photography blog
I’m a big fan of Bert Monroy’s Pixel Perfect - a weekly Photoshop video podcast. In a break from the usual format, this week Bert talks to photographer Stephen Johnson about the impact of digital photography.
The main area of discussion in this show revolves around what constitutes a ‘photograph’. Stephen believes that as soon as you alter a photo in any way it ceases to be a photograph, but becomes a form of digital artwork. An equally valid, but completely different art form.
The whole show is included below, or you can download it in different formats from the Revision3 web site.
About a year ago, I reviewed the mini camera beanbag - Beanpod - a light-weight alternative to a mini tripod when you’re out and about with your camera. At the time, I wasn’t overly impressed despite the low cost and portability, having particular issues with the quality of manufacture.
Recently, the creator of the Beanpod, Mark Woods, got in touch with me apologising for my experience and let me know that he had since changed manufacturer. Would I like a newer model free of charge in exchange for a re-review? I gladly agreed.
So, time to take the latest Beanpod for a test drive…
As you can see from the photograph (the Beanpod from the original review is on the left, the replacement is on the right), the new one has a much more professional finish.
It’s puffier and a smoother shape despite lots of squashing around on its test drive, and has the advertised dimensions of 8in x 5in x 2in, weighing 50g.
What you can’t see from the photograph is the stitching is much neater and more robust - I don’t feel like it’s going to split apart with a little light use. It also has a much springier filling, keeping its shape better and giving more support to your camera and/or lens.
So a side-by-side comparison is encouraging. What’s it like to use?
One of the main reasons I wanted a tripod alternative is for my fascination for small things on the ground.
Snails, leaves, slugs, random floor debris are all excellent targets for my macro lens (I don’t have any hope capturing any creepy crawly faster than a snail… they run off before I’ve set up).
The problem is, a tripod doesn’t go that low, if you lay the camera flat on the floor you never get the right angle and I’m worried about scratching the body or getting it wet on the ground.
With the new-improved Beanpod you still have the problems that the viewfinder is impossible to see through, so it’s not a perfect solution (I must remember to bring a bin liner to lie on while sprawled across the floor in future).
However, with the extra padding and springiness of the replacement, it does protect the camera better and gives more flexibility to fine tune the composition.
Overall though, I’m still on the lookout for a more practical solution to this situation.
Where the Beanpod REALLY comes into its own though, is when you have no tripod, you have a low light situation and a raised surface available.
Lying it flat on the raised surface would give you totally the wrong angle.
Enter the Beanpod - squish it, squash it, turn it on its side to create a great lens support for just the right angle and you are away.
It’s cheap, it’s cheerful, it fits in a pocket.
Great for an evening out at a restaurant or anywhere that you don’t want to lug a whole load of gear with you.
(Incidentally, as an aside. Don’t do what I did and let go of your camera on a wobbly surface supported only by the Beanpod. At least keep the camera strap on. It was fairly secure and well supported… but just don’t. Cameras are expensive, ’nuff said.
Also, another tip for macro or low light photography with a Beanpod, normal beanbag or tripod - use a shutter release or the timer function on your camera to avoid blurring the picture as you press the shutter button.)
Overall, I think the replacement Beanpod has resolved a lot of my previous reservations about the product. It’s much more professionally made and far more robust. The different interior makes the Beanpod more pliable and gives more support which makes me far more comfortable using it.
At some point I’d still like a full-sized camera beanbag where you can add or remove beans according to situation but that’s obviously not the market Beanpod is aiming for. For the cost of a tenner, you can have something that you can slip in a pocket and be pretty darn useful. I’d chucked the old one in the back of a cupboard. This replacement is in my camera rucksack ready to go (and it’s great as extra cushioning for the camera in the bag too) - I think I’ll end up using it quite a bit.
The Beanpod can be bought from http://www.beanpods.co.uk/ and costs £9.99 including postage.
After a brief hiatus, Pic of the Week is back, and this week we have a wonderful sunrise from shariisablonde:
This is part of a set of stunning lake shots, so be sure to check out the rest of her archive.
