

Sometimes, when working in tight spaces, there is no room to situate a tripod. No matter how you try, you can’t find room for the legs and still get the camera in the right position. With the Trek-Tech GO! Tripod, the legs are quite a bit smaller, as is the footprint, and it fits great where a conventional tripod would not.

My favorite piece of Trek-Tech gear is the T-Pod - their small, rugged, table-top tripod. It’s great for those times when you didn’t bring a tripod, and discover you needed one. Or when you’re packing really light. The T-Pod is now a permanent addition to my camera bag.

I also like the fact that the Trek-Tech system is compatible. You can take parts from the T-Pod and attach them to the GO! Pro, if you need to add an extra foot of height. You can set up a camera anywhere, between a few inches off the ground up to 6 ft, a range usually not possible in one tripod. This makes the system flexible, which is what location shooting is all about.

The Optimount is a very useful gadget. It has a universal mount that can be attached just about anywhere. Sure, you can attach it to the GO! Tripod to achieve a lower camera position, but you can also easily and quickly attach it to a chair, a table, scaffolding, tree branch, car door or roof rack (the possibilities are endless). It’s so small, you can toss it in your bag and not worry about hauling extra weight, but it’s there when you need it.”