In a collaboration with Rollei, photographer Daniel Spohn had the opportunity Tripod head Lion Rock Gimbal L to test in practice. In this article you can find out how the photographer went about his work and what experiences he had with it Lion Rock tripod head could collect.
“Splash! Something fell, dived, jumped into the water right next to my camouflage hiding place. From the narrow observation window, the photographer could only slowly see the concentric wave movements on the water surface moving into his field of vision. Except for a few chirping birds high up in the trees, it was completely quiet along the slowly flowing stream. His bird had not yet appeared: the kingfisher, the jewel of the air. This evergreen der Wildlife photography has been mostly lately very rare to see.
Detailed preparation leads to the goal
„The Wildlife photography Depending on the animal species targeted, it is certainly one of them most complex areas of photography., says Daniel Spohn. In order to get animals in the wild in front of the camera at a usable distance, he extensively researches the habitat requirements and the mostly seasonal differences in the animals' behavior.
Among other things, he informs himself about questions such as:
- Which water structures does the kingfisher prefer?
- When does the hoopoe feed its young and what does a typical breeding site look like?
- Are there places in the forest where brown bears regularly look for food in late summer??
Whether specialist literature, online research or exchanging experiences with other photo colleagues or biologists: from the photographer's point of view, there are many sources. Although this is very time-consuming, it is ultimately the key to success. Of course there are unique chance encounters, where great photos can be taken. But from Spohn's experience, relying solely on that can be grueling in the long term. There are also only a few places in Europe where individual wild animal species Due to regular human activities, they have shed some of their shyness, so that stalking leads to useful results.“
Mostly be that Hiding in camouflage hideouts the better alternative, especially since in this way he does not influence the animals' everyday life and witnesses absolutely natural behavior. As a photographer you just have to Guest in the living space of wild animals and must not come after them in their few remaining habitats. In addition to aspects of nature conservation law, the selection of suitable locations for the Hike photography The central theme of photography of course always plays a role: the light. Too little, too hard, from the wrong direction, in the wrong place. But all the photographer's theoretical preparations and his observation tours with binoculars instead of a camera and the countless, fruitless test attempts fade away the moment everything falls into place: the animal shows itself with its natural behavior usable photo distance. The lighting of the entire scene is almost perfect. It is precisely these moments that make photographers addicted and are worth every effort.
Most of the work at the Wildlife photography invest Daniel Spohn before the actual act of taking photos. When the time comes and the desired motif appears, nothing should stop him. The one used Technology and equipment should support this often fleeting moment in the best possible way and in no way slow it down.
The main task is to assemble the camera, because up to this point you can do it, whether after 20 minutes or after 4 hours e Camera-lens combination impossible to hold completely still in your hand. A mobile camouflage tent or hut comes with a stool, seat cushion and sufficient batteries stable tripod for use. Since the photographer can never know when the time will come, the camera should be ready at any time pivotable and completely operable be. Which is why, in his opinion, conventional ball heads are rather unsuitable. For him there is therefore no way Gimbal head like that „Lion Rock Gimbal Head L“ over. Completely balanced and able to be swiveled sensitively at any time, the camera waits together with the photographer perfect moment.
The advantages of a gimbal tripod head
When your subject suddenly appears in front of the lens, your pulse quickens. If Spohn finally wants to write the reward for persevering in the camouflage hideout onto the memory card, then he doesn't want to try to stabilize the camera and lens with one hand. At the same time, loosen the ball head with your other hand and grasp it to operate or trigger the camera. Valuable time that passes that you as a photographer often don't have at that moment and during which the camouflage could be blown and the subject could flee before you had your hand on the shutter button. It takes a little getting used to at first strong cushioning at the Axes of rotation of Lion Rock Gimbal L give Daniel Spohn additional help at this critical moment to keep calm and not scare the animals away with hectic movements of the lens. For film records From Spohn's point of view, this damping is ideal anyway extremely soft tracking shots to enable.
So that the Gimbal Spoh satisfactorily supports him in every position and perspective mounted camera-lens combination be balanced. The width Arca-Swiss clamp with safety lock of the Lion Rock Gimbal L enables safe and balanced Attachment of the lensto avoid tipping forward or backward. So that the system does not always remain in the horizontal position when in rest, it is also important relative height to the vertical axis of rotation of the gimbal Help of the sleigh set correctly.
Daniel Spohn can do this in any position Release camera and her in this exact spot let restwithout having to close the locking wheels of the gimbal's rotation axes. In the eyes of the photographer, this is the only way to use one gimbal head Make sense and keep the camera ready for use at all times, no matter what system weight is mounted.
In most cases, the subject does not appear exactly where the photographer had hoped. After the fine positioning for a perfect image composition, he could completely capture the kingfisher on the branch or track the bear between the trees with the gimbal effortlessly and absolutely silently follow in flowing movements. This means he can concentrate completely on his subject and operating the camera perfect moment to capture what all the preparation was aimed at.
| focal length | cover | ISO | exposure |
|---|---|---|---|
| 800mm | F/5.6 | 640 | 1/500 |
The nature photographer’s conclusion
Since the balanced gimbal never has to be determined, it makes no difference to Spohn whether it is the gimbal alarm mount to the right or left of the camera. He doesn't have to hold the camera with his right hand while loosening or tightening the gimbal's locking wheels with his left hand, because they always remain open. But he always chooses the position to the right of the camera for two reasons. In this way the gimbal does not block his field of vision past the camera to the left. With a slight side movement of his head, he can easily look forward past the camera to the left and at the same time keep his hand on the camera handle. According to Spohn, changing your view between the surroundings and the viewfinder is much quicker than with a gimbal mounted on the left side. On the other hand, the gimbal on the right also somewhat obscures the movement of his hand towards the camera handle. Especially if he is sitting in a camouflage hideout with larger observation openings or in the open with only a camouflage suit. Following this movement of the hand towards the camera, the animal could become irritated and startle before a picture can even be taken.
Birds in particular have an excellent sense of vision that is optimized for movements reveal subtle movement could. Depending on how long a session lasts, it may not be possible to keep your hand on the camera all the time anyway. This posture quickly became uncomfortable and there was too great a risk that the camera would be moved back and forth slightly all the time. Or even scan the surroundings with the camera out of boredom and this movement would unconsciously reveal the animal's camouflage. Wild animals observe very closely what is happening in their surroundings and whether they can approach safely. Even the brown bear, which does not have the best sense of vision, observes the behavior of birds in the forest very closely in order to benefit from their excellent sense of vision as an early warning system. At the residence be the most important thing that you quiet and comfortable wait until the targeted target species show up. So keep your hands away from the camera and let the gimbal do the work. With the Lion Rock Gimbal L Your camera is in the best hands, says Daniel Spohn in his final conclusionn Lion Rock gimbal head.
| focal length | cover | ISO | exposure |
|---|---|---|---|
| 400mm | F/2.8 | 3200 | 1/2000 |
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