Peak Design Customer Service is Amazing!
When you are a travel photographer, having quality gear is important. Day to day use can be rough on basic equipment. Peak Design is a company that definitely stands behind their products and their customer service is amazing!
I often joke that I am a walking ad for Peak Design. I have their Everyday Backpack, Tech Pouch, Slide Lite, and Field Pouch and the list goes on! Last summer I purchased the Carbon Fiber Tripod to lighten my load.
Peak Design Carbon Fiber Tripod
My first impression of the Peak Design Carbon Fiber Tripod was “where has this been all of my life?” It folds down to a small diameter (according to Peak Design, the size of a water bottle), and weighs less than 3 pounds! My old travel tripod weighed more than 4 pounds and was very bulky to pack, especially internationally.
Travel with the Peak Design Carbon Fiber Tripod
I recently returned from a trip to Japan. This was my first international trip carrying the Peak Design Carbon Fiber Tripod. It fit well in my backpack outer pocket (not my Peak Design backpack as I have another smaller one I travel with), and I did not feel like it added a lot of bulk.
The set-up is quick and easy. It has a latch release and the plate slips in and locks easily. Until the unexpected happens.
Dealing with the unexpected
The first night of my tour in Tokyo, we were doing long exposure photography so the tripod was a must. We walked down a narrow street and we were photographing the Tokyo Tower. At that moment I was using my cell phone, but was getting ready to set up my tripod. It slipped out from under my arm and landed hard on the pavement. The included hex tool fell out and the group thought the tripod had sustained serious damage. I picked up the hex tool and placed it back in its holder. Nothing else seemed out of place.
We went to our next location and I could not get my camera to lock into place on the tripod. I had experienced this before, but for whatever reason this was different. I had to wait until I got back to my room where the light was better to see what was going on.
Initial inspection
Just looking at the latch mechanism it appeared to be bent. It must have landed just right to knock it out of alignment. I knew there was a camera store near-by, and we had one more day in Tokyo so I was looking at purchasing a new tripod.
While I was wallowing in self-pity over my tripod, I Googled, Peak Design, and much to my surprise, they have a Tokyo location AND it was just a few steps from my hotel!
Peak Design Tokyo
The next day, on our way back to the hotel after our morning outing, we stopped in the Peak Design store. I explained to them (the best I could with the language differences), what happened. I was able to produce my receipt on my cell phone and the young lady helping me told me to bring my tripod to the store.
I went to the hotel and retrieved my tripod and made my way back to the shop.
Customer service: Extraordinary
I arrived back to the store and she walked me through the return process…all written in Japanese! We took pictures of the latch and attached them to the claim. My tripod was less than a year old and I have to say, this was an amazing experience! I was worried that since it was an accident they would just say, “sorry about your luck.” They also had replacement parts available, they could have easily sold me those. I was pleasantly surprised when she handed me a brand new tripod!
Peak Design stands by their products
Peak Design is definitely a company that stands by their products. I would have been toting home two tripods if it had not been for their customer service. I certainly appreciate the young lady’s help in the Peak Design Tokyo store. I wish I had gotten her name. She took the time to interpret the information and between the two of us we figured out how to fill out a form that was completely in Japanese. I did joke with her and asked if I had just sold my house to her.
Peak Design saved my trip
I look back at my experience with Peak Design and I was fortunate to have a shop so close to me. This happened the first day of a two week tour; I could not imagine being without a tripod for the rest of the trip. Peak Design saved my trip. I appreciate their care and customer service.
Buying quality gear from a reputable company is important to me. I look forward to using my Peak Design Carbon Fiber Tripod for a long time.
Leaves
Until recently I did not realize how many different types of leaf photographs I had. Leaves are fascinating. They bud in the spring and are a lively green; then in the fall, they change to reds, yellows, and oranges. Structurally, leaves have veins, stems, and are textually interesting. I love to bring that texture forward in my photographs.
I had posted the above before and after in my post “Creativity: Where Does it Start?” I had transformed the ordinary palm leave to be viewed “differently”. I feel as a photographer it is my job to challenge our view of reality from time to time. The processing I chose for this image changed the color as well as the perspective of the image. It also highlighted the details in the leaf and stem.
On the left you see the original image of the green leaves. I liked how the light was hitting the leaves and felt there was a “photograph” somewhere in this image. I began using my crop tool and started dragging it around the image until I settled on a crop I thought was pleasing to the eye. There was so much going on in the original photograph that I needed to isolate a section. I then converted it to black and white. The tonal range of the image worked well with that choice. I then finished my editing in On1 Effects to add texture and to bring out the details in the leaves.
The above sycamore leaf was taken with my Sigma 120 – 300 f/2.8 zoom. I removed the lower right stem with the patch tool in Photoshop, then edited the color and texture in On1 Effects. The transformation was just what I wanted.
Maple Leaf
I was trying out my Tamron 28 – 300 f/3.5 – 5.6 and captured this leaf hanging off of my maple tree. I was exploring for things to photograph with the lens as I had just purchased it from KEH. I brought out the texture and details using On1 Effects. The sharpening tools in On1 Effects does a great job bringing out the details in images.
Maple Leaf
This was another leaf I was practicing on with my Tamron 28 – 300 f/3.5 – 5.6. It was a single color leaf among the dry gray and brown leaves. It caught my attention while walking around my patio.
Oak Leaf
I spotted the oak leaf while walking around William and Mary College’s Campus this fall. While the image itself is a little soft, I enhanced that softness by decreasing the clarity. The colors are very vibrant. I added a soft white vignette to make the leaf stand out.
Above are a few of my other leaf images I have captured over the last year. I hope you enjoyed exploring the world of leaves! Effects 10 is available as a free download!
Rainbow
I was at the bank today and the sun was out and there were nice white fluffy clouds in the sky. I was talking with the customer service assistant and looked out the window and saw this beautiful rainbow. It extended from the river over to roughly Sciotoville. The best I could do at the time was photograph it with my iPhone through the tinted window of the bank. I started to get up and go out to shoot it outside, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. It was colorful and sharp. What a wonderful scene to see today.
Pam DeCamp Photography 