A 4mm Allen Wrench
Yes, this is a post about an Allen wrench. Why? Because the lack of this little tool caused me some grief on our recent night photo walk.
About half way into our walk I noticed my camera was moving within the quick mount of my ball head. I checked the locking lever to make it sure it was tight as well as the plate that mounts to my camera. What I found was the mounting plate on the top of my new ball head was slightly loose. And to add the misery I was sporting a new camera bag so I had not taken the time to add all the usual accessories. Grrr.
I chalk this up to “what goes around, comes around”. I always kid Rick Young and Ken Peterson about the amount of gear they bring out when shooting. These guys come loaded for bear I tell you. They could easily last 5 days in the bush of Africa. As luck would have it even with all their gear the wrenches they had did not fit my ball head so I had to make do. Live and learn.
I think the Boy Scouts say it best with their motto, “Be Prepared”.
It’s amazing how one piece of gear can save a photo shoot. Jason carried a rocket air blower thing with us to Australia, and that saved me from having a vacation full of photos with a squiggly S shape on them all.