Jeff Revell the PhotoWalkPro - Photograph by Robert Klimkiewicz, Jr

Jeff Revell, the PhotoWalkPro, gave the TrekPod GO! Pro a workout on his Washington, DC stint of the Worldwide Photo Walk. He just published a review and it’s making us blush.

You can read Jeff’s whole review but here’s his bottom line: “The Trek-Tech TrekPod Go! Pro is an incredibly versatile piece of photo equipment that will really come in handy for anyone that enjoys hiking and photography.”

“There are three kick-butt features that really make the TrekPod unique.  First off, there’s the quick-release system. The system is fast, secure, and incredibly solid.

The quick-release system is perched on another great feature of the TrekPod, a ballhead.  The big problem with most monopods is that you have to tilt the staff to aim your camera.  With the ballhead, you simply turn the lever on the side to loosen the ball and then point your camera at your subject and re-tighten the lever.  I use a ballhead on most of my tripods and having it on the TrekPod just adds a new level of functionality to the system.

Okay, so the quick-release and the ball head are pretty cool but this last feature is what really caught my eye and made this a piece of equipment that I would definitely take on a photowalk.  On the bottom segment of the staff is a piece of Velcro that, when released, let me spread out a small set of tripod legs that supported the rest of the pod and let me use it for my group shot.  See, I hate carrying a tripod on photowalks because the only time I use it is for the group shot.  Having these small legs on the bottom of the pod kept it functional as a stand-alone support for my camera and still useful as a walking stick/monopod.

The Trek-Tech TrekPod Go! Pro is an incredibly versatile piece of photo equipment that will really come in handy for anyone that enjoys hiking and photography.  The quick-release system allows for quick and easy transformation from walking staff to monopod and back again.  When deployed, the tripod legs add a huge measure of stability to the staff and, while not as flexible as a full-blown tripod, it is usable for situations where you need more stability or even a group shot of your photowalk group.  The TrekPod Go! Pro is available directly from Trek-Tech for $229.99.  If you have been considering purchasing a monopod, or even a hiking staff, you should give some serious consideration to the TrekPod Go!”

Thanks for the kind words Jeff.

Wimberley Clamp Mount and Trek-Tech T-Pod

Here’s a belated follow-up to Thomas who has a question about using the Optera 460 flexible tripod with his Wimberley Clamp Systems.

Thomas, you can use your Wimberley with an Optera. You just need to create some clearance.

The Trek-Tech MagMount Pro quick relase ball head works with any 1/4-in. 20 or 3/8-in. stud. The trick is to match the spacing with your camera. The typical Wimberly user is using a big camera with a big telephoto lens.

The Wimberley Head is a specialized tripod head for telephoto lenses. Its gimbal-type design allows you to rotate your lens around its center of gravity and thus easily manipulate very large lenses. Since its introduction in 1991, the Wimberley Head has become the industry standard for serious nature photographers.

Wimberly Clamp System

Ken Baehr, a wildlife photographer in Alaska, has come up with a clever solution to matching a Wimberly to the Trek-Tech gear using the Trek-Tech T-Pod.

“I really like my Wimberley Tripod Head for use with collared lenses.  However, if I want to shoot a shorter lens, it is difficult to use the Wimberley Head.  I have to bring another tripod with a standard ball head or at least another ball head.  Switching back and forth is a pain.   When I am out hiking in Denali National Park, or someplace similar, that is a problem.  The TPod offered me a solution.

I attached the Tpod to a standard camera plate from Really Right Stuff.  It is light.  The change over is quick and easy, and the TPod raises the camera above the tilt swivel point and gives me the ability to pan in a 360 degree arc.  The TPod is sturdy enough for short lenses and I get to eliminate 8 pounds of gear from my backpack”

You can see the picture of his set-up at the top of the post.

Photograph by Daniel Fox - The Wild Image Project

I got the chance to meet Daniel Fox, the man behind the Wild Image Project, last Friday at the PushDot Studio in Portland. Daniel is a photographer and adventurer who is traveling the world and photographing the last truly wild places, mostly from his kayak. I spoke to him about his vision of blending art, environmental activism and adventure. You can track Daniel’s Wild Image Project trek on Kontain.

We also chatted about the gear he uses and the gear we make at Trek-Tech. From there one thing led to another. Daniel will be using the TrekPod XL carbon fiber - hiking staff, monopod and tripod - on the next leg of his expedition to Argentina. He will also be putting an Optera flexible tripod to the test. The Optera will be lashed to the deck of his kayak. His point and shoot camera, which he uses to shoot video of his adventures, will be clamped with a MagMount. We’ll let you know how it all works.

Daniel Fox - The Wild Image Project

I love magazines. Especially the kind that make me dream and drool. Wend Magazine does that. I picked up the new issue of Wend Magazine at the Wild Image Project show in Portland. Its focus is trekking and that means photo trekking.

The publishers describe their work this way - “Wend is a forum for real people, writing real stories about real adventures and real environmental issues.” Wendmag.com and the Wend blog are essential reading for people who love the outdoors and who care about protecting the wild places.

Lightroom by Adobe has truly revolutionized the way we process digital photos. Aperture by Apple has a very similar product, which I also love, but for today we will be discussing how to enhance an image for printing in Lightroom. 

First I will show you an after and before image. This image was taken with a D70 and a Nikkor 70-200VR. The first image is the final version.

Some of the key aspects of this enhancement are: clarity, blacks, exposure and brightness, vignette and vibrance.

Clarity is a new slider in version 1.4 I believe. It creates what is known and ‘local contrast’. It uses the surrounding pixels of an area to create local contrast (versus global contrast) and really brings out the clarity of an image. For this image clarity is at 43. For most portraits, I use 25 for a typical setting.

The blacks are the threshold where black still shows detail. I typically go beyond that, losing detail in the shadows to gain contrast and feeling.

With the exposure on this one, I brought it way down and then brought the brightness up. This let me retain the proper exposure on the front person and lose the people in the background. 

The vignette added to this effect.

And finally, vibrance, which is something that Adobe got when they bought another competing RAW processing software. It brings up saturation in the colors which are not saturated and leaves skin tones alone. It is like magic for people shooters.

For more information on how to use Lightroom I highly recommend the video download from Luminous Landscape 

Andrew

Trek-Tech

To get our blog and forum off with a bang, we are running three contests in our forums. Each forum will have one winner and each winner will receive a full Trekpod II kit. Go Here.

Head on over to our forums, post your best nature, travel or event photo and be ready to win this fabulous multi-tool. 

Trekpod II

Lake Oswego, OR – (November, 2008) Trek-Tech has introduced the Optera and Optera PRO, highly versatile camera stabilization devices. These products join the Trek-Tech family of portable stabilization devices for “photographers on the go.”

The Optera series is the next generation of portable tripods.  They feature flexible legs which can be used in any number of positions to stabilize cameras or other optics.  They can be set up like traditional table top tripods or wrap the legs around a railing or post.  The Optera PRO features an extra long leg that can be bent up to provide extra support to long zoom lenses.

The Optera features Trek-Tech’s exclusive MagConnect™, which attaches the camera securely and instantly using a solid magnetic connection. Optera comes with a cord and D-Ring system that provides the user to lock the Optera in place when wrapped around something, and also prevents the legs from splaying out from under heavier equipment.

“The Optera offers photographers the capability to do more and carry less,” said Jim Clark, CEO of Trek-Tech. “It is a nimble, lightweight stabilization tool with unique features that make it a great accessory for photographers who are mobile and active.”

Trek-Tech, based in Lake Oswego, OR, is a 4 year old company that is rapidly becoming known as the innovation leader in highly portable stabilization tools for cameras, camcorders and optics. Trek-Tech products are designed specifically for “photographers on the go” when portability, functionality and speed are critical to get the shot. All Trek-Tech products incorporate the patented MagMount™ quick release magnetic mounting system for quick-change mounting and demounting of most any optical device. Trek-Tech products are found in retailers across the country, and through its website at www.trek-tech.com

Optera - Flexible Tripod - Travel Tripod

Optera

Welcome to our first blog!  Hi, My name is Jim and I am fortunate to be the leader of the Trek Tech team.  We decided to launch this blog so that we have a direct line of communication with other folks that share our passion for photograhpy and face the same challenges with traditional solutions to stabilize our cameras.  Our primary goal is provide a useful information, tips and techniques to anyone taking their DSLR ‘on the road’ in search of the perfect image and have struggled with dragging a tripod (or a standard monopod) through airport security, up a mountain or just over to Aunt Betty’s for the family reunion.  We’re excited to get this started and are glad to stopped in for a visit.