Since their beginning, Zenelli has literally been supporting my photography, beautifully! I had their Carbon Fiber foot on my 180-400VR and loved it, have it on the 800f5.6 AFS and now so excited to have their brand new Foot on the Z600f4 TC. The strength and security is part of it, the saving of weight, another, but mostly it’s the feel and size. I often shoot handheld, I use the foot as a handle as much as support for the lens. For my hand, the Zenelli simply excels. As you can see, it works perfectly in and Arca Swiss clamp. I trust my glass to them and the first time you install it on your lens, you too will say, Zenelli, great footing for your big glass!

You’ve probably seen on social streams videos of birds, hummingbirds coming into feed. I know I’ve seen a bunch and thought that’s pretty cool. Then the folks at Soliom reached out to me and the pursuing conversation resulted in the Soliom Hummingbird Feeder w/Camera BF10 (v2) landing in our garden. Yeah, it does that video thing (like their seed feeder) but these feeders are more than a fun social talking point. The can really help you improve your photography! How? Glad you asked!

We’re getting ready for spring here at the homestead though winter really hasn’t made it yet. Only by a happy accident did we discover in 2023 that the first visitation of our returning hummers was 01 April, no joking. Then we spent a whole lot of time watching the feeders to see who was coming in, when and then thinking through the light to determine the most productive time to be out with the camera. I love photographing hummers. Well the Soliom takes care of almost all of that homework. The camera does more than just video birds. It will send you a notification when there is a bird at the feeder. It will ID the species and it does this by sending the info to you phone so you don’t have to stare at a vacant feeder all day waiting. This is killer for me as I can’t see the feeder from my desk but now, I’ll know all that trivia so I can see the activity real time so I can get the photos with the time is best. And tool that helps me get the photo and maximizes my time at the same time is a win-win for me!

The folks at Soliom have thought this thing through to the nth degree! They have their homework as the feeder comes with booklets after booklet. How to feed birds, deal with squirrels, proper making of hummer food, feeder placement, two hanger for the feeder, extra flowers and perches, it even comes with two brushes to clean the feeder. You can charge the internal battery (comes with micro SD card) using USB-c or get their solar panel to keep the camera charged. Set up is fast and simple through their app. I mean gesh, this is simply a brilliant product. Those who are into printed instructions, Soliom even provides written, illustrated instruction on how to use their App!

All I have to do now is wait a few months as I have it all set to go for the hummer to arrive. And this year we will know exactly who and when they first arrive no matter where we are with the simple brilliance of the Soliom Hummer Feeder!

If you watch football and you’re like me, you look at all the shooters on the sidelines, you’ve more than likely seen the Benro Hi Hat many, many times (my record is 21 Hi Hats at one game!). If you’ve ever watched the BTS for wildlife documentaries, you’ve probably seen the Hi Hat many times. And if you’ve ever tried to buy one you know how hard they can be to get and that’s because they are in such high demand. And you might be wondering with so many out there why you’ve never head of the Hi Hat? Well, that’s because it’s a tripod that at most only reaches 11″ in height! It is a very specialized tripod that took me six months to find and get, it’s in that kind of demand. What the heck is it for and why did I so want one?

NFL sports depend on them for all those amazing ground view film they shoot. The stability of the Hi Hat / BV8 video head produces the smoothest panning for big rigs you can imagine! This isn’t for macro shooting, not for static plane photography, this is for action shooting with big glass. The #1 reason I wanted it is to photograph waterfowl at water level. Whether shooting stills of video, when I get down this low I am not stable and I can see it in my photographs. That’s until I mounted my rig on the Hi Hat and now everything is sharp. My other application for this tool is ground-to-air aviation video. Like I said, this is a highly specialized tripod that not everyone needs but if you work close to the ground with big glass, you gotta check it out. Hi Hat, man oh man!

Traveling with gear can be as nerve racking as moving a home! I experienced this anxiety for the first time I went to fly with my first 600f4 some thirty years ago. There were no options for a photopack that would fit in an overhead back then. That’s why I designed and manufactured the first MP-1 and then MindShift & I came up with the MP-1v2 (pictured above, regretfully sold out a few years back). The MP-1v2 was designed to do exactly as you see, fly with the big glass. What you see here is the Z 9 / Z600f4 TC in the long lens compartment. I often replace the hard lens shade with the LensCoat flex shade if I’m going to fly on a regional jet for the extra padding around the lens’ bell. The Z 8 flies with the Z24-120f4 attached and Z14-24f2.8 in the same compartment. In the top compartment is the Z400f4.5. The Z1.4x is in the compartment with the Z400f4.5. (Some projects where I’m working the entire time out of a vehicle and I need more gear, I will use the ThinkTank Airport Security V3. You can see my gear locker options in the updated page.)

When I was younger I would have more gear pilled into the MP-1v2 that often just went along for the ride, never pulled out and used. Now a little wiser, I give my back a break by leaving that gear back in the locker. The Profoto A10 will go in my checked luggage along with RRS flash arms that I use with the Z600f4 TC & Z400f4.5. Once I arrive at my destination those items get moved into the MP-1v2 and back into the check luggage once I head back home. I hope this helps those who were asking and those who have wondered about traveling with the big glass.

I’m so excited by the Benro FS20PRO I’m not sure where to start! It’s less than $85, supports the Z400f4.5 w/Z 9 attached, it works and feels like a fluid head but it’s not, it weighs only a half a pound (a half of a pound!) and is not just a ball nor rational head, and it works brilliantly! On the Benro Tortoise tripod, it’s a dynamic duo I’m taking everywhere. How does it do all of this? I gotta admit, I’m not really sure of the engineering but do know it works beautifully. You have what appears to be your basic panning function with a lock, but it feels as smooth as a fluid pan. You have a lock for the limited ball movement and separate lock for full tilt movement. The movement of the camera platform then has the smoothness and “tension” of a fluid head, but it’s not. Did I mention it’s less than $85 and weighs a half a pound? It has a video handle that folds down that contains a built-in allen key. The mounting platform (accepting swiss grove plates) rotates a full 360 degrees as does the panning base. It’s a fantastically simple, elegant, solid head, my go to now. It’s a gorgeous head!