Do you dislike using a tripod? After teaching photo workshops for several years, I recognize it is not a popular piece of gear for new photographers. Tripods can be clunky, unstable, awkward, and temperamental. The “unstable” can be solved by purchasing a quality tripod from the start. Many photographers start with an inexpensive tripod and then realize why it was inexpensive…it doesn’t support their camera or is not built well. Save yourself some time and money and buy a good tripod from the start. The clunky, awkward, and temperamental can be overcome by using it.
I often hear participants state they only need a tripod when photographing landscapes, low light, or macro subjects, well, that is not true. A tripod in any shooting situation will improve the quality of your photos. Here is an example when I used a tripod in full sun to improve my photos.
While in Florida on vacation, I photographed birds, from egrets to owls and they entertained me for hours. But holding a long lens for hours was not a solution for sharp photos, so I used my tripod. I started with my Olympus 40-150mm lens (80-300mm FF equivalent) and handheld many images, but since I use live view at 3-5x to verify sharp focus on the eyes of my subject, holding the camera still at this magnification was impossible. Even more so when I switched to my Olympus 300mm lens (600mm FF equivalent). As a result, I grabbed my tripod. Not only were my images sharper, but at the end of the day, my arm wasn’t sore from carrying the weight of the long lens.
Burrowing Owls
One afternoon in Cape Coral, Florida, I spent hours photographing burrowing owls. These small owls are only 7-10 inches tall and like all wildlife, a photographer should keep a good distance to not disturb them. Therefore, I chose to use my Olympus 300mm lens and 1.4x teleconverter giving me a focal length of 820mm (full frame equivalency). With such long focal lengths, a tripod was a must. We drove to several neighborhoods in Cape Coral to photograph these owls with different backgrounds.
I recently purchased a Fotopro X-Go Plus carbon fiber tripod for airplane travel since it is smaller, lighter and fits in my suitcase. If you purchase a tripod for travel, be sure to check the weight of your gear with your heaviest lens and make sure that is below the max load of the tripod you are considering. With my lightweight Olympus system, my max load is less than most DSLR’s.
