TRIPOD HEADS (Confessions of a Photographer's Wife)

            Who knew that tripods can have multiple heads?  It all happened when my daughter, grandson and I were on a trip to North Carolina to celebrate a family event.  I left Jim at home, knowing that he’s fully capable of taking care of himself, and that he might enjoy having some “alone-time” to take all the pictures he wanted.

            It never occurred to me that, during his continual reading and studying about photography, he’d run across the most marvelous, most versatile, most amazing tripod head he’d ever seen.  By the time we returned to the Northwest to cool off, he was the proud possessor of his new treasure.

            On my first evening home, he trotted Truman, out, knowing that I might have missed him on my journey.  He smiled slyly as I took a good look at Truman’s new head, raised my eyebrows, and asked the inevitable question:  “Why does Truman look different?”

            What followed was a 1-hour demonstration of all the new things Jim could do with his camera while maintaining his equilibrium as he stood in the middle of a rushing stream.  Indeed all the levels and knobs and levers were impressive but I must admit that I had some doubt – that is until he showed me the pictures he’d taken in the stream, on the beach, as the light faded from the horizon, as he lay on his belly to get just the right angle.

            On closer examination, I had to admit that Truman looked pretty spiffy with his new head.  In fact, I realized that he could now run with the big boys when Jim is out with them on our trip to South Georgia Island later this year.  And the best news for me is that the new head doesn’t weigh much more than the old, one so no issues as I lug (or lovingly cradle) him across the beaches of the far southern ocean.