CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

As a professional photographer I place some extra demands on the equipment I use.  While I try to take the best care I can with the cameras and accessories i own, the amount of use the gear receives inevitably leads to some wear and tear and, sometimes, to breakages. The one part of my equipment that does get a lot of abuse is my tripod.  My current tripod is the Manfrotto MT190XPRO4 that I bought last summer ( CLICK HERE to see blog).  The Manfrotto has been all over the world with me and while i regularly check it over and service the catches and levers to keep it in top condition, parts do wear out or, in the case, get lost.   In January I was photographing in the deep snow in Glen Coe and two of the rubber feet became detached from the end of the legs and were lost in the snow.  I have only just got around to finding replacements and the process was very quick and painless using Manfrotto's own parts service here in the UK. I went to the Manfrott...

As the days get longer here in Scotland my thoughts are starting to turn to what images I and going to shoot this spring.  I've also been carrying out a 'spring clean' for my business equipment, which includes evaluating each piece of camera gear that I own. If you are a regular reader of this blog you'll be aware of my recent conversion to Apple for my office computer and a beautiful 27" iMac now sits on my desk.  This has certainly changed my work flow in post production, but the iMac certainly wasn't cheap and this got me thinking about my camera gear needs.  I run a business and I have a lot of capital tied up in cameras and lenses. So I decided to evaluate what I NEED , not what I would like to have in my camera bag.   My cameras and lenses are the tools of my trade and they are there to make money.  It i very easy as a  photographer to sentimental about camera gear, and I have suffered from 'Gear Aquisition Syndrome' (GAS) in the past.  ...