JHP Newsletter - 2005, No. 6, 2 September

Equipment: L-Bracket

I've been using a quick-release L-bracket with my 1Ds Mk II, and I love it. An L-bracket allows the camera body to be mounted in a vertical orientation while leaving the tripod head in the usual position. I had been hesitant to spend the extra bucks for an L-bracket compared to a regular mounting plate, but was starting to get tired of having to readjust the tripod legs when I switched from a horizontal composition of a scene to a vertical composition of the same scene. With the L-bracket, it's a snap to switch from horizontal to vertical, and it's also more convenient to have the camera remain "balanced" over the tripod head when shooting vertically. If you shoot a lot of vertical images with short lenses (ie, those without a tripod mount of their own), I would strongly encourage you to get an L-bracket. When you do, you'll probably wonder why you didn't get one sooner.

Travel: Colorado Wildflowers

Right after returning from Norway, I made a weeklong trip at the end of July to shoot wildflowers in the mountains of western Colorado. I visited the Paradise Divide area near Crested Butte, Yankee Boy Basin near Ouray, and American Basin between Silverton and Lake City. It was a lot of fun exploring these areas, and really exciting to be doing my first real 4WD travel. In addition to shooting the flowers, I also shot several groups of yellowbelly marmots and pikas.