26.08.2015

Pumphouse Point

26.08.2015

Pumphouse Point

I have been lucky enough to have seen a lot of beautiful pockets of the world, as well as stayed at some pretty incredible hotels – but last weekend we were treated to one that tops the favourites list. Pumphouse Point Tasmania can be found about 2.5 hours from Hobart, set upon Lake St.Clair in a place that feels far away from everything. Previously an old pumping station that was built in the 1940’s by Tasmania’s Hydro-Electric Commission, Pumphouse Point was officially opened as a boutique hotel just this year.

DSC_5603

The Pumphouse and the lake which it’s set on made for the perfect testing for the new Manfrotto BeFree Travel Tripod. The BeFree is a sturdy and compact tripod with legs that can spread independently of one another and can do so at two different angles. This gave me the versatility required to set up on the rocky shoreline of lake St. Claire. The other beauty of this little addition to my photography gear is that the legs fold up and around the ball head and only weighs 1.4kgs making it a light and compact travel companion.

DSC_5612

The first thing I noticed when setting up my camera on the BeFree tripod was how sturdy it felt. It has a safety payload of 4kgs, so even with my Nikon D800 and hefty 24-70mm Lens, the tripod felt super stable. In my opinion, shooting at night and on sunrise/sunset is the true test for a tripods stability. The BeFree passed this test with absolute ease, as the results really speak for themselves.

DSC_5844rs

DSC_5852

My previous tripod was a Manfrotto was another light-weight model from the compact series, but the BeFree is a big and noticeable upgrade and has already made a serious difference in my results. My past tripod had a pistol grip head, which was quite easy to use and was definitely a great option for amateur photographers, but it struggled under the weight of my current camera setup. The BeFree uses an aluminium ball head, which is also super-simple to use and had no trouble creating crisp and clear images in both landscape and portrait aspects.

DSC_5853

Pumphouse Point calls itself a wildness retreat, they are bang-on with this one. We only spent two short nights, but there are are a bunch of things to do in this place (if drinking wine by the fire get’s boring, said no-one ever). The Pumphouse have thought of everything that the outdoors enthusiast  could ever need to explore the surrounding Cradle Mountain National Park; maps, bikes, boats, you name it. We decided to venture further afield to do the Shadow Lake hiking track, a decision that we later slightly regretted as we hiked through snow in nikes for 5 hours… but it was some serious winter wonderland material up the top though, and we could have easily been in the Canadian wilderness up there.

DSC_5696

Along with me on our Winter lakeside escape, I  was carrying my gear in my Manfrotto Pro Light Camera Backpack which is a great medium sized bag that easily packed away my essentials, which included my Nikon D800, 24-70mm & 50mm Nikon lenses, speed light, card reader, Gopro, Leatherman and of course my BeFree Travel Tripod.

DSC_5629

DSC_5805

Luke Dean-Weymark

Luke Dean-Weymark hails from Sydney, Australia and has a keen eye for anything visually creative. His passion for photography, travel and social media have combined to produce the largest men’s Pinterest profile in Australia, at around 880,000 followers.
Luke brings striking and unique perspective on any subject he captures or shares. Luke is also runs a site a dedicated to displaying his work and travels around the world.

http://instagram.com/lukeyd_w
http://ldwphotography.net

Top
Our Brands