THE IMPORTANCE OF A GOOD TRIPOD

Tripods. A pole with 3 legs, right? Nothing more than that. If it holds your camera, then that’s good enough….. WRONG. In my opinion, having a good tripod is imperative. I’m not exaggerating when I say that buying a high quality and sturdy tripod has completely changed my photography and ultimately the quality of my images. Before I delve into that, let me explain why I think, apart from your camera and lenses, why your tripod should be the next most import piece of equipment that you own.

Why Do You Need A Tripod?

Sharper images at longer focal lengths - When you shoot at longer focal lengths, camera shake becomes more apparent. This is because the longer the focal length, the more magnified it becomes therefore exaggerating the shake. You can see this for yourself with a simple experiment. Grab a pencil and pretend that the end is the end of your lens. The further down the pencil you hold it (towards the back) the greater the focal length. If you hold the pencil near the lead, notice how steady the tip is. Now hold the pencil at the end of the pencil. Do you notice how little movement it takes for the tip to move and how hard it is to keep it still when you’re holding it at the end? That is effectively what is happening to your lens at greater focal lengths. It takes VERY little movement or shake to have an effect. So, as you can imagine, if you’re using a 400mm lens you need a very steady base to help you. One trick to stops this camera shake is to make sure that your shutter speed is higher than the focal length you are shooting at. For example, if you’re shooting at 200mm, make sure that your shutter speed is at least 1/200. If you’re shooting at 400mm, then make sure your shutter speed is 1/400 or higher. Some people actually suggest doubling the speed, but I’ve found that if I stick to this rule I am fine when using a decent tripod.

Long Exposures

This is where you deliberately slow your shutter speed down. We as landscape photographers tend to do this when trying to show movement ie water or light trails. To do this we slow our shutter speed right down, below the point where camera shake will show within the image. If you have camera shake, the rest of the image that you want sharp, will then become blurry or “soft”. This is where a good tripod comes into play.

Seamless Panoramas

Using a tripod to create seamless panoramic images is vital. To create a panoramic image, you take a number of shots of a scene, horizontally or vertically, and stitch them together in post processing. This gives you a wider or higher view of a scene than you would have been able to capture otherwise. For a clean panoramic stitch, it is important to try and get the camera as level as possible. Although it is possible to do this by hand, it isn’t advised. I would always suggest using a steady tripod and to get it as level as possible, either using an inbuilt level, or a small spirit level which you can fix onto your hot shoe on the camera. Some tripods actually have them built in.

Stability in windy weather - Some of my favourite landscape photography is weather that creates mood, at that often involves wind, and on the coast of Dorset we seem to have a lot of it. Again, a tripod helps you reduce that dreaded camera shake. Remember, us landscape photographers are trying to avoid that at all costs. Remember, shake = soft image. I have been out in 50 mph winds and managed to capture pin sharp images through using a sturdy tripod. The proof is below.

So there are a few reasons to not only use, but invest in a tripod. I haven’t even touched on other reasons such as easier height adjustment, multiple exposures, low light conditions, getting into water…. There are so many reasons.

IS IT WORTH INVESTING IN A DECENT TRIPOD?

The simple answer to this is, YES! But let me turn the question around. Why wouldn’t you invest in a decent tripod? I’m not going to lie, when I first started my photographer journey I was in the camp of “as long as it holds my camera” and “surely that will do, they’re all the same”. This couldn’t be further from the truth and as I’ve stated at the top of the blog, having a decent tripod has completely transformed my photography for the better. I’ve been to landscape locations across the UK and abroad where my tripod hasn’t been up to scratch. Either it shock when there was a breath of wind, or it failed completely. Why would you spend hundreds or sometimes thousands of pounds on a photography trip, to risk your images on such a small thing? If it wasn’t for some tape, my trip to Iceland would have been a disaster with one tripod I was using. I’m also not sure why, when spending thousands of pounds on camera equipment, would you risk it falling over, breaking and overall ruining your photography on a below par tripod. I feel the same way about filters, but that’s for another blog. You can get some bargains, I’m not saying spend thousands, but do your research. There is a reason the moto buy cheap buy twice exists.

WHAT TRIPOD DO I USE?

Now, before I start, I need to clarify that I’m not affiliated with any of these brands in any way. These opinions are purely my own.
So, when I’ve stated about how important a decent tripod is, that’s because I’ve experienced the trials and tribulations of having some tripods that are completely under par for what I needed for my landscape photography. It wasn’t until I invested in the Benro Mach 3 TMA38CL that I really discovered how having a decent tripod really helped improve my landscape photography. From eradicating camera shake, to easy set-up and the glide of the ball head. I really feel like the tripod is helping me out, instead of that feeling of battling against it all of the time. I’m not going to lie, it isn’t the lightest tripod out there, but you need some weight to keep it doing its job in keeping the camera still. I’ve been in 50mph winds, stood in rushing rivers and this bad boy has held SOLID. It really is bombproof. Its also has decent height to it. Without doubt this has been the best investment I have made in photography (not including the camera). And it is an investment. The best thing about this tripod is, at £300 or less it won’t break the bank either.

Other brands I would highly recommend would be Gitzo and Three Legged Thing. Both of these brands produce some fantastic tripods at varying levels and prices.

So, to round up this quick blog, tripods in my opinion are a vital piece of equipment when it comes to landscape photography. You don’t need to break the bank when buying one, but DO NOT go for the cheap option. If a deal seems to go to be true, its probably because it is and you will end up paying twice and upgrading anyway.

Happy shooting.

Tim Monaghan