Being a pro photographer means I have lots of gear to lug around.  Over the years, I have accumulated various camera bags in different sizes and shapes.

One of my bags was a Lowepro backpack that’s about 5 years old.  This particular backpack had developed a problem with its zipper.  It would occasionally snag and be difficult to open.     I contacted Lowepro, and shipped the bag back to them for their inspection.   Within about two weeks I had a brand new replacement backpack at no charge!    Thanks Lowepro!

Ready to get serious about your photography?  Want to learn how to take great photos?   It’s time to get a firm understanding of the fundamentals of photography!

Check out these workshops hosted by Kevin Gourley Photography:   Photography 101 Workshop – Fundamentals of Great Photography.

Three new classes have just been introduced for the Summer and Fall!

I ran across a new tripod while at the recent Austin Photo Expo hosted by Precision Camera.   It’s the Giottos VGR9265-MC.   In fact I thought it was so great I ordered one as soon as I saw it, and now have one of these nifty little contraptions of my very own!   This forged aluminium alloy tripod folds down into an extremely compact format, which is great for travelling.

At only 3.4 pounds and a folded length of only 16.5 inches, it’s pretty impressive that this tripod extends to a height of over 5 and 1/2 feet and has a load capacity of up to 13 pounds!

This tripod comes with a ball head with a quick-release mount plate, making it very easy to connect/disconnect your camera.

Extending the legs to full height has been made much easier because the legs do not rotate when you rotate the lock rings.   So you can tighten or loosen all of the locks with one hand at the same time with just a small twist of the wrist.   The legs slide smoothly without binding, which has been my complaint with some other brands of smaller travel tripods.

Though I call this a travel tripod because of its compact size, it’s really a pretty good tripod for general use.   It’s definitely worth you checking out!

Oh, and it has another nifty feature though I am not sure if I’d really use it, but one of the legs is removable, so that you can then connect it to the removable center column, converting it into a monopod!  So it’s actually both a tripod AND monopod!

At just under $300, this tripod is a good purchase for a serious photographer who likes to travel.

You can read more about this series of tripods on the Giottos website:

http://www.giottosusa.com/classic-tripods.shtml