The Power of the Tripod

I've been doing a lot of low light shooting these past months, messing around with light trails, sunsets, blue hour, and time lapse.  The most important tool after the camera is a good tripod.  I have recently switched over from the admittedly cheap Manfrotto Compact Action to a 3 Legged Thing Brian.  I have a review of the Brian on my list of upcoming posts.  I'd like to spend a little more time with it before I give my grade.  Anyway, so this isn't about my tripod, it's about tripods in general and how they can revolutionize photography.

Original Here

While most people think of them as a low light tool, they can come in handy during daylight hours.  Lately I've been putting a 10-stop ND filter on my lens when I head out to shoot landscapes during the day.  The nice thing about filters is that they allow me to take a long exposure to smooth out water and clouds (and hide people) no matter how bright the sun is.  Without a filter, these shots can only be done in low light.  So, with my tripod and an ND filter I was able create the shot on the left from one I took at 1:00pm on a bright sunny day.  Pretty nifty.


Tripods are also necessary for HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography.  Many people think that means photos that have blown saturation and a surreal look.  That's a really popular style right now, but it actually means multiple exposures are combined and blended to create a scene where shadows and highlights are brought to a similar level.  I do this a lot, mostly to keep the detail of the sky and foreground evened out, especially for shots taken in the evening where the subject is backlit.   Getting multiple exposures of the same exact shot is impossible without a tripod.  When the shots are blended they have to line up exactly or else there's a lot of noticeable ghosting.  A tripod ensures that the camera doesn't move between shots.  The scene below was created by taking several different exposures, then combining them in post.

Original Here

A tripod is also necessary for night and blue hour photography.  Any camera shake will turn a shot taken in low light from crisp and clean to a blurry abstract creation.  Sometimes that's cool, most of the time it's not.  The shot below is a single exposure of the Louvre Museum courtyard.  In order to keep the lines clear and sharp in the low light of blue hour, I needed my tripod to hold the camera still.  Taking a long exposure in this instance also blurred out the people walking in front of the pyramid, leaving just the stationary group to the left appearing in the final shot.

Original Here

A tripod has to be used for capturing light trails or experimenting with light painting.  Once again, a long exposure is what captures the paths of the light.  The only way to keep the scene sharp, but the light source in motion is to use a tripod.  Lastly, of course, they are required for time lapse videos.  Once again the camera has to be perfectly still for the frames to blend seamlessly in the final composition.

Original Here

Now, of course, a tripod could be bypassed for all of these shots.  As long as the camera isn't moving in any way all of these pictures can be taken without a tripod.  How?  Using some other stationary object.  For example, I could have taken the picture above by setting the camera on the ground.  The one of the bridge in the park could have been taken using a bench or fence post.  But, such stand-ins aren't always available.  There wasn't a bench or fence post in the park where I took that picture and, as you may notice, the ground was pretty muddy.  I wouldn't have wanted to set the camera on the ground to take that shot of the Arc de Triomphe either.  The cars going by mere feet from me caused a lot of vibration on the cobbles.  My tripod absorbed that vibration.  So, while something may do in a pinch, a tripod is a necessary piece of equipment.

But, there's one more reason to lug one around with you.  It gives you respect.  Seriously.  When you whip out a tripod in front of the Eiffel tower at sunrise, all those other tourists step back a little (even more so if you unfurl that thing with panache).  You're not holding up your tablet or phone, man, you have a tripod.  You mean business.  People get out of your way.  They defer to your superior skills.  They stare in awe a little.  Sure, some may giggle and call you a dork under their breathe, but that's just jealously talking.  You're getting the shot.  They're getting a noisy mess.  If there's anyone else shooting with a tripod, they become a kindred spirit.  At the very least you'll get a nod of acknowledgement, but most of the time you'll strike up a conversation.  It's like meeting another cyclist of the same variety (MTB, road, etc) on a ride.  You're in a club now and the tripod is your badge.  Lately, I've noticed another bizarre effect.  Random people on the street see us, tripod over one of our shoulders, and apparently think that we must know all sorts of things.

"Why, yes, I do know where the train station is, obviously. "

"Yes, the museum is currently closed."

"Um, no, I actually have no idea where Dr. Junker's office is.  Shall I Google that for you?"

Well, a tripod can't solve everything.  But, when it comes to photography, it can solve a lot.  Many shots are impossible without a tripod; it doesn't matter how expensive your camera is, how big its sensor is, how many megapixels it has, or what brand it is. Tripods open a lot of creative doors.  Their power may very well blow your mind.