“They’re too heavy, too bulky and too slow to use for tripping.” That was my mindset about tripods until I attended a weekend workshop on field photography with Galen Rowell.
The renowned climbing and adventure photographer, who died in a plane crash last year, published over 10 books and hundreds of photography articles including a regular monthly column in Outdoor Photographer magazine. One of his last books, My Tibet, was endorsed by the Dalai Lama. And Rowell used a tripod for approximately 95 percent of his shots.
At the workshop, I watched in awe as Rowell set up and took five different location shots using his tripod as I was just finishing my first hand-held composition. I came to realize that what I thought was magic actually came from years of experimentation with equipment in rough locations around the world. By the end of that weekend I was convinced that Galen’s ideas could work for kayaking photographers.
After several years of trial and error, I developed a system that would work for the unique conditions of kayaking. I no longer missed out on the advantages of a tripod—sharper, better- exposed and better-composed images—just because I was travelling light in the wilderness. All it took were some simple modifications of equipment and adaptations of technique, which I’ve outlined below.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR TRIPOD TRIP-FRIENDLY
- Tape foam water-pipe insulation around the upper part of the legs. This protects the legs from dings and scratches and insulates your hands from the metal in cold weather.
- Tape any sharp corners on the pod to avoid poking a hole in drybags or boats.
- Loop a length of webbing around the legs and attach it to the head of the pod to use as a shoulder strap when hiking.
- Get a long, narrow drybag for your tripod. This keeps grit out of the telescoping leg joints, saves a tremendous amount of wear on the legs, makes the tripod more likely to float if it goes overboard, and gives you more packing options.
- You can bungee the drybag to the stern deck over the rear hatch. This keeps the tripod relatively handy.
- If conditions are choppy, you can stow the tripod in the cockpit for more stability.
- After paddling, rinse off the fully extended legs with clean, fresh water and let them dry completely.
TRIPOD TECHNIQUES FOR THE FIELD
- On uneven ground make the tripod as level and stable as possible. Scrunch the feet down solidly into soft surfaces such as sand or snow before you attach the camera.
- In high wind conditions hang your camera bag or a daypack from the centre post or over the legs to add stability.
- If you forget your cable release, use the self-timer for scenics. Set the timer at two seconds or as short a delay as possible.
- When panning the camera to shoot a moving subject at a slow shutter speed, unlock the ball head, jam your face against the camera, hold onto the lens, pivot smoothly and squeeze off the shot. Don’t stop panning until after you have fired.
- If your face is not behind the camera, blocking the light entering the eyepiece, there is a good chance you will get some badly overexposed shots from stray light bouncing around in the camera. Put your hat or bandana over the camera eyepiece.
- Get in the habit of not extending the centre post, which effectively turns your tripod into a monopod and reduces stability.
- If your camera has a mirror lock-up feature, use it to eliminate vibration from the mirror dropping down on shutter release. More vibration occurs in the 1/15 to 1/30 shutter speed range than in longer shutter speeds.
- Try the Galen Rowell method of shooting. Spread the tripod legs but don’t extend them. Snap the camera onto the tripod. Focus, compose and shoot. With a little practice you will be shooting almost as quickly as with handheld shooting.
