Sit Photography with the Lion Rock Gimbal L

In cooperation with Rollei, photographer Daniel Spohn had the opportunity to test the Lion Rock Gimbal L tripod head in practice. In this article, you can find out how the photographer worked and what experiences he gained with the Lion Rock tripod head.

“Splash! – Something fell, dived, jumped right next to my camouflage hide.” From the narrow observation window, the photographer could only slowly discern the concentric ripples on the water surface moving into his field of vision. Except for a few chirping birds high up in the trees, it was completely silent by the slowly flowing stream. “His” bird had not yet shown itself: The kingfisher, the jewel of the air. This evergreen of wildlife photography had recently been very rare to see.

Thorough preparation leads to success

“Wildlife photography, depending on the targeted species, is certainly one of the most demanding branches of photography,” says Daniel Spohn. To get animals in the wild within usable distance in front of the camera, he extensively researches their habitat requirements and the mostly seasonal differences in animal behavior.

Among other things, he gathers information on questions such as:

• Which water structures does the kingfisher prefer?
• When does the hoopoe feed its young and what does a typical nesting site look like?
• Are there places in the forest where the brown bear regularly searches for food in late summer?

Whether it's specialist literature, online research, or exchanging experiences with other photographers or biologists: from the photographer's perspective, there are many sources. This is very time-consuming, but ultimately also the key to success. Of course, there are unique chance encounters where great photos can be taken. But relying solely on that, from Spohn's experience, is long-term exhausting. “Also, in Europe, there are only a few places where individual wild animal species have lost some of their shyness due to regular human activities, so stalking leads to usable results.”

Mostly, sitting in camouflage hides is the better alternative, especially since he doesn't influence the animals' daily lives this way and witnesses absolutely natural behavior. As a photographer, you are only a guest in the habitat of wild animals and should not encroach on them in their few remaining habitats. In addition to conservation aspects, the central theme of photography, of course, always plays a role in the selection of suitable locations for hide photography: the light. Too little, too harsh, from the wrong direction, in the wrong place. But all the theoretical preparations of the photographer and his observation tours with binoculars instead of a camera and the countless, unsuccessful trial hides fade the moment everything fits: The animal shows its natural behavior at a usable photo distance. The light of the entire scene is almost perfect. It is precisely these moments that make the photographer addicted and are worth every effort.

Daniel Spohn invests most of the work in wildlife photography before the actual act of photographing. When the time comes and the desired motif appears, nothing should stop him. The technology and equipment used should support him as best as possible in this often fleeting moment and in no way slow him down.

A main task is the mounting of the camera, because until this moment – whether after 20 minutes or after 4 hours – it is impossible to hold the camera-lens combination completely still in hand. In addition to a stool, seat cushion, and sufficient batteries, a stable tripod is used for a mobile camouflage tent or a hide. Since the photographer can never know when the moment will come, the camera should be swivelable and completely operable at all times. This is why conventional ball heads are rather unsuitable from his point of view. For him, there is no way around a gimbal head like the “Lion Rock Gimbal L”. Completely balanced and finely pivotable at all times, the camera waits together with the photographer for the perfect moment.

The advantages of a gimbal tripod head

When his subject suddenly appears in front of the lens, his pulse quickens. When Spohn finally wants to record the reward for waiting in the camouflage hide onto the memory card, he doesn't want to first try to stabilize the camera and lens with one hand. At the same time, loosening the ball head with the other hand and re-gripping to operate or trigger the camera. Valuable time that passes, which as a photographer you often don't have at that moment, and during which the camouflage could be exposed and the subject could flee before your hand reaches the trigger. The initially somewhat unusual strong damping of both axes of rotation of the Lion Rock Gimbal L additionally helps Daniel Spohn in this critical moment to remain calm and not scare away the animals with frantic movements of the lens. For filming, this damping is ideal from Spohn's point of view anyway to enable extremely smooth camera movements.

For the gimbal to support Spohn satisfactorily in every position and perspective, it must be balanced for the mounted camera-lens combination. The wide Arca-Swiss clamp with safety lock of the Lion Rock Gimbal L enables secure and balanced attachment of the lens to prevent tilting forwards or backwards. So that the system does not always remain in a horizontal position when at rest, it is important to also correctly adjust the relative height to the vertical axis of rotation of the gimbal with the help of the slide.

Thus, Daniel Spohn can release the camera in any position and let it rest at exactly that spot, without having to tighten the locking knobs of the gimbal's axes of rotation. Only in this way, in the photographer's eyes, does the use of a gimbal head make sense and keep the camera ready for use at all times, regardless of the system weight mounted.

Usually, the subject doesn't appear exactly where the photographer had hoped. After fine-positioning for a perfect composition, he can follow the kingfisher on the branch or the bear tracking between the trees with the gimbal completely effortlessly and absolutely silently in flowing movements. This allows him to fully concentrate on his subject and operating the camera to capture the perfect moment that all his preparation aimed for.

The nature photographer's conclusion

Since the balanced gimbal never needs to be locked, it makes no difference to Spohn whether he mounts the gimbal arm 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 knobs with his left hand, because they always remain open. However, he always chooses the position to the right of the camera for two reasons. Firstly, this way the gimbal does not block his field of vision past the left side of the camera. He can comfortably look forward past the left side of the camera with a slight lateral head movement while keeping his hand on the camera grip. According to Spohn, switching between the environment and the viewfinder is much faster this way than with a gimbal mounted on the left side. Secondly, the gimbal on the right side also somewhat conceals the movement of his hand towards the camera grip. Especially when he is sitting in a camouflage hide with larger observation openings or outdoors with only a camouflage suit. In such a situation, the animal could be irritated and startled by this hand movement towards the camera before a picture could even be taken.

Birds, in particular, have excellent eyesight optimized for movement, which can expose even the most subtle movement. Depending on how long a stakeout lasts, it's not possible to keep your hand on the camera permanently anyway. This posture quickly becomes uncomfortable, and the risk is too great that the camera would constantly move slightly back and forth. Or even worse, out of boredom, the environment would be scanned with the camera, and this movement would unconsciously reveal the camouflage to the animal. Wild animals observe very carefully what is happening in their environment and whether they can approach safely. Even the brown bear, which does not have the best eyesight, observes the behavior of birds in the forest very closely to benefit from their excellent eyesight as an early warning system. When lying in wait, the most important thing is to wait calmly and comfortably until the targeted species appears. “Therefore, hands off the camera, let the gimbal do the work. With the Lion Rock Gimbal L, your camera is in the best hands,” says Daniel Spohn in his concluding summary of the Lion Rock Gimbal Head.

Have you also captured exciting moments from landscape and wildlife photography? Then feel free to tag us in your Facebook and Instagram pictures. We are excited to see your results.

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