#TravelTuesday is here again! Woop!
I’m Dave Williams and every week I’m here with something from the world of travel photography, and this week is no exception. Here’s a little something I’ve been up to.
Last week I wrote about the features of iPhone live mode in assisting finding the best shot of a bunch, but this week I’ll focus on the same shoot and show something I used that morning.
After a slight delay because of Covid it was awesome to get a Platyball Elite in my hands. This was a pre-production model for beta testing ahead of general release which is anticipated to be in December. I know there are a lot of people that backed the Kickstarter and are keen to get theirs, so I figured I’d shows how everything’s back on track!
Here it is in all its glory, mounted on a Platypod Max with a misty background of Corfe Castle in Dorset, here in the UK. I put the Platyball Elite through its paces here, moving across the terrain and seeing how quickly I could adjust the angle to compensate for each different surface using the chunky, ergonomic buttons to tighten and loosen the hold. I’m doing this I discovered a brand new form of entertainment, and perhaps the best new game in photography. The game is this: –
The aim of the game is to line up the cross in the middle of the screen! It’s great fun! The Platyball Elite features a screen showing the perfect alignment of the horizon and the tilt, helping us get a perfectly level horizon, or in pointing our camera dead-ahead if we want a 50/50 horizon line. This level indicator is an excellent feature of the Elite, and was especially useful for the slope I was on at the tim when used in tandem with the spikes on the Max to hold everything in place.
All this followed a 3:45 alarm call, and I can’t stress how great that actually felt. It’s a ridiculous time, and I’m well aware that some people didn’t even realise that 3:45 had an AM, but getting up with nature and being in position ready for the sun to warm the earth ready for the day is something that gets better every single time I do it. Here’s what I got, using the Platypod Max and Platyball Elite together for real for the first time.
Unfortunately the mist didn’t dip low enough for the castle to fully emerge, which was the shot I’d planned, but this contrast of warm and cold with a 1,000 year old demolished castle lurking within it will have to do.
Set your alarm early and go shoot a sunrise. Even if it doesn’t go to plan, it won’t disappoint.
Much love
Dave
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