Tripods

The human hands can hold a camera without shaking to a maximum shutter speed of 1/60 of a second. Any longer than that without stabilization and you will notice blurring within your picture. This is not very conducive to taking pictures in lower light without increasing your ISO which somewhat diminishes the quality of the photograph. When taking pictures of still objects in low light, the best thing a photographer can do is use a low ISO, fast shutter speed and have the aperture set where it needs to be for the correct exposure. To do this you may require the tool all photographers should have: the tripod.

There have been several instances where I’ve been caught without one because they’re big, bulky and a general pain to lug around. My wife once took her 5lb tripod on a four day backcountry hiking trip and realized her mistake after the first day! Often when I go on a day photography mission I forget this essential tool and curse myself for it afterwards. Tripods provide stabilization for the camera, allowing for longer shutter speeds without camera shake. Tripods, despite their lack of portability are easy to use. They often come with a “foot” that screws into the bottom of your camera. If you leave the foot on your camera it is easy to attach it to the tripod quickly and conveniently. From there it is simply a matter of extending the legs to the appropriate height and taking your shot with whatever shutter speed you desire.