PHOTOGRAPHY EXPOSED

PHOTOGRAPHY EXPOSED

by John Peters A.R.P.S.


  

TRIPOD

A tripod is an essential piece of kit and you should spend as much money as you can on a steady, lightweight tripod. You can ask yourself a number of questions: How tall should it extend to? How light should it be? How stable should it be? What weight will it support, will it support my heaviest lens and camera? Do I need a quick release head?

WHY A GOOD TRIPOD IS ESSENTIAL

You might use a tripod for many reasons. Ask yourself, would you buy a car with only three gears - unlikely. Using your camera without a tripod restricts your range of handheld photographs just like using a car with fewer gears. With no tripod, you probably won't use at least one third of your available shutter speeds and that limits your photography. The same with phones where a tripod device with a bluetooth exposure button can be picked up for a few pounds.

You might use a tripod for many reasons other than ensuring sharpness in your photographs in challenging conditions. Increased DEPTH OF FIELD is also available through the selection of higher F numbers. A tripod encourages you to take more time composing and framing your shot. HDR and my "EB" method become possible. There are many other uses of a tripod but these are a few of the main ones.

TOP TIP Spend as much money as you can afford on a good, lightweight tripod. It will be with you for life. As well as lightness, if you are a serious photographer, go for a quick release head and one supporting one handed operation, make sure it will support your heaviest camera and zoom lens.

Aperture priority set on a camera
A coal tit photographed through my open kitchen window, flash to give a catchlight in the eye, a relatively cheap 400mm lens, and the camera mounted on a good tripod used with a cable release (electronique).

DISADVANTAGES OF USING A TRIPOD

It's worth noting some of the disadvantages of using a tripod. Although your tripod could be fairly light, adding a head to it adds weight and could make it quite heavy. They can also be inconvenient to carry no matter how light and collapsible they are. Supports for a phone on the other hand, can be compact, lightweight and easily carried. Tripods and a head can be expensive and awkward to use in a crowd. Buy a tripod where the feet can go level and are not tethered together.

CHOOSING A TRIPOD

There are many things to consider. The weight, extended height and compacted height, whats it made of, are the legs tubular or not, are the feet fixed or replaceable, how stable is it, does it take a quick release tripod head, the list goes on? Spend as much as you can on a suitable, light-weight tripod and take it with you for serious photography.

TOP TIP If the feet are removeable, glue them into place. I was once amongst the rocks at Dunstanburgh Castle, my tripd legs had somehow become stuck under some rocks, I pulled the tripod not realising one of the rubber feet had come off. Fortunately, I was able to order more tripod feet.

TOP TIP I know this is about tripods, but a tripod helps you bracket your exposures and that opens a whole new world of opportunities - correct exposure, HDR, blending, replacing skies, replacing backgrounds etc.

Aperture settings on a lens
Pictured above is an early morning photograph taken at Cessford Castle near Jedburgh. A tripod was used. A tripod is nearly as important as the camera.

TOP TIP Before you mount your camera on the tripod, with the camera to your eye, scout out the best shots and angles. The light can change quickly, learn to work methodically.

TOP TIP Beginners, remember that a tripod may help you to compose your photographs better, force you to take your time. It also comes in handy to make folk take you a bit more seriously as a photographer.

Choosing a tripod
A longish exposure requiring the use of a tripod. One of my 'Extreme Bracketing' type shots, requiring the use of a tripod.

 Choosing a tripod
Types of quick release head. Oh, and a hook attached to the centre column is useful for attaching your gadget bag to, making the tripod assembly more stable. A moveable centre column can de-stabilise you tripod assembly, be careful.