I hope to share in my this article six situations where tripods are absolutely in the quest to shoot the perfect picture. Rediscover and appreciate the humble tripod and hopefully learn to love it again.
A tripod in this situation facilitates composition. The setting sun will be in a predictable trajectory, and with the camera on tripod, you will be able to stay focused on human activities, clouds, waves as they unfold and change before you. Another bonus is the sharpness as a result of tripod stability, which allows you to blow up big prints.
I wonder if Jean-Jacques Rousseau received his epiphany about patience after camping with his tripod for a perfect shot. Often, getting these shots are subject to both a great deal of patience on our end and blessings by nature. In this golden moment at Halong Bay, Vietnam (above), I stood on my cruise boat cabin’s ensuite deck, my Canon Powershot G12 on its tripod, waiting an eternity for something to happen.
It was a quiet evening, but after half an hour of standing and waiting and 30 preparatory shots in the warm humid air, the cruise boat crew took their secondary boat to a fishing village nearby for a ride by the sunset. I only had time for 2 shots, and this was my favourite of the two. This shot made carrying the tripod to Vietnam worth the hassle.
The mood of the river cascading down the embankment would have been lost if the stream were to be “frozen” due to a high shutter speed. As the shutter speed used for this shot was 25 fps, a tripod’s not an option here – it’s a must.
Again, I shudder at the thought of not having my tripod with me at this gorgeous location. In fact, I’ve seen tourists with DSLRs at the Singapore River, resting their cameras on bridge ledges and chairs for sharper pictures. A single frame picture would be passable, but for the picture above, which was merged from three frames, a rock-solid tripod is mandatory. To further ensure sharpness, minimize shutter shock and use a wired or remote shutter release, with its mirror lock-up mode engaged.
Choose an ideal location with less chance of human traffic affecting your concentration and movement, or tripping over your tripod. Then have a great time practising “hip rotation” as you track your subjects. As a general guide, start with 1/30 fps for motorcycles, 1/15 fps for runners, and 1/100 fps for speeding F1 cars. Adapt to the situation. Like a wise kungfu sage once said, “be like water, my friend”.
In worst-case scenarios, you might even see your camera stolen by the stranger you handed your camera to! I have entire family vacation albums in which I hardly appeared. So much that viewers would exclaim “oh, finally, there you are!” In the picture above, I managed to get myself and everyone in the travel group in a photo during a trip sponsored by the Hokkaido Tourism Board.
If you want to be in a picture that is the result of your own composition, a tripod is a MUST!
If you’re hesitating about bringing your tripod for your next trip, think about if you’ll encounter any of the 6 scenarios above. Bringing a tripod might be a hassle, but the photos it will enable you to take might prove to be worth it. I hope that through this article, you will love your tripod more. Bring it out more often and shoot better pictures with it. Vive Le Tripod !
Note: Please note that tripods with recessed spiked tips must be checked in before flights, as the sharp tips will show up on the X-ray scanner and will be disallowed as hand-carry items.
All pictures are shot by the author with all rights reserved. This article appeared in CanonEOSWorld with some amendments.
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