Using a tripod:

Background:

Many people prefer to avoid using a tripod because its means dragging around an extra piece of equipment that is bulky and sometimes heavy.  However, there are some huge advantages to using a tripod whenever possible.  These include:

• They provide steady support for shooting with long lenses
• They allow for shooting at very slow shutter speeds
• They slow you down so you can be more careful with your compositions
• They free up your hands to work with filters or other photo accessories
• They allow you to shoot more than one image of exactly the same scene
• They allow for a more precise sequence of shots in order to make panoramic photos
• They help you to get your camera into some tough positions that may be very low, high, or at an awkward angle

Photographers like Art Wolfe, from the tv series “Travels to the Edge” carry a tripod everywhere they go because these advantages are so important for making a quality image.  I admire his commitment to the tripod because if you watch the show you’ll notice that no matter how far he treks in to the wilderness he always shoots with a tripod.

When purchasing a tripod you should consider certain important features such as the type of material the tripod is made.  Carbon fiber tripods are light and rigid but are expensive.  Magnesium tripods are a bit heavier and they are strong, stable and rigid.  Aluminum tripods are light and not as rigid and they are fairly inexpensive.  Also be aware that metal tripods can be cold to handle if you like to shoot in winter or in cold environments.

Make sure you buy a tripod that can handle the weight of your camera and your heaviest lens.  A tripod that is too light will not give you sharp images.  Most quality tripods don’t come with a head, find a quality head that can also handle the weight of your camera.  Even though a tripod can be a bit of an expense, the good news is they usually last a long time.

There are certain types of photography that can really benefit from using a tripod, for example, your compositions can be improved when doing landscape photography.  Image sharpness can be improved in wildlife photography because the tripod supports the weight of long lenses.  Marco photography usually has to deal with very shallow depths of field and the tripod can help you to be more precise with your focusing.  These are just some examples of how a tripod can help to improve your images.

Objectives:

1. You should be able to use your tripod for stability and precision.

Activities:

1. Use a long telephoto lens or a macro lens and then take a close-up image of something.  Then try taking the same image by handholding the camera.

• At what shutter speed did you take these two shots?
• Did using the tripod help you to make a better shot?  Why or Why not?
• Was it easier or harder to get a precise focus point and depth of field?

Close-Up

1. Use a tripod to make an image at night just after sunset.  Find a road with a curve and set up your tripod in a safe place of to the side of the road.  Check your camera’s manual to see how to set it to Bulb for a shutter speed on many camera’s this can be done by setting your camera to Manual then turn your shutter speed dial down to the slowest shutter speed and the next one should be Bulb.  Switch your lens to manual focus and then focus on something about 1/3 of the way into the scene.  Set your ISO to 400 and the f-stop to f/8.  Then wait for a car to come by and hold down the shutter button the whole time the care is driving through the curve.

Light Trails

• Could you have taken this image without a tripod?  Why?

1. Make a panoramic image.  Find a location with a nice wide landscape.  Use your tripod to shoot about three images of your scene going from left to right.  Make sure you overlap each image by about 1/3 of the scene so that the stitching software will be able to stitch your photos in to a panorama.  Use a program like Photoshop to stitch together the images into a panoramic picture.  Repeat the same steps but without using a tripod.

Panoramic Image

• Which panorama came out better?  The one shot with the tripod or without.

Please try these activities and let me know if you have any comments or suggestions to improve this lesson.  Also please feel free to upload your images from these activities to my flickr group listed below.  Please tag them “gccdesigns” and “ tripod”.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/gccdesigns/

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