5 Steps to Buying a Tripod

So many of my students avoid tripods. Sure, they bring them to the workshops, but then they diligently avoid using them until I just about take a leg off and beat them with it. The reason they don’t want to use them is because they've brought along a tripod that is painful to use. You know the ones; they are the small, standard ones blocking the entrance in a camera store and which the salesmen try to sell you. They are often slow, unwieldy, impractical and basically, just don't work.  Most people buy tripods for only one reason, to hold the camera steady during slow exposures. Ahhh, if they only knew. There are many more reasons than that. Here are the most important ones. You can:

• compose critically - no uninvited bits creeping into the edges of your composition

• free your hands to operate other controls, like flash units, reflectors, filters, etc.

• walk away, come back and you don't have to compose the scene or make adjustments all over again.

• take the weight off your arms and shoulders when working with heavy lenses, especially for long periods

• set your camera in difficult positions, such as worm’s eye view or in front of an obstacle.

The difference between fun, joy enthusiasm and great pictures vs struggle, frustration, despair and bad pictures is a good tripod. Here are 5 critical areas to examine when selecting the right tripod for your needs.

1. The Legs

There should be as few leg segments as possible. This makes it quicker to set up and to adjust the height during shooting and also makes the tripod more stable. Of course longer legs means your tripod won’t pack down into as small a space or into a case.

Are the legs sand, water and mud proof? When extended, how far do the legs splay out? The further apart, and wider the base of the triangle, the more stable. If the tripod is placed on irregular ground, can you easily bring the head back into the level position?

Do the legs have knobs which are quick to release and adjust? Or do they have flip locks which pinch your fingers? Rubber knurls don’t stick out like knobs but they are harder to loosen / tighten, and they eventually start to slip.

2. The Center Column

Does the tripod have one? This makes it easy to adjust the height of your camera without having to undo all three legs. It should travel up and down smoothly and quickly. Occasionally you need to get the camera to ground level. You should be able to either remove the column so you can splay the legs flat, or else be able to attach the camera to the bottom of the column. One manufacturer, Benbo, allows you to tilt and turn the center column, as well as the legs, in all directions - really handy in rough terrain.

3. The Head 

Can you remove the head? It’s good to be able to change heads if you have different ones for different purposes. Pan-and-tilt heads are really slow to use; they’re not for nature, sports or people photography at all. Ball-and-socket heads are quick to use; just loosening one knob allows free movement in all directions.

Most photography requires a ball and socket head. About the only situation you’ll find the pan and tilt head useful is in landscape work or studio still lifes.

If you do go for the ball head, is the movement ultra smooth? Can the friction be adjusted so you can pan the ball very slowly without the camera/ lens assembly flopping off balance?

Can you add a quick release fitting? This is essential for quick action photography, like birds. In fact, it’s just handy to have all the time.

4. Height and Weight

How high will it go when all parts are extended? About 2 metres (6 feet) is a good height. Some will go to 8 feet and then you’ll need to carry a stool or step ladder.

How low will it go? Ground level is optimum. This means the centre column has to be removed or be folded upwards as in a Benbo.

The material should preferably be aluminum or other non-corrosive metal. Same for the fittings. Titanium or carbon fibre are great but more than double the price. Are the tubes quite thick or are they thin? Thick ones will not dent but do increase the weight a bit. Usually the heavier the tripod the more stable, but keep it in proportion to your camera/lens weight. Generally speaking, the heavier your equipment, the more tripod you want to put underneath it.you add a quick release fitting? This is essential for quick action photography, like birds. In fact, it’s just handy to have all the time.

5. The Test

Finally, after you’ll visually checked out a few possible tripods, you should do an in-store test. With the camera and lens mounted, and legs fully extended, look through the viewfinder, and gently tap the lens. How much vibration do you see? When a long lens is mounted, you will see some vibration. The important point is, which tripod and head assembly gives you the least. Test it also with your longest / heaviest lens in a vertical position.

Hopefully, you’ll have a new take on tripods. They are not cumbersome once you get serious about the quality of your photography. Just the opposite, they can be quite freeing. I would rather go to a place where I know some good action is happening, some feeding shorebirds maybe, set my heavy lens on a tripod and just relax. I hope you too find yourself becoming one with the nature around you, knowing those birds will settle down and eventually let you do some image-making magic. When the action starts happening you'll be alert and ready to capture it. 

Please note, this article is Copyright Esther Beaton. You may not copy it or use it without my written permission. However, I encourage you to share it by using a Share button below.

Louie Schwartzberg's mesmerizing cinematography

I have been humbled. I saw visuals today that impressed me. But more so, they were accompanied by words - words that encapsulated my life story. Maybe the story of all my lifetimes. It was only yesterday I was speaking to a friend about the uplifting power of nature and photography and this video lands in my inbox today. 

Do you like TED? The speakers on that program are all equally spellbinding; all bring such profound knowledge. Louie Schwartzberg is a rare TED speaker for he's a cinematographer. Rarely do you get visual artists who can speak well, but his words are a perfect marriage with his pictures. He puts into words everything I've been feeling and wanting to express through my own photography. If you like nature photography, if you want to know why you like it, if you have 10 minutes, then watch this video. If you normally meditate, then you can forget your session today because this video is a great substitute. May we rekindle our childlike wonder; may we grow wise in our old age. May photography help us do that.

The Secret's out at Secret Creek

Once upon a time, in a deep gully, protected by rocky wooded slops, lived a quiet community of coal miners. Today, apart from a few stones marking the ruins of their homes, lives an equally quiet community of local residents. But these aren’t human. They are secretive mammals, little known and little seen by most Australians, and most of them are seriously endangered. The only human residents are their caretakers: Trevor Evans and his family, and the daytime staff who come in as volunteers to “muck out the poo” and otherwise keep the animals happy and health.

But I’m not being entirely accurate. There are other human visitors. An additional staff come in four days a week to prepare gourmet dishes - several based on native Australian ingredients - for local residents of Lithgow and the Blue Mountains.

Not only does Trevor Evans have a big conservationist’s heart - big like his muscly coal miner’s hands - but he’s got a brilliant mind as well. He conceived the ingenious plan of opening a restaurant and using the proceeds to support the conservation of his favourite Australian animal, the Eastern Quoll. It was such a surprise to me, after winding up the narrow road to his sanctuary last Sunday, to find the restaurant packed with sixty diners.

I hope you too find the track to this secret spot. You can then proceed to eat your way towards helping to repopulate the southeastern slopes of New South Wales once more with the feisty little Eastern Quoll.

Kodak Fosters Nature Photography

Well, I've had a big adventure! I 'just' finished my seminar series with Kodak, "Great Recipes for Wildlife Photography". Although the tour ended three weeks ago, it has taken me this long to handle all the jobs that had piled up in my absence.

The talks were a great success with record crowds at each venue. In Melbourne and Sydney the overflow had to sit in the aisles! Thank you so much to all of you who showed up. I learned as much from the questions people asked at the end of the presentations as they would have learned from me about wildlife photography.

It was quite a task talking to different audiences - there were students from colleges, industry suppliers, pro photographers and heaps of amateur enthusiasts. I described the adventures and shared my struggles about making a profitable business in Australia in such a specialized niche. But I think people mostly enjoyed hearing the surprising secrets behind some of the most successful pictures.

The biggest thrill for me was seeing such large groups of people actually interested in this rarified genre of photography. I have spent my career believing I was a virtual lone soul in the field of wildlife and nature photography (at least in Australia) and it was a delightful surprise to look into such a large number of enthusiastic faces. Certainly the digital revolution has a lot to do with the revival of photography as a hobby. But I would like to believe that what might be more responsible is a growing sensitivity towards nature, a growing respect for our fellow creatures and a driving interest in seeing and capturing all their magnificent beauty.

Thank you Peter Cocklin and the rest of the Kodak team for taking the message to the people!

Waterfall Trickery

It's great when you learn from your students. The last Day Safari workshop was a big fun day out. We shot wildlife in the morning and waterfalls in the late afternoon. Participants quickly understood how to use different shutter speeds to create various amounts of "silkiness" in the waterfall. But my students taught me something about these waterfalls that I never realized before: the optical illusion of size.

Most people, upon first arriving at a waterfall, try to get the whole business into the frame. After a while, aesthetics takes over and students start looking for better movement, shapes and composition. That's when they discover that photographing only a small part of the waterfall, even a tiny section a couple of feet high, can result in just as dramatic effect as including the whole lot which could be twenty metres or more in height. Looking at the final shot, the mind can't recognize the size of the objects: whether it's a tree trunk or a stick, a huge boulder or a small rock. The mind interprets all of it as magnificently large. Most of the shots were really great, but it was when I saw Frances Cunningham's that this concept clicked for me.

Thanks guys, I'll incorporate this new knowledge into next year's Day Safari to this location. To see the current schedule for this year's Day Safaris, go to www.estherbeaton.com/workshops/.

Photographing Scary Things

Can you ever become a good nature and wildlife photographer if you don't love ALL of nature? Some subjects are easy - the beauty of colourful birds and the majesty of wild scenics draw us into their spell. The camera just magnetically pops into the hand to record these beautiful moments.

But how would you go if you had an assignment to photograph a collection of spiders? Personally, I found the job thrilling. You see, spiders have become my friends. My fascination started years ago when, on a trip to Queensland, I discovered the group of spiders called "araneomorphs". Each one is more intriguing, more sensationally beautiful than the last. There were the spiky jewel spiders, the amazing ant-mimics, and the cutest little jumping spiders who would raise their eyes to look at you. Once familiar with these "modern" types of spiders, it wasn't long before I found myself confronting the big baddies: the "mygalomorphs". These "ancient" spiders are those large, colourless, hairy things that live in holes in the ground. One assignment I did for Australian Geographic was on the Sydney Funnelweb, probably the world's deadliest spider, and I happily kept them at home in order to get ultra close up photos. (I won't tell you the story of the escapee, but my partner Nick was not happy.)

It's no wonder when this assignment from Australian Geographic came up, they thought of asking Esther, the spider wrangler, to carry it out. Would you be able to do this assignment? Do read the article in the current issue (July 2008) because it's all about confronting your fears and how spiders can help you do that. I do believe there is nothing ugly in nature. I've stopped seeing things as good or bad, ugly or beautiful. Spider or human, we all fit into nature's tapestry in our own unique way, part of a grand ecosystem.

Meredith's Superb Wren and the Great Tripod Debate

Thanks to everyone for the great comments on my first blog post. I'm really stumped by who could be behind some of those quirky aliases!

Instead of one of my photos, I'd like to post a winner sent in by Meredith Foley, one of my Day Safari participants. She's asked a question and I'm sure many of you have similar frustrations. 

"I'm still working enjoying nature photography and practicing all the things you taught me! I was hoping you might be able to help me with some advice about equipment. I recently bought a 400 mm lens and a monopod but, despite months of practice I still find that I can't steady it enough for really good pictures. I am after something light enough for me to strap to my backpack and easy to erect and use outdoors on rugged terrain. I remember that you had a fabulous tripod on the workshop weekend (with flip buttons to put it up and down quickly). When you have a moment could you drop me a line and let me know which type/brand it was."

I think Meredith, like many of us, is probably judging her own work a bit harshly. Here's what I had to say:

"Your wren is superb! In all senses of the word. (Its proper name is Superb Fairy-wren; it looks like a non-breeding male.) And I think it is amazingly sharp for a hand-held shot. The composition is perfect, both colour and shapes, and makes up for any possible lack of sharpness. The warm pinky leaves balance with the blue tones of the bird while the triangular placement of the elements keeps your eye active on the page. Additionally, you got the catchlight in the eye which also contributes a sense of sharpness. The exposure and colour balance are also perfect allowing you to see every detail of the feathers which gives the shot the sense of "real-ness" as if you could almost reach out and touch the bird. And I love the shallow depth of field which allows the bird to really pop off the page."

And in answer to her tripod question:  I use a Benbo Trekker most of the time and a larger Benbo Mark II with my heavier lenses. The Benbo has been the reliable favourite of nature photographers for many years because it handles the two problems Meredith mentioned above. 

Has anyone come across a tripod and head that does a fantastic job in the field? Has anybody found any new designs coming on to the market? And what do you think about using a tripod in the first place - just how necessary is one? 

Latest Outback Magazine

Have you seen the latest issue of Outback magazine? It's published by the outfitter RM Williams. They manufacture such high quality supplies and clothing for stockmen that the clothes have now made it into mainstream fashion. The magazine is a lovely evocation of the life of country people in Australia. I guess it's a bit like England's "Country Life" toned down for us simpler, down-to-earth Aussies.

I was lucky enough to get on the cover this month. (That is, one of my photos did.) Have a look at the June issue. Powerful photo, isn't it? I bet a lot of overseas people don't realize we have an alpine area blanketed by snow in winter (which is now).

The story behind this shot is just as good. I was asked by a documentary filmmaker who was producing a movie on wild horses, or brumbies, to be the still photographer. Brilliant - what a fantastic gig!

We were woken well before dawn in the most amazing way. There was quite a group of us: stockmen (the actors), cameramen, soundman, all camping in one of those old high country wooden huts. Suddenly, in the blackness of predawn, we were startled out of our sleeping bags by the haunting soundtrack of "The Man From Snowy River" movie, blasting out across the snow-covered valley.

Usually, when I'm on a shoot, I give the orders. I tell people where to stand, how to move, etc. But this time, I was low man on the totem pole. Not only did did cameraman number 1 and cameraman number 2 have priority, but even the soundman had more decision-making clout than me. While we were waiting for the mustered horses to come charging down towards us, the sound recordist told me to go stand behind a bush so the clicking of my shutter and motor drive would not be recorded. I was quite frustrated, thinking that I wouldn't get the shot I wanted. My heart was hammering away and I was desperately hoping my settings were accurate, knowing I would only have a few seconds to capture the shots of a lifetime. It all turned out OK. The series of photos from that assignment have sold well and I'm glad they continue to be used to promote the amazing spirit and atmosphere of Australia - just like in this issue of Outback magazine.