The single most important photo accessory you can own? A tripod--find out why.
Why You Should Always Use a Tripod
Mexican Hat, Utah. Photographed with a Nikon D70s and a Bogen tripod.
TRIPODS: WHY YOU SHOULD ALWAYS USE ONE
There are no magic bullets to instant quality in photography, but if you want the quality of your exposures (and your photos overall) to improve suddenly and dramatically I can give you one invaluable piece of advice: buy and use a good quality tripod. And use it every single time you take a photograph. Yes, of course, there will be exceptions--like photographing your friends at dinner in a fancy restaurant ("Proper attire required--no tripods, please!"), but I am certain that you will find that in reality there are few excuses for not using a tripod. If you follow this advice, I promise it will vastly improve your photography and your creativity and I have dozens of letters from students thanking me for changing their photography by forcing them to use a tripod.
Why is a tripod so important? There are many reasons including the fact that tripods slow you down (which is a good thing--thank you Martha Stewart), make you consider your compositions more carefully, steady the camera and even take the weight off of your shoulders while you're working. But the most significant reason for using a tripod is this: with your camera firmly planted on a steady camera support you are free to use any exposure combination. That is a huge advantage when it comes to creative exposures. Before I started using a tripod religiously I would know that I needed a small aperture like f/16 or f/22 to get the correct amount of depth of field, but not having a tripod, I had to settle for a lesser aperture--and a lesser photograph.
There is also the matter of using long shutter speeds for time exposures and creative long-exposure effects. Some subjects like night shots of cities or fireworks are virtually impossible without a tripod. Look at the photo below of the waterfall in Kent, Connecticut. I shot about a hundred photos of the falls that day at shutter speeds ranging from 1/60 second to about four seconds. At 1/60 there was virtually no depth of field and the water looked very boring. I kept increasing the shutter speed (and decreasing the aperture) until I had that "ribbon" effect that makes waterfalls look so appealing. I ended up liking the frames that were shot at around a half second at f/20. There is simply no way on earth you can shoot at that shutter speed and exposure combination without a tripod (athough in a pinch you could place the camera on a flat rock or log and use the camera's self-timer to fire the shutter). And by the way, I use a remote release almost all the time to fire the camera's shutter so that I don't take a chance of jiggling the camera as I press the shutter release.
Yes, all of these extra steps take more time and energy--but if photography is your hobby or your profession, it's worth the extra effort. I have a fortune from a fortune cookie taped to my computer that says, "It's never crowded along the extra mile." How true! It's easy to take the easy way out, even when you know the right way. Don't let convenience limit the quality of your images.
Also--and this is incredibly significant--you cannot do true comparative photo sets without using a tripod. If, for example, you decide to try and do a comparison of a lot vs. a little depth of field (and you aren't just taking my word that using small apertures provide more depth of field, are you?), you simply can't do it without your camera locked down firmly on a tripod. Oh, you could get an approximately similar shot, but what good is that? The scientist in you needs a pure comparative situation: you need the exact same composition.
One thing that I've found prevents a lot of people from buying and using (notice I keep accenting the word using) a tripod is that they are a paint to set up. They're not. If you buy a good quality medium weight tripod (don't buy a junky plastic tripod) and use a good ball head (don't buy a pan-tilt head, buy a ball head) and buy a good quick-release system you'll be able to set up a tripod and mount your camera in under a minute--probably faster. Once you get in the habit of using a tripod for every shot you'll find yourself feeling naked and ill-equipped when you shoot without one.
I use a variety of different Bogen tripods (I think they are all made by and marketed under the name Manfrotto now) and a good quality Canon ball head. The heavier the ball head is, by the way, and the more securely (and effortlessly) it locks in place, the safer your camera gear will be. Nothing is as sickening as the sound of a two thousand dollar lens whacking into a tripod leg because the ball head wasn't strong enough to keep it in place. A good ball head and a good tripod will last a lifetime--don't cheap out when it comes to buying them.
By the way, when it comes to heavy cameras and long lenses, using a tripod will save a lot of wear and tear on your arms and shoulders. Once you mount your camera and lens, your hands a free to do other things (like clean or change filters or get out a new memory card) and you'll be much more rested when the day is done.
Lastly, many non-tripod toting photographers tell me that they can't shoot certain subjects if they're "chained" to a tripod. Not true. Suppose you're taking a portrait of your kids sitting on a stone wall, for example. You could just crouch there and try to compose a nice image and try to direct them to pose a certain way and direct them from behind the camera. Or you could put your camera on a tripod, use a remote release and then stand a few feet away from your camera and devote your full attention to your subjects and their pose. By talking to them without a camera in front of your face you'll have a direct and personal interaction--you won't be a camera with a voice.
I shoot almost 100% of my photos using a tripod and I simply don't feel like I'm being serious about my work if I'm not using one. Yes, there are times when I leave it behind, but those times are increasingly rare and I still feel like I'm not devoting myself to the work.
Use a tripod--it's the single best piece of exposure advice I can give you.
Mute Swan Cygnets photographed with a 400mm lens on a Nikon D70s using a Bogen tripod and a Canon ball head.
Iowa Farm on Route 44 west of Des Moines, Iowa. Photographed with a Nikon D70s and a 10-20mm Sigma lens on a Manfrotto tripod with a Canon ball head.
Long exposures without a tripod? How? I shot this half-second exposure of Kent Falls in Kent, Connecticut at f/20 on a Bogen (Manfrotto) tripod. How are you going to take long exposures for special effects without a tripod? The slowest you can shoot this safely handheld is probably 1/125 of a second--but that is limiting your creative options. At that shutter speed (and with the correspondeningly wide aperture) you're stuck with the water the way it is frozen by the shutter and your depth of field would be zilch.
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