Tripod

Learning goal

You will be able to decide when a tripod is really needed, and tell a tripod that will do the job apart from one that won't. You will explain what a tripod gains you in long exposures, repeated frames and your own portrait; you will see how sturdiness depends on leg thickness, number of sections, material, the head and the center column; you will build the balance between height and portability according to your own walks; you will learn to set up and use a tripod in the sturdiest way; you will understand why a weak tripod can be worse than no tripod at all; and you will take into account, on every skin, that in a portrait in dim light a tripod stops the camera but doesn't stop the person.

The question

At night, you are on a windy bridge. You want to photograph the lights of the cars flowing along the road below as long streaks, then take a portrait of your friend leaning on the railing. You open the light, thin-legged tripod in your bag. In a two-second exposure the streaks are wavy and the bridge's ironwork comes out doubled; every time the wind blows, the tripod's head trembles slightly and the camera slowly slides down.

Will any tripod do? Anything with three legs can carry the camera, but not every tripod can hold it steady. In this lesson we will talk about what a tripod is for, what decides its sturdiness, how to strike a balance between height and weight, and why a weak tripod is sometimes worse than no tripod at all.

Context

In Lesson 10.8 we saw that the safe handheld shutter speed has a limit, and that image stabilization can stretch this limit by only a few stops. Lights flowing at night, a stream flowing like silk between stones, or a cityscape taken at low ISO call for times far beyond this limit. In those times, what carries the camera isn't the hand but a support.

This module talks about choosing the accessories you really need and using them correctly. A tripod is one of the accessories photographers buy most but also leave at home most: either it isn't carried because it is too heavy, or it doesn't do the job because it is too light. The right tripod is the balance built between these two extremes according to what you photograph.

Simple explanation

What does a tripod gain you?

A tripod first gains you time. Because it holds the camera steady, you can stretch the shutter speed far beyond the limit of your hand: flowing lights, water softening like cotton, a starry sky, or a dark interior taken at the lowest ISO. Repetition is a gain too. Taking frames one after another from the same framing, turning the camera smoothly for a panorama, merging different exposures later, or shooting a time-lapse all require the camera not to move from its place.

A tripod also frees your hands: you can take your own portrait, step into a group, or hold a light or a reflector by hand. Many photographers also say that a tripod slows the photographer down and pushes them to build the frame more carefully. But not every frame needs a tripod: when photographing moving people in daylight, a tripod slows you down and can make you miss the moment.

What decides sturdiness?

A tripod's sturdiness is only as strong as its weakest link. As the legs get thicker, the tripod gets sturdier, but heavier. The legs are usually made of sections that slide inside each other; as the number of sections grows, the tripod gets shorter when folded, but the lowest leg section gets thinner and the tripod trembles more easily. Material plays a part too: aluminum tripods are usually cheaper and heavier, carbon tripods are lighter and usually damp vibration faster, but are more expensive.

The tripod head that connects the camera to the legs is at least as important as the legs. A ball head moves in every direction with a single knob and is fast; three-axis heads set each direction with a separate lever and are slower but more precise. Every head has a load capacity; when the weight of camera and lens comes close to this capacity, the head can slowly slip. The center column is handy for raising the tripod quickly, but the higher it goes, the more it becomes the tripod's weakest point; opening the legs first and using the center column last, and only if needed, is sturdier.

Why can a weak tripod be worse than none at all?

A weak tripod gives you the feeling that the camera is steady, but it trembles in the wind, shakes when you press the shutter button, and its head slowly slips. That is why you stretch the shutter speed further than you would ever try by hand, and in the end get blurrier frames than you could have taken handheld. A frame taken handheld with a stabilized camera, leaning against a wall, can come out sharper than a frame on top of a trembling tripod.

When buying or trying a tripod, a good test is to open it to its tallest, mount the camera and tap the head lightly: if the vibration dies down at once, it is sturdy; if it lasts a long time, it isn't. When you lock the legs and the head, nothing should slowly slip. The balance between height and weight, on the other hand, depends on your walks: a tripod you will carry for hours should be light and fold short, while a tripod you will carry a few steps from the car can be heavier and sturdier. A tripod that rises close to your eye level without opening the center column lets you work comfortably without bending.

How do you use a tripod sturdily?

When opening the legs, you extend the thickest, top sections first and the thinnest, bottom sections last. You set the legs on firm ground and, if needed, extend one downhill. In the wind, keeping the tripod low, hanging your bag from the hook under the center column and blocking the wind with your own body reduce vibration. Even pressing the shutter button with a finger can shake the camera; a self-timer of a few seconds or a remote release prevents this jolt. On some cameras and lenses it is recommended to turn off image stabilization on a tripod; you can find out from the manual whether this is needed for your system.

A tripod stops the camera, but it doesn't stop the person in front of it. When you photograph a portrait in dim light with a half-second time, the person moves as they breathe or smile, and their face softens. Still, the tripod has a gain here: because it holds the camera steady, you can keep the ISO low, shorten the time to as long as the person can stay still, and try the difference with a few frames. Low ISO keeps both the detail of dark skin left in shadow and the texture of light skin free of grain; telling the person to stay still for a short moment and taking a few frames raises the chance of catching a sharp face.

Visual evidence

You go back to the bridge. This time you have brought a tripod with thicker legs and three sections. You open the legs starting from their thick sections, leave the center column closed and hang your bag from the hook underneath. With the two-second self-timer, while exposing for two seconds at f/8 and ISO 100, the wind blows again, but in the frame the cars' lights are smooth, thin red and white streaks; the bridge's rivets are single and sharp.

Your friend, a dark-skinned woman in a long coat, leans on the railing; a streetlamp lights her face from the side. Thanks to the tripod you keep the ISO at 400, shoot at half a second, and ask her to hold her breath for a moment. In one of four frames her face is completely sharp: her eyelashes, the soft transition of the light on her cheek and the stitching on her coat's collar can be made out; behind her, the cars' lights flow. The same bridge, the same wind; the difference was a sturdily set up tripod and a short moment of stillness.

Common mistakes

Summary

A tripod lets you stretch the shutter speed beyond your hand's limit, repeat the same framing and free your hands. Its sturdiness depends on leg thickness, number of sections, material, the head's load capacity and how much the center column is used; a weak tripod that trembles and slips can, with false confidence, give a blurrier result than a frame taken handheld. Opening the legs starting from the thick sections, using the center column last, hanging the bag from the hook and shooting with a self-timer make a tripod sturdier; in a portrait, though, a tripod stops the camera but not the person, so you need to combine the detail low ISO gives on every skin with a short moment of stillness.

Mini assignment

In this assignment you will test the tripod or support you have and try a long exposure.

1. Open your tripod to its tallest, mount the camera and, tapping the head lightly, watch how long it takes for the vibration to die down.
2. Photograph the same scene with a two-second exposure with the center column closed and fully open, and compare the sharpness.
3. Photograph a scene with flowing lights at night or softening water, with and without the self-timer.
4. In dim light, photograph a friend on the tripod a few times with a half-second time, asking them to stay still for a short moment.

Check yourself

• Does your tripod's vibration die down quickly, or does it last a long time?
• Did the frame taken with the center column open come out softer?
• In at least one of the portrait frames in dim light, can the eyelashes and the light transition on the cheek be made out?

Glossary

Mini quiz

1. Which use weakens a tripod's sturdiness the most?

• A) Opening the legs starting from the thick sections
• B) Raising the tripod by opening the center column all the way
• C) Hanging the bag from the hook under the center column
• D) Keeping the tripod low

2. How does a tripod change as the number of leg sections grows?

• A) It gets shorter when folded, but the bottom sections get thinner and it trembles more easily
• B) It always gets sturdier
• C) It doesn't change at all
• D) It gets heavier and longer

3. Why can a weak tripod sometimes be worse than no tripod at all?

• A) Because it scratches the camera
• B) Because it spoils the exposure
• C) Because it gives false confidence, leads you to stretch the shutter speed further than you would try by hand, and trembles
• D) Because it changes the white balance

4. When shooting a portrait of a dark-skinned friend on a tripod in dim light, what do you do for the face to come out sharp?

• A) Lengthen the shutter speed to several seconds
• B) Set ISO to the highest and remove the tripod
• C) Open the center column all the way
• D) Keep the ISO low, shorten the time to as long as the person can stay still, and take a few frames

Answers

1. B — As the center column rises, it carries the camera on top of a single thin post and vibration grows.
2. A — More sections means a tripod that folds shorter but has thinner bottom legs.
3. C — A trembling tripod encourages long times you wouldn't try by hand, and the result is blurrier.
4. D — A tripod stops the camera, not the person; low ISO keeps detail, and a short time and a few frames catch the movement.

Summary card

• Tripod: long exposures, repeated framing, free hands.
• Sturdiness: thick legs, few sections, a sturdy head, a closed center column.
• A weak tripod gives false confidence; test it by tapping the head.
• Open the thick sections first, hang the bag from the hook, shoot with a self-timer.
• A tripod doesn't stop the person; in a portrait, on every skin, low ISO and a short moment of stillness.

Bridge to the next lesson

In the bridge frames, the sky looked like a brownish haze from the streetlamps' light; when you photographed from the same place in daytime, though, the sky was a pale blue, and the river's surface a bright reflection of the sky. With a rotatable piece of glass put in front of the lens, it is possible to darken the sky and erase the reflection on the water's surface. How does the sky get bluer? The next lesson talks about the polarizing filter and how it works with reflections and the sky.