articles/Review/whalestailsandleprechauns-page3

Whales, Tails and Leprechauns - part 3 of 1 2 3 4 5 6

by Mike McNamee Published 01/06/2007

In the Studio
One of the most effective improvements that any of the Gary Fong modifiers confers is to lift the flash slightly higher than normal, even when the camera is rotated to portrait orientation. If this is still insufficient for your taste then your only option is to move the flash still further away from the lens using either a free-standing flash (on its own stand) or by holding out the flash with your spare hand whilst operating the camera with the other. For the female wedding photographer, holding a metal-bodied D-SLR with an f2.8 zoom is a challenge in itself, without trying it single-handed!

We looked at a couple of flash brackets this issue, along with two tripod rotation devices. The benefits of the latter should be self-evident. It is frequently a real pain having to rotate the camera using the trip head. Often the movement also displaces the camera sideways, requiring additional fiddling to get things both on the level and aligned. Both the Bellwood bracket and the Custom Bracket (imported by Bob Rigby Photographic) are well-engineered, well thought out pieces of kit, which work a treat. Bear in mind that they are specific to your camera body (and motor winder or battery pack, if appropriate) if optical alignment is to be maintained as they rotate.

The rotation concept is carried forward to both the 'pro'version of the Custom Bracket and the Bellwood 'rotating' bracket. They maintain the position of the flash as the camera is rotated about the lens's axis. Both have 'feet' so that the assembly may be put down while the photographer goes through the inevitable running about to adjust the pose of their subject(s). This shows the 'breeding' of both accessories; the designers are obviously aware of the problem of clattering your bride with great chunks of camera and metal!

The Custom Bracket even protects the photographer's clothes, by means of a foldaway set of feet. Engineering on all the brackets we tested was first-rate.

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1st Published 01/06/2007
last update 09/12/2022 15:00:18

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